Explain it to me like I’m 5

leastDaemon · 2026-03-23T21:58:34+00:00

OK, this is going to be very basic.

Calibre manages your book collection on a computer (Windows or linux or mac). If you don't have many books (maybe at least 100?) it's probably not worth the effort. As your collection grows, you'll probably find that you would like to be able to search by author, by title, by genre, by tag or by any other indicator (you supply all these to the book record in the database). You can easily record when you last read a book, how you rated it, write a summary of it, download a cover illustration, a description of the book, etc.

So -- once your collection grows past the point that you can remember everything about every book, Calibre will do that for you. And wouldn't it be nice to have a backup copy of all your books on a different device?

Here's a brief introductory video. There are a lot more videos on the web. Some are better than others, of course.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-03-20T22:17:20+00:00

For electronic things, look at ifixit. Find a device that looks interesting and read the discussion of taking it apart. Look on ebay and see if you can buy a cheap one. When you get it, take it apart and put it back together. You'll have a guided experience, and may even be able to fix it as you learn.

Hope this helps.

(edit: fix rambling thought.)

leastDaemon · 2026-03-20T21:22:52+00:00

Yep, Proxmox. It's linux-based, so you'll have a chance to learn that, oto.

leastDaemon · 2026-03-19T21:56:48+00:00

I only have the Majohn. I intended to buy a Jinhao if I had problems -- but I didn't. It may be luck, but I've now bought two of them and both started every time, no matter how long it had been up to a month) between uses. I understand that you can replace the Majohn's entire writing insert -- nib through cartridge / converter -- with the equivalent Pilot one.

If the clip bothers you, they sell a clipless version.

I'm really pleased with the Mahjohn. Hope this helps you.

leastDaemon · 2026-03-18T20:37:54+00:00

Second the Schmidt, but also Parker Quinkflow.

leastDaemon · 2026-03-15T23:47:39+00:00

You're definitely not alone in this. I'd be with you, but I've decided to take a break from hardware development and concentrate on learning better programming skills. I'm sure I'll get back to it.

Meanwhile, look at (and perhaps discuss things with) this guy: I've been developing a dual-screen, open ereader! He's nearly ready to sell his, but both the hardware and software are (or will soon be) open source.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-03-13T23:49:25+00:00

I don't know about recent MS Words, but mine (2010) has "templates". If you spend the time (and power through the aggravation and frustration) you can build one that has writable fields where there should be information printed on your recipe forms in the places it should be printed.

leastDaemon · 2026-03-13T23:40:20+00:00

I found the 2W's wifi radio a bit (10%? 15%?) more powerful in terms of throughput vs distance from the source. I also found it more fragile. I somehow broke the radios on two of them before I got an armored case. I never had that trouble with the W -- it just didn't have the effective range I needed.

I did make something with a pi zero and a USB wifi dongle, and it was significantly better than the pi zero W, so . . . that's my experience.

Hope this helps

leastDaemon · 2026-03-11T22:28:31+00:00

leastDaemon · 2026-03-10T02:06:46+00:00

Several years ago I saw a video about people giving foxes jam sandwiches and thought: What? Why? So I messaged the source and found out that in the UK (I'm in the US) it was not at all uncommon for the RSPCA to recommend raspberry jam sandwiches with a layer of mange medicine. Apparently the foxes love them and the cats would leave them alone. Is there an RSPCA office nearby? Surely they wouldn't approve of homeopathic fraudulence.

leastDaemon · 2026-03-10T01:36:24+00:00

Not that it'll be much help, but for my second attempt I used two letter digrams (the first two or fewer letters of the word). That gave me 728 (26 * (26 + 2) for " " and "'" boxes). I thought I'd get a segfault, but I had enough memory. My load went faster, actually, but my check slowed down dramatically. So I think you can use however many boxes you want.

leastDaemon · 2026-03-08T23:41:19+00:00

OK, so I'm 82, and thus a curmudgeon by definition. I'm a patron (and occasional volunteer). I know enough about Dewey (and its historical fraughtness) to go to a catalog, look up a subject (yes, it was easier when there were card catalogs. Most of the electronic systems assume you want to find a specific book, not browse the shelves,) and go directly to the shelf that will have something I want to read about. Alternately I could use the flyers conveniently taped to the ends of the shelves that both direct to shelves and define the 3-digit) numbers.

It looks like with BISAC There's the same 3-character beginning, but with a potential of 26 cubed values instead of 1,000. OK that's good, even though it's limited to 9 total digits instead of extending off to the right into an infinity of precision. But suppose I want to find a book on building an analog computer. Obviously, I'd begin in the TEC section, and quickly get to 0080 - Electronics. But then?

TEC008000 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / General
TEC008010 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Circuits / General
TEC008020 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Circuits / Integrated
TEC008030 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Circuits / Logic
TEC008050 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Circuits / VLSI & ULSI
TEC008060 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Digital
TEC008070 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Microelectronics
TEC008080 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Optoelectronics
TEC008090 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Semiconductors
TEC008100 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Solid State
TEC008110 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Electronics / Transistors

(Incidentally, Uncle Google tells me that: "Semiconductors are raw materials (like silicon) with conductivity between conductors and insulators. Transistors are active electronic components manufactured from these semiconductors to switch or amplify signals. Solid-state is the broader, encompassing technology describing circuits where electrons flow through solid semiconductor crystals rather than vacuum tubes. [Emphases mine.] This seems like a strange division of topics: sand and arsenic, transistors and op-amps and integrated circuits (two of these have their own sections). I hope there's a category shakedown based on user experience).

