working from home...

[server]

On Tue, 28 Jul 2020 10:38:42 -0400, Phil Hobbs
<pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 2020-07-28 05:00, Michael Kellett wrote:

When we last moved (about 11 years ago) I thought about working from
home (I had a factory unit about 650 ft^2 at the last place) but we
didn\'t find a house we liked with suitable space for working. So since
then I\'ve rented a 1000 ft^2 unit about 12 miles from home. (In the
nearest town with proper shops).
It was a good decision, for me anyway, it keeps work separate from home,
no one complains about how I organise it or what I keep in it.
snip

We have a lab/office about the same size, a bit under 2 miles from my
house and 5 miles from my son\'s place. We could use a bit more lab
space with two of us, but it\'s nice having offices with doors that shut.

Back when I was at IBM Yorktown, I used to be able to walk down the hall
and talk to a world\'s expert on just about anything I needed, from
semiconductor processing to polymers to optics to high-end processor
design. I shared an office wall with the guy that invented dynamic
memory, and a lab wall with the guy that invented self-servowriting for
hard disks.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Bell Labs was like that. Some guy from Western Electric could have
lunch with one of the guys who just invented the transistor.

I had lunch with Walter Brattain!



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

Science teaches us to doubt.

Claude Bernard

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 23:07:35 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:

On 7/27/2020 9:24 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Imagine having slot machines, pinball machines, arcade pieces,
electric wheelchairs, parts cabinets, DSOs, LAs, ICEs, ...

I have only 1200 square feet in the house. Subtract the space used by
kitchen, bathroom, stairs, bed, and walkways leaving maybe 700 square
feet. My palatial office was 900 square feet. There is only one
direction to go and that was up. The office had three Costco 5 shelf
wire racks:
<https://www.costco.com/trinity-5-tier-outdoor-wire-shelving-rack-with-wheels%2c-48%22-x-18%22-x-72%22-nsf%2c-gray-color.product.11505870.html>
which now allows me to store stuff vertically to the ceiling. I also
have 4 more lesser racks, with only 3 or 4 shelves. I standardized on
typical \"Bankers Boxes\" for storing most everything and applied laser
printed labels with huge letters that are easily readable. All my
projects have their own Bankers Box or clear plastic box for somewhat
easy access.

The \"computer\" stuff was easiest to address; I \"standardized\" on one
particular make/model machine, kept 6 (I use 4, normally) of them plus
a set of spares (power supplies, memory, fans, disk sleds, monitors,
keyboards, etc.) and donated all the rest of the kit.

I did much the same, keeping only the best. My former office computer
did me a big favor by blowing up its power supply after 14 years of
operation. However, I\'m still left with 6 assorted desktops, 2
laptops, approx 10 Chromebooks, and 5 laser printers. Most will
eventually be sold or donated.

I\'ve left the workbench alone and will deal with disposing of the
ancient test equipment later:
<http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/pics/home/BL-shop6.jpg>
I\'ve been able to do some small repairs in the tiny space remaining,
but larger projects have been moved to the dining room table.

Next I\'ll trim down my collection of text and reference books.
I wonder if there are services that will cut the bindings and bulk
scan the pages??

I don\'t know. I\'ve reduced my book collection to only those books
that have not been scanned or are not available online. I\'ve scanned
books myself and don\'t consider the time spent very productive.
Fortunately, the book collection doesn\'t occupy much floor space, so I
think I can ignore the books for a while.

I have a \"refrigerator dolly\" (hand truck with training wheels) that
I use for boxes and large pieces of equipment (e.g., arcade pieces).
There are treads on the rear to help you \"drag\" it up/down the
stairs. And, the \"training wheels\" make it relatively effortless
to move loads on level ground.

https://static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/4XKJ2_AS01

I was seriously considering building a temporarily \"railroad\" up my 45
degree hill to make vertical transportation easier, but ran out of
time. An appliance dolly would be nice, but there\'s no flat land in
my area where it might be useful. I use a trash can dolly, with extra
large wheels for stairs.

>(thankfully gave away the 80 \"xerox boxes\" of paperbacks many years ago!)

I would guess(tm) about 30 lbs per box or 2,400 lbs. Yeah, giving
that away was a good idea. My major accomplishment was organizing my
old tax returns and saving only one file cabinet drawer full of forms
and receipts (about 10 years worth), while shredding 3 file cabinet
drawers full of old returns and receipts.

