General

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

Voyager 510 Headset USB Charger

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We often use a Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset with our computer, so we can a) listen to streaming video/audio without inflicting our choices nearby innocents,  and b) remain untied by a corded headset when we jump up with sudden inspiration. A previous post explored building a USB charger for our cell phone, and we … Read more

OS Wars Film Festival

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[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noe3kR8KqJc] [video link] [flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDc9I3z7ab4] [video link] [flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9WP8Zwu260] [video link] [flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX8yrOAjfKM] [video link] Related Posts: Tech Support Film Festival, Theremoid FilmFest, Theremin Video Film Festival

Solar 2: Mounting the Panel

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[This is the second in a series of articles describing installation of a solar hot water system.] The solar panel was not in stock at AAASolar, so we had to wait a couple of weeks for it to be freighted to the shop. We have access to a truck, so we could pick up the … Read more

Solar 1

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Sagebrush Systems “world headquarters” is fortunate to be located in a building with passive solar heating. A large expanse of south-facing windows direct sunlight onto adobe walls and bare brick floors for heat storage. The furnace hasn’t been turned on for over a decade, so we save a good deal on heating costs. (In full … Read more

No Way

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Noism: the practice of referring to oneself in the plural as “we”. “Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial ‘we’.” Mark Twain (image courtesy Wikimedia Commons) We do this a lot when blogging…

QR

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How do you read QR codes if you don’t have a mobile phone handy? This on-line reader will run on your JVM (Java Virtual Machine).

Smart Wind Chimes

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Lufdesign presents the design concept of a wind-bell that swings to sound (instead of electronic reproduction) when a message is received. The chime body and pendulum may display message content and name of sender. [flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzJGTYgZGJE] [video link] [kudos Gizmodo]