A Geek Goes Flying

So, I picked up a Storm 2 battery pack , for the capacity, the screen showing charging / discharge details, and because it can be charged via a DC port. I figured it would be a good companion for the Renogy E.Flex 50 solar panel. The panel puts out 21.6V and 3.04A to an open circuit, and has a nominal output of 18V at 2.77A (49.86W). In reality , of course, I usually see the panel top out in the low 30W range, almost always around 17V with the available current dictating the watts transmitted: 17.23V 1.76A 30.3W (12/15 9:25 a.m. direct sun) 13.96V 0.03A 00.4W (12/14 12:13 p.m. shade) 17.12V 1.00A 17.1W (12/14 10:11 a.m. direct sun) 12.12V 1.02A 17.4W (12/17 10:45 a.m. thin cirrus cloud cover) 17.06V 0.62A 10.5W (12/17 10:01 a.m. thin cirrus cloud cover) Into a full battery pack, I was seeing higher voltages but minimal current, with correspondingly reduced wattage, e.g.: 1 9.51V 0.04A 00.7W (12/20 9:52 a.m. direct sun). This should work with the Storm 2 pack, which purportedly

Until very recently, if you wanted rechargeable AAs you were stuck with NiMH batteries, which topped out at around 1.2V ( Rechargeable Batteries — compared and explained in detail ). Off the shelf alkaline AAs, though, at least started life as (at least) 1.5V cells: New Energizer alkaline AA battery, 1.5V As the battery was used, the voltage decreases over time. In 2014 I installed the first generation Kēvo smart deadbolt , and loved it. I got a set of rechargeable AAs and recharged them every few months or so and life was good. Until life happened and in 2019 I had to replace that lock; the only one available was the Kwikset Kēvo 2nd Gen . That lock is much more finicky. It would work on NiMH rechargeable AAs, but only for a short time (a matter of days), and immediately started complaining the batteries were low. Meanwhile, e.g., a set of (4) Energizer MAX batteries, packaged in November 2021 and bought and installed in mid-December 2021, lasted about 2 months. When I tested them wit

A week into my wildly unscientific solar power experiment, I’ve come to mistrust all capability / capacity specifications.     Solar panels. I was told to expect about 1/2 the rated power from even the highest quality solar panels. I’m getting a bit better than that (I’m seeing the 50W Renogy top out around 32W in direct, morning, SoCal winter sunshine). Battery pack: Capacity. Just like with “normal” portable battery packs, the capacities are overstated vis-a-vis what you can actually expect them to provide in the real world. One reviewer, with instrumentation far in excess of what I have access to, observes 92% of advertised capacity is par for the course. ( https://www.californiaskys.com/blog/ebl-voyager-1000-review ) Battery pack: Efficiency.  Renogy states in its manual for the battery pack “The charging conversion rate of this power bank is around 80%-90% (the 10%-20% conversion loss is due to the heat generation when power is transferred in batteries and charging cables).”  Tha

I use the Google Docs Editors suite occasionally to keep track of miscellaneous stuff. Like my dogs’ food. Gone are the days when both of my pups ate the same food I could always find at the local Centinela Feed Co. and would buy a bag every 3 weeks or so. No, my Lab is on one food, a Labrador-specific product, and goes through a bag every ~4 weeks, My mutt is on a totally different food (not even the same brand!) specifically for seniors, and is on more of an 11 week schedule. I live in a relatively small apartment, and don’t want to be storing food longer than I have to. (And I only have so much space in my Vittles Vaults .) So I’m basically using JIT with Chewy.com’s autoship. (With a bit of nail biting at the beginning of the pandemic, but, it always worked out.) And being a nerd, I’m constantly refining my algorithms to get food delivered as close to when we need it as possible (I usually build in a 1-2 day buffer). So imagine my heart attack when I realized, the last time I wei

NuPhy Halo 75 with Shine-Through Keycaps During the Black Friday weekend, I broke down and pre-ordered the NuPhy Halo 75 , with the free shine-through keycaps and Baby Kangaroo tactile switches . It was supposed to ship 12/9 but actually started its journey on the 30th and got here on the 11th. The Halo 75 is a larger version of the Halo 65 , which has gotten rave reviews . There’s not a lot I can say about this thing that others haven’t said already . This thing is a chonky beast. Easily the heaviest, most solid-feeling keyboard I have, and the sound - even with the lighter weight shine-through ABS keycaps, is delightfully thoccy, but light and crisp. I didn’t need another keyboard, but I’m glad I splurged. Besides the Baby Kangaroo (“BBK”) switches I ordered, the other options were Gateron Pro brown/red (BTDT), Night Breeze (linear), Baby Raccoon (linear), and Rose Glacier (tactile). The board came with a switch tester that also included a Gateron Pro blue switch (clicky, yawn). I