Today, I visit my formerly palatial office to sort through about 25
assorted old laptops, removing the hard drives, and donating the rest.
I need to be out by the end of August, so at some point, if I can\'t
find anyone that wants the furniture and workbench, I\'ll call Junk
King to haul it away. Expensive, but necessary.

When it\'s all done, I\'m still not sure if I\'ll be able to work
effectively until the mess is downsized again. I guess this rant
isn\'t about working at home, but rather about getting ready to work at
home instead of at an office.

I really hate moving.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Klaus Kragelund]

On Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at 7:25:52 AM UTC+2, Don Y wrote:

On 7/27/2020 11:55 AM, John Larkin wrote:
Are many of you working from home now?

Sure -- for the past 35 (?) years. But, I\'ve had to get used to \"her\"
being around, continuously, now. <frown> It works out pretty well
as we tend to occupy our own \"work/craft areas\". And, my sleep/wake
schedule is asynchronous wrt hers.

But, there are far more \"interruptions\":

\"Can you get me the Mixmaster so I can bake some date nut bread?\"
\"Can you bring the light table in for me? (now, can you put it away?)\"
\"Are we going to have lunch together?\"
\"Come read this email that Rhonda sent me...\"
\"Jean sent me an eBook. Can you put it on a Nook for me to read?\"
\"Can you show me how to watch this MP4 on the living room TV?\"
\"Alan & Phyllis want your Benne Wafer recipe. Will you give it to them?\"
\"Tony wants to Zoom. How do I do that?\"

Oh my god, I have exact same wife version. Makes all kinds of plans, so I have to point out I am actually working

Cheers

Klaus

 

[server]

On Tue, 28 Jul 2020 09:09:35 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund
<klauskvik@hotmail.com> wrote:

On Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at 7:25:52 AM UTC+2, Don Y wrote:
On 7/27/2020 11:55 AM, John Larkin wrote:
Are many of you working from home now?

Sure -- for the past 35 (?) years. But, I\'ve had to get used to \"her\"
being around, continuously, now. <frown> It works out pretty well
as we tend to occupy our own \"work/craft areas\". And, my sleep/wake
schedule is asynchronous wrt hers.

But, there are far more \"interruptions\":

\"Can you get me the Mixmaster so I can bake some date nut bread?\"
\"Can you bring the light table in for me? (now, can you put it away?)\"
\"Are we going to have lunch together?\"
\"Come read this email that Rhonda sent me...\"
\"Jean sent me an eBook. Can you put it on a Nook for me to read?\"
\"Can you show me how to watch this MP4 on the living room TV?\"
\"Alan & Phyllis want your Benne Wafer recipe. Will you give it to them?\"
\"Tony wants to Zoom. How do I do that?\"


Oh my god, I have exact same wife version. Makes all kinds of plans, so I have to point out I am actually working

Cheers

Klaus

We have breakfast [1] and then Mo goes into her office, closes the
door, and does speech therapy remotely. I eventually slink off
somewhere.


[1] Black Liquids Matter



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

Science teaches us to doubt.

Claude Bernard

 

[server]

On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 23:07:35 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:

On 7/27/2020 9:24 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 11:55:46 -0700, John Larkin

I had to make a difficult decision over the old parts. The difficulty
in finding a place in the house to store old parts that might never be
used has forced me to sell, give away, donate, or recycle most of the
pile. Similarly, the old bicycle parts, 33 rpm record collection,
duplicate tools, and welding tanks will be removed to make space. I\'m
down to only two bicycles. I gave away the older chainsaws, but still
have four that could be sold.

Imagine having slot machines, pinball machines, arcade pieces,
electric wheelchairs, parts cabinets, DSOs, LAs, ICEs, ...

The \"computer\" stuff was easiest to address; I \"standardized\" on one
particular make/model machine, kept 6 (I use 4, normally) of them plus
a set of spares (power supplies, memory, fans, disk sleds, monitors,
keyboards, etc.) and donated all the rest of the kit.

Next I\'ll trim down my collection of text and reference books.
I wonder if there are services that will cut the bindings and bulk
scan the pages??

