One year ago today: November 10, 2024, Apple goes IBM.
Five years ago today: November 10, 2020, at least once.
Nine years ago today: November 10, 2016, cheaper than ginger snaps.
Random years ago today: November 10, 2014, a most frustrating idea.
A quiet morning of writing letters and burning another Xmas ornament. I made an error last day, the 4 passes did not burn through. No, the laser cannot be properly position for an additional pass, we tried that and maybe with a fancy adjustable table. Since that amount of wasted time is unaffordable, I slowed the laser to 750mm per minute at 5 passes, even though that is overkill. And it slows the cutting time to an hour per ornament [on the Wainlux, shown here]. Here is the Glowforge laser cutter I reject ten years ago, along with some reasons why.
I wrote to Alaine, noting how JZ should be up here for all this learning. Sure, like most adults he has to be coaxed into learning technology because it isn’t fun anymore. Well, I say that is because most adults try learning things alone—and I’m the first one to tell you that isn’t much fun. By 9:00AM, I’m getting real difficulties with the laser cutting through. Is it burning out on me already? I suspect it may be related to how JPEGs keep the laser firing on and off. Maybe the lens is dirty? The inside of that cabinet can get really smokey.
I notice the outside temperature isn’t climbing, which means possibly a chilly day that must be used for floor work. Only that first panel is fixed in place, there is still lots to do. It’s those climate change people with nothing better to do with their EBT cut off. I think, there are constant rumors saying both opposites. I see the laser beam does create a slight sparkling effect when the cut reaches through, but not everywhere and not consistently.
You can’t stop to check half-way. Once a cut is complete on-screen, there is no way to see if the laser made it clean through without lifting the wood and looking underneath. Look, and you will never get it back into position exactly, so start over is faster. Brrrr, I did not mean for it to get that cold, let me check the birdie reading, the most accurate, and it says 61°F. So it is falling. I want to work, not freeze, so where is that package of small hinges? That’s something I could get into today.
Successful boat launch.
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Now a glitch in the system. A $30 [vacuum] tube order went missing. That’s two in a row, I have to rush downtown to mail it before pickup time. No way did I get that e-male and the tube guy says nothing has changed over there. dBay has somehow stopped forwarding the orders to my e-mail as arranged. No, I have not been checking the retarded eBay site, where it takes like 15 mouse clicks to find an order. And because I’ve been kind of busy this week in case nobody has noticed. These GenX people have dug themselves a very deep grave once the Boomers aren’t hear to pick up their shit.
This is the receptacle ready for installation soon as I can find the #8 cable. I know I’ve seen Romex 8/3 somewhere, so tomorrow we find it. I reinforce all my receptacles with a backing strip that braces against the wall behind. I learned this when attacking new work to old framing. I also always use the biggest box that fits, in this case a rigid double. It is dropping down to near freezing, so I won’t be handling metal boxes or wiring.
Instead, I spent some hours studying. The use of drone warfare does not surprise me, but it seems the Ukrainians have taken a lot of their opponents by surprise. We talked about this shift in warfare long ago, it’s that I thought there would be lots of examples. Most fetching to me is again, not the warfare but the weapons, how a $10,000 drone can destroy a $10,000,000 radar station, and so on. War on the cheap yet for unknown reasons, no really big news or photos.
What I’m seeking is information on the application of these attacks which we can suppose are happening all the time. Without examples, I imagine they take this form. A layered attack from several directions at once, with many decoys in the initial wave. Then the same old tactic of getting the enemy to switch on his transmitters. That gives you your first targets. Terrain following will defeat any lasers or pulse weapons by simply following natural contours. I’ve heard of drone speedboats using A.I. that can get in close by sailing down wave troughs.
Fascinating, I wanted to really get into the programming of these drones, which are made of plywood and fiberglass to avoid radar reflection. I’ve heard carbon fiber does this, but all these remain hard to research due to on-line clutter. All I have is some research papers say lining up the fibers lets the material “absorb” radar waves. We know that Russian ports have been attacked and again, too much false info and speculation. And yes, the North Koreans can have warships in the Black Sea and I know they can’t transit the Bosporus. It just means they bought them in Russia and send the crews over by the Trans-Siberian.
What’s this? Trump is planning $10,000 bonus for the fed workers who stayed on the job without pay. Those who left are encouraged to leave permanently with no severance pay. Other rumors say only to taxpayers. Any money that would go to illegals is to be withheld and used to deport them. There’s talk of a $2,000 tariff rebate though we are still waiting on the $5,000 DOGE rebate because Congress didn’t okay the USAID cuts. The tariffs could be stopped by the courts, but that would not be the wisest move now.
ADDENDUM
Cutting the toothpick holders is a real challenge. Trust me because I know I’m the only person you ever met who counted to a million. I call this the “Spokane Challenge” after a radio interview in 2003 where some lawyer types cross-examined me live on the air. They were skeptical, but believed me when I mentioned prime numbers. To save you time, I’ll summarize it. The million toothpicks (or most any objects) must be in a perfect square for most people to visualize/comprehend what they are seeing.
I’m not drawing you diagrams, I’m busy. The only convenient size to transport is four large squares with 250,000 each, which is 500 squared. No even number will work, because ten has no even factors. And once again, few hobbyists have a laser table three feet long. That means you have a choice of cutting 10x10 squares with 100 holes or 100x100 with 10,000 holes. You can do all this arithmetic, but I already have. No Josh & Tyler, it is not mathematics, just ordinary arithmetic.
It is getting really cold, folks, but I’ll see if I can lift a corner of the tarp and show you what ten thousand looks like. Stay tuned, you have probably never seen exactly that many of anything before, and not that you can see all at once. Here is a pic of a 10x10 but wood cannot be used for the end product. Toothpicks vary in diameter. The material has to be more flexible than wood. Plus the perimeter (outside frame) on this sample is far too wide.
The laser gets perceptibly out of focus even on this thin material. The scorch marks can also be seen and shown to be uneven. Yet, we know that at least some brand of hobby level laser must do the job.