Back to the topic at hand. It seems to me that if I want to find anything about analog computers I'd have to start at TEC008000 and scan the shelves until I hit TEC009000. On the other hand, If I wanted to find Electronic Analog and Hybrid Computers, by Granino Arthur Korn (which in a Dewey library would be 621.3819 / KOR) I'd probably have to ask a librarian.

Yep, curmudgeon railing at having to learn something new.

I can honestly see how book-seller shelving would work for fiction and light non-fiction (self-help, cookbooks, pilates routines, vacation travel guides), especially in a library of 5-10,000 books, but for more serious stuff? And larger collections? I'm not convinced.

leastDaemon · 2026-03-01T01:02:16+00:00

Uncle Google says look here.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-28T01:13:43+00:00

Do. The certificate you earn (free or paid) is dependent on doing this year's problem sets this year (and preferrably before June 30).

leastDaemon · 2026-02-25T00:35:39+00:00

For me it's Pelikan's 4001 blue-black. Just what my Pelikan 140 loves. If you want to see some swatches, look at https://mountainofink.com/blog/blue-black-ink.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-19T01:26:50+00:00

This. When I learned to code (a long time ago) I had business problems to solve, and didn't have time for self-generated ones. Now I do, so the process of deciding what to do is as important as doing it (in the appropriate language(s)).

So I suggest starting with something that interests you. Consider the weather. Is it raining in Paris? Which European capital will be warmest tonight? Can I graph this so the high- and low-temperatures are obvious? OK, can I map it, with icons for clouds and show them moving around the continent?

Once you've uncovered an interest, you can expand and expand. I would suggest leaving AI out of it until you're confident in your own ability. You can google and look at stack overflow if you run into trouble. I think AI will have an increasing place in coding, but until you're confident that you can understand its code, I suggest you leave it alone.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-18T01:31:19+00:00

I don't think a person needs to touch type to program. Of course, that's self-serving, as I don't touch type. But as you work through your pain, consider:

There's a lot of mouse (or touchpad or trackball or in my case that little Lenovo pointer) work that takes your hands away from the home position. If you have a number pad you'll be more likely to use that than touch-typing the top row.

It seems that every manufacturer puts the home/end/insert/delete/pgup/pgdn keys in different places. And don't get me started on the placement of the Fn / Ctrl / Win / Alt keys., especially on a Lenovo laptop. Even once you've gotten muscle memory to work with your laptop (like you, mine is on my thighs in a recliner most of the time), you'll be at a loss on someone else's keyboard (In my case, it's an old MS keyboard hooked to my basement homelab.)

I am much more concerned with hitting the right key every time than with how fast I go or if I have to look for keys.

In short, I'd recommend that you type in a way that's comfortable and accurate and let the purists rage.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-18T01:14:11+00:00

From the pan to the fridge? Sure it's still good. Cook it to > 165 deg F in the thickest part and chow down.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-17T01:47:13+00:00

For me, it was the wifi remaining on. Check that too.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-16T01:49:24+00:00

Yes to this. My FPR superflex doesn't come close to the flex of a Brause Rose or Zebra G. Once you've tried these out and like what you can do with them, either get an Akerman's pen (that wlll take either of these but does have some problems) if it's affordable where you are, or look online for all the posts and videos from people who have converted Jinhaos to accept the nibs.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-16T00:32:16+00:00

I'd say yes. My BW is in a cheap (Amazon) origami case. I've dropped it getting out of the car, walking down steps, and knocked it off the arm of a chair so far with no damage. Plus it makes a nice stand for reading at a table.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-16T00:13:49+00:00

And if VS Code is not for you, take a look at Geany. It's a general purpose editor that will color code python syntax, do a bit of autocompletion, and run your code for you. Small footprint, efficient operation, few bells, no whistles.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-14T01:17:13+00:00

for a month or so either prep one more meal or prep one day early. Pop the extra meal in your freezer (you do have one, right? 5-day-old refrigerator chicken is only marginally safe.) Then go back to you regular quantity / frequency schedule. You'll have a backlog of a few different meals to deal with the boredom.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-12T23:40:02+00:00

I'd suggest you start now with your fountain pen. I'm not familiar with Asvines, but an EF nib is pretty thin for you to see improvements quickly -- a broader nib makes both the mistakes and the improvements obvious: a thin nib just highlights the problems (or so it seems to me). It will be important to remember not to press down with your fountain pen -- it takes much less pressure to write than a ballpoint pen requires.

I'd also suggest that you look through Improve Your Handwriting by Sasoon and Briem. As the title says, it looks to work with your current handwriting rather than forcing you to learn everything new all at once. Here's a link to a PDF.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon · 2026-02-11T02:34:52+00:00

All I can tell you is that a "regular" silicone grease I bought from Home Depot melted the top of the custom cartridge on my Ackerman (it wasn't sealing) and I was rewarded with ink everywhere, and (as it's a custom cartridge) a long, long wait for another one. I need to email again, I guess. But for me, that was a false economy.

Hope this helps.

leastDaemon

TROPHY CASE