Between the road and the upper levels are about 50 stairs. No
elevator, so I get a good workout carrying boxes up the stairs.
There\'s still some more to move before I can close the doors, which is
scheduled for the end of August. Since I can only carry so much up
the stairs in a day, I decided to do the move mostly in my Subaru
Forester. It\'s small, but sufficient. Had I hired a moving van and
crew, I would have had to leave everything next to the road until the
boxes could be moved up the stairs. Small loads take longer, but are
easier to deal with.

I have a \"refrigerator dolly\" (hand truck with training wheels) that
I use for boxes and large pieces of equipment (e.g., arcade pieces).
There are treads on the rear to help you \"drag\" it up/down the
stairs. And, the \"training wheels\" make it relatively effortless
to move loads on level ground.

https://static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/4XKJ2_AS01

But, *it* adds a fair bit of weight to the \"load\" so needs to be
worth the added effort.

(thankfully gave away the 80 \"xerox boxes\" of paperbacks many years ago!)

Some people collect watches. Or baseball cards. Or military vehicles.

I have a few Tek 547 oscilloscopes, and a bunch of plugins, that I
couldn\'t bear to heft into the dumpster. They are beautiful. But
realistically, they are big and useless.



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

Science teaches us to doubt.

Claude Bernard

 

[Don Y]

On 7/28/2020 9:01 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 23:07:35 -0700, Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid
wrote:

On 7/27/2020 9:24 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote: Imagine having slot machines,
pinball machines, arcade pieces, electric wheelchairs, parts cabinets,
DSOs, LAs, ICEs, ...

I have only 1200 square feet in the house. Subtract the space used by
kitchen, bathroom, stairs, bed, and walkways leaving maybe 700 square feet.
My palatial office was 900 square feet. There is only one direction to go
and that was up.

Ah, OK. We have a bit more space/volume, here.

The office had three Costco 5 shelf wire racks:
which now allows me to store stuff vertically to the ceiling. I also > have 4 more lesser racks, with only 3 or 4 shelves. I standardized on
typical \"Bankers Boxes\" for storing most everything and applied laser
printed labels with huge letters that are easily readable. All my projects
have their own Bankers Box or clear plastic box for somewhat easy access.

I purchased 21 ft wide of 7 ft tall, 18\" deep \"industrial\" shelving at
a local auction (cost me $37.50 for the lot! :> ). I\'ve positioned the
(adjustable) shelves ~8\" apart (vertically). I.e., 18\" x 210 ft of shelf!

Then, filled each with 6\" x 10.5\" x 18\" boxes (rescued from a local
hospital\'s box recycling bin -- \"Vacutainers\" used for drawing blood samples).
Each is labeled with something suggestive of the contents: hammers, tape
rules, VHDCI cables, SCSI II cables, SCSI III cables, Oddball SCSI cables,
RG58/9, video cables, CAT5 cables, mickey-mouse cords, power cords, medusa
cords, nut drivers, irrigation fixtures, etc.

I don\'t have storage for \"projects\", per se -- that\'s what the kitchen table
and living room floor are for! :> (Though \"she\" seems to have a different
opinion on that subject! :< )

The \"computer\" stuff was easiest to address; I \"standardized\" on one
particular make/model machine, kept 6 (I use 4, normally) of them plus a
set of spares (power supplies, memory, fans, disk sleds, monitors,
keyboards, etc.) and donated all the rest of the kit.

I did much the same, keeping only the best. My former office computer did
me a big favor by blowing up its power supply after 14 years of operation.
However, I\'m still left with 6 assorted desktops, 2 laptops, approx 10
Chromebooks, and 5 laser printers. Most will eventually be sold or
donated.

I have dozens of \"computers/laptops\" -- but only the 4 \"workstations\".
The big savings came from discarding all of the \"spare parts\" that I
*might*, *someday* have needed to repair any of those other machines
(but likely would NEVER need!).

I tend to use the other machines as appliances -- dedicated or otherwise.
E.g., I am presently FTPing stuff with a little Netbook onto an external
disk that I will, later, sneakernet onto one of my workstations (the
workstations aren\'t routed). Once done, the netbook will go back in
its case and back onto a shelf in the closet -- until I next need to
FTP a bunch of \"stuff\" (\"distfiles\"). As I don\'t use it\'s \"portable\"
ability, I don\'t care if the battery eventually fails!

