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local climate log, 2013 edition
Apr. 11th, 2013 12:28 amApril 10th: snow on our property finally gone.
Todays Discoveries
Dec. 8th, 2012 12:08 amFor the record: progressive lenses totally *suck* for playing volleyball.
far-field-focus only version of my prescription: entered and ordered.
far-field-focus only version of my prescription: entered and ordered.
Noire - call your office
Nov. 11th, 2012 01:37 amShort academic paper documenting tool *manufacture* and use by a Griffin cockatoo.
click on supplemental data on the right of the page; there's some nifty video as well.
voting oddity
Nov. 7th, 2012 04:13 pmTake a look at this map of town-by-town results for question 1 (auto right-to-repair referendum). Pan around and look at the voting margins for the entire
state. Now look at Groveland and Salisbury. Is there something particularly special about these
two places, or does this suggest something just plain wrong with the tabulation methods?
I'm curious.
state. Now look at Groveland and Salisbury. Is there something particularly special about these
two places, or does this suggest something just plain wrong with the tabulation methods?
I'm curious.
the .262 scale pinsetter
Oct. 12th, 2012 11:50 pmwill be making an appearance at the Mini Maker Faire in Somerville tomorrow, 3-7 pm in Union Square.
Should be fun; come one down and check it out!
There's been a small but noticeable amount of progress since the last update and video.
[video reposted here for completeness]
Should be fun; come one down and check it out!
There's been a small but noticeable amount of progress since the last update and video.
[video reposted here for completeness]
I've seen this before...
Aug. 10th, 2012 06:57 pmSo, last night L and I watched _The Hunger Games_. It wasn't stellar by any means, but neither was it *bad*. There were a few things that really made me go *what???*, such as toward the end where the arena controllers reveal to the audience that their level of technology allows them to CREATE LIVING ORGANISMS and DEPOSIT THEM ANYWHERE THEY WANT... This kind of tech at the worlds disposal and they're still controlling the populace with cheesy gladiator games? Is that "lets chase the heroes with magically created attack dogs" scene in the book, or is that just a Hollywood thing? Inquiring minds want to know; if someone tells me it isn't, I may check out the books at some point. I hear a lot of decent reviews.
The above said, pretty much from the first time I caught a glimpse of the ruling class, and their world, the deja vu began to hit. I've seen this before; I'm watching a modern remake of _The Running Man_. When the inevitable last-minute rule change is announced, the first thing that popped into my mind was "Well, of course. Killian is LYING to you".
The above said, pretty much from the first time I caught a glimpse of the ruling class, and their world, the deja vu began to hit. I've seen this before; I'm watching a modern remake of _The Running Man_. When the inevitable last-minute rule change is announced, the first thing that popped into my mind was "Well, of course. Killian is LYING to you".
(no subject)
May. 17th, 2012 05:14 pmIn anything but the most trivial of electronic/robotics projects, it is impossible to overestimate the amount of time you will spend making cables and connectors.
(no subject)
Mar. 22nd, 2012 07:05 pmIt's completely freakin NUTS that for the past 4 days straight here, in eastern MA, it's been warmer than what my parents in Ft Lauderdale Florida have been getting. Yet I still feel that if I plant things now, stupid new england weather will snow/frost on them *sometime* before May.
Maybe peas or pole beans.
Maybe peas or pole beans.
It's 12:30am, and I'm currently in the middle of completely disassembling the cross-slides of my Bridgeport, so as to figure out why it just decided to ignore any turning of the X-axis handwheels and just sit there, motionless, taunting me. This is one of the three main machines I now make most of my living with, and I cannot afford any serious downtime. Gonna be a long night.
Update: 2:42 am: Machine is back to working order. ( Yay! I win a donut! )
(no subject)
Jan. 6th, 2012 04:37 pmWhile I'm not complaining about todays weather here in northwest Massachusetts on January 6th, during the time period of about 3pm and 4pm I spent outside in the driveway, in nothing more than a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, freeing up and replacing a stuck bolt on the alternator mount, and replacing the serpentine belt on my Scion xB.
