DIY: sewing your own fashion

Vogue pattern 8806, Sewing Patterns

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Sewing can be one of the most exasperating endeavors I've encountered--can't tell you how many times I've had to re-do what I just did because I did it backward. That said, in today's retail clothing market, sometimes sewing a garment yourself is about the only way you can find/afford something unique.

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Burda pattern 8108, Sewing Patterns

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Probably the single most common error I make when putting together a sewing project is selecting an inappropriate fabric or print to go with the pattern.  It's best to look at the garment illustration on the pattern envelope carefully and heed the fabric suggestions on the back, unless you have a very clear idea of the look you want to create. Sewing Patterns has a good selection of patterns.

If you're new to sewing, there's a lot to learn. Getting to the stage where you can put together a Vogue Couture pattern may take years. There is a Very Easy Vogue collection that has many desirable designs and suits beginners' skills, such as the one below. While it's always best to buy the size that fits your measurements, in my experience Simplicity and McCalls patterns feel small for the measurements given.

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Very Easy Vogue pattern 9115, Sewing Patterns

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A good guide is essential; one that I've used so much it's falling apart is Simplicity Sewing Book (This links to a revised version at Amazon).

For me, one of the most pleasurable aspects of sewing is shopping for and handling fabrics. There are excellent deals and large selections online (Online Fabric Store slider), but you really should go to a local fabric store to get a sense of how light or heavy, firm or not firm, stiff or pliable--called the hand--a fabric is.

If you really don't want to open this can of worms, fulfilling as it can be, and would rather let someone else do the handiwork, take a look at sites like Etsy Clothing, ArtFire, and Rebels Market. There's a list of Etsy alternatives at Business News Daily.

-- Marge

Politics and polls: boycotting the election

This idea behind a cartoon posted Friday has been haunting me.

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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What if, because of the current state of elections--influence by big money and mind-searing partisanship, people decide that the elections are just not worth their time. Or what if the more pro-active, but democratically debilitating phenomenon takes place and people as a group make their intention to boycott the election known?

According to one reference, the Pew Research Center, there is now a Party of Nonvoters, consisting of "younger, more racially diverse, more financially strapped" people. With the increasing gap between the monied 1% and and the rest of us, the ranks of the financially strapped is likely to increase. Pew Research further defines Who Votes, Who Doesn’t, and Why in an article published in 2006. In 2008, when Obama was first elected, CNN reported Number of votes cast set record, but voter turnout percentage didn't. Wikipedia shows that voter turnout in 2008 was "57.5 percent of the eligible voters."

If you look at the polls at Real Clear Politics, the numbers are kind of overwhelming. Being informed in these times can be a fulltime job. For another view of the issues, take a look at I Side With's list of political issues of 2015.

The idea in a democracy is to have your say via one vote. What that one vote says in this political atmosphere is questionable. And sullying the election process with vast amounts of money only makes things worse. In fact throwing money at the election process in an attempt to entice disenfranchised voters to vote seems pretty ineffective.

I found a few voices calling for boycotts of U.S elections. One voice is Election Boycott Advocates. Their byline is "Reject capitalism, demand democracy." Unfortunately the site has strong socialistic overtones. However, this point by the author resonated with me:

Laws restricting third party participation, an elections system that favors money over votes, a two-party system that has no room for any other than the official liberal and conservative ideologies, a Supreme Court that protects the right of billionaires to buy elections and politicians. Why bother, the majority of Americans ask as they throw their hands up in exasperation with a system that just doesn't work for them.

If you search on 'boycott elections' you'll find that a number of countries have done so. Mehrunisa Qayyum at Huffington Post surveys the effectiveness of some boycotts. (Remember, this is an opinion piece.) One boycott in India is particularly interesting, Village sans hospital to boycott polls. The article quotes a village spokesperson,

Leaders have been coming to us but we decided not to vote for any of them this time. It is high time now not to vote. They only give fake promises --Panja Singh, 62, a resident of Jhangola village

-- Marge

Cartoons: going for the humor

Looks to me like cartoonists are getting as snarky as the politicians and news reporters at Fox.  So today's mix is an attempt to find the humor in it all.

Ben Carson, a Tea Party candidate for president in 2016, is not particularly popular with voters, according to poll results at I Side With... Tom Toll's cartoon below paraphrases Ben Carson's statement, quoted from the Huffington Post, "that being gay was a choice "because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they're gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question." The paraphase makes much more sense to me.