I\'ve discarded all of the color printers in favor of a pair of monochrome
LJ6p\'s that handle our infrequent printing needs (I rescued 4 NIB toner
carts so we\'re set for the next 10 years!). If I need to print something
\"pretty\", I can walk/drive to the nearby Kinkos and have them do it for
me -- paying them for their efforts to MAINTAIN their printer instead of
me having to maintain *mine*! :>

I\'ve left the workbench alone and will deal with disposing of the ancient
test equipment later:
http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/pics/home/BL-shop6.jpg> I\'ve been
able to do some small repairs in the tiny space remaining, but larger
projects have been moved to the dining room table.

Previously, my projects were pretty decent physical sizes -- on the order of
a dishwasher or a refrigerator.

But, I\'m now concentrating on much smaller devices (a few cubic inches) but
in greater varieties. So, I can build a hundred of them and still carry them
ALL around in a single banker\'s box!

And, I design a lot smarter, now, so I can let the product assist me with
the troubleshooting -- even for the \"first prototypes\". As a result, usually
only need to drag out a DSO to troubleshoot a power supply; and, a LA only
to trace some particularly nasty OS bug in a driver, etc. So, I don\'t even
have to set aside bench space for debugging!

And, it\'s just not worth my time to actually assemble the damn things -- esp
as I\'ve been working to dramatically shrink their sizes. Leave the Leister
for any rework that I might need...

Next I\'ll trim down my collection of text and reference books. I wonder if
there are services that will cut the bindings and bulk scan the pages??

I don\'t know. I\'ve reduced my book collection to only those books that have
not been scanned or are not available online. I\'ve scanned books myself and
don\'t consider the time spent very productive. Fortunately, the book
collection doesn\'t occupy much floor space, so I think I can ignore the
books for a while.

I\'d rather use the bookshelf space to store small items more accessibly.
E.g., all of my DIMMs are sorted by speed and stored in shoebox-sized
containers which are labeled and stacked in a closet. I\'d prefer them laid
out on a shelf that I can more readily *see* and *access*. External disk
drives need to be \"arranged\" somewhere so I can fetch whichever one
I *need*, etc.

(thankfully gave away the 80 \"xerox boxes\" of paperbacks many years ago!)

I would guess(tm) about 30 lbs per box or 2,400 lbs. Yeah, giving that away
was a good idea. My major accomplishment was organizing my old tax returns
and saving only one file cabinet drawer full of forms and receipts (about 10
years worth), while shredding 3 file cabinet drawers full of old returns and
receipts.

The problem with ALL records is you tend to save them... and never revisit
ALL that you\'ve saved! I suspect I have every credit card & bank statement
I\'ve ever received filed away. And, the idea of \"thinning\" that stack
would represent another chunk of time -- easier to just let it grow...

When it\'s all done, I\'m still not sure if I\'ll be able to work effectively
until the mess is downsized again. I guess this rant isn\'t about working at
home, but rather about getting ready to work at home instead of at an
office.

\"Make lemonade!\" :> Use it as an occasion to sort out where your
priorities and interests lie. I discarded a lot of test equipment
as I found I had much more fun writing code than designing hardware
(given that it\'s much harder, nowadays, to get CONSIDERABLE extra
functionality/value by \"rolling-your-own\"). Rather than designing a
CPU with a particular set of characteristics, I can *code* a CPU
that behaves the way I want for much less out-of-pocket! Likewise,
when I discarded all my paperbacks, I \"discovered\" the appeal of
using an eReader device. Now, I keep them all over the place (reading
different books in different locations).

> I really hate moving.

 

[Don Y]

On 7/28/2020 9:33 AM, jlarkin@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote:

(thankfully gave away the 80 \"xerox boxes\" of paperbacks many years ago!)

Some people collect watches. Or baseball cards. Or military vehicles.

I don\'t like \"collecting\" ANYTHING. I ended up with a sh*tload of paperbacks
simply because I am a voracious reader; what do you do with the book, once
you\'ve finished it?

A colleague once mentioned that his son was a \"big reader\". I asked him
if he might like some of my books. Son was thrilled. Neither Dad nor
Son realized just how many were coming his way -- \"bring a truck!\"

I have a few Tek 547 oscilloscopes, and a bunch of plugins, that I
couldn\'t bear to heft into the dumpster. They are beautiful. But
realistically, they are big and useless.

