I guess with the US election coming closer I shouldn’t be surprised but I’ve had to unfollow a number of people this week because they posted and reposted political content. Not something I need to see.

I strongly support use of CW (Content Warning) on such posts.

How come nobody told me???

Just discovered there is a newer FOSS software package that replaces the venerable, but aged, Pi-Star software for digital voice modes (hotspots, mmdvm). Not sure how I missed knowing of this. It looks great and has a solid reputation. I just ordered a radio module to use with a spare Pi so I will build it out and give it a try next week.

The WPSD Project - W0CHP.radio w0chp.radio/wpsd/

In my cruise through online evening news the results of several Olympic events I intended to watch tonight were revealed. Not good for their viewership numbers. 🤷🏼‍♂️📺

Sleep annoyance

The past few days something is causing my nasal passages to close up while I’m sleeping so my sleep quality is crap. Air quality is fine and pollen counts overall are low. But ragweed is rated “high” so I guess I’ll blame that. So far no good solutions for night time. Afrin is the last resort but the rebound effect is far too real.

My social media’s all about the poop these days. But here's another kind…

In this case my wife suggested a holder for our dog poop cleanup bags which made a quick fun project. My MK4 handles flex, TPU-like, filament like a champ so I decided to use flex for the cap material to get a snug fit with a nice feel and texture. We keep this at the exit through the back door.

https://www.printables.com/model/952199-po

I finally took the plunge and bought my first DMR radio. In my case I went with a Baofeng on sale during Amazon Prime. I didn’t even boot it up out of the box and instead immediately flashed the open source OpenGD77 firmware. I’ve heard great things about it and my first impression is very positive.

github.com/open-ham/OpenGD77

As the day winds down we have remained completely unaffected by the Cloudstrike error. I’d never have known it happened if not for the news. Until next time.

In the final exciting episode of fixing my fridge door:
❌ Thin socket

❌ Crescent wrench

❌ Opened ended wrench

✅ 30 minutes of careful work using a tiny Dremel router tip to remove plastic around the head

I try to avoid using a destructive method but this time I saw no alternative. At least it is job done.

My attempt to repair our fridge door was foiled.

The gold-colored screw on the left is inset into a plastic piece with insufficient gap to allow my socket to go around the head. I tried forcing it a bit but had to give that up for fear of breaking it. I also tried using pliers but although I could get a grip I could not turn it.

Any suggestions for what I could use to get this off? They obviously screwed it on at the factory so there has to be a solution. Help greatly appreciated!

I’ve owned a couple of Prusa 3D printers and I’m a big fan of the printers and company. I almost never post a referral thingy but I’m making an exception for their MK4 promotion running until July 16th. Use this link (prusa3d.com/product/original-p) to get the assembled Mk4 with 100 extra Prusameters toward a free filament spool in addition to an additional 1 year of warranty and free shipping. It’s a good deal IMO. And yes I would get a few Prusamenters as well if it is your first Prusa.

I’m in desperate need of decompression thereby justifying 🍷 🍷

Lovely sky as I headed out to exercise.

A small metal piece on the bottom of our 2 year old fridge door broke off. It’s job is to keep the door from opening too far so it’s critical. After a bunch of deep searching I found the part number and even found a shop that had it in stock. Feeling like a boss just getting this far. Installing the part will involve taking the door off. Hopefully I’ll still feel like a boos when I try the repair next week.

RADIUS was pretty crappy in the best of situations. That it is still in heavy use is rather mind-blowing.

New Blast-RADIUS attack breaks 30-year-old protocol used in networks everywhere | Ars Technica arstechnica.com/security/2024/

A year ago I built the QDX Digital Transceiver (qrp-labs.com/qdx.html) from a kit. It was a bit challenging since I never built this kind of analog device before but it worked and I ran it for FT8 occasionally and WSPR mode constantly. Eventually the power output dropped and rather than diagnose it I put it in retirement. Today I head they have a QMX+ 160-6m, 5W multi-mode transceiver kit which looks and sounds quite cool. Looking forward to building it!⚡️

We’re going to have 7 extra people joining our house of 5 = 12 hot bodies in a heat wave. Please bless our air conditioner. 😝

The daughter of my wife’s oldest sister is one of them. The sister died in childbirth and the father took the child away. We never met her or even knew her name and location until finding her online last year. She is coming with 3 of her family who we also haven’t met. We’re all a bit nervous about the visit so 🤞🏼.

I frequently see Apple criticized for making 8GB of RAM the standard on Macs. I’ve had my M2 mac Mini for over 6 months now, with the stock 8GB of RAM, and never once has that shown to be an issue. I can easily run a handful of Mac apps, Fusion 360 for CAD design and Windows in a Parallels VM at the same time and it doesn’t choke. All the talk nearly convinced me to upgrade to 16GB. Glad I didn’t bother.

I got my new car and I’m now in CarPlay heaven. The 11.6” screen is damn stunning.

The insurance company just called to inform me my car was totaled. I don’t have the settlement amount yet but I need to think about options. Bad timing as we have 7 people coming from out of town to visit next. 😭💔

In happier news – when I joined Printables.com December of 2022 I thought there was no way I’d ever earn enough points (350) for a free spool of filament. But I did get a freebie last year because when you first join Prusa “juices” points earning quite a bit. Lacking any further “boosts” I thought I’d never earn a 2nd free spool. Yet today I was notified I had indeed earned a second. Shipping costs are pretty high so I won’t redeem it until I need to order several other things.

Today has not been a good one. A woman t-boned my car ‘because her view was blocked by another car’. 🤷🏼‍♂️ She also said she was emotional because she just found out she’s pregnant. I got the impression that was unwelcome news to her. Fortunately no apparent injuries and she admitted fault to the police. Guess that’s the best to hope for. Hopefully the insurance doesn’t total my car.

Every time I see a Kenwood TH-D75 HT I want one. I can’t justify the $$$ price but the good thing about is transceivers hold their value really well so I could “rent” one for a year and then resell it for not much of a loss. I’ve sold 3 radios over the past few years and done well enough.

A rant about Brown

I hate hate hate UPS delivery and some companies don’t give customers a choice. UPS is so often late with packages and making it worse they lose track of packages making tracking useless. In today’s case an expected gift is MIA.

Yes, this indeed is just a first world person’s pointless rant. But I feel better now. 😆

I really enjoy the convenience of iCloud’s “hide my email” feature. So little friction I always use it and can then easily identify who sold/leaked my disposal email address. And instant block them.

Some people might be interested in the details.

The latest MacBook Pro beats my high-end PC for content creation engadget.com/the-latest-macboo engadget.com/the-latest-macboo