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Tom Toles, The Week

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Republican's denial of climate change has made them a laughingstock to many. I Side With asks "Should the government increase environmental regulations to prevent global warming?" You can check the poll answers.

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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I hope Chris Christie is unable to overcome Bridgegate--in my eyes, it says clearly what his values and methods are. We're still allowed to laugh, though.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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Unfortunately this cartoon may be too true in depicting what will happen in November 2016, if the political scene continues to unravel.

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: Backyard dressups

If you have a backyard, there are some really cool ideas for making it a better place to hangout in this article by Peggy Wang at BuzzFeed. If you don't have a backyard, my apologies.

Of the 41 ideas Peggy (quoted below) presents, I like these.

Save your pinecones for bedding, which will keep pups and cats out of your plants.

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pinecones for bedding, BuzzFeed

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With a few long pieces of wood, you can also use cinder blocks to create an impromptu couch.

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improptu couch, BuzzFeed

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Repurpose an old chandelier as a bird feeder.

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bird feeder, BuzzFeed

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Spray paint pebbles with glow-in-the-dark paint to light a path at night.

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painted pebbles, BuzzFeed

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This insanely simple rope swing will provide hours of fun.
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rope swing, BuzzFeed

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Most of these don't need instructions; however, weeds may be a problem with the pinecone idea. Here are 8 homemade weed killers from Good Housekeeping.

-- Marge

Using science to date an ancient battle

Krishna and Arjun on the chariot, Mahabharata, 18th-19th century, India, Wikipedia

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Delving into ancient tales for proof of actual events can be tricky to say the least. But the work of Dr. Naraha Achar used such intriguing methods that I must respect in his results. The basis for this post is a video about finding evidence of a sunken city called Dwaraka (Dvārakā) in ancient India. You can find Dr. Achar's research explained from times 14:30 to 19:40 of this long, sometimes rambling video. Approach with caution: there are suggestions of a conspiracy to cover up archaeological findings and intimations of alien technology.

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Dr. Achar's research is based on a long, complex Sanskrit epic of ancient India called the Mahabharata. B. N. Narahari Achar is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Materials Science, University of Memphis. There are several opinions on when the Kurukshetra War, the main event described in the Mahabharata, occurred.

Subhash Kak, professor emeritus at the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Louisiana State University, addresses some of these opinions and how complex the Mahabharata is. Check out this paper by him. In his paper he mentions Dr. Acher's research, saying

Recently, the historian of astronomy Narahari Achar has in unpublished work argued for the date of 3067 BC with an error of a few decades. Achar’s work does not depend on the classical siddhantic ideas which increases its persuasiveness. (Note.9)

Author Stephen Knapp also mentions Dr. Achar's work in his Time Line of Lord Krishna article; but I tend to give his writing a wide berth because of this opening line--"As devotees and followers of the Vedic path..."

Some interesting reading can be found under the topic of Archaeoastronomy. To get an idea of how deep and varied human beliefs are, take a look at Wikipedia's Lists of Deities.

I came across this quote from J.R.R. Tolkien the other day:

All that is gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost;
the old that is strong does not wither,
deep roots are not reached by the frost.

-- Marge

Cartoons: root causes

It's been a tough week around the world, but toughest for Nepal and Cleveland.

So, what is a root cause? According to Wikipedia:

A root cause is an initiating cause of either a condition or a causal chain that leads to an outcome or effect of interest. Commonly, root cause is used to describe the depth in the causal chain where an intervention could reasonably be implemented to improve performance or prevent an undesirable outcome.

The root cause of the current state of Nepal was the earthquake.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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I'm not quite sure what the full extent of the root causes of the riots in Cleveland are, but pretty sure most of them are related to racism.  BTW, the driver of the police van has been charged with the depraved-heart murder of Freddie Gray, who was unlawfully arrested for carrying a pocket knife (not a switchblade).

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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The root cause for Republicans taking over Congresses in America is in part gerrymandering, although Democrats attempt to do it too. Partisanship and polarization contribute.

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Glenn McCoy, The Week

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In a time when many legislative bodies are grappling with raising the minimum wage, the Minnesota House has lowered it for tip workers. Seems to me the root cause here is depraved-heart greed.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: Emergency toolkits

Earthquake, Nepal, The Telegraph

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You never know when a disaster will strike. Best to be prepared. Many agencies have webpages with advice on how to prepare for and withstand the conditions of an emergency. Often these pages deal specifically with natural disasters likely to occur in your area. Here in Anchorage we have the Emergency Management pages, published by the municipality.