SWMBO has an elephant bell in the living room. I have yet to
understand WHY. Yeah, it\'s \"interesting\"... but, what do we DO with
it besides DUST it??

 

[Don Y]

On 7/28/2020 9:09 AM, Klaus Kragelund wrote:

On Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at 7:25:52 AM UTC+2, Don Y wrote:
On 7/27/2020 11:55 AM, John Larkin wrote:
Are many of you working from home now?

Sure -- for the past 35 (?) years. But, I\'ve had to get used to \"her\"
being around, continuously, now. <frown> It works out pretty well as we
tend to occupy our own \"work/craft areas\". And, my sleep/wake schedule is
asynchronous wrt hers.

But, there are far more \"interruptions\":

\"Can you get me the Mixmaster so I can bake some date nut bread?\" \"Can you
bring the light table in for me? (now, can you put it away?)\" \"Are we
going to have lunch together?\" \"Come read this email that Rhonda sent
me...\" \"Jean sent me an eBook. Can you put it on a Nook for me to read?\"
\"Can you show me how to watch this MP4 on the living room TV?\" \"Alan &
Phyllis want your Benne Wafer recipe. Will you give it to them?\" \"Tony
wants to Zoom. How do I do that?\"

Oh my god, I have exact same wife version. Makes all kinds of plans, so I
have to point out I am actually working

Is there a reason we had to defrost the big freezer TODAY? (knowing that
she can\'t get the baskets out of it without my help AND that, once started,
you\'re racing the clock to ensure the foodstuffs don\'t thaw before you\'re
done)

The biggest \"consequence\" of this recent lack-of-mobility on me is a result
of OTHERS who are \"bored\" and think I can help burn through some of their
copious free time...

 

[Tom Gardner]

On 28/07/20 20:58, Don Y wrote:

SWMBO has an elephant bell in the living room.  I have yet to
understand WHY.  Yeah, it\'s \"interesting\"...  but, what do we DO with
it besides DUST it??

I have a similar problem with a leopard skin.
Relatives have similar problems with elephant feet.

 

[David Lesher]

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> writes:

Between the road and the upper levels are about 50 stairs. No
elevator, so I get a good workout carrying boxes up the stairs.

\"How to design and build a baggage funicular in your front yard....\"

--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that\'s close..........................
Unless the host (that isn\'t close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

 

[Dave Platt]

In article <rfq8re$epi$1@reader1.panix.com>,
David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com> wrote:

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> writes:

Between the road and the upper levels are about 50 stairs. No
elevator, so I get a good workout carrying boxes up the stairs.

\"How to design and build a baggage funicular in your front yard....\"

A trebuchet would be more fun.

 

[George Herold]

On Monday, July 27, 2020 at 2:55:55 PM UTC-4, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/07/27/report-googles-200000-employees-will-work-from-home-for-another-full-year/

This virus thing might change things, and specifically cities,
forever.

Are many of you working from home now?

I\'m only working on my home.
Unemployed, local job situation bleak.. well I could get a
job at the \'deli\' in town.
There\'s an almost endless list of stuff to fix-up, clean,
repair, around the place. There\'s something equally enjoyable in;
painting a room, machining a part, soldering up a circuit,
fixing up the barn.
(the part/circuit may take more time beforehand... but for me the
\'pay-off\' comes when the job is done. I\'m not sure the barn will
ever be \'done\'. :^)

George H.

 

[John S]

On 7/27/2020 4:25 PM, John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 13:03:17 -0700 (PDT), edward.ming.lee@gmail.com
wrote:

On Monday, July 27, 2020 at 12:54:22 PM UTC-7, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-07-27 15:34, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:
On Monday, July 27, 2020 at 12:26:14 PM UTC-7, John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 15:06:03 -0400, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 2020-07-27 14:55, John Larkin wrote:


https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/07/27/report-googles-200000-employees-will-work-from-home-for-another-full-year/

This virus thing might change things, and specifically cities,
forever.

Are many of you working from home now?




Been back in the lab for a month. (It has way better A/C than home.) \'s

It\'s 50C to 60C here. The computers provide better heating than home.

You obviously work for 666 Technology or something, if you\'re still
chilly at 60C.

Yes, i am really bad with units, see above correction for 50F to 60F.


Hey, it\'s 62F here on Potrero. Just beastly.