Nor am I complaining about the gorgeous week just a couple of weeks ago, when again I went outside in a pair of jeans and nothing else, and changed the oil.
That said, the whole weather situation does make me go "Erm. Uh." and get sort of queasy.
Currently zone 6a and counting here...
Nor am I complaining about the gorgeous week just a couple of weeks ago, when again I went outside in a pair of jeans and nothing else, and changed the oil.
That said, the whole weather situation does make me go "Erm. Uh." and get sort of queasy.
Currently zone 6a and counting here...
PSA for spring foragers
May. 1st, 2011 10:50 pmHey there, wild hunter-gatherers. It's Japanese Knotweed season! The stuff is just at the right stage to grab those fresh shoots, steam, and eat. And please do, with great vigor, because the damned stuff will take over the whole world if nothing gets rid of it. Luckily it tastes pretty yummy. L and I had some tonight.
Todays Feynman moment
Feb. 4th, 2011 12:20 pmSo, we've got MASSIVE ice dams in places we have never gotten them before, so i'm up on a ladder today exposing said ice dams to the RaW POweR of my AIR HAMMER...
which is a far better tool for the job than the last time i had to do this, using a manual hammer and chisel.
However, like the shuttle SRB's, there seem to be seals inside the air hammer which lose effectiveness once
they get too cold, and the hammer stops working well, or at all. So it's inside to the oven for a bit, then
outside and hammer away for another half hour, then oven, rinse, lather, repeat.
Awesome to see the river of water pour out once i had made the first breach in the 2-foot dam, though.
which is a far better tool for the job than the last time i had to do this, using a manual hammer and chisel.
However, like the shuttle SRB's, there seem to be seals inside the air hammer which lose effectiveness once
they get too cold, and the hammer stops working well, or at all. So it's inside to the oven for a bit, then
outside and hammer away for another half hour, then oven, rinse, lather, repeat.
Awesome to see the river of water pour out once i had made the first breach in the 2-foot dam, though.
Flying Squirrel Consortium gets some press
Aug. 8th, 2010 09:04 pmArticle published in the Worcester Pulse, a Worcester area culture/entertainment magazine.
They did a writeup about my aerial studio, Flying Squirrel Consortium. Yay Press! Clicky Clicky!
They did a writeup about my aerial studio, Flying Squirrel Consortium. Yay Press! Clicky Clicky!
In the mid-1980's there was a rash of pipe-bomb attacks on rabbis, Jewish establishments, and synagogues in the San Fransisco area. Eventually, Coy Ray Phelps was arraigned on multiple charges, tried, and found not guilty by reasons of insanity. Since that time he has been in and out of the federal mental health prison system. He is currently inmate 78872-011, at FMC-Devens, in Ayer, Massachusetts.
Today I received a letter from him. Via U.S. Mail, right in my mailbox along with my 2010 excise tax bill and L's latest Photoshop magazine. Previous to today, I did not know who he was. Maybe I could have dredged his name out back in 1986 when he was in the news. Today I had to use Google. Text of the letter reproduced below.
( Letter reproduced in it's entirety. He wants to run for public office and wants a website )
So, I now find myself in the possession of the 1980's San Francisco Synagogue Bombers' autograph.
It is not an object that I particularly want.
And yet, tossing it into the circular file doesn't seem right either.
What, if anything, do I do with this?
Today I received a letter from him. Via U.S. Mail, right in my mailbox along with my 2010 excise tax bill and L's latest Photoshop magazine. Previous to today, I did not know who he was. Maybe I could have dredged his name out back in 1986 when he was in the news. Today I had to use Google. Text of the letter reproduced below.
( Letter reproduced in it's entirety. He wants to run for public office and wants a website )
So, I now find myself in the possession of the 1980's San Francisco Synagogue Bombers' autograph.
It is not an object that I particularly want.
And yet, tossing it into the circular file doesn't seem right either.
What, if anything, do I do with this?
