Je ne parle pas français

(October 5, 2023)

Two months ago, I decided to learn French (so that I could read more comics by Chantal Montellier). I wanted to try using an app this time, because I’ve pondered learning French before, but after looking at a textbook, I somehow always found myself cleaning the kitchen stove instead. I’m just saying. It’s hard to … Continue reading Je ne parle pas français

Useful Consumer Review

(July 24, 2014)

When doing screen printing, the only timing sensitive thing is really the emulsion exposure time.  I keep forgetting, so I bought a physical timer to remind me. I wanted something really simple, but something that didn’t make a tick… tick… noise, so I got this Jacob Jensen thing. And the user interface is quite nice.  … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review

Useful Consumer Review

(July 15, 2014)

I thought that getting an EyeFi card for my camera would make blogging easier.  I mean, just snap a picture, and then it’s transferred to your computer automatically?  Result! But the range of the wifi in the EyeFi card is pitiful. You have to leave the camera less than a couple of meters from the … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review

Useful Consumer Review

(July 13, 2014)

Anything that’s wireless doesn’t work. But there’s degrees of not-working-ness.  I’ve had wireless keyboards that drops one in every five keystrokes even though the receiver is only a meter away, and I have keyboards that drop only one in twenty keystrokes over a range of ten meters. But the most problematic wireless gear is wifi.  … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review

Useful Consumer Review

(July 6, 2014)

I bought an HP Officejet 7110 (which is an A3 inkjet printer) to print stuff for screenprinting and the like.  It prints out nicely onto normal paper, but whenever I tried printing onto any type of plastic (transparencies for screenprinting or vinyl for t-shirt transfers) it creates these annoying lighter horizontal lines: After trying all … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review

The Sony NWZ-W273 Walkman Isn’t Very Well Made

(June 7, 2014)

I bought a new Walkman the other week.  I was quite impressed, and I remained impressed until I started to use them. After wearing them for half an hour, the volume in the right speaker dropped down to almost nothing.  It kinda varies, but it’s very very low. I binged, and apparently this happens a … Continue reading The Sony NWZ-W273 Walkman Isn’t Very Well Made

Useful Consumer Review

(May 31, 2014)

Sony has a newish version of their “sporty” headphones branded “Walkman” (or “NWZ-W273”).  They have a built-in mp3 player.  I’ve got big headphones with built-in mp3 players, but it would be nice to have a pair in a more convenient form factor. I bought the previous Sony iteration, but they were huge and fell out … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review

Useful Consumer Review

(May 24, 2014)

The interwebs have been all abuzz with a funky new Ikea lamp (IKEA PS 2014, designed by D Wahl).  But I bought one anyway. I love Lego, so putting this lamp together was fun.  It’s over 50 parts. It made of plastic, so it feels very cheap. It expands/contracts in a very plastic-ey way.  Doesn’t … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review

Useful Consumer Review

(March 19, 2014)

I need a wireless USB HID button (to take movie snapshots, of course), so I bought this Logitech Cube “presenter”. I need a range of about five meters, so all wireless input devices are kinda chancy. Epic unboxing sequence: So… does it work in Linux? Yes, but no. It generates a Prior event if you … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review

Useful Consumer Review

(March 15, 2014)

My old tv machine worked ok, but it was too slow to play the files MakeMKV ripped from BluRay disks. So I bought a new one from QuietPC. I’ve bought a couple from them before, and they seem to make reliable, fanless machines. So here are the notes on problems getting the video working under … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review

Useful Consumer Review

(July 7, 2013)

I’ve got a computer in the kitchen (as one does), but it’s very difficult to get Ethernet cabling to where it’s at.  So I’ve been using a Devolo dLAN Highspeed Ethernet II home plug network-via-powerline plug. And it totally sucks.  Sure, it’s slow, but worse is the latency and unreliability.  I’m using it for NFS … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review

Review of The Enduring Flame part 3: The Phoenix Transformed by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

(January 19, 2013)

Oh, Brando

(September 9, 2011)

I bought some USB3->SATA adapters from Brando.  They came with US->Euro plug adapters.  (Yes, the adapters had adapters with adapters.  Geez.) See if you can spot the problem. In addition, the speed I get when ripping CDs via these adapters is, as they say, teh sux. Oh, well.  It’s not as if I actually expected … Continue reading Oh, Brando

Sennheiser HDR 180

(April 11, 2011)

Headphones cradled on the charging cradle Most hardware seems to have been created in a “will this do?” mind set.  They have a bit of technology, and they have some economic restraints, and then they rush it to market.  It makes perfect sense, and I can’t envision that it’ll ever change, but it’s somewhat depressing. … Continue reading Sennheiser HDR 180

Synology DS409 RAID is Crap

(April 3, 2011)

Do you see that thing over there?  The Synology Disk Station DS409?  It’s crap. It’s not the usual hardware RAID problems that make it so crappy.  Yes, it’s slow.  Painfully slow.  Yes, it has a weird Linux kernel that, somehow, manages to do put all NFS clients into df: `/mirror’: Permission denied if you change … Continue reading Synology DS409 RAID is Crap