Oddities – Page 88 – The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Web Security Warning: Say What?

Having turned on my old Kindle Fire’s “security warnings” just to see what happens, I’m confronted by pop-ups like this on a regular basis:

People who know what they’re talking about tell me there’s no way for ordinary civilians, such as I, to evaluate the validity of the “credentials” described by that pop-up. In this case, the credential apparently comes from DigiCert, which ought to be trust-able, and was issued to cmcore.com, an actual IBM subsidiary that apparently does Web analytics.

It works fine through my desktop browsers. The Kindle, however, can’t even find digicert.com, so the problem must be an Amazon thing.

The only response that makes sense is to continue loading: gizmodo.com might have cat pictures!

I should just turn off the warnings and be done with it…

2016-01-02

Merry Catmas!

Henceforth, let it never be said I have neglected my duty with respect to cat pictures:

I left the garage door open while working outside and that critter walked calmly in, examined the offerings, walked out, and made itself comfortable on the patio. We may have a co-owner…

Take the rest of the day off, OK?

2015-12-25

Kenmore Progressive Vacuum Cleaner vs. Classic Electrolux Dust Brush

Vacuum cleaner dust brushes, separated by millimeters and decades:

Kenmore vs adapted Electrolux dust brushes

The bulky one on the left came with our new Kenmore Progressive vacuum cleaner. It’s fine for dust on a flat horizontal or vertical surface and totally useless for dust on actual objects. It’s supposed to snap around the handle at the end of the cleaner’s flexy hose, where it helps make the entire assembly too large and too clumsy, or on the end of the “wand”, where it’s at the wrong angle. The bonus outer shell slides around the stubby bristles in the unlikely event they’re too long for the flat surface at hand.

The brush on the right emerged from the Box o’ Electrolux Parts that Came With The House™, must be half a century old, and consists of a cast aluminum lump with various holes milled into it, adorned with luxuriously long and flexible horsehair. Suffice it to say they don’t make ’em like that any more. Heck, they probably don’t make horses with hair like that any more, either.

The blue plastic adapter atop the aluminum ball looks like you’d expect by now:

The short snout fits neatly into the space available inside the ball. The abrupt ledge at the top of the snout, of course, didn’t work well; I rushed the design for a show-n-tell.

The OpenSCAD source code (as a Github gist) bevels that ledge and tweaks the interior air channel a bit:

	// Kenmore vacuum cleaner nozzle adapters
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU December 2015

	// Layout options

	Layout = "LuxBrush"; // MaleFitting CoilWand FloorBrush CreviceTool ScrubbyTool LuxBrush

	//- Extrusion parameters must match reality!
	// Print with +1 shells and 3 solid layers

	ThreadThick = 0.25;
	ThreadWidth = 0.40;

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly

	//———————-
	// Dimensions

	ID1 = 0; // for tapered tubes
	ID2 = 1;
	OD1 = 2;
	OD2 = 3;
	LENGTH = 4;

	OEMTube = [35.0,35.0,41.7,40.5,30.0]; // main fitting tube
	EndStop = [OEMTube[ID1],OEMTube[ID2],47.5,47.5,6.5]; // flange at end of main tube

	FittingOAL = OEMTube[LENGTH] + EndStop[LENGTH];

	$fn = 12*4;

	//———————-
	// Useful routines

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes

	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);

	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);

	cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,
	h=Height,
	$fn=Sides);
	}


	//——————-
	// Male fitting on end of Kenmore tools
	// This slides into the end of the handle or wand and latches firmly in place

	module MaleFitting() {

	Latch = [40,11.5,5.0]; // rectangle latch opening
	EntryAngle = 45; // latch entry ramp
	EntrySides = 16;
	EntryHeight = 15.0; // lower edge on inside of fitting

