The Cake is Not a Lie November 30, 2014
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The young lady who made the cake was delighted that I was able to identify the meme.
Gluten-free Bread Machine Adventures 1 November 29, 2014
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2:23 PM 11/29/2014
I have a Breadman TR-440 bread machine, and gluten-free bread is costly and usually sucks. This is my first attempt at going around all that. My local Harvest House has Pamela’s GF bread mix (not to be confused with flour) at 2.89/lb, which is about 25% off list. I tried this:
Pamela’s Gluten-free bread mix 3 cups
2 eggs
fill with warm water to 2 cups total
1/8th cup canola oil
hint of salt
Fleishmann’s yeast
eggs first in 2 cup measure, add water to 2 cups (warm), dump in Breadman, add yeast, add bread mix cook. My Breadman has only a few settings; I picked medium crust and didn’t monkey with the rest of ’em. Looks kind of gooey (above, as it is mixing) but it isn’t the same as wheat flour, is it now?
Here it is, finished:
7:14 PM 11/29/2014 delectable. I strongly recommend eating hot and with real butter; possibly jam as well. I would offer you some, but we finished it already.
Sorry.
Exciting Update: it makes excellent toast as well.
Cheap, Non-toxic Printed Circuits November 23, 2014
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Researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (NTU) have successfully printed complex electronic circuits using a t-shirt printer. They were printed using in layers on flexible stuff like paper or plastic and included resistors, transistors and capacitors. All were printed using non-toxic organic materials like silver nanoparticles, carbon and plastics.
The types of complex circuits the team has successfully printed include a 4-bit DAC, and an RFID. Not all that complex, sure, but a great proof-of-concept.
Associate Professor Joseph Chang is the leader of the NTU Singapore research group behind this. I couldn’t find the relevant paper for homework, but I did find this photo.
3D Printing Tiny Complex, Multi-material Devices November 23, 2014
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3D printers are, at this stage of their march through the Singularity, largely confined to printing with only on material, probably due to cost constraints. But, what if all the materials needed to produce some specialized bit of kit were available in one printer? Just how complex a device could be manufactured? Princeton scientists have just manufactured a 2 x 2 x 2 matrix of quantum-dot LEDs as a demonstration of their 3D printer, which can manage five different print materials, including (1) emissive semiconducting inorganic nanoparticles, (2) an elastomeric matrix, (3) organic polymers as charge transport layers, (4) solid and liquid metal leads, and (5) a UV-adhesive transparent substrate layer.
That’s right; five. And complex; here’s the matrix and a picture of a single LED on a suggestively curved substrate. I think we are meant to be reminded of a contact lens.
Homework: It’s published in NanoLetters, right here.
One Barrel a Day November 23, 2014
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This gizmo can create a barrel of fuel from the CO2 in the air in about a day, sequestering (sort of) 3 tons of CO2 in the process. I’m not sure how they measured this, but it looks as if you could calculate it stoichiometrically if you were so inclined. The problem with this cheap, little device is that is is neither cheap nor little. It costs “seven figures”. It is but a prototype, so I expect that the number will come down and the efficiency (already a 70%–once again, how did they measure that?) to go up.
Using the Fischer-Tropsch process, the magic machine strips hydrogen from water and oxygen from CO2, and then combines hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the classic fashion you slept through in Org Chem. Yes, I saw you.
The Happiest Place on Earth November 21, 2014
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I noticed that this store was right next to this storefront:
In My Day, People Talked at the Barbershop November 21, 2014
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while waiting their turn.
My Favorite Ride at Maker Fair 2014 November 21, 2014
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The TOOOL guys had a booth at Maker Fair and passed out a bunch of locks to pick, and a few pick sets. We had a great time. It’s easier than it looks, when properly taught.
Matroshka Sympony Orchestra November 20, 2014
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Symphony #9 done by a theremin chorus…with other added flourishes.
Dr. Grordbort’s Infalliable Aether Oscillators November 19, 2014
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Excellent Newtonmas gifts for the Victorian Space Explorer in your family.
Follow up with the others in this little series as presented by YouTube. Cute as can be.
Bedroom Decor November 19, 2014
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My wife wanted to get me a new bed.
I don’t know if this is what she had in mind.
Computer Science, Anyone? November 19, 2014
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Aguipieware.com has kindly provided what they estimate to be a good near-equivalent to a computer science curriculum at about the bachelor’s level, but they do note that
“The idea was not to provide a substitute for an actual college or university education (that would typically also require a large amount of alcohol at the very least, which, unfortunately, is not freely available online), but rather to aggregate resources that have been made freely available online from disparate institutions and organize them into the sort of logical structure one would likely find in a general bachelor’s level computer science program. “
I do like how carefully she spells out the salient difference.
The Reason 3D Printing Was Invented November 4, 2014
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A Winter’s Tale, by Mark Helprin November 3, 2014
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A Winter’s Tale
One thing it is not, however, is short. This book is one of many reasons I have been slow to update this space. Do not be fooled by the appearance of a movie of the same name; you can’t make a movie
In short (hah!) Winter’s Tale is a long-form poem, as sure as Homer’s little doggerel is. Do not start this unless you have a strong love of wordplay and a powerful ability to suspend disbelief. If you have that, you are in for a real treat.
The wordplay here is second to none; it kills any narrative flow like a stake through the heart, but that’s just fine. The words are the thing, not the plot, the action or any personal conflicts. Those are just the bread upon which sweet jams and jellies are lathered to make a word sandwich.
I cannot recommend this book too highly; I would give it ten stars but I only have five.
Stuffilike.net 