Solar 4: System Complete

[This is the fourth in a series of articles describing installation of a solar hot water system.] System Start The plumbing is all connected and leak-free. Now let’s put coolant in the system and see if we get heat! Ordinarily we might use equal parts propylene glycol (not the more poisonous ethylene glycol) and water, … Read more

Random Friday: What We Have Read 8

From my reading journal. We haven’t posted from the r-j for a while, so will catch up over the next few weeks. 6/16/08 Fortune’s Formula William Poundstone John Kelly at Bell Labs develops a strategy of risk management, applied at blackjack by MIT mathematician Edward O Thorp. Later he applies the same concept to hedge … Read more

More Sagebrush

So need more “Sagebrush” blogs? The Sagebrush Variety Show, audio theater with political satire and commentary The Nevada Sagebrush, student voice of University of Nevada, Reno Parsley & Sagebrush Band, bluegrass combo Sagebrush & Serendipity, personal blog of artemisia Sagebrush Wisdom, “common sense thoughts from the country” Sagebrush Valentine, 6 artists with 1 title create … Read more

Requiem for Analog TV

Noted author Bruce Sterling presents a eulogy for analog TV, at the Berkeley Art Museum, February 17 2009. [flash http://vimeo.com/3069388] [video link] kudos boingboing Previously: Analog TV Shutdown Delayed, Lurching Toward Digital, Switching to Digital TV

Solar 3: Connecting

[This is the third in a series of articles describing installation of a solar hot water system.] With the panel now securely mounted on the roof, we can turn our attention to plumbing. With an electronics background, I have done plenty of soldering– but only wires, not copper pipe. YouTube has several videos demonstrating the … Read more

Analog TV Shutdown Delayed

US Congress approved a delay from the planned February 17 shutdown of broadcast analog TV signals to a new deadline of June 12. The President is expected to sign the measure into law. From the Washington Post: The Federal Communications Commission has said that centers set up to answer consumer questions about the conversion were … Read more

WIFI Theremin

Midnight Research Labs describes a nifty theremin hack implemented by detecting signal strength of a WIFI signal. Python source is available to examine. link [kudos HackADay] Bonus Hack: Zevv implements an ultrasonic theremin, emitting ultrasonic chirps from laptop speakers,  detecting reflection to the microphone, and driving a tone generator.