Welcome to the Windy Weather Website.
These are musings from my vantage point on the Oregon South Coast.
A long-time software engineer and general geek, I continue my exploration with Photography, 3D Graphics, Linux and other nonsense. Come along for the ride.
I saw a Youtube video talking about a new controller that solves the Joystick Stick Drift problem with game controllers. But then I got to searching around and found that Hall effect joysticks have been around for a dozen years.
So APEM was making Hall effect joysticks back before 2010. There’s a youtube video from Digikey showing that.
But at least someone has adapted this “Old Technology” to the modern problem of Controller Stick Drift. Great. I saw them for sale on Amazon, Aliexpress and elsewhere. We can only hope that the console manufacturers put this tech in their native controllers and finally solve the Stick Drift problem once and for all.
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Oh, by the way, before we talk about the Hall Effect versions costing more, look at this:
So, yes there are cheap controllers that plug in for $30 or so. But the wireless ones are about the same price as the Hall Effect ones from Gulikit. No excuse for Microsoft and Sony to not use Hall Effect joysticks.
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World of Warcraft has been accused of copying Guild Wars 2 mounts for the upcoming Dragonflight expansion. Let’s review Guild Wars 2 mounts for those who don’t know. Mounts were added to Guild Wars 2 in Path of Fire. Before that travel was limited to Teleporting to Waypoints, and Gliding. There were some other things like mushrooms and lava tubes in some limited zones.
There are a few mounts in Guild Wars 2 and they each have their special abilities that are increased with Masteries in the game. All mounts and mount skins are account wide in GW2, just like Wow.
Continue reading “What Wow Gets Wrong with Dragon Mounts”Logitech has released a new mouse. Basically the design is just rotated about 70 or 80 degrees to take pressure off of the wrist. Great Idea!. But they are charging over twice as much for this mouse, for no good reason, other than it’s novelty.
The new Lift mouse is $70 here and on Amazon. Compare that with the older normal mouse, with the same number of buttons and same wireless features for $40. And the one I use, which is a bit smaller, also with all the same buttons and wireless for just $20.
Over THREE TIMES THE COST for just novelty. Nothing new inside the mouse, just a different plastic case and Over TRIPLE the cost.
WTF Shame on you Logitech. What nonsense!?!
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I just saw this on SlashDot.
Let us remember that Canada has for a long time been the purveyor of Oil from Tar Sands:
Tar Sands are arguably one of the most destructive and polluting ways to obtain oil. And “Tar sands extraction emits up to three times more global warming pollution than does producing the same quantity of conventional crude.” says the NRDC.
So what is Canada really doing with this far future bandaid over their use of ICE cars? I suggest that this is a case of Reputation Washing.
While the term “Reputation-Washing” usually refers to rich folks donating small amounts to charity to cover much larger messes, I suggest that it would seem to apply to this Canadian ICE car ban as well.
The Canadian ICE car ban is in the far future. Fifteen years in the future, we may primarily be driving electric cars anyway, so this is just in keeping with trends and not making any real commitment to a change.
Does this ban come with any statement about shutting down and cleaning up the Tar Sands Extraction in Alberta? I don’t see that mentioned.
A meaningless far future ban and meanwhile “Drill Baby Drill!”.
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After 70+ years, I’ve developed a lot of ways of sorting out what I believe from what I don’t. Long before social media and mobile phones there was the scientific method, which I adhere to. Concepts like “Preponderance of the Evidence” and Avoid Conspiracy Theories and Trust Multiple Sources and Trust Experience and Peer Review come to mind.
Some would say that the world is a horrible state and would blame it on certain key actors or concepts. I am reminded that through out my entire life the world has been in a horrible state. Many of the Actors and Concepts have not really changed. For example, Capitalism has always been very unfair and while one can argue that it is “more unfair” recently and increasingly so, I fail to see a clear alternative. While it is also clear that Regulation does not work because the powerful are adept at either preventing or mitigating it to their own ends. I would put this in the column of a Continuing Struggle not a sign of a looming disaster. This would seem to have been looming for the past 200 years or so.
But there have been some successes. I am reminded of a few decades at the beginning of the 20th century when “Gangsters” were a thing and they no longer are a thing. And when “Robber Barons” were a thing, and they no longer are. And when Communism was a thing, and it no longer is. While Fascism continues to be a thing, I see a long chain of over coming bad political ideas, and so I am hopeful.
Continue reading “What I Believe and Why”
None of this is a problem for those of you with someone else in the house. Just make a mobile phone call and have the other person stand near the circuit you are testing. Sure Sure. But I live alone.
A switch in the back bedroom / Computer room was bad. It was not making a positive connection so the light would flicker when the switch was thrown or wiggled. So, how to find the breaker? How about the Breaker Finder Tool I purchased a while ago?
This tool makes a beeping noise when the probe is brought near the breaker where the other end is plugged in, or screwed into a socket. Nice theory at least. And it has worked before for me. But in this case the tool made a horrible screeching sound when the probe was anywhere near the panel, so it’s not working at all in this case. No clue why.
Enter Discord.
Continue reading “Discord Helps Find Which Breaker”After fixing the problem in the Corner cabinet with the baking sheets, I decided that I needed a light in the cabinet since I couldn’t see easily what I needed in there.
So I got some LED light strips, from the auto section, a cabinet switch and a magnetic cabinet closure. The lights are designed to be mounted under cars. Six strips, each a foot long, running on 12 volts for $10. I have a bunch of little power supplies lying around. After running for 1/2 an hour, this supply is barely warm running three light strips.
Now I needed a board to mount the lights on to put them at the top of the cabinet.
Continue reading “Corner Cabinet Lights”My baking sheets were all snarled up and falling over in the cabinet. So I made a stand to hold them up. I thought I was going to have to screw it down in the cabinet, but it is so heavy – 5/8″ plywood – that it sits there just fine.
There is still quite a bit of this left over Siding plywood left, so there will be more Crude projects down the pike. This is the first project using the new Belt Sander. Works great. Less dust around since it’s hooked up to the shop vac.
Stand works great. After a few days when the glue is completely dry, I’ll get around to giving it a coat of poly.
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I use a hand belt sander that I’ve mounted to used it as a fixed sander. This sander has been working for many years, but the last time I used it, it was making some alarming sounds. Not sure what is wrong, but I’m guessing that a bearing or gear has worn out.
The sander has a flat “Top” so it has been easy to lash it down to a board and use it as a fixed sander. A couple of cable ties and it’s lashed down securely.
Continue reading “New Bench Sander Mount”Or, how about, Not?
Each year I get about two tons of pellets to heat my house. Sustainably Harvested Douglas Fir Pellets from here in Oregon. And each year these pellets come in “Plastic Bags” which of course are made from Natural Gas. And of course, these bags are not really Recyclable. Interesting Lie that we’ve been told for years by the Plastic Industry. Of course it is way cheaper to make new plastic than recycle it.
Up until this year, my pellet supplier was at least willing to take the bags away with the Pallets and Weather Wrap covers [ which are even heavier plastic]. But this year, they are not willing to “Take my garbage” and so I have saved all the bags and now have to throw them away with the Trash. I have always distinguished between “Organic” refuse as “Garbage” and “non-Organic” refuse as Trash, but never mind.
But the obvious, sustainable alternative for packaging is not available here in Oregon for wood home heating pellets. Obviously “Paper Bags” would be better.
Continue reading “Wood Pellets Wrapped in Natural Gas”
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