Fat Miata / Thic Mx-5 - Why Cupholders Make All the Difference

Column + Car + MX-5 + Wallpaper

People complain my Mazda MX-5 NC2 is fat.

Let me be clear. I'm fat. My car isn't.

Read more...

Plate Lab - PEY and relatives - All the holographic stuff

3D Printing + Plate Lab

To be honest, I don't own a single one of those PEO / PEY 'holographic' plates, except the 'PET Carbon' one. Which a. isn't made of carbon, and b. has some very minor texture to it (though I can't feel it). And c. This page is pretty useless 🤣

Read more...

Disney+ - Shogun 2024 - Season 1

Series Review + Shogun + Disney+

I doubt we'll ever get a second season, and it isn't necessary. And though I've read the book, the ending was still... somewhat unexpected.

The story is complete, the show is done after 10 episodes, and my verdict is short and simple: it's a great watch, all ten episodes long. 

Plate Lab - Bigtreetech Panda Dual Textured SSS building plate (black)

3D Printing + Plate Lab

Bigtreetech sells a number of products aimed at the Bambu Lab printers, all using the Panda moniker. Marketing-wise it's a great idea. Product-wise the SSS plate is a bit of a disaster.

It looks like PEI (but only at first glance). It isn't though. It might be epoxy, some other unholy coating, or it might be a kind of truck bedliner / oily paint.

Nobody knows, including Bigtreetech.

Wallpaper - Dear Author... (Too Close for Comfort)

Wallpaper

Found this on Penny Arcade, which is either a complete miss, or a spot-on hit. This one goes into the latter category... How does it feel to be an aspiring author?

Plate Lab - X1C Aruco codes and all Bambu Lab plates

3D Printing + Plate Lab

The Bambu Lab X1C has an interesting option. It looks for a marker on the building plate, and warns you if the plate inserted does not match the one you've used during slicing. Pretty convenient, isn't it?

The P1S and P1P don't use this code, and many cheaper build plates don't have a code. So what to do?

Anne McCaffrey - The ship who sang / Partner-ship / The city who fought / ...

Book Review

I never know what to think of Anne McAffrey. She has an easy going writing style, and I like her characters and ideas, but I feel some of the stories are simply not challenging enough, and with that I mean it is almost like the author isn't challenging herself.

Still, The ship who sang is a scifi classic.

A Bambu X1 with racing stripes?

3D Printing

Just some ideas to ponder over...

What if I would replace the right panel of my X1C with a custom build, so I could add carbon and Hepa filters to the box? In other words, enlarge the chamber a little, so I won't have a Carbonmax inside the building space?

Plate Lab - Building Plates Letter Soup - From Engineering to PEI to PEZ to Lightyear to Garolite to FR4...

3D Printing + Plate Lab

Engineering High Temperature Smooth Textured PEI PEX PEZ PEY Cryogrip SSS Polyurea FR4 GS10 TK99 Honeycomb Cube Wham Bam Lightyear...

My god! It's enough to drive one crazy! So, I've ordered a few different ones, and have been scouring the Internet for more information. And to be perfectly honest: it's a confusing mess.

Bambu Lab X1C - ABS Workout - The Sequel

3D Printing + Kupper + ABS

After my aborted first attempt I settled for a single block with slightly different settings... These are the results. Remember: my settings came from trying to print the toughest object in ABS (for my Sunlu mod), not trying to make the prettiest print...

Dremel 3D20 - Weird noises (Extruder skipping?)

3D Printing + Dremel 3D20

My old Dremel 3D20 has started making some weird noises. It only does so when extruding infill, ie. when high speed extrusion and high speed movement is required. I tightened all the screws, and that didn't fix things, so now I suspect it is the extruder.

Not that I'm looking forward to to taking the thing apart...

Nick Jones - Joseph Brideman 1 - And Then She Vanished

Audiobook Review

I never heard of either the author, nor the Joseph Bridgeman series, but apparently the latter is popular enough to have made it into 4 books by know, published in 2021 and 2022 (according to Goodreads).

And Then She Vanished is time travel, but a bit different, with some genetically defined time travel superpower thrown in. Kinda.

