2 years later.....

 Two years since my last post. What has happened in the meantime? Still very involved in Repair Cafe NC (https://repaircafenc.org). I'm retired now. I developed a 90 minute lecture abut the octopus. Will be presenting that on June 4 for OLLI at Nc State. Next big project is a cleanout of stuff I don't need anymore.

Counterfeit Apple MacBook chargers

 This is what is inside a legitimate Apple MacBook charger (after removing the thick copper shield). Circuit board is double sided with surface mount components. The legitimate charger contains a circuit which prevents a defective charger from damaging your $1,500 MacBook.

This is what is inside a counterfeit Apple MacBook charger (with no copper shield to remove). Circuit board is single sided with NO surface mount components. It contains no protective circuitry to prevent a failed charger from damaging your $1,500 MacBook :

Which one is the better deal? Unfortunately, the counterfeit charger is a visually excellent fake. You will not discover this until it damages your MacBook.

Be careful buying cheap MacBook chargers.

Charging Ricoh Theta S and powering from USB battery packs

The Ricoh Theta S is unusually fussy about charging. In my experience, your results may vary with anything except a high quality USB charger, 2A minimum (I use a 2A iPad charger). Also, if the battery runs out, it can be difficult to recharge. Theta S cameras that won't recharge are often interpreted as "damaged", and there is no proof that there is any actual damage. My advice is to use a high quality USB adapter, minimum 2A capacity and a good quality USB cable that uses all 4 pins (not a "charge only" cable). It is OK to use a higher capacity quality charger as the Theta S will only use the current from the charger that it needs.

A USB battery pack can be used to operate a Theta S for extended periods. Some battery packs will turn off while in use...I suspect that the Theta S is not drawing enough current for the battery pack to detect. My solution is to use a Porta Pow Battery Monitor. The Porta Pow is connected in between the Theta S and the battery pack, using the "No DATA + Smart Charge" USB jack. Now the Porta Pow is in charge of regulating current to the Theta S. Cost is about $12.

The Porta Pow is also great for finding the charger that works best with your USB powered device. The display indicates how much current is being delivered.

Use Jekyll for blogs and static web sites

If you want to build a simple, static website or blog, there is nothing easier than Jekyll. If you don't want to pay for hosting, create an account on GitHub and publish a site with Jekyll via pages.github.com.

Jekyll is software which processes files written in Markdown (a simple text markup language) into static web pages.

The advantage of static web pages is that they are lightning fast and don't depend on backend databases to render content.

If the Jekyll software is incorporated into the system that is used to manage your content, then no further work is necessary. Edit your pages and walk away.

Best Lightning connector.....

....by far is the Apple Lightning to Micro USB adapter

Retail cost is $19, but I usually get them from vendors on eBay. I usually pay about $7 to $8. Be sure to get the Apple ones...the knockoff ones don't work and may mess up your Lighting jack. If it costs less than $7, it is likely a non-Apple adapter. How to tell the difference...

The best feature of these is that they don't wear out like the traditional Apple Lightning cables. If the cable gets damaged, swap it out for another. The biggest problem is losing the adapter -- it is quite small. I usually leave it on a cable. Using a short (less than 6 inch) cable makes it very compact.

These are especially nice for folks that need a Lightning cable and a regular Micro USB cable.

EEG and creativity

Since my last post about EEG devices, a lot has happened. I purchased the MUSE headset for $300 and the data was significantly more useful than with the NeuroSky. Not that I am necessarily finished with the Mindwave...I now have 4 of the MindFlex headsets in store for a good project. Not ony does the MUSE provide useful data, their SDK has become quite reliable and includes useful visualization tools. I used the MUSE with PureData running on a MacBook Pro for a music composition class. In one piece, I controlled the levels of various insect sounds based on brain activity. In another, I used EEG data to generate live accompaniment while I watched a video.

The State of mobile device printing

Decided to try printing some of my GameBoy Camera photos from my iPhone via Flickr. First, Walgreens. Their iOS app allowed me to order pictures without creating an account or signing up for anything. Downside is that they only offer 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 sizes. Their system also reformats non-rectangular photos by cropping. There is likely a way to fix that on the device before sending, but still, an extra step. Target has a photo center in their store, but no way to access via an app. RiteAid was interesting (in a not good way). I downloaded the app, selected the photo center. I was immediately prompted to create a Plenti account before I could do anything. The signup on the Plenti site was graphically intensive and very slow. Selecting the photo center generated a pop up that the site was not functional and that I should go to a specific URL for more info. No link to click or automatic redirect. Rite Aid has shut down their online photo processing due to a data breach. At least they were up front about it.