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Quorten Blog 1

First blog for all Quorten's blog-like writings

North American power plugs known as NEMA connectors. Interesting about new safety regulations, tamper-resistant plugs that use a spring-loaded shutter disconnecting the terminals. Arc fault protection that is more nuanced than circuit breaking only on current, if there is a leak through a frayed power cord for example. And leak current detection power cords that can detect if current is leaking through a frayed power cord, thus preventing a fire by that means.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector

As a curiosity, I was wondering, how are seniors handling 2020? Like, emotionally, do they think they’re making it? And well, I’ve got a bunch of interesting info.

First of all, they felt very well at the first stages of pandemic quarantine. Like, we’re all in this together. But at the same time, may of them were not taking as many precautions as they should have. But, it is the later stages that really gets them. When quarantine is being gradually lifted, they’re seeing younger citizens enjoy in-persosn socialization while they still have to be in quarantine, and they worry that they will be cast out of society in a way.

20200901/DuckDuckGo how are most seniors handling 2020
20200901/https://www.forbes.com/sites/martyswant/2020/03/13/harris-poll-us-seniors-are-least-worried-and-least-informed-about-covid-19-but-most-at-risk/
20200901/https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/25/health/seniors-distress-depression-coronavirus-pandemic/index.html

Read on →

Wow, this is a very interesting Twitter thread about how a cluster job scheduler in Sun’s Grid Engine almost got lost to time because it wasn’t a fully finished feature, but by good fortune it was kept and made public. It was hiding out for 16 years. The product of good engineering almost got lost to management politics.

20200901/https://twitter.com/freebsdfrau/status/1294385189221621761

Size limit on the box certificate? What exactly does this mean? It is a single measure specified in inches. According to Wikipedia, it is the sum of the width, height, and depth. However, trying that out on some actual boxes, the result doesn’t match the number that is filled in. Well, let’s search around to try to see how that works.

20200901/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrugated_fiberboard
20200901/DuckDuckGo box certificate size limit

Okay, we get some hints here, it is related to the calculations of dimensional “DIM” weight and planning pallet loads.

20200901/https://www.thepackagingcompany.com/knowledge-sharing/how-to-read-box-makers-certificate/
20200901/https://www.thepackagingcompany.com/knowledge-sharing/glossary/corrugate/

20200901/DuckDuckGo calculate dim weight
20200901/https://www.shipbob.com/blog/dimensional-weight-explained/

Okay, so now I know how to calculate DIM weight and now I know this method of “DIM weight” is the tool that couriers use to compensate for the fact that shipping high volume, very lightweight objects will have higher operational expenses when shipped using the same motor vehicle equipment optimized for heavier loads in their storage volume. But, I still don’t understand size limit!

Read on →

Getting more into the log information on my DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem for which my home Internet is currently connected through, I’ve found these interesting pages. Main point, if you see “T3 time-out” or “T4 time-out”, then you are having communication failures that are causing high packet losses. SYNC failure and MDD message timeout are more critical errors that means proper channel communication cannot be established.

20200831/DuckDuckGo t3 timeout
20200831/https://www.pickmymodem.com/cable-modem-t3-and-t4-timeouts-error-messages-and-how-to-fix-them/ 20200831/DuckDuckGo mdd message timeout
20200831/DuckDuckGo docsis mdd message
20200831/https://volpefirm.com/top-10-docsis-terms/

Also, during my previous searching, I’ve found some information on a defective Intel modem chipset named Puma 6. This has given both Intel and Arris a bad name as Arris has been doing a lot of business with Intel chipsets. Now, the whole “Intel Inside” marketing, now that really backfired in this case, “don’t buy any modem with Intel on the packaging” is now the adage.

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Kai Robinson’s Macintosh SE/30 reverse engineering project? Oh wow, I’ve found some contact points mentioned here I didn’t see before, after finding this discussion on 68kMLA.

20200831/https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=60523&tab=comments#comment-648024

First of all, Kai Robinson is on Twitter.