Being prepared often means having supplies and a toolkit set aside, 'just in case'. Ready.gov's Basic Disaster Supplies lists some essentials. The site offers a wealth of information on other topics related to preparedness, as well. And you may want to take a moment to reflect on what you would sorely miss (that can be included) if disaster strikes.

DMV.org and Edmunds list emergency supplies for your car. It's surprising how long these lists are. Edmunds notes

Granted, all these items practically necessitate a Ford Excursion to haul them down the road, but a basic version with two roadside flares, a quart of oil, small first aid kit, extra fuses, flashlight, Leatherman Tool (or any other multipurpose tool commonly containing pliers, wire cutters, knife, saw, bottle opener, screwdrivers, files and an awl), tire inflator, rags, pocket knife, pen and paper and a help sign will take up a minimal amount of trunk space.

For your home there's a list at The Family Handyman that makes for interesting reading. As the article says:

A disaster can make you a victim or victor. Luck plays a part, and so does knowing what to do. But nothing matters more than preparation. And that means having the right stuff in your emergency arsenal. Here are our suggestions to help you overcome disasters big and small.

-- Marge

Nepal earthquake: how do cell signals get through?

Kathmandu Valley, UnitingNepal

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Headlines about Nepal praise Google and Facebook for their "collaborative, cellphone-based tools [deployed] over the weekend to help track victims of the earthquake (Washington Post)." My question is--how do the signals get through? The country has experienced an earthquake of magnitude of 7.8 to 8.1 (Wikipedia), so power stations, cell towers, and network infrastructure must have been badly damaged.

Reuters in one of their reports published this map:

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Nepal,earthquake map, Reuters

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Currently, there are 6 colocation data centers in Nepal, all of them are located in Kathmandu. This suggests that the cellphone signals are being processed by sites situated elsewhere or by other means.

It looks like Nepal is a magnet for adventurers wanting to trek in the Himalayas. The Mountain Company's FAQ, answering the question "Do mobile/ cell phones work while on trek?," says:

Over the last few years the mobile/ cell phone network has improved significantly in more remote areas of Nepal. There are now cell phone masts installed at Gorakshep so it is possible to get 3G connectivity throughout the entire Everest Base Camp trek.
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In more remote regions of Nepal such as on Dhaulagiri Circuit, Manaslu Circuit and Tsum Valley, Kanchenjunga Circuit, Upper Dolpo treks there will be no mobile/ cell phone coverage. On these trips we send a satellite phone with our groups for communications and our clients are welcome to use for personal calls and SMS texts if they like. 

Also Indian telecom companies are lending a hand.

Indian telecom companies have made calls to Nepal discounted or completely free. Messaging app Viber has made outgoing calls to landlines and mobiles free users of its Viber Out service.

The 2 companies most mentioned in information about cell service in the Nepal area are Nepal Telecom and N Cell (Facebook link, website unavailable).

This is what I could find; I hope you find it useful.

-- Marge

Cartoons: Losing America

Emma Lazarus wrote in 1883:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Today this is what the GOP would write.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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Their greed has no bounds.

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Tom Toles, The Week

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Meanwhile, those struggling to support themselves struggle more.

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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And officials' perceptions that only those with money (read power and influence) and a pale skin color matter continue to become more evident.

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Nate Beeler, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: unusual ways to charge your phone

New ways to charge your phone include a solar panel sculpture that imitates an bonzai; using a heat engine powered by a cup of coffee (or slushie); and riding your bike.  For more ways, check out Hongkiat's 30 Smartphone Chargers You Have Not Seen Before and The Week's 9 strange ways to power your cellphone.  Here are the ones most intriguing to me.

Electree "is delivered in modules which you assemble to create your own tree. This method makes it possible to produce an infinity of different shapes. You can model it according to your wishes and at the same time optimize the orientation of the photovoltaic cells and thus increase its effectiveness."

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electree

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Epiphany Labs has a kickstarter underway for the onE Puck. According to their Kickstarter page,

The idea behind the Epiphany onE Puck is to use a stirling engine powered solely by heat disparities, such as a hot or cold drink, a candle, ice, etc. These heat sources will provide enough power to the stirling engine to fully charge your cell phone battery. There's nothing new about Stirling engines - they were invented in the early 1800s - but thanks to modern materials and modern electronics, we are able to put them to use in ways that weren't previously possible.

