March 24, 2014

           Has anyone but me noticed the number of overloaded site messages on the ‘net these days? Is it my computer? The connection? The provider? Don’t know, but I know why I don’t know. Because I can’t get a straight answer out of anybody about how the Internet connections work. That’s right, like most people, I don’t clearly know how the Internet connection to my computer operates. I’ve read the books, asked the experts, and I still don’t know. That tells me not that I’m too dumb to learn, but that they themselves don’t know. I’ve heard and read their BS how many times in my life?

           I’ve hooked up countless computers, and been on trouble calls, and tried to set things up on my lab bench. But you ask anybody and they draw you that stupid, stupid diagram that does not make sense. If it made sense, I’d grasp it in an instant. When you point to a part of it and ask, what happens here, or ask them what a gateway is, they get that fabulously famous drop-out goof-look and start talkin’ shit. I once worked with an entire office building full of such people. For fourteen and a half years.
           And here is a $15 magazine that tells you how to protect your privacy on the net. Well, that’s a waste of money, but I’m okay in that it is a slap in the face to those who called me paranoid. What I really said was not “Internet privacy”, but that you should not give out your personal information to anybody you don’t know. I had that rule long before the Internet came along. So, who’s paranoid now? My information never went on the Internet in the first place. This magazine contains only juvenile patches that might make some people feel a little better about being so naïve and trusting. But in reality, if you’ve put even one scrap of identifiable information on the Internet, it is probably too late already. And to my critics, you could have saved the $15 by reading my advice right here all along for free.
           While we are talking magazines, this month’s Popular Mechanics is an unaccustomed gem compared to their last few years of spiraling out of control. Worthwhile articles I liked this issue are:

           A rubber spray-on paint. If you don’t like the results, you peel it off like tape.
           Micro-pacemaker inserted like a stent through your leg artery.
           A CNC milling machine for $650. Like a 3D printer, I’d get one but I can’t draw things.
           A still. Yes, a copper moonshine still. Kit form. Lightning’s legal to make, not sell. $140.
           A bike cam, records up to ten hours, freezes on impact. See who killed you.
           Conductive ink for drawing electrical circuits. $21.

I certainly hope this type of reporting isn’t an anomaly. It restored a lot of faith in the magazine for me. I was weary of the blimps, jock stories, and Jay Leno. I know the conductive ink isn’t new, but this isn’t for repairs, it is for new designs, so call that new. The major downfall of these new products is their price tag. That is ten times what I’d spend, I mean, I can do an awful lot of soldering for $21.

           But I can’t do much shopping. I stopped into the mall and picked up what you see here. The magazine, at $4.99, is the most expensive item in the photo. Yet this cost me $20.45. I stopped immediately afterward at Panera for coffee and a bagel. This little trip and back cost me a total of $27.55. It’s getting scary. I was the only person in the checkout who paid with cash.
           Further reading tells me I have just too many of the same symptoms as gout to ignore that possibility. The one lacking indicator is inflammation. It was indeed an “attack” when it comes upon me in the morning at first light. People ask what triggered it. I cannot think of anything. There has been no change in my regimen. But, like most people, I don't usually recognize what went wrong until it happens a second time. Next, I read the spec sheets on the medication prescribed. None of it treats the condition.
           Sure enough, most of them “work the brain, not the pain”. For this reason, I do not take painkillers before I go to sleep. The one pill that might do some good is an anti-inflammatory which I have no doubt was given to me to be on the safe side. I knew it was anti-inflammatory when I started drinking extra quarts of water every day. Those things make me thirsty-thirsty.

           Turning my immobility into lemonade, here is a failure I am quite proud of. My second attempt at a memory circuit, and my second failure at it. Those in the know can see how my approach is now much more modularized, that comes from experience. The memory part is the light at far right center. I’m beginning to suspect the nails I’ve been using as binding posts may have some oxidization issues even after being securely soldered.
           Show here is a power override test using wiring of my own design to test parts of other circuits without cutting any wires. A successful connect causes that lovely purple blue glow at lower left. Result on this experiment? Each segment works, but the full memory circuit doesn’t. The second "suspect" is that I’ve somehow managed to acquire a batch of poorly-made transistors who’s base current must be biased oddly. I normally accomplish bias (matching the input current to the transistor design) by trial and error.
           Maxim for the day: No matter how long you live, you will never own enough sharp pointy tools.