It is a busy spring weekend around our house trying to get a few thing in order before the big day next Saturday … 4.13.13 – Katelyn and Drew’s wedding. Lots to get done before I put on the tux (picked it up already) and walk my daughter down the aisle; it is hard to believe my little girl is old enough to be getting married, even though she has graduated from medical school and will soon be in her final residency year. Time rushes on.
For me, I still see her as my “little” girl on the boat (Brenich in 1986 above, Tulla in the 90’s above right), smiling while playing on the beach (with a VW below), or hiking together on one of our many family vacations (Montana with Taylor below right).
We’re hardly sputtering along when it comes to getting Americans back to work. One wonders why we bother to spend so much money on government when our over compensated bureaucrats only add to the problem. If it were not so frustrating and painful, government’s adding “programs,” meddling with tax rates and monetary policy and out of control wasteful spending would be comical. When it comes to fixing the economy, we’d be better off letting the chips fall where they may. I’m starting to lean towards a Libertarian philosophy and letting capital markets and charity deal with our woes; it is pretty obvious that bureaucrats are making a mess of things.
U.S. employers added jobs at the slowest pace in nine months in March, suggesting weakening economic growth as higher taxes and government spending cuts weigh on the labor market.
Employers added 88,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.6%, largely because of people dropping out of the work force.
While setting up the iPad with my new (old 30 pin version) AV adapter and Kiosk Pro app, I decided to check out the new Slingbox on my workshop TV. Wow … it streamed from my HD cable box over WiFi just fine and improved the quality of the picture too.
As for programing the required HTML code for the Kiosk Pro slide presentation, well … let’s just say I need to spend a little more time figuring things out. It works, but lacks the tweaks, security and privacy features I was looking for. Still, for $4.99, it is a nice app … especially compared to buying a new version of Adobe Creative Suite or a Microsoft Office for the PC or iMac.
Apple shareholders have a lot to grumble about when it comes to stock price and a lack of immediacy in addressing investors. Some are questioning if “they still know what they are doing” and I can’t help but be a little bit disappointed with rumors that next quarter’s iPhone release will maintain the “smaller” form … although a “mini” iPhone might be interesting? Personally I’m fine with the current iPhone 5’s size … or even the previous generations, but it must be exceedingly clear to Apple executives that a lot of smartphone buyers want bigger screens?
“Apple plans to begin production of a refreshed iPhone similar in size and shape to its current one in the second quarter of the year, according to people familiar with the device’s production, teeing up a possible summer launch for the next version of its flagship device.” LINK
Here’s a tip posted by Lee Jennings titled “Rusty Nuts.” Excellent tips although mine is a repost of a repost.
I ran across this a while ago in a post from the (Twin City DX Association) The info could prove useful the next time you run across an “impossible to loosen” nut on a tower.
“Machinist’s Workshop” recently published information on various penetrating oils. The magazine reports they tested these products for “break out torque” on rusted nuts and bolts. A subjective test was made of popular penetrating oils, with the unit of merit being the torque required to remove the nut from a “scientifically rusted” bolt.
Average torque load to loosen nut:
No Oil used ……………………516 foot pounds
WD-40 ………………… ……..238 foot pounds
PB Blaster …………………….214 foot pounds
Liquid Wrench ………………….127 foot pounds
Kano Kroil …………………….106 foot pounds
ATF/Acetone mix…………………. 53 foot pounds
The ATF/Acetone mix is a “home brew” mix of 50/50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note this “home brew” released bolts better than any commercial product in this one particular test.
Our local machinist group mixed up a batch, and we all now use it with equally good results. Note also that Liquid Wrench is almost as good as Kroil for 20% of the price. ATF/Acetone mix is best, but you can also use ATF and lacquer thinner in a 50/50 mix. ATF = Any type of Automatic Transmission Fluid. This was in one of the Military Vehicle Club newsletters.www.homeshopmachinist.net/home
With the weather improving and Katelyn and Drew’s wedding only two weeks away, expect fewer blog posts. Katelyn was home again for Easter weekend and we enjoyed our time together working on programs, etc. I’ve continued to plug away at my wagon project and am beginning to wonder what I was thinking waiting until the last few weeks … oh, that’s right, my workshop was flooded!
We also enjoyed meeting up with Taylor for an Easter dinner as well as checking in by phone with our parents. Brenda also gave Katelyn and Drew our wedding present a few days early.
I’m still adapting to a new computer and trying not to burn out my eyes on this bright and large 27” monitor, but after the adjustment I think I’m going to enjoy using the new iMac for both OSX and Windows 7 chores (via Parallels Desktop 8). The new four cored 3.4 GHz Intel i7 chipped iMac is replacing both my old G4 Mac (not used much) and my older Dell desktop … both which still had large CRT displays. I’ve yet to retire my Mac Mini since it is still functioning satisfactorily … but doubt will see much use after a few weeks of using this speedy machine (I contemplated a new Mac Mini but opted for the iMac).
The big plus at first glance is the clean Apple design and giant crisp display – this one is my second computer since the first last week had bad pixels. The tremendous speed is also something of an eye-opener and I’m sure it will be appreciated when I start crunching a little video. Boot and program load times are lightning fast and helped by the 1TB hybrid Fusion drive.
Unfortunately not all is perfect since the machine doesn’t come with an optical drive or run much of the aging but expensive software I had previously invested in. It is hard to justify a powerful 64 bit machine if I’m only running apps in the cloud or a few light duty programs. I may as well start budgeting for an update to Final Cut Pro X, some new Apple downloads (Aperture perhaps?),Adobe’s Creative Suite (CS) upgrades and maybe the old standby Microsoft’s Office products – the later I might hold off on. For now, I’ll limp along with the versions I can figure out how to install and the online apps.
Another surprise was how much virtual machines have improved. I was use to running from Bootcamp on my Mac Mini, and I can say Parallel’s Desktop 8 is shockingly great. For those of you needing fingers in both Apple and Microsoft’s operation systems (or Linux for that matter), Parallels on a high performance Mac is the way to go. It might be because I’m use to my old slow Windows machines, but Windows 7 running on the iMac is amazing. Stay tuned for more pluses and minuses.
A filler blog post … just heavily forwarded “Food For Thought” email.
If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally …you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If the only school curriculum allowed to explain how we got here is evolution, but the government stops a $15 million construction project to keep a rare spider from evolving to extinction … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor or check out a library book, but not to vote who runs the government … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If an 80-year-old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If children are forcibly removed from parents who discipline them with spankings while children of addicts are left in filth and drug infested “homes”… you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing and free cell phones … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If the government’s plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working with 99 weeks of unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can’t find work … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
Glad to see updates for SlingPlayer, but considering I have the “350” and my biggest complaint has yet to be addressed — no “audio-only” — I’m still disappointed. Not everyone lives in 4G or LTE land! Even the original Slingbox had support for audio on all devices including my Palm Treo!