Take time to watch the video, it has some interesting points to make.

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Epiphany Labs' oneE Puck, kickstarter

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BikeCharge Dynamo uses straightforward technology, you just use your bike to do the charging.

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BikeCharge Dynamo, Tigra Sport

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The WakaWaka Power is such a good idea, I had to include it. Their site says to "buy one = give one" in a developing country and they have a well-developed mission.

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WakaWaka Power

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Here's something we modile users should keep in mind--Pacific Northwest National Library (PNNL) has found that recharging lithium batteries leaves behind microscopic debris. Quoting the article:

An eruption of lithium at the tip of a battery's electrode, cracks in the electrode's body, and a coat forming on the electrode's surface reveal how recharging a battery many times leads to its demise.

-- Marge

Art: murals old and new

Since the time we lived in caves, we've been drawing on the walls. Sometimes Mom gets mad, sometimes the drawings are works of art. The first cave drawings were likely made using charcoal from the fire or stone tools harder than the cave wall. As humans progressed drawing became painting on the walls.

From the Minoans to Renaissance Italians to the present, frescoes have been the preferred method. In frescoes the pigment is laid down on fresh or wet plaster. As a side note, oil paintings on cave walls have been discovered in Afghanistan that date to the  mid-7th century CE (Common Era, also Current Era or Christian Era).

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Bamiyan Oil Painting, CAIS

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In more recent times Diego Rivera held the spotlight for murals, as well as a dispute with one patron that resulted in the destruction of his work "Man at the Crossroads." Here's one of his works still available for viewing.

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Rivera Mural in the National Palace, Mexico

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Often murals are considered decorative art, as stated in the article Reassessing Artworks of Ancient Rome. Pictured in the article is the fresco below. It may have been merely decorative (or commemorative) at the time, but has with the passing of time taken on more meaning.

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The Aldobrandini Marriage, NY Times

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Murals can be political statements, certainly in artist Rivera's case. In my view, street art often qualifies as murals, although they generally are more transitory. Here's a photo essay of The 50 Most Stunning Wall Murals From Around The World. Note that some of Rivera's pieces are included. The image below appears to me to be a statement some might call political.

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Berlin art at Oberbaumbrucke Bridge, The Scenic Sidewalk

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-- Marge

Cartoons: pretending to be pure

Hypocrisy is an ugly word and even uglier to see in action, but we're seeing a lot of it lately.

O.K. Cuban leaders do not have a clean record when it comes to human rights; but, thanks to America's response to 9/11, neither do we.  See Gitmo.

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John Cole, The Week

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Do you think the Republican Party will ever rejoin humanity?

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Tom Toles, The Week

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Shame on you, Atlanta teachers. What if you catch your students cheating?

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Rick McKee, The Week

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Now that April 15th, aka Tax Day in the U.S., is over, we can laugh.

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Marshall Ramsey, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: Troubleshooting the USB 3 / bluetooth interference

Kinivo Bluetooth 4 dongle, Amazon

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My apologies to you readers who have no interest in technical computer stuff.

I've spent several packets of time during the last few days trying to figure out how to set up the bluetooth headset that I want despite a known and experienced problem with USB 3.0 interfering with bluetooth transmission.

Intel defines the problem in this white paper: USB 3.0* Radio Frequency Interference Impact on 2.4 GHz Wireless Devices.  According to the blog Rocket Yard:

The unfortunate result is dropped or lost signals at distances as near as five feet, compared to the normal 20-30 foot reception range of Bluetooth devices. This interference increases the further away from the computer the Bluetooth device is located. At the same time, it was noticed that the further away from the Bluetooth antenna the USB 3.0 device is, the less severe the interference.

The Rocket Yard is talking about Mac minis, while the problem I experienced was due to plugging a Logitech Unifying receiver for a wireless mouse into a USB 3 port in the front panel of my PC. There was no way I'd be able to use the mouse with that configuration. (Finally solved that one by plugging the receiver into the front of a KVM)

While several references suggest shielding will solve the problem, how do you shield either the USB port or the bluetooth dongle? And I'm not finding any shielded bluetooth adapters. Rocket Yard suggests wrapping a special foil around the Mac mini's bluetooth module--a solution that won't work for my machine. The machine shown below isn't like mine, it's far more attractive.

