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Published Feb 12, 2020
"I've had this nagging feeling that the computers I use today feel slower than the computers I used as a kid. As a rule, I don’t trust this kind of feeling because human perception has been shown to be unreliable in empirical studies, so I carried around a high-speed camera and measured the response latency of devices I’ve run into in the past few months. Here are the results:"
A really cool read.
 
Published May 21, 2019
I recently wanted to put a Gates HD belt in my C5 Corvette. Standard LS1, with a Magnuson MP112 unit sitting on top, and an ECS tensioner which shouldn't actually make a difference but who knows.
The standard belt recommended for the application is: K061045, or 6PK2652; size is 13/16" x 105" outer circumference, or 20mm x 2666mm outer circumference, 6-rib.
There's no Gates HD belt with that precise size. I can however confirm that the Gates K061058HD does fit properly. The length difference is within spec for what the tensioner will allow.
Bonus fact: the AC belt is a confirmed fit as well: Gates K040420 Multi V-Groove Belt. It's not an HD belt, but it's plug and play.
 
Published Nov 30, 2018
I wanted to get some movies onto my iphone without itunes, largely because I run linux at home. There are various ways proposed online - the most common being to mount the iphone as a storage device - but there's a very, very easy way: VLC.
  1. Download VLC from the iOS app store
  2. Get the device onto the same wifi network as your computer
  3. Open up VLC on the device, click the menu icon, and click wifi sharing.
  4. On the computer, use a browser to navigate to the shown IP address.
  5. Click the upload button, upload the videos you want.
That's it. Super easy, took a few minutes. Works on any major OS!
 
Published Oct 23, 2018
Today I learned something cool:
$ man hier
123456789101112131415161718
NAME
       hier - description of the file system hierarchy

DESCRIPTION
       A typical Linux system has, among others, the following directories:

       /      This  is  the  root  directory.   This  is  where the whole tree
              starts.

       /bin   This directory contains executable programs which are needed  in
              single user mode and to bring the system up or repair it.

       /boot  Contains static files for the boot loader.  This directory holds
              only the files which are needed during the  boot  process.   The
              map  installer  and  configuration  files should go to /sbin and
              /etc.

...etc...
 
Published Jul 7, 2018
There was an old much-referenced page about octane boosters, originally found at: http://www.idavette.net/hib/fuel/index.htm
In case that doesn't work, data copied here for posterity after the jump.
 
Published Mar 28, 2018
I read an interesting article recently on techcrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/21/apple-is-an-exception-to-nearly-every-rule/
It seemed oddly familiar. It should, because I linked an article two years ago which itself was written two years prior.
As far as I can tell, as of 3/28/18, the author of the TechCrunch article:
  • Did not cite the original article published for years ago on blog.bolt.io.
  • Works at the same company (Bolt Venture Capital) as the author of the original article.
  • Copied the headline of the original article.
I suspect that had I turned in such an article back in school, I would have been in a world of hurt.
 
Published Mar 20, 2018
Recently, my vacuum-actuator for the supercharger's bypass valve stopped working (stopped holding vacuum, basically), resulting in the SC never being properly bypassed.
I have the 5th gen (intercooled) MP112 Magnuson supercharger on my LS1 engine (and I imagine, for the sake of SEO, that it's the same setup that goes onto the LS6 and other LS engines, among others.)
The resulting rattle and other issues were annoying - if you have an MP112 and you start hearing a metallic rattle at idle, observe whether the bypass actuator's metal ... hook-pole thing ... that pulls down the bypass valve is the thing that's rattling against said bypass valve.
You can also easily tell if it's not working by opening the hood while idling. With the throttle plate nearly closed, the engine should be pulling a high vacuum, and this should be pulling the actuator down, so that the SC is in bypass mode. If it doesn't immediately pull down when the engine is started, get a new actuator.
Their website is pretty hard to follow, but apparently the right part number is 45-00-13-113, and on their (fairly poorly formatted) website, it is listed as the actuator for the 4th gen. Well, they confirmed it was the right component for my car, sent it over (at a cost of about $150 with taxes and shipping) and it fits fine and solves the issue.
 
Published Mar 6, 2018
I found the following three links very useful when figuring out wheel sizes and tire profiles:
Offset / ET Explanation
Offset Calculator for switching wheels.
Tire Size Calculator to see the diameters/circumferences for different tires.
Optimal and min/max wheel size calculator to choose wheel sizes for a given tire specification.
While bolt patterns specify which tires can bolt up to your wheel hub, there's a lot more to it - after the jump:
 
 
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