One year ago today: May 29, 2020, a fungus among us.
Five years ago today: May 29, 2016, early tool budget projections.
Nine years ago today: May 29, 2012, Billie-Bill on guitar.
Random years ago today: May 29, 2008, my rusty Hungarian.
I spotted that upsurge in Raspberry Pico sales, wondering what gives. The population did not suddenly all decide to program microcontrollers. Then I discover a huge chunk of the sales are the camera model. Ah, to work from home. But still, that’s a lot of microcontrollers and I’ve speculated long ago that is where the next real breakthrough will happen. Somebody is going to come up, not with an entirely new concept, but a way of applying these devices that will upset our way of doing things. I heard people were buying the Pico model in batches, making me wonder who could afford that. Then I read the price is down to $4 to buy in bulk. Now that makes sense.
My theory is to apply this to hardware, which is more concerned with sensors than data manipulation. Arduino offers a similar piece called the Nano, also around $4. My area is programming, I’m still a novice at hardware. Both Pico and Nano use C+ code so it remains a question mark to me why the Pico (no to be confused with the Pi, a different product) is suddenly so popular. Worse, Pico is only available in SMT and lacks mounting pins. That’s what you would solder to the ring of gold-plated tabs around the perimeter.
How about you suckers who ignored good advice and began storing your files on the cloud? It’s free, they said. Not so fast. Google is about to start charging after certain limits. That’s always a precursor to a money-grab. But it is people who store their private information on somebody else’s memory that need to grab a brain. It’s hard to imagine people being that stupid. But then, my news feed said there was an important Biden news clip. I tuned in and saw them asking what flavor of ice cream he was eating. Chocolate chip. I hope it tastes better than the crow he’ll soon be eating, fresh from Arizona. Or that Democrat who wants to block US supplies of Iron Dome to Israel. But, but, why does a weapon we are told was built by Israel needing supplies from the USA? Oh. Money supplies. Got it.
Or the election results in Syria, with the incumbent getting over 95% of the votes. Just like the polls said he would. How amazing that’s almost gunpoint, er, I mean pinpoint accuracy. Not a thing seems to be going right for the Biden people these days, but they continue with their accelerated programs to grab and hold power, still maintaining there is “no proof” of election fraud during the “most secure” election in history. They should be focusing on damage control.
Useful fridge magnet.
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It shouldn’t take half the day to get some shopping done, but it did. I have the remainder of the materials. Back home the heat drove me indoors and that means no bonfire either. I pondered why the roofing material makes it seem cooler and have no answer. It is not very reflective and has little insulation value. My only guess is the corrugated shape causes convection channels that draw cooler northern yard area across the underlying tarpaper. This is the opposite effect of being in a building with a metal roof. Metal lasts longer in Florida, but the radiant heat is something of another order.
The coding language is Python or Python-like, another bastardized version of C+. I would have thought by now all computer commands would have become natural language based and it would be the compilers that determined what level it operated. Instead, they still pursue the Holy Grail of a language that becomes a standard and they can line their own pockets. Python is not as bad as some, but for the same effort, give me the Nano. The IDE uses a language variant called Thonny where a more apt word would be Thorny.
I glanced on eBay and found Nanos on sale for $2.99. That seals it. I see the Uno is still priced up around $25 and still has the preferable socket mount. There is an expanded selection of sensors and shields (small special purpose boards like GPS or Ethernet) now priced at more than the original Uno models. The Nano has six PWM pins, that’s my most advanced area of Arduino study. Our old robot club has lost any lead we may have once had to this latest round.
And I remind all who post techie videos with no narration and crappy pseudo-punk music tracks that you will never be taken seriously. As for the seismometer, I have a question for the poster. How do you get the earthquake to stand on your little platform? I’ll bet you are one of those people who thinks you have turned off your Google tracker but still use your phone to find your own location. Duh. And did you know Oxford studies show that people who allow profiling wind up paying more and often never see alternative choices? Suckers, every one.
ADDENDUM
And at last count, the Democrats have arrested over 440 people over the demonstrations at the Capitol. The Senate today told the Democrats to blow their “1/6 Inquiry” out their asses, whence Biden instantly accused the nays of being cowardly, that is, too afraid of Trump to vote against him, like that’s a bad thing. Shill outfits like Newsweek continue to claim there is a “growing demand” to investigate the “insurrection” in which “five people died”.
Fact is, there is no demand at all, most people figure the Democrats have already wet their own pants enough over it. It sure is easy to take sides on a farce like the one they are pushing. Yeah, like 600,000 died from COVID. Bullshit, more like 6,000 and they were on their last legs anyway, the Darwin thing. And what could be more fake that this global chip shortage? They are assembled by COVID-proof robots, for crying out loud. A chip shortage in the computer age, give me a break.
