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Lancaster's Guru's Lair What's New? 2003 Archive |
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January 4, 2004
Please welcome John Bright's Winford Engineering as our newest
banner advertiser. John offers some interesting and useful DB9 and
DB25 breadboarding adaptors along with other fine products.
January 3, 2004
Just uploaded GuruGram #32 which is a tutorial on Heap Sorts in
general and PostScript Heap sorts in particular. The sourcecode
appears here and a ready-to-run demo utility here.
December 29, 2003
I am saddened by alternate energy enthusasiasts who continue
to delude themselves. A recent "breakeven in fifteen years!"
gridtie project COMPLETELY IGNORED interest rates and tapped
FOUR outrageous subsidies. One of the subsidies alone would have
been enough to pay their power bills for the entire time. Without even
pissing around with all that ugly junk in their back yard.
In NO WAY was this project even remotely renewable or sustainable.
It was simply a clever but useless scam to rip off tax dollars for no
apparent benefit to anyone. The fifteen year breakeven claim was an
outrageous misinterpretation of real world economics.
Note that the highly touted NET METERING is really a transfer
tax subsidy in disguise. The other utility users pay through the nose
for the avoided cost differential.
More in our Energy Fundamentals tutorial.
December 28, 2003
Just had a publisher who should know better send me some forms
which basically said "We are going to steal your intellectual property.
Sign and return this form so we can do so. If we do not hear from you
in thirty days, we are STILL going to steal your intellectual property."
With, of course, NO WAY WHATSOEVER to provide a negative
response. Not even a specific email address from the sender!
December 27, 2003
December 26, 2003
Combined our Magic Fill and Vignette routines into a
single NUBKG01.PSL that is faster and more convenient to use.
December 25, 2003
Combined our Swings and Tilts and No White routines into a
single NUTILT01.PSL that is faster and more convenient to use.
December 24, 2003
Just discovered a programming construct called a HEAP. While
a truly wondrous way to efficiently stash data as a binary tree,
its manipulation and overhead seems daunting for everyday use.
A heap is a binary tree of expandable size that fills from the top
down and left to right. Any parent entry is larger than either of
its two children. The largest item is always on the top of the heap.
The heap gets maintained by continual swapping to force this rule.
December 23, 2003
Our PostScript Sorts of December 21st can have their speed
further increased for large n by a factor of six to ten! To do this,
insertion presort into 128x26 bins based on the first TWO string
characters. Since the earlier speed is way more than good enough,
such added complexity only creates low n and resource problems
for most users. Detailed code on request.
This borders on an ancient CONTENT ADDRESSIBLE MEMORY
technique that has largely fallen by the wayside.
December 22, 2003
Picked up some vintage Casio PB-700 calculators with unusual
FIN/CAL financial firmware added to them. Now up on eBay.
December 21, 2003
Here's the latest PostScript sort routines: This one is a speed
optimized bubble sort:
/alphabubblesort2 { /curmat1 exch store curmat1
length 1 sub -1 1 { curmat1 0 get exch 1 exch 1 exch
{ /posn exch store curmat1 posn get 2 copy lt {exch} if
curmat1 exch posn 1 sub exch put } for curmat1 exch
posn exch put } for curmat1 } bind store
And here's a bin presorter that gives an extra 12x speedup:
/presort1 {/matmat mark 128 {[]} repeat ] store
stddat { dup 0 get /curint exch store mark exch
matmat curint get aload pop ] matmat exch curint
exch put } forall mark matmat { dup length 1 ge { dup
length 2 ge { alphabubblesort2{ }forall} if }{pop} ifelse}
forall ] } bind store
Presently alpha sorts 300 strings in 12 milliseconds! More details
are found in GuruGram #31.
December 17, 2003
Latest GuruGram #31 is on Fast & Efficient PostScript Sorting
Utilities. Sourcecode is found here. And actual testfiles here.
December 16, 2003
I have a real buy on a school surplus large Xerox 5680 copier.