There is some bright scary hot thing in the sky that we\'re not used
to.

A nuclear bomb? Go underground NOW!

 

[JM]

On 28/07/2020 04:22, Gerhard Hoffmann wrote:

Am 27.07.20 um 23:33 schrieb John Larkin:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 13:29:06 -0700 (PDT), Lasse Langwadt Christensen
langwadt@fonz.dk> wrote:

You obviously work for 666 Technology or something, if you\'re still
chilly at 60C.

My zip number is 66606


it is perfect if you want your steak medium rare by leaving it on your
desk for a few hours

give it few burnt stripes with the soldering iron and might be all
right

I bet our giant reflow oven could make a lot of pizzas.

They might not toast properly in nitrogen.

My lab-scale reflow oven uses Galden vapor phase.
It will toast properly at 227 °C or so, very well defined.
Problem is only how to get that expensive fluid from
the pizza when it\'s done.

Gerhard

Which vapour phase oven do you have? I\'ve been looking at the 2nd hand
market in the UK for a while to get a feel of the pricing, and think I
might invest in one. Or build one.

 

[Gerhard Hoffmann]

Am 29.07.20 um 14:40 schrieb JM:

My lab-scale reflow oven uses Galden vapor phase.
It will toast properly at 227 °C or so, very well defined.
Problem is only how to get that expensive fluid from
the pizza when it\'s done.

Gerhard



Which vapour phase oven do you have?  I\'ve been looking at the 2nd hand
market in the UK for a while to get a feel of the pricing, and think I
might invest in one.  Or build one.

Imdes Mini Condens It

https://www.imdes.de/

I have not used it very much, just a few tests.
I could avoid some BGAs, flatpacks turned out to be big enough.

cheers, Gerhard

 

[server]

On Wed, 29 Jul 2020 13:40:48 +0100, JM <dontreplytothis173@gmail.com>
wrote:

On 28/07/2020 04:22, Gerhard Hoffmann wrote:
Am 27.07.20 um 23:33 schrieb John Larkin:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 13:29:06 -0700 (PDT), Lasse Langwadt Christensen
langwadt@fonz.dk> wrote:

You obviously work for 666 Technology or something, if you\'re still
chilly at 60C.

My zip number is 66606


it is perfect if you want your steak medium rare by leaving it on your
desk for a few hours

give it few burnt stripes with the soldering iron and might be all
right

I bet our giant reflow oven could make a lot of pizzas.

They might not toast properly in nitrogen.

My lab-scale reflow oven uses Galden vapor phase.
It will toast properly at 227 °C or so, very well defined.
Problem is only how to get that expensive fluid from
the pizza when it\'s done.

Gerhard



Which vapour phase oven do you have? I\'ve been looking at the 2nd hand
market in the UK for a while to get a feel of the pricing, and think I
might invest in one. Or build one.

We have a \"vapor degreaser\" to wash boards that don\'t like water, but
it isn\'t really vapor operated. We dunk a board in boiling solvent
with a deflux agent, then spray it down with distilled solvent.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a5p3peb5km8yau9/BB0.JPG?raw=1

I wash by gold-plated Drelemed prototypes in that and they come out
beautiful.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7bihbjbaojvta0z/Z382_1.JPG?raw=1





--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

Science teaches us to doubt.

Claude Bernard

 

[server]

On Wed, 29 Jul 2020 06:12:55 -0500, John S <Sophi.2@invalid.org>
wrote:

On 7/27/2020 4:25 PM, John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 13:03:17 -0700 (PDT), edward.ming.lee@gmail.com
wrote:

On Monday, July 27, 2020 at 12:54:22 PM UTC-7, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-07-27 15:34, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:
On Monday, July 27, 2020 at 12:26:14 PM UTC-7, John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 15:06:03 -0400, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 2020-07-27 14:55, John Larkin wrote:


https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/07/27/report-googles-200000-employees-will-work-from-home-for-another-full-year/

This virus thing might change things, and specifically cities,
forever.

Are many of you working from home now?




Been back in the lab for a month. (It has way better A/C than home.) \'s

It\'s 50C to 60C here. The computers provide better heating than home.

You obviously work for 666 Technology or something, if you\'re still
chilly at 60C.

Yes, i am really bad with units, see above correction for 50F to 60F.


Hey, it\'s 62F here on Potrero. Just beastly.

