Our new home in Hawai’i is slowly coming together. I expect my current list of projects will take most of a decade to complete, but I can take small steps for now. Eventually, the home will completely eschew the idea of burning anything for energy. Transportation, heating, cooling, cooking, water filtration and heating, garden tools, and the hot tub will all be 100% electric, and the electricity will come from the sun.
When I first heard about 3-D printing, one of my first thoughts was that it could be used to make repair parts for any equipment that has small, specialized plastic pieces (usually injection molded) that are difficult to produce, stock, inventory, catalog, and sell. In the glorious future I foresaw, appliances would come with .stl files for all their little proprietary plastic parts. It would enhance repairability while unburdening the supply chain from having to manage all the little pieces that are then saddled with high logistical costs. Continue reading
My latest project, QRazy.fun (“crazy-fun”) is now open for public beta. It’s a simple site that lets you slap a pre-printed QR code label on anything, then give it a label and description using any smart phone. It’s free. There is no app to install. There are no ads. There is no tracking or collection of personal information.
A family member recently asked me about password managers. As it happened, I had recently had a string of Very Bad Experiences with same, so had been thinking about it entirely too much. Here’s how I answered:
It’s time to pay off some technical debt!
I have been running an email server since forever. Way back in 2004 I switched Linux distros to the newly-hatched Ubuntu. There were things I liked about it, particularly when they started offering long-term support (LTS) versions that would receive updates for years. I was running Postfix for the MTA and Dovecot for the user-facing side, and everything went really well. Every two years, a new LTS release of Ubuntu would come out, I would upgrade and spend most of a day cleaning up the inevitable rough edges, and Life Was Good™.
tl;dr a sprinkling of baby powder curbed my shoes’ evil sock-eating tendencies
I have been plagued with foot pain for as long as I can remember. As a consequence, I have tried countless different kinds of shoes, from cheap to pricey, but have worn flip-flops or gone barefoot most of my life. I’d estimate I have spent over $10,000 on shoes and never found a comfortable pair… until last year. I had been wearing some Oofos flip-flops that I found remarkably comfortable, and discovered that they sold shoes as well. I decided to try a pair.
My favorite way to make coffee is cold brew, but I do enjoy cappuccino. Since moving in with my betrothed, I have grown accustomed to having her DeLonghi Magnifica (ESAM3300) espresso machine at hand. Continue reading
When I moved here a bit over a year ago, the rural mailbox on the curb was a mess. It was a standard metal box on top of a steel pole. At some point, someone had hit the pole and bent it. The box itself was dented, tarnished and had hardware-store stick-on numbers plastered to it. Then, to make matters worse, my future father-in-law backed his truck into the pole, bending it even further. Amazingly, it was still usable but it looked terrible.
The plan was to hike the Dipsea trail, a delightful 7+ mile walk from Mill Valley, California to Stinson beach. Wikipedia says:
The Dipsea is well known for its scenic course and challenging trails.[32] The race starts on Throckmorton Avenue in Mill Valley, near Miller Avenue, in front of the old train depot (now a bookstore). After traversing a few blocks in Mill Valley’s downtown, runners climb 688 stairs[33] (now 700 stairs, after the renovation of the middle section in Nov 2017) leading up the side of Mount Tamalpais, and then pass through Muir Woods National Monument, Mount Tamalpais State Park, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
I had an adventure preparing holiday meals.
