Toys

HDD Cloning

My newer Dell PC came with only a 250 GB main HDD. Soon, the same operating system will be cloned from that drive to its new home on a 1 TB drive. The LED display shows somewhere between 25 and 50 % completion.

Digital Photo Frame

Displaying 1961 Pontiac advertising art.

Solex PICT-2 Carburetor

When I rebuilt the engine in my '62 Beetle in 1987, I upgraded the electrical system from 6 volts to 12 volts with an alternator instead of a generator, installed the then-new heating system, a centrifugal advance distributor, a spin-on oil filter, and a $2000 sound system. This is the old carburetor I had forgotten I saved. It's anti-Dieseling solenoid valve and automatic choke heater require 6 volt power.

Solex PICT-2 Carburetor

When I rebuilt the engine in my '62 Beetle in 1987, I upgraded the electrical system from 6 volts to 12 volts with an alternator instead of a generator, installed the then-new heating system, a centrifugal advance distributor, a spin-on oil filter, and a $2000 sound system. This is the old carburetor I had forgotten I saved. It's anti-Dieseling solenoid valve and automatic choke heater require 6 volt power.

MicroSD, SD to USB Adapter

My older PC came with a built-in card reader. Now the newer one does too.

The Radio Controlled Clock

This LaCrosse Technologies Radio Controlled clock uses an onboard receiver to communicate with a WWVB VLF (very low frequency) radio transmitter operating at 60 KHz by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Fort Collins, Colorado. Because of the low frequency, reception at my location is limited to the overnight hours but the quartz movement of the clock maintains accuracy between nightly "updates". Sometimes advertised as an "atomic clock", it is, instead, linked with the actual NIST Cesium atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado and displays time within about 0.02 seconds accuracy.

The Radio Controlled Clock

This LaCrosse Technologies Radio Controlled clock uses an onboard receiver to communicate with a WWVB VLF (very low frequency) radio transmitter operating at 60 KHz by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Fort Collins, Colorado. Because of the low frequency, reception at my location is limited to the overnight hours but the quartz movement of the clock maintains accuracy between nightly "updates". Sometimes advertised as an "atomic clock", it is, instead, linked with the actual NIST Cesium atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado and displays time within about 0.02 seconds accuracy.

This is my third J1. I loved my first, with its 10 - 30 mm VR lens, so much that I bought a 30 - 110 mm lens to go with it. Then I decided that changing the lenses was too inconvenient so I bought a second J1. By this time, Nikon was on the verge of discontinuing them so I got what I thought was a great deal on my second camera. I kept the 10 - 30 mm lens on the new one and put the telephoto lens on my first one. No more changing lenses - just change cameras. Fast and convenient. Then one of Shawn's friends hit me. The camera with the telephoto lens disappeared from my computer desk. This red combo is a used J1 body only I bought used a year ago and a used lens delivered today. The body was only $60 and the lens $98. I'm back to where I was before "Princess" struck.

Pioneer SA 5800

I bought this beauty from Bill Pollock at his Music Box in Downtown Oak Ridge in 1980. My friend Steve Hammond has restored it to like-new. Its output is only 25 RMS watts per channel into 8 Ω at 0.03 % total harmonic distortion.

Alexa.....Will You Marry Me?

Over 100 million songs at my fingertips

JBL L 100 Century

I bopught this, my first serious loudspeaker system, in 1972 and it still a favorite.

The Kitchen Amp

What I would have given for this back in the 1970s

JBL L100 Century

and a Pyle 120 watt per channel amp coupled to an Amazon Echo Dot and Amazon Music Unlimited account will supply all the music an addict will ever need, baby.

The New Nikon 1 J1 with a 10 - 30 mm VR Lens

The J1 is going away fast so I bought a second one before it was too late. Now I have one with a 10 - 30 mm lens and one with a 30 - 110 mm lens. Now I can just change cameras instead of lenses.

The New Nikon 1 J1 with a 10 - 30 mm VR Lens

The J1 is going away fast so I bought a second one before it was too late. Now I have one with a 10 - 30 mm lens and one with a 30 - 110 mm lens. Now I can change cameras instead of lenses.

The Nikon 1 J1 with a 30 - 110 mm VR Lens

The original J1 is going away fast so I bought a second one before it was too late. Now I have one with a 10 - 30 mm lens and one with a 30 - 110 mm lens. Now I can just change cameras instead of lenses.

Philips 800 Lumen LED Lamp

60 watt equivalent - uses 10.5 watts - life expectancy, 22.8 years - Price, $8.97

Kindle Fire HD 8.9

Displaying a page from Mother Jones News

Philips 800 Lumen LED Lamp

60 watt equivalent - uses 10.5 watts - life expectancy, 22.8 years - Price, $8.97

Writing for the Kindle

I'm learning to write for the Kindle. I started by putting the text into an HTML document using my ancient copy of Adobe Pagemill ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_PageMill ) . Add an anchor before each new chapter and number it. To insert images, I first size portraits to no more than 600 pixels wide by 800 pixels high. Make sure the images are in the same hard drive folder as the HTML file. Now write your table of contents and go back through the text to add proper links for all the chapter and image anchors. Open your free copy of Calibre ( http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/ ) and convert the resulting HTML document to a MOBI file, then transfer it to the Kindle using the USB cable. Happy reading! This photo has been published here ( http://ideonexus.com/2009/05/ ) .

Wiggy

In my youth I was once an electrical apprentice (a grunt - six grunts equals a mule) at the old Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheneworth/2674798931/ ) . One of the things in my tool pouch was a Wiggington Voltage Tester, a Wiggy. A few years ago my neighbor inherited a garage full of tools from his late brother and this Wiggy was in one of the tool boxes. Today he gave it to me as a pleasant reminder of the old days.

Old Kenny in His Much Younger Days

Honda V30 Magna on the Okracoke, NC, Ferry (1986)

World's Fair Medallion

A friend struck these official medallions for the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville. They were available in half-ounce and one-ounce versions in either .999 fine silver, 22 kt. gold or bronze. This is the one-ounce silver. After the fair he sold them for just the value of the silver. I bought several.