	KeyRadius = 1.0;

	translate([0,0,6.5])
	difference() {
	union() {
	cylinder(d1=OEMTube[OD1],d2=OEMTube[OD2],h=OEMTube[LENGTH]); // main tube

	hull() // insertion guide
	for (i=[-(6.0/2 – KeyRadius),(6.0/2 – KeyRadius)],
	j=[-(28.0/2 – KeyRadius),(28.0/2 – KeyRadius)],
	k=[-(26.0/2 – KeyRadius),(26.0/2 – KeyRadius)])
	translate([(i – (OEMTube[ID1]/2 + OEMTube[OD1]/2)/2 + 6.0/2),j,(k + 26.0/2 – 1.0)])
	sphere(r=KeyRadius,$fn=8);

	translate([0,0,-EndStop[LENGTH]]) // wand tube butts against this
	cylinder(d=EndStop[OD1],h=EndStop[LENGTH] + Protrusion);
	}

	translate([0,0,-OEMTube[LENGTH]]) // main bore
	cylinder(d=OEMTube[ID1],h=2OEMTube[LENGTH] + 2Protrusion);

	translate([0,-11.5/2,23.0 – 5.0]) // latch opening
	cube(Latch);

	translate([OEMTube[ID1]/2 + EntryHeight/tan(90-EntryAngle),0,0]) // latch ramp
	translate([(Latch[1]/cos(180/EntrySides))cos(EntryAngle)/2,0,(Latch[1]/cos(180/EntrySides))sin(EntryAngle)/2])
	rotate([0,-EntryAngle,0])
	intersection() {
	rotate(180/EntrySides)
	PolyCyl(Latch[1],Latch[0],EntrySides);
	translate([-(2*Latch[0])/2,0,-Protrusion])
	cube(2*Latch[0],center=true);
	}
	}
	}

	//——————-
	// Refrigerator evaporator coil wand

	module CoilWand() {

	union() {
	translate([0,0,50.0])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	difference() {
	cylinder(d1=EndStop[OD1],d2=42.0,h=50.0);
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	cylinder(d1=35.0,d2=35.8,h=100);
	}
	translate([0,0,50.0 – Protrusion])
	MaleFitting();
	}
	}


	//——————-
	// Refrigerator evaporator coil wand

	module FloorBrush() {

	union() {
	translate([0,0,60.0])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	difference() {
	union() {
	cylinder(d1=EndStop[OD1],d2=32.4,h=10.0);
	translate([0,0,10.0 – Protrusion])
	cylinder(d1=32.4,d2=30.7,h=50.0 + Protrusion);
	}
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	cylinder(d1=28.0,d2=24.0,h=100);
	}
	translate([0,0,60.0 – Protrusion])
	MaleFitting();
	}
	}


	//——————-
	// Crevice tool

	module CreviceTool() {

	union() {
	translate([0,0,60.0])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	difference() {
	union() {
	cylinder(d1=EndStop[OD1],d2=32.0,h=10.0);
	translate([0,0,10.0 – Protrusion])
	cylinder(d1=32.0,d2=30.4,h=50.0 + Protrusion);
	}
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	cylinder(d1=28.0,d2=24.0,h=100);
	}
	translate([0,0,60.0 – Protrusion])
	MaleFitting();
	}
	}

	//——————-
	// Mystery brush

	module ScrubbyTool() {

	union() {
	translate([0,0,60.0])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	difference() {
	union() {
	cylinder(d1=EndStop[OD1],d2=31.8,h=10.0);
	translate([0,0,10.0 – Protrusion])
	cylinder(d1=31.8,d2=31.0,h=50.0 + Protrusion);
	}
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	cylinder(d1=26.0,d2=24.0,h=100);
	}
	translate([0,0,60.0 – Protrusion])
	MaleFitting();
	}
	}


	//——————-
	// Electrolux brush ball

	module LuxBrush() {

	union() {
	translate([0,0,30.0])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	difference() {
	union() {
	cylinder(d1=EndStop[OD1],d2=30.8,h=10.0);
	translate([0,0,10.0 – Protrusion])
	cylinder(d1=30.8,d2=30.0,h=20.0 + Protrusion);
	}
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	cylinder(d1=25.0,d2=23.0,h=30 + 2*Protrusion);
	}
	translate([0,0,30.0 – Protrusion])
	MaleFitting();
	}
	}



	//———————-
	// Build it!

	if (Layout == "MaleFitting")
	MaleFitting();

	if (Layout == "CoilWand")
	CoilWand();

	if (Layout == "FloorBrush")
	FloorBrush();

	if (Layout == "CreviceTool")
	CreviceTool();

	if (Layout == "ScrubbyTool")
	ScrubbyTool();

	if (Layout == "LuxBrush")
	LuxBrush();

view raw Kenmore Wand Bushings.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

That’s supposed to prevent the WordPress post editors from destroying the formatting…

2015-12-23

Would You Pull the Tab?