There is some bright scary hot thing in the sky that we\'re not used
to.


A nuclear bomb? Go underground NOW!

False alarm. It went away.



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

Science teaches us to doubt.

Claude Bernard

 

[Phil Hobbs]

On 7/27/20 4:33 PM, John Robertson wrote:

On 2020/07/27 1:03 p.m., edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:
On Monday, July 27, 2020 at 12:54:22 PM UTC-7, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-07-27 15:34, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:
On Monday, July 27, 2020 at 12:26:14 PM UTC-7, John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 15:06:03 -0400, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 2020-07-27 14:55, John Larkin wrote:


https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/07/27/report-googles-200000-employees-will-work-from-home-for-another-full-year/


This virus thing might change things, and specifically cities,
forever.

Are many of you working from home now?




Been back in the lab for a month.  (It has way better A/C than
home.) \'s

It\'s 50C to 60C here.  The computers provide better heating than home.

You obviously work for 666 Technology or something, if you\'re still
chilly at 60C.

Yes, i am really bad with units, see above correction for 50F to 60F.



No problem with units - Gimli Glider...

Then there was the Therac-25, courtesy of a Crown corporation that
couldn\'t find its ass with two hands, a map, radar, GPS, Siri,....

Cheers

Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

http://electrooptical.net
https://hobbs-eo.com

 

[Joerg]

On 2020-07-28 06:25, Martin Brown wrote:

On 28/07/2020 02:32, jlarkin@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 15:26:05 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com
wrote:

On 2020-07-27 12:26, John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 15:06:03 -0400, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 2020-07-27 14:55, John Larkin wrote:


https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/07/27/report-googles-200000-employees-will-work-from-home-for-another-full-year/


This virus thing might change things, and specifically cities,
forever.

Are many of you working from home now?

Yes. But I was before. Now my wife is too since her company\'s chemical
business is deemed essential but her presence in the office is not. And
it is surprising how quickly many businesses have adapted at least for
their professionals. Productivity is even marginally up because there
are not as many distractions outside of the office.

The one thing that was initially a fly in the ointment was that my
wife\'s company VPN service had nothing like the capacity for everyone
working from home. It was only ever intended to cater for road warriors.
They have since upgraded that and made their email server capable of
working encrypted directly with mail clients outside of the VPN. Even
call centres have figured out ways that their staff can work from home.

The only problem with us both at home is that our wet string internet
connection cannot support two simultaneous Zoom or Teams video streams.

I reckon rush hour traffic will probably never return to more than 50%
of what it used to be in the pre-Covid era (maybe even less). Companies
have found ways for many people to do many clerical jobs at home and
plenty are happy to do it. Companies that cater quick breakfasts and
lunches for office workers in city centres business model is toast.

There are things that are so much easier to do informally and in person.
Borrowing one of the wizards to look at something for half an hour for
instance now requires a complex meeting setup at a free point in
everyone\'s diary with at least a 24 hour delay.

Doesn\'t always have to be. Often my cases go like \"Do you have half an
hour?\" ... \"Yes\" ... \"Can you click the link in the email I just sent?\"
.... \"Ok\".

I have done that for most of my life and never understood why people see
a problem with it, at least for engineering. I have longterm clients
(meaning >10 years) that I have never seen in person but sucessfully
completed lots of product designs.

+1

Although I spent a fair amount of time working in scientific instrument
making before I went into consultancy. I usually do meet clients face to
face at least once if only to have a look around their site.

It is less common for me to meet some of the other contractors that I
work with unless by chance we happen to be on site at the same time or
at a conference.

I work from home apart from the odd day when I am on site - there are
some things that you cannot do to kit remotely but software updates and
testing generally do not require my physical presence.

The only thing I really miss is going out for a beer with co-workers or
other consultants

On the upside, yesterday I took a day off, did a 47mi bike ride, had a
homebrew Belgian Quadrupel at a rest area and took a request from a
client via the smart phone. It doesn\'t get much better than that.

Been back in the lab for a month. (It has way better A/C than
home.)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

I come in to work most days, so I can sit in front of a different
computer, and use my drafting table, and solder once in a while.


I like my 10 second commute (walking ...).


Apartment rental prices are down here, from astronomical to merely
absurd. Part of the housing pressure was from the Google busses. If
people work from home, it doesn\'t matter where \"home\" is.


