kitchen crisis

Hot Jupiter, what a bacon busting day!

The microwave died. At first we (wife was punching the buttons at the time) thought the circuit breaker flipped. I scrambled down to the breaker box and found all breakers looked ok. Time for crisis management. Do you agree the microwave is the top appliance in a kitchen? I would be cruising crackers with my only hope being a cold sandwich without the microwave. Oh, the hunger pain from the many leftovers dying a slow death in the fridge.

A quick switching around of different small appliances into the socket used by the microwave determined that the microwave had loss the power to run. The will to heat. Just a blank dark space where the inaccurate time had just moments ago beamed for all to see.

not our old microwave

I sensed my wife didn’t share my sorrow. I might have heard her say something about more counter space. Not the time to discuss counter arrangements. There are leftovers waiting nearby. Our microwave is old and rules one corner of the counter with its electric energy.

Have you had the experience of traveling to a hotel equipped with a microwave or maybe a relative’s home and then were forced to use unfamiliar controls to just heat your morning buns? Oh the thought of learning the nuances of another control panel was frightening.

Mark Twain would have loved a microwave

After operating our faithful microwave for years I had learned that quickly punching the one minute button twice would produce two minutes and I didn’t even need to punch start. I could get a two minute heating session initiated with just two button pushes.

I quickly descended into my workspace with the old microwave. I have never named things like cars or appliances so I can only write old microwave. I took a screwdriver to it. After flipping it around I managed to remove the cover. Inside the cover was its electrical schematic (a design birth certificate with symbols). I followed the circuit and discovered a fuse. The fuse tested open (bad).

Next it was off to a nearby appliance parts store. This was a high amp fuse so I didn’t bother looking for it at a hardware store. I returned with a fuse transplant and hand inserted it. Screwed on the cover and gave it a quick test of warming about half a cup of water. It powered up and heated the water. Success! But I needed to perform a comprehensive test.

The old microwave has rewarded us with many a hot bag of popcorn. Popcorn is a microwave delight. I decided to do the popcorn test. Could it still power through a popcorn bag bake? It did.

However there was a problem. Mostly burnt popcorn while using the preset popcorn button. There had been the rare burnt popcorn bag in the past so I thought maybe it was just a bad bag. After thinking about running another popcorn test I realized something more than a new fuse was different during that first test. The glass plate that slowing turns the food had been taken out so that I could flip the box around to disassemble it.

Could the plate be the difference between hot vs. burnt popcorn? Another popcorn test was set-up and run. Total success! I have a theory to explain the need for the special glass plate but its technical and only a theory. More importantly the kitchen crisis was over in a matter of a few hours, a new fuse and two bags of popcorn.

unusual quilt

At the start of October I posted pictures from the ArtPrize event held in Grand Rapids MI. I intentionally left out these pictures below. All the art displayed there was new and unique but I want to highlight my connection to this one. This piece was inside the big Amway Hotel and because of my engineering background I saw more than memory chips.  Actually memories flashed back in my head.

On the surface the art medium is just mass produced circuit boards mostly from computers. They look like little cities from the side.

Having worked for years in development of telecommunication equipment I’ve experienced the trial, error and time pressure of designing circuit boards. Sometimes a mistake gets the attention of the whole lab as smoke drifts up from a fried board.

High tech cutting edge quickly becomes scrap in which another person finds completely different things. The artist is Eric Celarier.

Like photos from around the internet? Go to Unknown Mami’s place on Sundays and you’ll find a collection of them.
 

washing Wednesday

Well it’s still Tuesday but don’t you wish you were a day early for washing?

Today my birthday presents came!

Such excitement - a new washer and dryer. As a bonus birthday treat I was allowed to install them. (saved about $90).

After connecting gas and water hoses, I was very ready to hit the start button.

Before I get ahead of myself, I should tell you what I’m dealing with. Pretty basic models from Whirlpool. The soon-to-be-scrap metal units were about 15 years old (not real sure since we never celebrated their birthdays). They were also Whirlpools.

My wife had heard horror (that’s too strong of an adjective, there was no blood or decapitated bodies in the stories) stories about the newer computerized units in which I believe you can play a DVD. No, she wanted simple turn the dial and push a button type (like me?). Also, she wanted top loading with agitator so that narrowed the selection. I like simple too but honestly the idea of maybe connecting the washing machine to the internet with Wi-Fi is sort of exciting.

Ok - back to “hit the start button”.

My first check I planned was to be water temperature selection, so I thought, I’ll just fill it with some water and check. Twisted the selector knob and push the button. Nothing. The old one would let you load while the water was filling. You could even watch the agitator churn the clothes. Hours of entertainment. The old one died a slow death because one day the agitator became very mellow and barely moved.

Hmm, I’m guessing new safety features on this one (damn government regulations) so I closed the lid. Click, Red Light. Oh, the lid is locked. Still no water.

DAMN NOW I need to open the instruction booklet and find the English section.

• Section - How to wash clothes
• Step 1 - sort and prepare clothes - OH c’mon, really, why not start with WEAR CLOTHES UNTIL DIRTY!
• Step 2 - add detergent
• Step 3 - add clothes - Now this is interesting, as mention above we would add detergent, clothes with the water filling in the past.

