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The Resurrection Game by Emma Swift (2025) https://album.link/nxstkwqhrngnp Example: New to me - I really liked the vibe, and the mix had a lot of weight to it that I enjoyed. Some dark themes, also well done.

I enjoy thinking about different ways to accomplish the often-overlapping electromechanical goals of audio devices. Every few years I get to considering electrostatic headphone connectors, and every time I end up finding the same collection of vintage part numbers, shared experiences, and a few useful drawings that can be put together to probably lead to a functional socket or plug, if you want to make one yourself. I appreciate and have used that information, and now I'd like to consolidate it and create some actual specifications to help anyone trying to make a plug or socket. The most useful thing to start with would be plug specs. Pin diameter, length, pin circle diameter, and housing outer diameter, in case you want to make a recessed socket. Here's a drawing of a plug I got from Dan Clark (I can't guarantee that it's the same as his current production plugs) and a plug from the Hifiman Jade II. If it would be useful I could make a complete model of both plugs and share the STEP files. Next week I'll be able to add the dimensions for the Audeze CRBN2. Eventually I should be able to measure some Stax plugs. Found partial catalogs for Cooper and Amphenol 78-S6S socket and 86-71-6S/91MPM-6S plugs, but neither specified pin diameter. Standard pin diameter seems to be .093" or .094" (2.36-2.38mm), the same size as a 3-pin XLR contact or an octal tube socket pin, or a Size 12 circular connector contact. There is a standard housing layout for #12 contacts that matches the position of a 6-pin Stax plug, arrangement 16-6 or 17-6, but I haven't been able to find any documentation of the pin circle diameter. Neutrik also makes a crimp socket contact, HA-3FXX. The threaded socket most commonly used for electrostatic jacks and tube sockets (like this, or these) is good and conceptually simpler to design a housing for, but I would love to find a design guide or get some advice on the right way to make a hole for circular connector contacts or that Neutrik contact. They're probably not easy cavities to machine from a single piece of material, but 3D printing is useful, and I saw some mil-spec circular connectors that appeared to use stacked layers. Standard pin circle diameter is . . . something between the .406" (10.31mm) in the Cooper catalog and the .435" (11.05mm) of Kevin Gilmore's socket drawing. The Hifiman plug was closer to the Cooper at ~10.5mm. The Dan Clark plug seemed to match up perfectly with the KG drawing. My estimate of this Viborg socket from their drawing puts it closer to 11mm. If anyone has any dimensions to share I'd be happy to add them to a single reference PDF. Any other useful application information about connectors would be good to include as well, if anyone has had experiences with pins being too long or too short, or pin-to-pin clearance standards, or other things. Cable-related information would also be valuable. EstatPlugDimensions.pdf

I like trains. I fucking hate TechBros.

Benchmark has made changes/improvements to their DAC line over time. The DAC1 USB you have uses an Analog Devices AD1853 dac chip like its predecessors, but upgrades the stereo-outs to LM4562/LME49860 opamps, which should sound better(read: smoother) when connected to another amp than the original DAC1 that many people heard back in the day. The DAC1 PRE updated all the op-amps to LM4562/LME49860 opamps, so the headphone-out should sound better too. The DAC2 line changed the converter chip to the ES9018, which adds DSD64 decoding capability, if that is relevant to the content you play. The DAC3 line changed the converter chip to the ES9028PRO. I have no idea if that sounds any better, or what it would take to detect a difference. IME, the hardware component factors that affect the sound of a DAC is the converter implementation, along with the output stage. For me, the DAC2 line was/is the sweet spot when it comes to price::features::performance for Benchmark.

I decided to not crop and let the center point just be off. Yashicamat is hard to get centered photos with. I find it charming. expired portra. About 10 years.

Anyone else holding off on bathroom visits?

Holy shitballs....I HAD heard of these guys but totally forgot about them until a FB friend posted about them being at Riotfest.

Rebuilt my in-laws garage door opener. After 40 years the plastic drive gear had perished. So I hopped on Amazon (some time ago) and ordered the replacement part for all of $20. An hour of fiddling and it's back working.

I haven't had any, but it is funny.

I have a Cousin that I've talked about on here before. He lived in San Antonio, and thought he was an open minded liberal, but was anything but. He voted for Trump in his first term. We had a falling out over gay marriage. He tried to act like he was gay friendly around me, but was very opposed to gay marriage. I had no luck getting him to understand how insulting some of his opinions were to me, so I just checked out of that relationship. This was several years back, while living in Texas. His wife tried to smooth things over a few times, but knew it was a losing battle. Monday, out of the Blue he called me up. He said he was driving to visit his estranged Son ( his Son and I have a great relationship, full of mutual respect ), in Colorado, and was thinking of driving on to California afterwards. He wanted to get together tonight. I really had mixed feelings about seeing him at all. But he told me his wife had passed 3 months back. I attended their wedding in 1979, and really liked her. She sought me out at family gatherings and was somewhat of what we used to call a fag hag. So I felt somewhat sympathetic to his loss. We had dinner at Rancho Nicasio. It's 1/2 a mile from my house, should I need to make a hasty exit. All in all it went well. We didn't touch on politics or social issues, though I must admit to wondering what his political stance is today. My Mom always had a good relationship with him, and for that reason I consented to dinner. He'll be headed back home soon, and that'll be that. We're planning to get together again tomorrow, after I install the doors I'm working on. I think it would have made my Mom happy. Just have to avoid certain conversations one more day. It was fun talking about our grandparents and mutual family members. And I had some great fish and chips.

Yep, I’ve noticed output and filament boards match up to each other. Here is how it looks like on my screen, all output tubes side by side. Size 24 in x 12 in – huge. Question regarding jumbo socket – what socket do you have in mind? This from a French company might fit.?

The cats broke the glass lamp in our entryway, so I needed a non-glass replacement. Similar to a design I made a few years ago, but smaller and with some refinements.

RIP Louise Vincent, Drug User Who Led Harm Reduction Movement “The idea is that we need to care about people who use drugs, whether they use drugs or not.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/health/louise-vincent-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.oU8.Npj8.H-0PSTRpNPv8&smid=url-share (gift article) https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-11-19/one-womans-controversial-fight-to-make-america-accept-drug-users-for-who-they-are

Short version: Got the shit kicked out of me. Long version: There were two birthdays this weekend. My friend Kate turned 37 on Sept 11 (her 14th was the worst.) My (sainted, octogenarian) mother advanced one year the day after. I ate a number of things that I don't normally, to be sociable. I paid a steep price. I felt kind of ill on the 12th, but still drove my mother to the alpaca farm here on MV. We had done so previously all the way back in 2009. I took photos, more on that (much) later. I slept terribly that evening and woke up on the 13th praying for death. I felt weak, nauseous, and worst of all I had an icepick-through-the-temple headache. When I have these issues, I clench my teeth while I'm sleeping so hard it gives me a headache that lasts most of the day. The is enough of a problem that it's damaging my jaw. If I ever disappear completely, it will probably be due to some related catastrophic event. Yesterday I was only moderately ill. I managed to get a few things done ...including like a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day (which is very unlike me.) Today, I am not in pain (this is a miracle) but I'm fantastically weak. I had to move a picnic table bench that belonged to my grandparents from the front of the property to the back and I needed to sit down afterward. I cannot eat highly processed food anymore, especially store made desserts. They kill me. It's so bad I have to straight up say "no" when I'm offered.