Screenshot of PowerBook 2400c running iTunes, MacSSH, Fetch After spending all that time banging on the PowerBook 1400c/133 , I was ready when my “Eleanor” popped up on eBay – a PowerBook 2400c with a G3 upgrade already installed! So that’s what I have now. (Need to move the 1400s along to a new home.) It came already running Mac OS 9.1 on a spinning rust hard drive (want to swap that for a PATA SSD like Transcend 32GB PSD330 or (more likely the better option) the OWC 120GB Mercury Pro Legacy 3.5-inch IDE/ATA Solid-State Drive Kit ( OWCSSDMXLE120) , but that’s a non-trivial task ). The Cisco Aironet 350 was recognized on it and didn’t give me the pop-up I got on the 1400, but I couldn’t get it to work. The Orinoco worked just fine, so I’m using that, with a Cisco (Linksys)  WRT54G2 flashed with DD-WRT . Moved some software onto the machine using CompactFlash cards and a PCMCIA adapter, to bootstrap it a bit. Current stack: Classilla 9.3.3 iTunes 1.0 MacSSH 2.1fc3 Fetch 3.0.3 WordPerf

Something I didn’t know I wanted or needed until I discovered few machines have it: Low power mode . ( Developer documentation .) Off by default. Most of my work (drafting documents in Word or Scrivener , legal research in Westlaw using Firefox) can easily be done in that mode. But what if I want to easily toggle it off for heavier lifting (e.g., Acrobat Pro OCR)? Apple has a handy shortcut . And now I have a new rabbit hole to dive down: Shortcuts .

Renogy power bank connected to MacBook Air It looks like the Renology R50EF E.FLEX 50 portable solar panel, and maybe also the RPB-72000PD 72,000 mAh / 266 Wh portable power bank, might be discontinued, so I grabbed ‘em while I could. The power bank comes with a Lyangel LY005SPS-200200U 40W (20V 2A) wall wort (5.5x2.1mm DC, positive pin negative shield). I used that to charge the bank to full (it arrived with a ~50% charge). So far I’ve tested wireless charging with an iPhone 12 Pro (works) and now through the Klein meter I have USB-C PD (1) connected to a MacBook Air and it’s supplying 19.73V 1.89A (36.7W). (The Mac sees it as a 60W charger.) The power bank is a beast, about the size and heft of a dense hardback book. It comes with that AC adapter, a ~19" DC to DC cord (5.5x2.1mm (“DC5521”) male connectors on both ends, about 10mm long), a set of (8) adapter tips (5.5x2.1mm female, and 8 various male ends), a soft case with a pouch for accessories, and a manual . It charges via t

I’m waiting patiently for the Nomad Desk ( IndieGogo ). But the current timeline for that is next summer: “June 2023 Production& Delivery.” Sigh. At the moment I’m using the Rigg Monitor Mount on a kitchen bar-height counter, but that’s ... Not great. After looking at other options‡ I picked up a TRIPODSY Portable Laptop Standing Desk ($160 but I found one for sale on Mecari second-hand for $100), which seems like it might be The One™. The maximum height is apparently 70" (per a response to a question posted on Amazon; specs say 61" which is still fine), it includes the keyboard platform, it’ll hold up to 11 lbs and a laptop up to 16". The keyboard shelf is a spacious 17.6" wide. I've been using it for a few hours so far, and so far I like it well enough. The shelf is wide enough for a NuPhy Air 75 or Keychron K6 (or even K2 75% ) keyboard and Logitech M557 mouse to coexist comfortably, though my normal small 6x8" mousepad overhangs by half a

I’ve been using VideoLAN’s VLC for forever. (Probably at least 20 years? On a Sony VAIO running Linux. (I had two; a PCG-XG29 PIII-750 with 128MB RAM, and a PCG-Z505R PII-366 64MB magnesium ultrabook.) (When did mplayer start running out of steam?)) I was ecstatic when it was ported to Mac OS X. It’s totally the Swiss Army Knife of video players. But the multiplatform UI is ... a bit clunky, especially compared to native Mac apps. No PiP mode, etc. Looks like IINA is the solution. So far it’s played everything I’ve thrown at it, and the preferences seem to have the functionality I’ve come to depend on with VLC. As of this writing, 1.3.1 is current, and runs on 10.11 (El Capitan) and newer.