Bambu Lab X1C - ABS Workout - First Stage

3D Printing + Kupper + ABS

Let's see if I got ABS down now. Three large blocks, 60% speed, in ABS. Print time: 14 hours. And it's on...

I mean, what could go wrong?

Old (PLA) filament - What to do with it?

3D Printing + Old filament + PLA Filament

My Sunlu S1 mods have been partially successful, and I guess I'll have to consider a DIY solution using Peltiers to move to the next level... Though that one is still in the 'idea phase' 😇

Next challenge / experiment: what to do with old filament, and how to make sure it will last longer?

Filament drying - Temperatures and Time

3D Printing + Filament Dryer

I've compiled some numbers. Make sure to check your filament specifications - do not rely on my data!

Update: use this table!

Peltier filament droger concept - Gebruik de warmte EN de koude om filament te drogen (Dutch)

3D Printing + Filament dryer + Dutch

Een idee wat ik heb, maar geen idee of het gaat werken...

Gebruik de WARMTE van een Peltier element om het filament te verwarmen, en de KOUDE om de lucht te ontvochtigen.

Sunlu S1 Mod - Second (more challenging) ABS print on my Bambu X1C

3D Printing + Sunlu S1 Mod

I'm trying to mod my Sunlu S1 with a design of my own, which also offers me a challenge to better understand Fusion 360, the Bambu X1C, and printing in ABS. And if it all works out I should end up with an enhanced filament dryer, so win-win.

If it works...

Sunlu S1 Mod - First (real) ABS print on my Bambu X1C / Jupiter ABS Filament settings

3D Printing + Sunlu S1 Mod + ABS Filament

Time to go to bed, but first share an image of the bottom section, this time printed in ABS. The first attempt warped a bit, but the second try was a lot better.

Sunlu S1 Mod - Preliminary design and test print

3D Printing + Sunlu S1 Mod

This is a work in progress. This is going to be a modification of the Sunlu S1, based on the 'Turbo Mod MK2'.

I'm currently printing a prototype using PLA, just to make sure I got all dimensions etc. right, and I still have to design some air valves.

3D Printing Thickness Test - File

3D Printing

I created a small model to better understand wall thickness and slicer behavior versus strength and accuracy, but I never shared the files. So, here they are.

- Click this to download the test files

- A quick reminder (image) of the sizes

Ikea Fornuftig + 3D Printer

3D Printing + Air Quality + Ikea

In the past I used a Dremel 3D20, and when printing PLA the whole room started to smell... which can't be good. These days I am the proud owner of a Bambu Lab X1C, and I plan to print ABS and PETG, and the one little test print I made smells, even though the X1C has a filter inside the enclosure.

Is that dangerous?

Bambu Lab X1C - Print Chamber Temperature

3D Printing + X1C + Chamber Temperature

Not directly related, but when I was looking into drying temperatures and build plate temperatures I also noticed building chamber temperatures. It's one of the aspects of the X1C where could have been just a tiny little bit better.

It has caused many people to mod their machines, with varying degrees of success...

Space Elevator

Just visit this page. It's simply fun (and impressive and educational, but who cares)...

https://neal.fun/space-elevator/ 

Sharing Touch Portal settings between two PCs

Datatalk + Touch Portal

Though Touch Portal has its own backup mechanism and you can use that to share settings it does take a few clicks and a bit of attention. When you quickly want to share stuff that's not what you want.

I created a few batch files and two buttons to speed things up. Here's my approach.

Netflix - Atlas

Movie Review + Netflix

J-Lo and Netlifx at it again. After the by-the-numbers (but still watchable) The Mother here's another Lopez flick, and this time she's venturing into Science Fiction territories.

In a nutshell: young girl watches her mother and half the world killed by an AI developed by that same mother, and returns to the fight 28 years later, having to overcome her fear of AI.

Roadtrip 2024 - Gratis (?) routes door Frankrijk (Dutch)

Travel + Dutch

Zoals gewoonlijk is dit blog vooral voor eigen gebruik 😁

Ik ben een road trip aan het voorbereiden. Portugal... of toch naar Italie? Ik weet het nog niet, maar als het Portugal wordt, dan is daar Frankrijk met die vervelende tolwegen...