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11 Super Cool Gaming PC Case Mods, GamingBolt

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Seems to me changing the USB 3.0 radio frequency would solve the problem and that's probably in the works. For now I'm going to try plugging the bluetooth adapter into an USB 2.0 port in the back panel. I'm guessing that Bluetooth 4.0 is the best thing to try. We'll see if that works.

If shielding for the purpose of privacy and security is your concern, there are products, such as Silent Pocket that will help.

Please comment if you've found a good solution to the interference puzzle.

-- Marge

Update (04-22-15): Tried my new bluetooth adapter in a USB slot on the front panel -- no go.  In the back panel it works. However... It interferes with the Logitech wireless mouse, so can't use it. Bummer.

Science: Becoming bionic

microfluidics platform, Nature

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While chips about the size of a glass microscope slide are not exactly what come to mind when talking about bionic humans (I'm thinking the Bionic Man and RoboCop), the chips described below are the real McCoy.

Reports of these chips that may augment and assist the human body and even act as functioning organs are beginning to appear with more frequency. Some of these chips are currently being used and some are years away from application. Terms for you to use when tracking development of these and similar devices are microfluidics, biochip, and organ-on-a-chip. Interesting discussions about transmuting nature to hardware that can repair or strengthen human capabilities are available at IEEE's Spectrum.

Gizmag reports on the heart-on-a-chip and other organs being chipified.

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heart-on-a-chip, gizmag

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Harvard's Wyss Institute reports that three ‘Organs-on-Chips’ are ready to serve as disease models and drug testbeds.

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ogan-on-chip, Wyss Institute

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Bionic eye implants show promise for restoring vision to the blind.  TheScientist explains how this might work in The Bionic Eye.

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Bionic Eye, TheScientist

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Great advances have been made in prosthesis. TryEngineering offers a Bionic Arm Design Challenge that can be approached as a game in which you will "virtually design and test a robotic arm, and learn how engineers create working artificial arms."

-- Marge

Cartoons: to serve and protect--whom?

Yet another police shooting and cover up; this one in North Charleston, S.C. Columnist Jay Bookman at the AJC (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) reports on this one. Here's how his article starts:

I’m not going to post the video here — it is available in multiple places for those who wish to watch it. But the screengrab above captures the tragedy of it. Fifty-year-old Walter Scott, pulled over for a broken taillight on Saturday, is shot five times in the back by a North Charleston, S.C. policeman who later claimed that he had fired only because he felt that his life was in danger. That was the police department story until the video above, taken by a passerby, was given to the media.

Police officials also initially described efforts to revive Scott through CPR. The video again tells a very different story. After the shooting, Scott’s body is handcuffed, but officers make no effort to assist or revive him. The video also captures the officer, Michael Slager, 33, apparently rearranging the crime scene by dropping an item next to Scott’s body. Both men had served in the Coast Guard.

This photo accompanies his article.

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Video by a passerby, AJC

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Here are some of the comments published by leading editorial cartoonists.

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 Adam Zyglis, The Week

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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Steve Sack, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: Try a new game in an Improbable world

Worlds Adrift, Bossa Studios

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Currently, one of the major drawbacks in virtual worlds like Second Life, Landmark Game, and most MMOs is lag. If the program is trying to render too much in-world stuff or too many players are in one area at a time, a user experiences slower player input to game reaction times. Sometimes this is the result of the equipment the user is using, sometimes its caused by latency.

Some fellows at Cambridge University are developing a new type of engine that may change the nature of MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games). This is how they describe their work:

Improbable is developing an operating environment that makes building simulated worlds possible. Worlds which can be run in real time, simulating the behaviours and interactions of millions of entities. Spaces with their own rules and properties that a multitude of people can simultaneously change, explore and visualise in as many different ways as developers can imagine.

Simulated worlds provide unique insight to those asking questions of complex systems. As well as enabling completely new experiences in gaming, simulated worlds can solve significant problems in areas as diverse as defence, energy, city efficiency, health, and finance.

Gamemaker Bossa Studios is working on a project based on this engine called Worlds Adrift. The folks at Bossa Studios want us to be "a part of the development and let us know what you think." You can sign up by entering your email address at the site. Here's one of their latest videos.

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There is a Worlds Adrift channel on YouTube. If you like your information filtered and expanded, keep an eye out for Rock, Paper, Shotgun's always interesting reports.

News of Improbable and Worlds Adrift was first caught by me at New World Notes.

-- Marge