Solar 4: System Complete

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[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

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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

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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

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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

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[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

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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

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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.