Zijn er ook routes door Frankrijk welke snel genoeg zijn, soms leuker zijn dan de tolweg, en wat minder kosten? En is dat de moeite waard?

MX-5 SmartTop Roof Controller - stress relief for the lazy ones

Car + MX-5

Mods4Cars SmartTop controllers have been around for quite some time. Exemplary of that are the type of connector used (who uses a mini USB these days?!?) - and their website https://www.mods4cars.com/ isn't the most modern one on the world.

On the other hand... who cares as long as the product works? 😇

Nanci Schwartz - Robber Barons 1 / 2 / 3

Audiobook Review

3 books by a debuting author. The series contains three books, and they're... cheap. Yeah. Literally, I mean. (Discounted on Amazon.)

Unfortunately, the price is somewhat a reflection of the quality of the proofreading. Someone should have given some feedback to the author, and that clearly didn't happen.

Replace Head Unit in an MX-5 NC2 (2011) - 5. Installing the Atoto and Accessories

Car + MX-5 + Atoto Head Unit

I opted to take out the Bose head unit from my MX-5 (Miata) and replace it with an Atoto. These are my trials and tribulations getting the Atoto unit to work... (There weren't many, to be fair, except for that rotten security bolt.)

Replace Head Unit in an MX-5 NC2 (2011) - 3. Wiring Diagrams

Car + MX-5 + Atoto Head Unit

When possible I try to understand what I'm doing, and why. That doesn't always work out 😏 but at least I try 😁

This is my first radio install in... well... thirty years? So I grabbed all the diagrams I could find, and tried to understand when I needed SWCs and LOCs, and when not.

Replace Head Unit in an MX-5 NC2 (2011) - 2. Remove Old Head Unit

Car + MX-5 + Atoto Head Unit

There are many instructional (?) videos on the Internet that show you how to remove and install a new head unit in an MX-5 NC (aka Miata MK3.5 etc.). 

Some of those videos are pretty good, many others are terrible and awful 😏 so I decided to write this post as a kind of 'addendum', and answer the questions the videos did not. Obviously this is limited to my own setup!

Replace Head Unit in an MX-5 NC2 (2011) - 1. Parts Required

Car + MX-5 + Atoto Head Unit

The MX-5 is a great car, but the radio Mazda put in isn't very impressive. So I decided to replace mine.

Here are some notes for those trying to do the same thing... I will add some images that identify some of the things that weren't entirely clear in the videos. Let's start with getting the right parts.

Planning Your Holidays / Vacations... and Avoiding the Crowds in Europe

Travel

Overpriced hotels and tourists everywhere. Vacations can be so stressful, especially during the summer months. 

You may simply have no choice with kids and such, but what if you have the option to reschedule your summer holiday?

So... When? That would depend on...

a. Where you want to go

b. What you want to do there

c. All the other idiots having going to the same place at the same time

Resync Video Subtitles

Datatalk + Subtitles

I bought the original set of Farscape DVDs, only to find out they have no Dutch subtitles. Bummer.

Online I found several Dutch subtitles as .srt files, but the timing was wrong. Here's how to fix subtitle synchronization issues...

Kurviger Isn't Just for Motorbikes!

GPX + Travel

I've tried both the MyRoute-app and Tom Tom Go, and they both had their own idiosyncrasies. Time for Kurviger.

This is an app which is intended to - on-the-fly - creation of 'curvy' roads for motorbikes. I'm (trying to) use it as a navigation tool for leisure scenic routes in a convertible. And it works surprisingly well when trying to do exactly that.

GPSBabel

GPX + Travel + GPSBabel

I made an earlier reference to GPSBabel. It's a tool to 'fool around' with some .GPX files.

There is a full manual in PDF available here. or an online version here (lots of ads, unfortunately).

GPX en GPS: Gebruik de juiste kaart! (Dutch)

GPX + Travel + Navigation Apps + Dutch

Wanneer je routes deelt met anderen, of routes van anderen gebruikt, is het belangrijk om de route te controleren, en de juiste kaart te gebruiken!

Tom Tom Go App (Android) / Tom Tom Routeplanner (web) Navigation Issues

GPX + Travel + Navigation Apps

In my initial turn by turn Android app search I found MRA Navigator to be the best. Tom Tom Go almost made it, but failed in sight of the finish. I was wondering what was happening, and decided to dive a little deeper. And maybe it would pass this time?

