Month: August 2018

Updates abound.

I’m starting to settle in on the design of some room dividers for the office- I don’t want to wall myself off from the world, but being able to hide the cozy coupes littering my basement might be a good thing. Currently thinking about two of them (one in whiteboard, one in cork). I’d like to have the whiteboard also be magnetic, but that’s a pain to source (according to my research thus far).

I’m back on mastodon.cloud (and mastodon.social and mastodon.xyz, while I’m at it…). It’s still weird, and I’m still not sure about finding people to follow, hashtags, and the like. Trying to read a federated timeline is like drinking from a fire hose, and I want better filtering for it, but… yeah. I’ll need to read up more. Still: twitter is… not great. @jack seems really, really ok with nazis (and whatever horrors invade the platform), and I’m increasingly less sure I need that in my life.

I’ve grown less than thrilled with my Raspberry Pi Minecraft PE server. When it’s working, it’s great. But we lose power here sometimes, and the server would… not behave on reboot. So: looking for a new/different/better solution. Also worth noting: there may not be a better solution.

I’ve been beginning to question if my current use of social media is actually improving my quality of life or not- I left Facebook years and years ago, and I’ve never really regretted it. There are parts of Instagram I still like, but I’m feeling less-than-great about the competitive nature of likes and followers and whatnot. Ditto with twitter, I think- so I’m spending some time thinking about what I actually want out of those platforms (if anything), and what (other) tools I can use to generate those outcomes (on my own terms).

I use more than one computer at home- that should be no surprise if you’ve followed along with the manifestations of the studio. But: I really only have one keyboard I like right now, and I hate unplugging/plugging to move stuff back and forth. So: I found a four-port USB2 hub that does switching- there are four “ins” on one side and two “outs” on the other, and a button to toggle between the “outs.” Now I have my keyboard and mouse (and a webcam or two) that can easily bounce between the two desktop computers. Totally worth it if you have a complicated-ish computer rig.

Rested! I should point out that I never do these in any sort of order, so don’t read into that or anything.

• I’m spending some time looking into a rack solution for bikes on one of our cars. I need to be able to carry 5 bikes for now, with provisions for a tandem eventually. Likely a combination of roof and hitch mount.
• I’m looking at moving my mountain bike drivetrain from 8spd to 11spd. It was last meaningfully updated in 2004, and 8spd was old then. It’s likely time- I’ve just done the cranks/bb/chainring, so it’d be chain, cassette, shifter, and derailleur. Likely Shimano XT, for any bike dorks reading.
• I’ve got a stack of clothes that need altering/updating/repair, so it’s time to get the sewing machine out and get working again. You’ll be shocked to hear I’m thinking about shoulder bags again.
• Working on some sketches/plans for room dividers for the studio. It’s a bit room, and being able to partition it a bit would be pretty useful (and also as backgrounds when I do web calls…), so I’m putting a bit of thought in here with these. I’d like them to be useful, too, so likely two: one whiteboard and one cork board. I’d like the whiteboard to be magnetic, too.
• I got to spend some time playing with some Adafruit goodies while I was away- they’re super neat. I’m starting to have some ideas about what I can do with some of them, so keep your eyes peeled for upcoming projects.

Updates abound.

• I’ve taken some time off from building things recently- I’ve been in a fix and tie-up-loose-ends zone, and while that feels good, it’s likely time to get back to cranking out projects. I can only focus on studio infrastructure for so long.
• The new antenna setup for the SDR is up and running, and I can (finally) hear stations! Yay! I’m listening to NWS right now. Of course, I saw a super neat Raspberry Pi & Touchscreen version of this setup, so that was pretty tempting…
• The mountain bike got a new crankset- it’s lovely. It’s the first external bearning crankset I’ve ever owned- I know, I know, I’m two decades late. I didn’t really think I’d be able to feel a difference, but it’s totally stiffer. Sadly, it throws the chain, now, so I’ve got a chainguide incoming later today. And replacement bearings for my old bottom bracket are incoming, too, and that means I can get the gravel bike up and running again. And I’ve got some excellent solid gold bidons (water bottles) coming from the obviously excellent Gladys Bike Shop.
• I’m going on vacation in a bit, so I’m trying to finish gearing up for that. Camera odds and ends, diving masks, sun block, etc. It’s almost as if there’s no end to the madness.