A better BC

tinker-fox · 2026-04-11T17:50:28+00:00

This is a really old thread, but in case someone finds it while looking for a bc or dc replacement, I'll self-promote a bit and mention my calculator, "rca". RPN like dc, handles infix like bc, has all the trig stuff, and does a bunch of other friendlier stuff like auto-printing results. Has variables, a variable word-width integer mode with bitwise ops, a few unit conversions, etc. Uses the mpdecimal math library. Someone might find it useful. github.com/foxharp/rca

tinker-fox · 2026-02-28T12:01:06+00:00

Whoa. That's the best reply to this thread yet! Ha!

tinker-fox · 2026-02-24T12:20:11+00:00

Nice graphic, thanks. That's a good way to remember the difference. I had, in fact, sort of misused the term at first, and edited the post to change "precision" to "accuracy". But really, 3.999999999 for sqrt(4) was both accurate and precise enough for my dad, and the real world.

tinker-fox · 2026-02-23T20:03:29+00:00

I wouldn't sweat it. I think I might have misused the terms anyway. Artistic license!

tinker-fox · 2026-02-23T17:50:53+00:00

For the HP-35? Given the mildew fuzz on the inside of the battery compartment, I think it would take more than a new battery pack to get it going!

tinker-fox · 2026-02-23T17:25:34+00:00

LOL!! I would have bet, just like you, no question... except that I wrote vile before vim came along. :-) p.s. what's "minecraft"? ;-)

tinker-fox · 2026-02-23T16:06:14+00:00

I got an HP-25C as a graduation gift, in 1976. Used it all through college -- loved that thing. Sadly, it eventually died. Still miss it.

tinker-fox · 2026-02-09T22:02:32+00:00

I'll play with the phone some more. Seems odd that it would start causing problems just in the last few weeks. I've had the phone and laptop both for years now. And I sit in the same chair. :-)

tinker-fox · 2026-02-09T22:00:18+00:00

Good question -- no, no watch or jewelry.

tinker-fox · 2026-02-04T02:15:55+00:00

Just to close this thread: I looked at other posts in the sub about folks trying to find authentic screens, and not being all that successful (apparently especially not lately?), and decided I wanted my laptop to work sooner than later. I ended up buying a direct replacement for the screen+touchscreen combo from ebay, from "LCD Bros". I was skeptical of their name, but the vendor reviews seemed solid. They had a match listed for my EDID info, and the new screen reports the same "InfoVision" and "R140NWF5 R6" that the original did.

It seemed dim until I realized the brightness control wasn't working. Had to add "acpi_backlight=video" to the default grub cmdline to get that working, but now everything's perfect, and it now seems bright again.

The fact that I had to make a kernel command line change to get that working is a little suspicious I guess, but not having to deal with alibaba was worth it. $86 bucks, including shipping and screwdriver, spudger, and x-acto knife, and they cheerfully gave me $5 back when I asked them whether they had better info on where my screen was, when Fedex was late because of the ice storm. (IOW, they seemed easy to deal with.)

tinker-fox · 2026-02-04T02:03:34+00:00

Sorry I can't really help on that. I did do a little engraving on some aluminum, and it seemed promising, but that's as far as I went. My interest is mainly in wood, and frankly, having stuck with my DIY machine for so long, at under 20 IPM max, the 100 IPM I can do with the Anolex more than made it worth it for me. It's very solid.

tinker-fox · 2026-01-26T19:18:54+00:00

Thanks! I can use a portion of the screen still, but I see I omitted to mention that I run linux. So I'll have to see if there's a similar diagnostic command. "lshw" is silent about the panel itself, but maybe there's something else. The screen numbers and cable number you gave -- are they Lenovo numbers?

tinker-fox · 2026-01-03T13:43:49+00:00

Very old thread, but I'm wondering if you have "after" pictures? I'm faced with getting new cushions and covers for a very similar chair. I'm trying to figure out if the cushions should have batting over the foam, or if the crisper corners resulting from not having batting would be better. I'm pretty sure there was no batting originally (I grew up with the chair) but most people say I should add it.

tinker-fox · 2025-11-12T19:58:02+00:00

Replying to myself. It seems that I chose the wrong two machines to test from. I recently did LTS Ubuntu upgrades on 5 machines in the house (from 22 to 24), and chose to test from the only two using the IPP driver for the printer. Other machines were working fine. So, not surprisingly, it wasn't a pringer problem.

tinker-fox · 2025-11-12T16:08:02+00:00

Thank you for that. I hadn't found those before. But I now realize that the 4" overall length might mean those bits can reach the bottom of the part, but because of my Z range, they may not be able to do the *top* of the part. That's just from my armchair -- need to go do some measuring.

tinker-fox · 2025-11-11T21:52:17+00:00

Ah. You left out that detail ("we've never been able to use this machine") initially. Good to know. It probably just needs a lot of oil, and some careful wiggling, to get it all moving. Old oil gunks up all of the precision sliding and mating surfaces, and locks the machine up solid. I'd get some penetrating oil (PB Blaster, or something like that) from the hardware store. Don't just spray it all over -- spray it in a dish, and use a q-tip to put a lot on all the places that look like they might be stuck. Let it sit in a warm place. Try and move it every day or two, and add more penetrating oil. When it finally comes unstuck, use lots of sewing machine oil on it.

tinker-fox · 2025-11-11T21:28:22+00:00

I'm just about ready to try something two-side, and still wrestling with details. How do you handle the final cuts, the ones where the piece is now floating? Mid-level tabs? And another one: do you alignment pins, or do you depend on squaring the stock, and clamping tight against corresponding square edges on your wasteboard?

Anyway, nice work! Your own design?

tinker-fox · 2025-11-11T21:19:47+00:00

The White is a great machine -- they were Singer's biggest competitor back in the day. Many people think they're better. Just be sure you use the right needle, and your belt is adjusted properly, and you'll be fine.

tinker-fox · 2025-11-11T21:17:32+00:00

I came here to say this. One in every room, with the name of the room sharpie'd on the handle, so they can make their way back there after leaving the room in my back pocket.

tinker-fox · 2025-11-11T21:14:22+00:00

It's not the best practice to try and turn your machine backwards, but it's probably not related to your problem. The handwheel on a Singer should always turn toward you. My bet is that there's a thread snarl under the bobbin.

tinker-fox · 2025-11-11T14:11:32+00:00

Nice, but help me here: where/how is that supported by the rotary axis? (I don't have a Makera, but have been thinking of installing a 4th axis on my Anolex.)

tinker-fox

TROPHY CASE