20200831/https://twitter.com/therealkr239

Second, Kai Robinson created a GitHub repository for his work on the project so far. I should really follow up on this, I would reckon it is better to have all the information in one repository if possible. Sure, yeah, that means multiple people would be contributing and there would therefore be a greater need for coordination and organization.

20200831/https://github.com/kr239/Macintosh-SE-Reloaded

Macintosh SE/30 ROM dumps? The synack.net site contains a copy of them. Interesting, and important for Macintosh SE/30 recreations.

20200831/https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=60543&tab=comments#comment-648636
20200831/http://www.synack.net/~bbraun/roms/

Read on →

Wow, really interesting article here. How are those headphone wires so cheap and thin? The answer, they use enamel-coated wire instead of standard insulation around the wiring. That also makes them more prone to breaking, of course. This article goes through what needs to be done to repair such wires should you dare solder them yourself to repair.

20200829/https://hackaday.com/2016/11/22/iron-tips-soldering-headphones-and-enamel-wire/

Okay, okay, after my first few times working with lead-free solder, specifically 99.3% tin, 0.7% copper, I’ve come to some conclusions. Yes, this solder is indeed reasonably workable under the right circumstances… it is harder to wet… but most of all, the higher melting point makes it so much harder for me to get it to melt, flow, or stick to the soldering iron at all! Yes, I’m still using my cheap fixed-temperature Radio Shack soldering iron, 750 degrees Fahrenheight. Surely due to Newton’s Law of Cooling and the like, a higher iron temperature is necessary to compensate for the fact that it takes longer to heat up and it the cooler surroundings cool down your parts faster.

So, let’s go searching the Internet, what do other folks recommend? Ah, they actually recommend doing the same as for leaded solder! 400 Celsius, 750 degrees Fahrenheight for a small tip or low-effect soldering iron. A large tip or high effect soldering iron, you don’t need such a high temperature.

20200828/DuckDuckGo tin 99 soldering iron temperature
20200828/https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/right-soldering-temperature/
20200828/https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-correct-iron-temperature-to-solder-with-99.3-tin-0.7-silver-solder?share=1

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So, I bought a flux pen, and I was ready to use it in one of my first projects with lead-free soldering. But… the tip looked dry and it didn’t really look like it was dispensing any flux at all! What giveS? Okay, okay, first thing I found out, when using a flux pen for the first time, indeed you must wet the tip, you get sold a pen with a dry tip. When wetting the tip, make sure you hold the pen upright, tip facing up, otherwise the flux wants to leak all out.

20200828/DuckDuckGo how to use a flux pen
20200828/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVD4pugOFig

Another good point, flux pens are easy to refill. Just pull off the tip of the pen, and dump your new liquid flux in there. Alternatively, flux pens are easy to empty should you wish to dispense your liquid flux by other means.

20200828/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCpuwahOnF0

Okay, okay, so I’m still not sure on how to wet the tip. Just warm water or alcohol? Okay, here is a hint. Shaking the pen up and down is useful for getting the tip wet. That makes sense since you just pour the liquid flux in after taking off the tip.

20200828/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfxF_CwqO2s

So really, I guess there’s a combination of all possible methods you can use that would be the best.

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The name of the game? Reproduce the Macintosh SE original boxing from photographs and measurements. So, let’s start out out, the data:

20200829/https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=60202&page=2&tab=comments#comment-649300
20200829/https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VzPV8MtS3qOpWC62HtaMCkKF6aeY0b5S

Now, the research. First of all, the Wikipedia article on the subject of corrugated cardboard boxes.

20200829/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrugated_fiberboard

Now, let’s look for sources on how to custom manufacture boxes and styrofoam blocks. Here’s a good one that is locally close to me for cardboard boxes, start here with one of their stock boxes, then you can move to a custom box job.

20200829/https://www.libertypackaginginc.com/services/stock-boxes-and-specialty-packing/

20200829/DuckDuckGo custom packaging styrofoam blocks

Read on →