We have an old iPod that was working for a long time but has suddenly started displaying the sad face and refusing to boot. Because I am a nerd and I like to fix 13-year-old things, I poked around the interwebs to see if there was a replacement hard drive I could install. Apparently they stopped making hard drives for this iPod about 5 years ago, because my usual go-to parts resource had none. I then stumbled upon an Instructable which claims I can replace the drive with a Compact Flash card using a CF to SD adapter. Amazon Prime had one for $7, and I have an old 4GB CF card laying around that I can test with, so that was a no-brainer. After following the directions and adding a CF card through the adapter I’m still getting the sad folder icon–so it might be time to replace the battery.

Update: New battery, same problem. I think this thing is toast.

Date posted: May 31, 2017 | Filed under apple, geek | Leave a Comment »

This case has been called the Citizens United of products, but this time the Supreme Court actually came down on the side of the people instead of the corporations.

I didn’t expect this result, but the Supreme Court just ruled in favor of consumers in the Impression v. Lexmark case, which basically says companies can’t enforce US patent rights abroad–the result of which means we’ll have cheaper foreign-manufactured generic drugs and, yes, cheaper ink cartridges.

Date posted: May 30, 2017 | Filed under general, shortlinks | Leave a Comment »

Queens of the Stone Age is going to release a new album…soon.

Homme described the forthcoming record as “uptempo,” and whereas 2013’s …Like Clockwork was “about making it through, this time we’ve made it through the other side and we’re ready to roll.”

Date posted: May 25, 2017 | Filed under music, shortlinks | Leave a Comment »

This is the Mayor of New Orleans, addressing the press about his decision to remove four confederate statues in the city. This speech says so much so well.

These statues are not just stone and metal. They are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. These monuments purposefully celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy; ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement, and the terror that it actually stood for.

It’s long but I encourage you to listen to the whole thing.

Date posted: May 23, 2017 | Filed under politics | Leave a Comment »

When I tell people that I’m starting to exercise, I don’t tell them that I’m running. Because I’m not running. I went out and bought the expensive shoes, and even some expensive sport socks that are supposed to wick the sweat away from my feet. And even some sporty shorts that will replace the irregular basketball shorts I bought at a long-defunct Champion outlet in Binghampton 20 years ago. I tell people that I’m working up to running, because I can only get 1-2 minute spurts in before I’ve got to slow down and let the puking feeling subside. I’m following a very loose and forgiving plan where I run as long as it feels good and then stop to continue walking, as long as I keep walking and stick with a schedule. So far I’ve been out four days out of seven and I’m still alive even if all my joints are sore and it hurts to climb stairs; this activity on top of my regular weekly chores around the house adds up to continual soreness. However, I think I’m feeling an uptick in my overall energy level, and I think my brain feels a little less fuzzy. I’ll check back in at the end of Week 2.

Saturday morning, after walking, I jumped in the car and checked out the local yard sales while the girls slept. In the line at Dunkin Donuts I ran into a neighbor who asked what I was out looking for, and I told him I had my eye out for a cheap set of speakers, among other things. He looked surprised and told me he had a pair in his garage he’d give me. We made plans to meet up later, and went our separate ways.

Out on the street, I found a handtruck with two flat tires and got it for $10 (I’ve been looking for one for years but unwilling to pay $80 for it), a gravel rake for $2, and a half-size practice guitar for Finn for $9. The hope is that maybe I’ll dust off my guitar and she and I can sit and practice together, and get each other motivated.

A post shared by @idiotking on

When I got back, the girls and I cleaned the weeds from between the bricks on the front walk and then swept two bags of sand into the joints, capping off that job. Then I went to get my hair cut and drove back to the house with six bales of straw in the Scout for use as a raised garden base. We gave up on the fenced-in mudpit garden a while ago, but Finley has been asking for a vegetable garden of her own for a couple of years. This approach keeps the weeds up out of the plants and is easier to work with; I sure hope so. We pulled the fence down, weeded the pit, and set the hay up as directed. Then I stopped over to pick up the speakers: a set of bookshelf KLHs, perfect for use in the garage with the dumpster Denon on the shelf out there. I enlisted Finley’s help to get the wheels on the handtruck pumped up, and they held air well until this morning when I found them both flat again. Upon further research, I need some tire bead sealant to paint the rims with first, and that should solve the problem.

Then we hit the shower and got dressed up to see a local concert: the Columbia Orchestra had a symphonic pops program with music from Lawrence of Arabia, West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago, and Rocky, among others, but we were really there to see the two selections from The Force Awakens. That was after the intermission, so we sat through the other performances, including two high-school students who did complex solo pieces with orchestral accompaniment–and were amazing. I will admit, the sound of the strings tuning at the beginning, and the lush sweep of a full orchestra had me thinking back to my days on stage, and I felt a strong desire to go find an upright bass on Craigslist and audition. But I’ve got enough stuff to do right now, thank you.

DSCF6600

Sunday I got the lawn mowed and raked wood chips out of the grass for the third time; there are now seven bags of assorted lawn debris in the backyard waiting to be hauled away. The patches of mud back there are looking better now, but I’m waiting for some grass to grow back in. I’ll have to seed it all and throw some more straw down next week to get things kickstarted.

DSCF6596

Then we joined some friends for a hike in the woods after lunchtime. The weather was cool, so we weren’t sweating our butts off, but we got out for a good three hours with some water time and a close encounter with a freight train before heading home.

Date posted: May 23, 2017 | Filed under family, house | Leave a Comment »

Four knots every filmmaker person should know.

Date posted: May 22, 2017 | Filed under general, shortlinks | Leave a Comment »

Date posted: May 22, 2017 | Filed under general | Leave a Comment »

Well, that’s interesting. A federal court overturned the law that required drone pilots to register with the FAA. As a sometime drone pilot, I’m happy I don’t have to fill out forms just to take pictures of my own house.

Date posted: May 21, 2017 | Filed under photography, shortlinks | Leave a Comment »

A post shared by @idiotking on

Hey, that’s pretty cool: The Washington Post used this Instagram photo I took of a cicada yesterday for a quick video they produced about Brood X coming up early.

Date posted: May 19, 2017 | Filed under photo | Leave a Comment »

So all three main sections of Good Carb are washed and drying on the bench. I dunked them each in Simple Green for a couple of days and then scrubbed them with a toothbrush, and 99% of the crud came right off. After a rinse with warm water, they look close to brand new. I’m going to let them dry completely and then start tearing down and replacing parts next week.

→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.

Date posted: May 18, 2017 | Filed under Carburetor, Scout | Comments Off on Carburetor Doctor, Part 4