Bart's Notebook

Friday, July 29, 2011

Where's that kid?

The other day, we're looking around for Greggory--not sure where he is. Oh wait, is that him in the cuddle swing?

He's unusually quiet--usually making a racket. Let's get a little closer...

Hmmm--I'm hearing some music and talking. What's going on in there?

Ah-hah! Phineas and Ferb.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Mac OS 10.7 (Lion) -- a random compatibility list

I installed Mac OS 10.7 on the first day--sort of a risk for me because I use my Mac for engineering and corporate stuff and a lot of that stuff can be finicky about the particulars of the OS (in addition to various photography apps).

I had previously installed Python 2.7.2 (32-bit mode) and it's still working fine. It appears that Lion is shipping with 2.7.1 which is probably 64-bit.

Speaking of 64-bit, the National Instruments VISA driver doesn't work with the 64-bit kernel on OS 10 (Lion or Snow Leopard), so if you will be doing VISA stuff in Python, you'll need to boot your computer while holding down the "3" and "2" keys so you get the 32-bit kernel.

The following also work fine with the default 64-bit kernel

Matlab (R2011a)

Qucs (version 0.0.15)

Cisco Anyconnect Client (3.0.2052)

Gerbv (open source circuit board gerber-viewer)

GPSBabelFE

Photomatix Pro was just updated to 4.1 which works on 10.7

Apps with Issues:

PhotoLinker (2.2.9) does not work on 10.7 but there is a Beta that does work (2.5b1)

GPSPhotoLinker (1.6.4) (free version of PhotoLinker) does not work on 10.7

Bart

Friday, January 29, 2010

Chocolate Fest

This weekend is the Chocolate Fest at the World Forestry Center in Portland, OR. We went the first evening as part of a date night. It was just what we imagined it would be--wall-to-wall chocolate samples. Chocolate of all types. Hard chocolate, truffles, drinkable chocolate, dipping chocolate, chocolate sauce, chocolate covered fruit, chocolate bread, chocolate scones. One vendor was offering a multi-course valentine meal--all courses contain chocolate. A must-do for chocoholics looking for a fix.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Leyden Jar Experiment

After three attempts, Greggory and I finally got a Leyden jar to work. I figured we better take advantage of the cold-dry weather (which ended tonight when a heavy snow storm started.)

FYI, a Leyden jar is just a capacitor constructed using a jar or bowl. The outside of the jar is one plate of the capacitor and the inside of the jar is the other plate. The reason for the jar is it's a convenient solid object with very thin walls and a lot of surface area. It also makes it easy to grab one of the plates (the outside of the jar).

Our first attempt used a tupper ware container and probably failed due to too many ragged edges thanks to the fact the jar was tapered which doesn't fit rectangular pieces of foil too well.

The 2nd attempt was based on using two bowls and salt water for the electrodes. Problem with that design is it requires more salt than we had available--could only get the resistance down to about 1kohm. The bowls were also sort of thick which would greatly reduce the amount of capacitance.

Today's attempt was a repeat of the first attempt, but more carefully done. We used a large DVD case (which is almost perfectly cylindrical) and carefully cut out the foil and kept it nice and smooth. Used a nail as the charging electrode and just connected it using more foil. We still can't get any charge using a PVC pipe (the piece of pipe I have is electrical PVC conduit which might be conductive which would explain it not working.) Instead we used a balloon rubbed on our heads. You can hear the crackling as the charge transfers from the balloon to the Leydan Jar capacitor. Works like a charm and doesn't require as much coordination as the pipe (so easier for Greggory to do.)

I should try to find a larger lid somewhere so it's not so precarious. The lid we used here was leftover from the first failed attempt.

Here's one experiment where Greggory got a good jolt.

Some photos of the capacitor itself.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Hood River Pumpkins and Apples

Headed out to Hood River after I learned that the Kiyokawa Orchard was having their Honey Crisp apple harvest that weekend. Honey Crisp caramel apples are almost legend in this household, so we barreled out of here the next day.

Stoppped at Rasmussen Farms first to do the pumpkin patch thing--that's always fun for the kids. Pumpkins are a bit pricey, but the attractions are free at least. Probably works out cheaper than Sauvie Island where they charge quit a bit for the attractions.

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