So at this point I decide I need a plan B. I’ll check the operation with some actual clothes. Add clothes, detergent, make selection, shut lid, and press start. Some noise but NO sound of water running. Double check hoses and shut off values. Everything looks good. Then I hear water filling - yes! It appears to have a long delay before the water starts.

But how will I know the water temperature matches the selection if it goes through the whole cycle? Look at manual - pick up manual - actually read some part of manual.

If you need to open the lid (they offer the explanation that you forgot an article of clothing - what if you are just plain curious does that count?) during an operation in which its locked you can push the start button and pause the operation. If you push and hold for 3 seconds you can abort the whole mission.

Houston we have a problem!

A few tries with the lid and pause button and I get the feel of it.  I own this machine now.

Finally I am master of the washing machine. I changed the temperature selection, paused operation, unlocked the lid and checked the water. I still could not check the water while it was flowing in, but it was still dripping.  I even flipped over to spin and had the water pumping out of there.

It does sound completely different than the old one too. Different mechanical sounds from the motor. Maybe its voice will change in a few years.

Then a strange sense of pride and responsibility came over me.

At that very moment, in my basement, I knew I was the only one of the household that knew the operational details of the washing machine. The gatekeeper of the washing machine. I would need to prepare a tutorial for others.

I hope that I can calmly explain the operation to my wife. Maybe I should consult our daughters the teachers for guidance.

Oh, I just realized I gave all my attention to the washer. The dryer is also a new Whirlpool but maybe back in its development an Apple engineer was involved because it just worked. No need to open the manual on that one.

another circus

remember Jetconnect??

Of course - I know many of you do. I even remember some who thought it was a really dumb idea. I'm very biased about it. It was a great step towards what is now being talked about in the press and those great press releases (some live by PR's). Overall, many PR's should be renamed BSR's for B--- S--- Releases - but I digress.

Here's the start of an old PR:

Chicago, June 17, 2003 - United Airlines and Verizon Airfone® today announced that it is the first U.S. commercial carrier to offer Verizon Airfone® JetConnect service, with two-way e-mail capability, on its U.S. domestic flights.

Wow - what a difference 3 years make, by June 2006 it all had changed.

Ok, so much for the memory trip. I'm interested to know if these next ongoing attempts are going to make it. These next attempts (see link at the end) are both satellite and the FCC air-to-ground spectrum (which the media want to confuse with cellular).

The next attempts will have more bandwidth. Much more than the 9.6Kbps we were trying share with the customers.

I tested JetConnect from Newark to Ft. Myers and back - it worked good. The IM functionality was the best part. Trouble was how many biz laptop users used IM. Also, how many travelers pulled out their laptop.

I think the biggest advantage of these next attempts will be Wi-Fi access. Those phone cords connecting to the old seatback phones? - that was a huge obstacle.

But even with these improvements what is needed in this "space" is SPACE. Who wants to pull out a laptop when you are fighting over elbow room. Now if the load factors drop back to the 80% area, you'll have some empty middle seats.

Oh but what about smaller devices, you may ask. We thought PDA's were going to next big thing - well try again. Maybe if enough I-phones (Wi-Fi capable) fly maybe the space won't be a problem.

Hey, Aircell - give me an I-phone and I'll do some testing for you!!

Here's a link to USAToday's recent article link

Also, here's one from United Press International link

cooler than the I-phone

By pics2move at 2007-08-01


Now I don't remember how I came across this company, Microvision. I think it was an announcement about them signing up Motorola on a project.

So this company is located where that other big company that starts with "Micro" is headquartered, Redmond WA.

Well if it works, it reminds me of the little robot in star wars, R2D2, and the way it could project a hologram message. So (if it works) you could project a slideshow to friends.

I consider it cooler than the I-phone, but who knows maybe Apple will be put this into the next I-phone. I think every laptop should have one.

back to the bench, garage, basement?

Have you heard of circuit bending???

I just discovered the term today. I am surprised that this hacking around is so organized and even has a term for it. There was an organized festival on this hobby recently that was featured on rocketboom.

Of course this activity has been around for a long time. I was "circuit bending" I guess when I blew out my first stereo. I was playing around trying to make a light show based on the sound. I didn't know about ground loops or circuit isolation.

People (it does seem to be mostly a guy thing but that will change) have been taking stuff apart since there has been stuff. From what I read so far, most of this is pure playing around without trying to figure out the circuit properties or operation. I agree that is more fun.

Here's what Pete (one of the big names in the hobby ??) wrote on his site:

....making music using a Speak&Spell that he had rewired to create some of the strangest sounds I had ever heard. He told me that he had “no idea what he was doing.” He just randomly soldered points on the circuit board together and it started making weird sounds. I figured I’d give it a shot and was amazed to find that it was really that simple. I didn’t know what I was doing, yet I was getting amazing results. I was hooked.

Luckily (maybe it was fate?) I found an ebay auction for 20 Speak&Spells and I made the investment. About a month later I sold my first Modified Speak&Spell. A few months and a few more sales after that I made a simple website to show off some of my creations and casperelectronics was born.

I worked with the Speak&Spell for about a year and got to a point where I actually DID know what I was doing. I could isolate certain effects and maximize their capabilities but that’s also when I started getting bored. It stopped being about exploration and became more about repetition. I soon found that clients had their own ideas to bring to the table and I started taking great joy in figuring out how to bring their ideas to fruition....

Well after reading this I might be in the basement taking apart some old toys.

Here's few related links:
instructables
makezine