Steve: oh, but there was one thing I was going to ask: what’s the part number for U$1? me: ah me: found the schematic me: U$1 me: the part number is printed right above it ;) Steve: huh. not on the PNG you sent me me: really? Steve: really! me: send me the png I [...]

Tonight, egged on by the folks at Cigar Box Nation I made a little LM386 amp, the “Smokey” amp, as detailed here: http://www.dirtbox.net/diy/projects/1235/smokey-amp/ Pics: It sounded horrible until I disconnected pins 1 and 8, dropping the gain down from 200 to about 20. It had an interesting sound but it wasn’t really my vibe. Plus [...]

This is a relay board I’m building for a friend of a friend; I’m going to control it with an Arduino eventually. It’s for controlling a model train. I’m happy because I got all 12 relays in and working. Next step is wiring up the sockets for the custom data cables I’m building to go [...]

The New York Times recently posted a slideshow of portraits of marathon runners who had just finished the New York City Marathon. Jason Kottke asked why none of them looked exhausted. I can think of a few possible reasons: 1. The photographer and the photo editor decided not to print photos of people who look [...]