First $699 takes it. FOB Thatcher, AZ. Original cost: $39,000.00
Believed fully functional; guaranteed servicible. Quite clean.
Up to 11x17 input, 8-1/2 x 14 output, duplex, staple, resize, etc...
1030 pounds. Liftgate truckor ramped 5x9 U-Haul recommended.
email me for viewing. Or call (928) 428-4073.
December 15, 2003
Discovered the secret to making a bubble sort blindingly fast:
Presorting int K bins can speed you up by up to a factor of K!
December 14, 2003
Here's a minor adjustment to our sort of December 11th.
It gets down into the quarter second range for 400 strings
by eliminating a variable and binding. But making things a
tad more obscure...
/alphabubblesort2 { /curmat1 exch store curmat1
length 1 sub -1 1 {curmat1 0 get exch 1 exch 1 exch
{ /posn exch store curmat1 posn get 2 copy lt {exch}
if curmat1 exch posn 1 sub exch put} for curmat1
exch posn exch put } for curmat1 } bind store
While this seems amazingly fast, it is a n^2 type of thingy and
will slow down dramatically for large n. A Review of Sorts is
found here. The "better" sorts I looked at had enough overhead
that they did not seem competitive below several thousand
entries. They also are often highly content sensitive.
Speaking of which, presorting the above into two piles A-K and
L-Z can approach a 4X speedup. As can splitting out all the
popularity 1's from eBay reports . Possibly the 2's as well.
December 13, 2003
eBay may have made some internal changes that trashed some
of their older links. As a result, many of our PDF files may have
incorrect links. We have fixed the website pages, though.
Try This Link instead if you get an eBay link error message.
The hidden message here, of course, is to think twice about
trashing old website links. For you might be causing untold
grief to hundreds or even thousands of other websites and
documents that are trying to link you.
December 12, 2003
Latest GuruGram #30 is an update and revision on Conversion
Between PostScript Strings, Integers, Arrays, & Dictionaries.
The original can still be found here, and the new sourcecode here.
December 11, 2003
What is the best possible PostScript sort you can come up with?
This new one is twice as fast as BUBLSORT.PS, sorting an array
of 400 text strings in a third of a second...
/alphabubblesort1 { /curmat1 exch store curmat1 length 1
sub -1 2 {/passlength exch store curmat1 0 get 1 1
passlength { /posn exch store curmat1 posn get 2 copy lt
{exch} if curmat1 exch posn 1 sub exch put} for curmat1
exch posn exch put } for curmat1 } store
Let me know if you can do any better.
December 10, 2003
There seem to be hoards of thermodynamically challenged epsilon
minuses out there calling for government subsidies to "force" the
thermo and engineering economics fundamental violations needed
for the "hydrogen economy".
Next time you run into one of these turkeys, ask them WHICH type
of subsidy they prefer...
(A) The CALIFORNIA model in which virtually all of the pv
paybacks went into boiler shop scams that set pv back by
many decades.
(B) The ARIZONA model in which you were given a free large
SUV for an unconnected one gallon tank.
(C) The MIDWEST model where a monumental energy sink was
cleverly disguised as a twelve billion dollar vote buying scam.
(D) The SOUTH CAROLINA model where they added a five ton
evaporative cooler to get their 3 ton but nonworking solar
adsorption cooler to look good.
(E) The DETROIT model where their bus demos are trucking
hydrogen in from Pittsburgh,
Or, of course...
(F) The BRAZIL model that nearly bankrupted the entire country
over monumental ethanol stupidity.
The best possible way for alternate energy to succeed is if the Feds
GET AND STAY OUT OF THE WAY!
More in ENERGFUN.PDF.
December 9, 2003
Latest GuruGram #29 is an update and revision on Using Distiller
as a General Purpose PostScript Computer. The original can still
be found here, and the new sourcecode here.