My mom has a Solo Stove she loves. When they came out with a more urban-focused tabletop unit, the Solo Stove Mesa , and put it on sale before Black Friday, I figured I’d pick one up and see if I liked it. So far, I do. I got the stainless version, as it was a bit cheaper than the others and none of the colors really grabbed me. It comes with a stand (required), a pellet adapter (required to burn wood pellets), and a little protective bag. November 10th I ordered the Mesa itself, and Solo Stove’s Mini Oak Firewood and Starters . The starters haven’t arrived yet, so I’m using these  Melt Candle Company Fire Starters that I got on Amazon. (I also picked up some  Old Potters Kiln Dried ~6 x 0.5-1.5 Inch Hickory Wood Logs on Amazon, as the Mini Oak wood wasn’t supposed to ship until 11/30, but was actually delivered on the 22nd.) The Mini Oak wood cuts (and by extension, presumably the Old Potters fuel, though I haven’t had a chance to try that yet) could be a bit shorter. You’re not s

With the Jeep now sporting a spiffy wireless CarPlay display, my phone was floating more than it used to. I hate that. I also wasn’t wild about constantly hooking up a Lightning cable to charge it. (I’ve been using a 12V USB-C to Lightning setup ). I’ve been adopting wireless charging more and more over time: At the office I have a wireless charging stand like this . At home in my living room, a RAVPower Fast Wireless Charging Pad (5W for the iPhone) (man, RAVPower fell from grace fast, there’s no trace left on Amazon ). My home work station uses a Vaydeer USB3.0 Wireless Charging Aluminum Monitor Stand Riser . On my night stand I’ve cycled through: An iHome wireless charging alarm clock . Impossible to read from bed, and charging my watch meant the clutter of a USB cord hanging off the back of the radio. A COLSUR Desk Lamp with Wireless Charger . I tried really hard to make this work. It feels (and looks a bit) cheap, but it checked the boxes. But the light flickers. The watch charge

TCL 55S546 Best Buy put the TCL 55S546 on a pre-Black Friday sale, marked from from $429.99 to $199.99. I had been toying with the idea of replacing my 10-year-old Panasonic VIERA TC-L32X5 32" 720p set (the picture quality is, accounting for the resolution, still amazing, and I like the set, but it’s too far away from my usual viewing spot for how small it is). At that price, and with my familiarity with TCL (I have a 49" in a mancave I got because it was cheap , fit the space perfectly and generally had good reviews), I took the plunge. It’s all the way out in Burbank, though, so I probably won’t get it until after Thanksgiving. I think I got the last one in the L.A. area; I originally bought one in West LA but Best Buy almost immediately canceled and refunded that order. I double-checked my PERLESMITH Universal TV Stand-Table Top TV Stand for 32-55 lnch TVs , (PSTVS14) and it should work (the TCL uses a 200x200 VESA pattern (the mount fits 100x100 — 400x400), and weighs 3

I’ve had a keen interest in the issue of website scraping against a site’s terms of service, for a while (spent years litigating the issue against very good attorneys, before settling; had secured a USC computer science professor emeritus who had, IIRC, literally written a book on website scraping, as our expert witness). This article came across my feed: Court Sides With LinkedIn in Data Scraping Lawsuit vs. hiQ Labs Tracked down the docket . Have some reading to do.

This Keychron K7 (a low profile 75% board) is my second low profile keyboard (third, if you count the F1 I tried and resold). I don’t think this profile will ever be my first choice, to be honest (so far, my favorite daily drivers are the TKL Keychron K8 with Boba U4 62g switches, and a 75% Keychron K2 with Kailh Box Royal switches). But for very specific applications, like sitting on top of a MacBook (Air) to provide a mechanical keyboard experience , or to fit easily under a Rigg Monitor Mount , well, sometimes needs must. I picked up a “used – like new” K3 at a significant discount on Amazon (white backlight; would have preferred RGB, but beggars can’t be choosers).  It’s the optical switch version (hot swappable), and came with the Keychron “blue” switches, which require a very light touch (48g). After an evening I was getting somewhat used to them, but if I was going to stay clicky with this board I’d be seriously tempted to swap in the orange switches (55g). As I’ve recently be