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Showing posts with the label Science

BirdNet-Pi: Techonology, AI, Nature and DIY all in one Project

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 I just got up and running with a new DIY project that absolutely amazes me.  It is called BirdNet-Pi and it is a software package running on a Raspberry Pi that uses AI analysis of audiograms to automatically identifies birds by sound in real time.  It is designed to run 24/7 and collects data on all of the birds it hears around your house.  It can even generate notifications that I can receive on my cell phone so I can come running if it detects a bird I haven't seen in my yard before.  Almost as amazing, it is a free, open-source project! I was clued in to this project by a Facebook ad for a BirdWeather PUC  (shown above).  This is a standalone device that does much of the above- listens and identifies birds that it hears.  It is fully integrated with the BirdWeather website and shares its data to the BirdWeather database.  You can look up real time ID results for any PUCs that are shared on their map.  Pretty cool!  I wanted one...
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Why do meteor shower peaks always occur inconveniently early in the morning?

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  This is a question I came up with after my last two meteor shower viewing attempts in October and November left me underwhelmed.  I'm not much of a night owl so I did my viewing from when it got dark (5:30ish this time of year) until 8PM or so and only saw maybe 4 meteors in that time.  Cool, but underwhelming.  The media reported the peak times for viewing were right before dawn.  I started noticing they all have their peaks early in the morning hours and wondered why none ever peak at more like 8PM. If I were smarter, I probably could've figured this out myself.  I finally got around to Googling it and it only took 2 seconds to find the answer.  It turns out, that at dawn, the sky overhead is aimed in the direction the earth is orbiting around the sun.  As a result, the debris fields the earth is passing through that that is the source of the meteors is directly overhead at your location at dawn.  The hours just before dawn when it is dar...
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My DNA Shocker

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 Did the clickbait title draw you in?  My shock may not be what you expect.  It isn't that I have some genetic condition I didn't know about or found out I was adopted.  My shock was at how primitive our current knowledge about our genome is!   Disclaimers: My readers are all intelligent enough to know this, but nothing in this blog should be considered medical advice since I am not a doctor or geneticist! Amazon links in this blog will hopefully earn me a commission .  I was going to put them in anyway so I might as well get paid for it!  A link does not necessarily mean I endorse that product.  Update: I apparently didn't drive enough traffic to Amazon, so they booted me from their associates program.  Links in this blog now earn me diddly squat. Background I read a book this summer called Healthy Heart, Healthy Brain  that presented what the authors' claim is a new way of looking at heart and brain health.  It focused a lot ...
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Dolphin S200 Pool Cleaning Robot Drive Motor Repair

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 I've spent the past two weeks doing battle with my pool cleaning robot and want to share what I've learned so others can fix their own if they run into the same problem. My robot is a Maytronics Dolphin S200.  The internals are probably very similar or identical to other models, and I think there are even rebranded versions, so the details below likely apply to a fair amount of the population.  These robots are pretty expensive to buy, but they are, in my opinion, the best way to clean my pool.  My pool is surrounded by pine trees and they are always dropping stuff in the water, so I keep my robot in the pool and it runs daily on its timer with little intervention from me and uses much, much less electricity than my previous pressure-side pool cleaner. Rant on Robot Manufacturer Greed There is a lot of markup on these robots.  The S200 I got for $600 in 2017 (and its equivalents) now sell for more than $1000.  The exact same design.  No new technology...
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A Call to End Discrimination

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  You are probably wondering what I, a white dude living in America, know about discrimination.  Sadly, I know more than I wish I did.  You see, I was born with a particular trait that was destined to make my life in our society more difficult.  I have never tried to hide it and I'm not ashamed of it.  I'm proud of it in many respects, and many people around me already know this, but never, until now, have I publicly announced it.  So, here goes:  I am left-handed. Obviously, the previous paragraph was tongue-in-cheek, and I in no way intend to marginalize the struggles of anyone facing discrimination for factors beyond their control.  Rather, it is the opposite.  I like to use humor to ease the tension serious topics.  This blog post is an attempt at empathy and solidarity on my part.  I'll let the reader draw the parallels between my seemingly minor inconveniences with being left-handed and their own experience with discrimination...
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Car Shopping in 2023

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It's new car buying time in the Wisdumb household.  Well, not "new" new (you've read my financial advice on cars , right?).  And not exactly "buying time".  Rather, it is time for the prep work to figure out what steed to add to our stable when the first Wisdumb young'n reaches driving age next year.  Boy am glad I'm starting early; finding the right car seems more difficult now than it has ever been.  This post is going to explore why I'm having such a hard time finding the perfect car. Is it me? You have likely figured out by now that I am very particular about product features, and my desires often run counter to the mainstream.  I blame the mainstream for that, not me!  Things I want in no particular order: Good Highway Gas Mileage Reliability Good towing capacity (3500lb min, 5000lb preferred) Minimum 35 cu ft usable cargo capacity with 4 passengers.  >40 preferred. Wireless Android Auto Heated and Ventilated Seats Adaptive Cruise Control...
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