December 8, 2003
Solar pv enthuasists still don't get it: If your grid tied pv solar system
produces a dollar worth of electricity a day and if the fully burdened
amortization is more than a dollar a day, you have a net energy SINK
that CONSUMES old resources.
If, instead, the system produces a dollar worth of electricity and the
amortization also equals a dollar a day, then you have accomplished
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Your system is simply transferring old
dollars and is NOT in any manner renewable or sustainable or self-
sufficient. Nor is it in any manner "non-polluting".
Only when the value of the electricity produced significantly exceeds
the fully burdened daily amortization does even the POSSIBILITY of
renewability or sustainability arise. The only thing a "breakeven"
pv system produces is a wildly misguided (and not even wrong) warm
fuzzy feeling in the system's owner.
The bottom line is that conventional silicon pv is clearly the wrong
horse to bet on and is highly unlikely to EVER become a net energy
source. Look instead for solutions involving multiple work functions
or gradient workfunctions. Or metalloradicals or MEMS antennas.
More on this in ENERGFUN.PDF.
December 6, 2003
There's a new and free Green Power trade journal on solar energy and
renewables and such.
December 4, 2003
Latest GuruGram #28 is a major new Web Logfile Analyzer tutorial
that includes some powerful eBay seller reporting features. The
sourcecode is here.
December 2, 2003
Uploaded the preliminary code for our Web Log Analysis Utility.
A sample output appears here, and a weblog sample input is here.
November 29, 2003
I 've been working on a major new Web Logfile Analyzer and just
realized its incredible eBay potential. This code can instantly give
you a listing of the popularity of each item you are selling withOUT
needing any counters or repeated eBay access! And withOUT any
need to look up item numbers!
In its spare time, it doubles as an image theft detector. Stay tuned.
November 28, 2003
My favorite Pittsburgh Streeetcars link seems down. I'll try to find
out where it went. Please eBay me if you have any info.
I am negotiating to do a Mount Graham Tramway site similar to theirs.
November 26, 2003
Discovered an ancient and really cute algorithm to find out
how many ones are in a digital word. Simply AND the word
with itself MINUS ONE and repeat till zero. Increment a
counter on every repeat pass.
November 23, 2003
Looks like a virtual reality motion simulator is going to close
for less than pocket change tomorrow at
http://web.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=290499
It is slightly too heavy and slightly too far for me.
PS: Closed for $270. An absolute steal.
November 22, 2003
Did I ever tell you about Rodney's? This is a SUPERB
barbeque place in Willcox, Arizona. Right next to Sinbad
the Parrot. On Railroad Avenue across from the park.
Be sure to complement Rodney on his large Rex Allen portrait.
November 21, 2003
Made some minor updates to our Energy Fundamentals
tutorial in the Blatant Opportunist library.
November 20, 2003
Oops. I tried adding A Photo to our Military Fiber Optics
offering on eBay and ended up with an uncorrectable bad
link. The correct link and photo appears here.
November 19, 2003
Updated some offsite links on our Home Page.
Added a New Tutorial to our Magic Sinewave library.
November 18, 2003
In response to an ever-diminishing number of requests, here
is a list of the most profitible eBay selling items arranged by
season...
January - eBooks of dropshipping resources
Feburary - UK cable descramblers
March - Plasma HDTV displays from Rumania
April - Nigerian lotteries
May - Add three inches to your mortgage
June - Pallet liquidations
July - Norfolk & Waay overstocks
August - Korean laptops
September - Home theater pyramind buying rights
October - Escrow companies
November - Password phishing software
December - Microsoft and Disney replicas
More on our Auction Help page.
November 16, 2003
There have been several press releases from the thermodynamically
challenged recently that claim that hydrogen burns at an extremely
hot temperature. In reality, acetylene in air burns at 2400 degrees C
compared to hydrogen's 2050 degrees. The hydrogen flame temperature
is only a negligible 3.1 percent above gasoline in absolute temperature.
Hydrogen welding is mainly reserved for very precise applications where
its pitiful energy and low temperatures are outweighed. Normal use
of hydrogen in welding is to create a reducing atmosphere.