So this device showed up in an envelope with a letter telling us we’d won a contest if, of course, the number on the device matched the number in the letter:

I wonder if anybody else had second thoughts about pulling what’s obviously an insulating sheet holding two contacts apart? In this day and age, getting the victim to blow his own fingers off probably counts as a win.

Maybe it comes from having read The White Plague at an impressionable age. Who could resist getting a Nice Thing in the mail?

The number matched, of course, but the letter’s finer print said the prize would be one of:

A new car of some sort
A flat screen TV
A cheap electronic trinket
A three-day / two night vacation

In order to claim your prize, you had to call an 800 number. The much finer print revealed the odds of winning the first three of those prizes was somewhere around 300,000:1. “Winning” the vacation was essentially a slam-dunk proposition, of course, and probably tells you everything you need to know about the course of the phone call.

It’s apparently economical to send out this much hardware to reel in new “customers”:

CodeKase device - parts — CodeKase device – parts

Using the metal disk from a membrane switch as a spring to push the coin cell against the contact wires is a nice touch. This is apparently the optimized version that uses a single lithium cell in place of two alkaline buttons; the cell “socket” on the other end consists of vestigial lumps.

I harvested the lithium cell and the blue LED, of course…

More about CodeKase, direct from the source. I like “Step Five: Recycle Your CodeKase”…

2015-12-05

Neopixel Knockoff: Early Failure

About a week after First Light, one of the knockoff Neopixels (not a Genuine Adafruit Product) suffered an intermittent failure: it worked fine after being off for an hour or two, but eventually stalled at a fixed color, with all downstream pixels equally dead. Of course, it was the middle package in the string of three, buried in the hub (this is before the failure):

Hard Drive Mood Light - low angle — Hard Drive Mood Light – low angle

Spraying circuit cooler on the package brought it back to life for a few minutes, confirming the diagnosis. Reducing the maximum intensity to PWM 32 reduced the average power dissipation enough to let it run for as long as I was willing to let it, although it might not survive a hot summer day.

Not having glued the spacers onto the hub simplified extracting the strip, although warranty repair is always a nuisance. I daubed red Sharpie on the failing LED to avoid losing track of it, then resoldered the LED and capacitor connections to no avail:

Knockoff Neopixel Failure - overview — Knockoff Neopixel Failure – overview

There’s nothing obviously wrong inside:

Knockoff Neopixel Failure - detail — Knockoff Neopixel Failure – detail

The fine details of the WS2812B controller produce a horrible Moiré blur with the camera’s low-res image, but you get the general idea.

Most likely, one of those flying wires isn’t quite bonded, but we’ll never know…

2015-12-03

Why Friends Don’t Let Friends Run Windows

Perhaps this is not nearly as motivational as it’s supposed to be:

A friend sent that along after reading my efforts to squelch the Windows 10 nagware on an off-lease Dell Optiplex that will never, ever be updated.

She just turned off automatic updates, which means she must examine all the updates and manually install ones that don’t download Win 10 (which she doesn’t want), forevermore. Unfortunately, that means she won’t automatically get all the security updates that help make current versions of Windows much less hazardous then in The Bad Old Days.

Talk about a Hobson’s Choice: in practical terms, you must decide between automatic updates or not getting regular updates. OK, that’s actually a false dilemma, but you get the idea.

If you run automatic updates the way Microsoft recommends, you’ll soon be running a free operating system that tracks and reports your every move, so as to deliver precisely targeted advertisements right on your desktop. What could possibly be better?

Come the middle of next year, we may see an uptick in the number of people using Linux or running unpatched Windows boxes to cut down on nagware.

2015-11-29

Hard Drive Platter Thicknesses

It should come as no surprise that hard drive platters have different thicknesses:

The thicker ones measure 1.25 mm, which is near enough to 50 mils to suggest they date back to the Good Old Days. The three thinner ones in the middle are 0.77 mm = 30 mil and could be slightly younger than dirt. There’s more where these came from and I expect more variation on the theme.

The beveled edges make the platters look thinner than they really are; they’re firmly clamped together with no space between them.

As nearly as I can tell, the IBM 350 Disk Storage Unit on the IBM 350 RAMAC had platters about 25 mil thick. Those were two feet in diameter, so they definitely don’t make ’em like they used to!

The thickness wouldn’t matter, except that the OpenSCAD program producing the hub & spacer tabs for the Mood Lights needs to know.

2015-11-26