(On the fly I found a way to edit Garmin / MRA Routeplanner generated files in the Tom Tom Planner web app. Yes, this is going to get a little nerdy.)

MRA Navigator app settings / MyRoute-app (Android)... and a bit of MRA Routeplanner

GPX + Travel + Navigation Apps

The MRA Navigator app (MRA Next? oh whatever) is thus far one of the few apps that passed my 'smart waypoint skipping' test.

It's not perfect, but it works!

Turn by Turn Navigation for Touring - Looking for the Better App / Smart Waypoint Skipping

GPX + Travel + Navigation Apps

Obviously, there won't be something like 'the best' app, as everyone has a different goal and wish list. But after looking at so many websites and apps I still found it impossible to pick out the right app.

One thing I knew though: it needed some sort of smart waypoint skipping.

So I decided to simply test a few different apps.

Google Maps - Using Coordinates

Travel + Navigation Apps

Did you know Google Maps can use coordinates instead of addresses? And navigate between them? That's handy to share a location without an address, like a parking area, or just a tree in the middle of a meadow, next to nowhere.

GPX naar Google Maps (Dutch)

GPX + Travel + Navigation Apps + Dutch

Gisteren heb ik gekeken naar een aantal PC en online gebaseerde tools, en daar hoort natuurlijk Google Maps ook bij. Google Maps is gratis en navigeert erg goed, maar wil je data uitwisselen met iets anders, dan heeft dat wat aandacht nodig... en werkt het uiteindelijk amper, helaas.

GPX Bestanden en Programma's voor de PC (Dutch)

GPX + Travel + Dutch

GPX (GPS eXport) files zijn log-bestanden / route-bestanden (in XML formaat) en worden vaak voor wandeltochten, fietstochten en auto tour-tochten gebruikt.

Deze post gaat over mijn voorlopige ervaringen met software en hardware, en dan met name onder Windows. (Al zijn de helft van de tools web based 😏)

Rick Partlow - Drop Trooper 1 - Contact Front

Audiobook Review

Your typical, macho, space marine novel, but it's readable.

The obligatory bootcamp scenes aren't overly extended, and the techno babble is within limits and believable. Meeting up with an older woman is something you rarely see in these kind of stories, and the enemies - though still faceless - aren't outright evil, just... culturally and biologically different.

AI maakt solliciteren gemakkelijker en recruiters overbodig (Dutch)

Column + Wallpaper + AI + Dutch

Zie de afbeelding hieronder, door iemand ergens 'gevonden' op het internet, en geplaatst op LinkedIn met de stelling dat AI het hele proces van het zoeken van banen tot het vinden van de juiste kandidaat 'zoveel beter maakt'.

Maar is dat eigenlijk wel zo?

AI Makes Job Applications Easier and Recruiters Superfluous

Column + AI

See the image below, found by someone 'somewhere' on the internet, and placed on LinkedIn stating that AI would simplify the whole process from searching for a job to recruiting the right candidate.

But is that the case?

Creating Shortcuts to Batchfiles in Windows 11

Windows

Why make things easy... You can only create links to .exe files now on Windows 11, but there's a way around that as well. It just takes a little effort.

Here's how to create a taskbar shortcut to a batch file in Windows 11:

Top Network Security Security Cheat Sheet

Datatalk

Found on LinkedIn.

Click on image to enlarge.

More cheat sheets... (Maybe I should add some 😏)

Disney+ - Shogun 2024 - Episodes 1, 2 & 3

Series Review + Shogun + Disney+

It's 2024 now, and there's a new Shogun in town (excuse me the pun). Shogun.

I review a lot of older stuff, so it's time to do something more up to date 😇 It's not completely fair to call watching two episodes of Shogun a 'series review', but, well, let's say a review of two episodes is still a review 😏

The Typewriter

Music + YouTube

The 1950 Typewriter by Leroy Anderson is by itself unique and crazy.

In 1963 Jerry Lewis used it in the movie Who's Minding the Store.

Over the years there have been multiple performances by real orchestras and other... enthusiasts.

And some of those are great. Try this one.