I’ve been invited to have a guest DJ set for All Tomorrow’s Parties on WVUD 91.3FM in Newark, DE. It’s simultaneously exciting and terrifying. The theme is synthpop, new wave and the Fairlight CMI. I’ve attempted to put together some cuts that I enjoy myself while trying to weave some threads through the artists.
I’ll be on Tuesday June 23, 2015 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm EDT.
I recently purchased a Geiger counter kit from Goldmine Electronics. I soldered everything together; attaching the Geiger tube was the trickiest as it’s not actually soldered to the board, just ”
strapped” with some wire in three places. One end of the tube is the positive (+) side and the entire center of the tube is negative (-).
I turned it on but couldn’t think of anything to test it with. It would occationally click every now and then but that’s normal background radiation. Then I remembered I had this bowl in the cupboard. I knew the the old 1930’s Fiestaware red/orange color was radioactive because they used uranium oxides in the glaze. This bowl isn’t Fiestaware but it’s probably just as old.
I won’t be eating from it again.
I’ve been cleaning house lately. One thing on the chopping block was my massive collection of VHS tapes that I’ve accumulated over the years. Since they’ve been stashed in the basement and I haven’t needed anything from the collection in several years, I decided it was time to part with it.
But, as with any media, you should wipe it first. Sure, I could use a bulk eraser (which I have access to). The problem is they are not 100% effective. You get a sine-wave affect on picture clarity usually. Plus they make an unholy sound when running, tend to smell from the heat and cause chew up electricity rapidly. I also read that big magnets from speakers are effective.
But the only way to be 100% sure is to stripe them. So I’ve acquired a few VHS decks (they’re not hard to find, look under “Good Will” as they are currently overrun with them, having been kicked out of the living room by DVD– don’t worry, you’re next DVD). The decks will now serve to erase my whole collection. And they’ll most likely never play another tape again when it’s through.
After that, maybe to the Good Will, or maybe I’ll glue them together into a chair. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.
Yep, it’s official. We’ve moved to the WordPress blogging platform, a new server and a new hostname. Life on the Video Ranch is dead. Long live LOTVR.
It took a little bit of twiddling to get the old blog posts over to the new server and ingested (or indigestion) properly but it’s worth it. The comments didn’t make their way over yet, still trying to figure that one out.
The bonus is I’ll be able to blog from the iPhone, +1 internets.
Click for a larger view of our tree. Have a safe and joyous holiday season everyone!
File under “the lights went out,” this Phonofone II will passively amplify your iPod earbuds into sound that is audible in a room. It claims to do so at 55db which is pretty good but won't rock the house. $500 even and it too can be yours when the economy collapses and the coal runs out. Good luck charging your iPod, though.
Link. Thanks, Jeff!
This blog posting claims that spraying Listerine will repel or even kill mosquitoes. I'll have to try this next summer. The mosquitoes make it really unpleasant to be outside in the evening at the peak of summer.
I found this video on a Hack A Day post in the comments. It's a wonderful visual guide of how to solder correctly but also why you should do it this way.