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I decided to test out the new electric razor's self cleaning pod. The old one sucked because after you opened the pod of liquid and installed it in the cleaning module, it would basically be good for one cleaning, as it would evaporate in a few days. And those cartridges are expensive. This new Razor has a better designed module, but still has a small slit for the liquid to enter the blades. I try not to give Bezos much business these days, but rembered these silicone lids for storage of leftover food. My Mother had some and I found a set of various sizes on Amazon several years ago, so... No more money evaporating into the air. Also several years ago on Amazon, I found these... You simply add a small portion to 70% rubbing alcohol, and you have very inexpensive cleaning solution that works every bit as good as the expensive pods. And the lemon scent is nicer too.

Ubuntu 25.10 was just released (October 9), too - probably worth upgrading the test system eventually (in my experience, new releases are very buggy for the first 4-6 months) - alternatively, Ubuntu 25.04 or the older 24.04 LTS will be more stable: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/10/ubuntu-25-10-new-features And of course, Flatpak doesn't work out of the gate: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/10/flatpak-broken-ubuntu-25-10-apparmor-bug For what it's worth, I am tech-scared too.

Or you could move to the EU ...

That's sad news. Maybe I'm ready to watch Annie Hall again. ☹️ RIP

Diane Keaton at 79

I just upgraded my mom's mini-PC to Win 11 today, with Win 10 ending support this week. You can pay $30 for one more year of security updates, which was my original plan. But then you NEED to create an MS account, and use it to login to your machine. That was a no-go for my tech-scared mom. Upgrade went fine, though. Machine is a bit slower, but it'll hold for a while. I had a little fun with Ubuntu. I got a Celeron-based Chromebox for $25 from a used Electronics store in Maine a few weeks ago. I was able to download & install a new BIOS for it, upped memory and SDD drive ($50 total), and loaded Ubuntu on it. Still a tiny bit slow, so TBD if I'll keep it like that. It was just fun to play with the innards and BIOS of a computer again.....

He won’t dedicate, he won’t deserve and you know it. Still he may win it.

Installing Windows 11 without a Microsoft Account - they make it annoying as usual (Windows 11 Pro only):

Let's see if I'm gonna have a happy birthday...

it should be noted that with the 1700 volt output stage parts, its real easy to upgrade to +/-600 volt power supplies. going to need a much bigger box with heatsinks on both sides.

I can think of worse things than trump dedicating the next year of his life to winning a nobel peace prize. I hope he does, and I hope he deserves it.

In the Wake of the Edmund Fitzgerald https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/arts/edmund-fitzgerald-gordon-lightfoot.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sk8.MyaM.8WtsXHa1Kr_6&smid=url-share (gift article)

Old DOS games on PC speaker, Ad Lib, and Roland MT-32 part 2 (skip the long preambles if you lived through the era - yes, we know Macs and Amigas had better sound):

^^ Hoping things combust internally for him and the administration by 2026 Nobel voting.... But for now, moar HDD stuph

Fourier Transform Speakers....unique, be interesting to hear..... Video about it:

I checked your schematic and compared it with your previous hardware photos, then corrected a few small errors(From both sides of us). Here’s the updated layout. It’s basically reverse-engineered from the pictures you posted earlier. I also derived the schematic from it, but it’s quite messy at the moment. If anyone’s interested, I can post that version as well.

Unfortunately he may get it in 2026.

Looking at the CTR curve I would choose the operating range between 1 to 2mA of If. Since the nominal CTR is 20%, the phototransistor side would be designed around 200uA to 400uA. Adjust the resistors such that the desired normal bias voltage is centered around this range. The phototransistor could operate off the 110V supply if you don’t need the full 510V range for the bias adjustment (why would you?).

Viva are indeed a special kind of stupid as well. I think they use felt adhesive pads for furniture (to protect hardwood floors) to help their crap circuits filled with some of the worst parts available sound better? Yup makes sense.... Seriously, they use those Rifa PSU caps that are known to crack and short circuit in the audio path. If only there were any better parts out there... 🙄

Holy shitballs, that's like conspiracy theory level of mods! Ric Shultz at EVS does some pretty crazy things at times, but I will say I have always heard improvements with his work. But yeah, what the actual fuck was that modder thinking?!

viva does the same shit wrapping various capacitors with wool of some kind.

This is something special as none of this actually does anything. Ferrites work at certain frequencies but the wire has to pass through it... not just have it vaguely in the same area. Lumps of aluminum tape and felt on the cables... yeah nothing at all. It seems like a bad DIY project but I have a sneaking suspicion that somebody is doing this as a service and charging a boatload for it.

Thanks a lot. I've been thinking of a 300K resistor cross the h11d to limit the upper grid voltage.