Bingo! They finally understood it. It seems some didn\'t, at least not in
the past:

https://distantjob.com/blog/yeah-but-yahoo-learning-from-remote-works-biggest-fail/


But is is amazing how much faster and better people can come to an
understanding when they are face-to-face in front of a whiteboard.

It can be faster but the net benefit is usually negative when
considering the massive amount of time spent commuting.

You can install a whiteboard in line with a webcam field of view - it
isn\'t rocket science. That is what teachers and lecturers do now.

Yes. Or use an online version but with some video conference services
that\'s hokey, with some non-existent.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[server]

On Wed, 29 Jul 2020 09:33:09 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com>
wrote:

On 2020-07-28 06:25, Martin Brown wrote:
On 28/07/2020 02:32, jlarkin@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 15:26:05 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com
wrote:

On 2020-07-27 12:26, John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 15:06:03 -0400, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 2020-07-27 14:55, John Larkin wrote:


https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/07/27/report-googles-200000-employees-will-work-from-home-for-another-full-year/


This virus thing might change things, and specifically cities,
forever.

Are many of you working from home now?

Yes. But I was before. Now my wife is too since her company\'s chemical
business is deemed essential but her presence in the office is not. And
it is surprising how quickly many businesses have adapted at least for
their professionals. Productivity is even marginally up because there
are not as many distractions outside of the office.

The one thing that was initially a fly in the ointment was that my
wife\'s company VPN service had nothing like the capacity for everyone
working from home. It was only ever intended to cater for road warriors.
They have since upgraded that and made their email server capable of
working encrypted directly with mail clients outside of the VPN. Even
call centres have figured out ways that their staff can work from home.

The only problem with us both at home is that our wet string internet
connection cannot support two simultaneous Zoom or Teams video streams.

I reckon rush hour traffic will probably never return to more than 50%
of what it used to be in the pre-Covid era (maybe even less). Companies
have found ways for many people to do many clerical jobs at home and
plenty are happy to do it. Companies that cater quick breakfasts and
lunches for office workers in city centres business model is toast.

There are things that are so much easier to do informally and in person.
Borrowing one of the wizards to look at something for half an hour for
instance now requires a complex meeting setup at a free point in
everyone\'s diary with at least a 24 hour delay.


Doesn\'t always have to be. Often my cases go like \"Do you have half an
hour?\" ... \"Yes\" ... \"Can you click the link in the email I just sent?\"
... \"Ok\".


I have done that for most of my life and never understood why people see
a problem with it, at least for engineering. I have longterm clients
(meaning >10 years) that I have never seen in person but sucessfully
completed lots of product designs.

+1

Although I spent a fair amount of time working in scientific instrument
making before I went into consultancy. I usually do meet clients face to
face at least once if only to have a look around their site.

It is less common for me to meet some of the other contractors that I
work with unless by chance we happen to be on site at the same time or
at a conference.

I work from home apart from the odd day when I am on site - there are
some things that you cannot do to kit remotely but software updates and
testing generally do not require my physical presence.


The only thing I really miss is going out for a beer with co-workers or
other consultants

Zeitgeist is too far away for a reasonable walk now, but Mission
Saloon is great and just a block away... if it survives the silly
lockdowns.

On the upside, yesterday I took a day off, did a 47mi bike ride, had a
homebrew Belgian Quadrupel at a rest area and took a request from a
client via the smart phone. It doesn\'t get much better than that.

Tough life, that.

Been back in the lab for a month. (It has way better A/C than
home.)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

I come in to work most days, so I can sit in front of a different
computer, and use my drafting table, and solder once in a while.


I like my 10 second commute (walking ...).


Apartment rental prices are down here, from astronomical to merely
absurd. Part of the housing pressure was from the Google busses. If
people work from home, it doesn\'t matter where \"home\" is.


Bingo! They finally understood it. It seems some didn\'t, at least not in
the past:

https://distantjob.com/blog/yeah-but-yahoo-learning-from-remote-works-biggest-fail/


But is is amazing how much faster and better people can come to an
understanding when they are face-to-face in front of a whiteboard.


It can be faster but the net benefit is usually negative when
considering the massive amount of time spent commuting.

Physical presence makes a big difference. Some decisions are really
inportant.



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

Science teaches us to doubt.

Claude Bernard