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Showing posts from July, 2021

Electric cars

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Anyone remember when Chrysler showed off an EV Wrangler , circa 2008? (And an all-electric Dodge sportscar .) What ever ended up happening with that? ( Best we have now is a crappy hybrid, that actually gets worse mileage than the diesel !) There’s apparently at least one shop that will convert older Wranglers:  https://erevon.com/ And though it’s now a bit dated , this Porsche 951 conversion is slick:  http://951ev.blogspot.com I really dig the way Aston-Martin has approached the coming shift; their Heritage EV program provides “an entirely self-contained electric motor unit that uses the original engine and gearbox mounts from the classic Aston being converted to electric power ... [enabling the customer] to swap back the original engine and five-speed manual” if they ever want to. Whatever the date (2030, 2035 ...?), it’s looming.

Return of the CFFA3000

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Good news for Apple II folks: The CFFA3000 is coming back ! (It had been discontinued by the creator; from a July 29, 2019 update  post : “I currently have no plans to make a new Gen 4 CFFA. So this is most likely the end of the line.”) Prior to this announcement, CFFA3000 cards were selling for an average of over $450, on eBay. What’s the CFFA3000? It lets 8-bit (II, II+, IIe) and 16-bit IIgs) Apple computers use solid state storage. Multiple 32MB “hard drive” or 143K/400K/800K “floppy disk” images can be mounted simultaneously, from a compact flash card or USB stick. It’s a seriously slick piece of equipment, and part of a panoply of devices that have me going “seriously?!” (I can’t believe so much active development is still being done on a platform that debuted in 1977 (Apple II; 1986 for the 16-bit IIgs) and has been discontinued for decades ... VidHD (HDMI output). Uthernet II (Ethernet). Mass Storage: BOOTI (possibly the cheapest option?). A2SCSI (a clone of the Rev. C Apple

Moar tactile...

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So the Etsy maker I’ve been talking to has started to prototype the Keychron K2 iPad stand. Test pieces came in the mail today. I’ll use it with my Kailh Box Navy swapped K2 , but that’s not a universal solution; I can imagine being relatively unpopular indoors at a Starbucks with the thicc clicc, or on an airliner, or ...  So I’m pondering “building” another K2, with tactile switches, as quiet as I can get ’em while still having that crisp tactile “bump.” After a related discussion on r/MK, I’m contemplating: Gazzew Boba U4 (aliexpress pearl top / clear top  ($68 for 90) |  mkultra  | theremingoat review ) Zeal Zilent ( zealpc.net  ($88.40/80)) Everglide Moyu Black a/k/a Dark Jade ( theremin goat review ) (though these don’t seem to be silent?) ( amazon  | kprepublic ($87/90)) Pricier than the Kailh Box switches I’ve been using to date, but might be worth checking out.

Stamps.com USB Scale on macOS

I’m a lawyer. We still send lots of paper around (even though I’m of the opinion 99.995% of our dead tree activity could and should be PDF - but I digress). I’ve been using a Model 510 scale I got with a stamps.com subscription years ago, to weigh mailings so I can print exact postage with Endicia . But the scale doesn’t show up in the Endicia app, and so I’ve been booting into a Linux virtual machine to get weights. Clumsy. So, I took at look at the code for the little program I was using,  usbscale . It relies on  libusb , which is a cross-platform library. So far so good. Some initial setup stuff, if you don’t already have a full dev environment setup, first install brew , and then: % brew install autoconf automake I downloaded source for both packages from github, and first installed libusb:   % mkdir usbscale % cd usbscale  % git clone https://github.com/libusb/libusb.git % git clone https://github.com/erjiang/usbscale.git In the libusb directory: $  ./bootstrap.sh $ ./configure &

Kailh Box Royal

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These just shipped. Should have them by the end of the week. Looking forward to seeing what’s what. From my brief experience with a keyswitch tester, I wasn’t sure I’d like them, and the Burnt Orange felt better. But those weren’t awesome. So, going to hot-swap to Kailh Box Royal switches. People seem to like them: The Kailh Box Royals are what I was expecting from a "tactile switch". ( pol-delta ) Box Royals are the fucking GOAT ( Past-Chest-6507 ) They really are. Best tactile switch straight out of the box besides Zealios. ( jrau ) these switches are something that I enjoy quite a lot. Very tactile :) ( WindmillArtGuy ) I use Box Navy and Jades Just got a board of Kailh Box Royal and they are fantastic. Have the tactility and the resistance that us box Navy folks love 😀 ( abdulqadirali ) Box Royals were just... alright. i found the dropoff way too sharp. the tactility was barely there. ( hammerbrotha ) I love Box Royals, almost close to Zealios crossed with Box Navy! ( Bi

Things that make you go "duh."

Dogs ‘just get’ humans in ways other animals can’t, evolutionary scientists conclude . (Similar ground was covered in NOVA's Dogs Decoded on PBS over a decade ago - still a fascinating watch.) Also: Boredom’s link to mental illnesses, brain injuries and dysfunctional behaviors : "Boredom is a distressing emotional state that combines feelings of restlessness and lethargy, arising from situations that are no longer satisfying or stimulating. Early research often dismissed boredom as temporary and inconsequential, but recent work has established its links to mental illness, traumatic brain injury and dysfunctional behaviors such as reckless driving and substance abuse." (Boredom is also, of course, not a burden anyone should bear .) Finally, unsurprisingly, demons have bangin' taste in music .

Keychron K6 with Kailh Box Burnt Orange Switches; Another RK71 with Box Pink Switches

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Tactile Build (K6 + Burnt Orange) For my second tactile mechanical “build,” I went with the Keychron K6  (hot swappable, aluminum frame, RGB) and the Kailh Box Burnt Orange switches (also available(?) from AliExpress ). My switch tester suggested that switch would feel better than the Box Royal; now that I have a full keyboard with the setup, I’m not sure about that. The RK71s with the Kailh Box Hako Royal Clear switches requires more force and feels more “crisp.” The Burnt Orange switches activate right at the top of the switch’s travel and have a bit of resistance, but I’d prefer a bit more. It might be worth getting another set of Hako Royal Clear switches (before they’re gone forever), as the set I have now is soldered into the RK71, and maybe a set of the Royals just to try them out. Edit: Doing a bit of digging (which maybe I should have done before I pulled the trigger, keyswitch tester experience notwithstanding). I endorse these opinions (except for the parts that are struck