Comparisons are found at http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/9_422.html
More on our It's A Gas hydrogen resources website.
November 15, 2003
Just put some military tactical fiber optic bargains up on eBay.
November 12, 2003
The "Tesla Turbine" nonsense is infesting the newsgroups again.
One more time: Bladeless turbines and pumps DEMAND a
thermodynamic irreversibility for their FUNDAMENTAL operation
of maintaining a lossy shear force in a viscous medium. And are
thus useless when high efficiency is a factor.
They, of course, do not work at all if the fluid has zero viscosity.
I'd expect them to be far less efficient in vapor rather than liquid.
These devices ~are~ superb as shit pumps or when pumping frozen
chickens or live fish. As the leading supplier http://www.diskflo.com
tells us, blades have to be added if higher efficiency is needed.
Most of these problems would go away if they were simply called
"shit pumps" rather than naming them after the patron saint of the
church of the latter day crackpots. More in our Tech Musings library.
November 9, 2003
Latest GuruGram #27 is on Magic Sinewave Quantization.
Sourcecode and Companion PS Utilities and Demo Logs and
Demo Plots also newly uploaded.
We hope to ship Magsine actual chips "real soon now". More in
the Magic Sinewave library.
November 8, 2003
Few people realize that there is a profound thermodynamic first
principle that absolutely GUARANTEES that bulk energy hydrogen
via electrolysis from high value sources (such as grid or pv solar)
is flat out NEVER gonna happen.
Exergy is a measure of the quality of energy. More specifically, exergy
measures the reversibly recoverable remaining energy fraction.
Electricity has extremely high exergy. Raw unstored and uncontained
gaseous hydrogen has extremely low exergy, owing to its pitiful
reversibly recoverable fraction. Thus, the value of a kilowatt hour of
electricity is ridiculously higher than the value of a kilowatt hour of
raw hydrogen gas.
Electrolysis is thus exactly the same as 1:1 converting US dollars into
Mexican pesos. And is equally monumentally stupid. Should you have
electricity and want hydrogen, sell the electricity, buy some methane,
and reform the methane.
Electrolysis as a mid energy process GUARANTEES you will end up
with a net energy sink. More in our Energy Fundamentals tutorial and
on our Its A Gas hydrogen web page.
Consulting services available.
November 6, 2003
It sure is fun watching the predator-prey relationships coming down
in the alt.wholesale newsgroup. eBay prices are consistently well
below wholesale and thus most wholesale suppliers are utterly
and totally useless to serious eBay sellers. Ludicrously so.
Realistic sources for eBay sellers appear in our eBay Selling tutorial,
while direct contact links are found in our Auction Help library.
November 3, 2003
One interesting, free, and Netscape usable newsreader can now be
found at http://News.Individual.NET I've been using it as backup
for our ISP's regular news server which has had recent problems.
October 25, 2003
Our Earthquake Machines have arrived and are now up on eBay.
We have 20 of these Harris proof mass actuators in stock. They
include a powerful voicecoil driver, precision piezeo accellerometer,
a second system accellerometer, and a LDVT position transducer.
October 23, 2003
Apparently Amazon Books has just started a stupendous full text
search any book any place any time service. Which should be one
of the most stunning research breakthroughs of all time.
This new feature is now built into their normal search function.
October 20, 2003
Updated and improved our GuruGram library.
October 18, 2003
Just picked up a bunch of theater lighting items. Including
a Lehigh 48 station 2 kw dimmer panel, a Lehigh Legacy
control console, and bunches of spotlights. Please email me
if you want to get in ahead of our eBay listings on these.
October 15, 2003
Updated and improved our Auction Help library.
October12, 2003
Latest GuruGram #26 is on Successful eBay Buying Strategies.
Sourcecode is separately available here.
October 11, 2003
Our ISP seems to be in a pissing contest with our newsgroup server.
I've been unable to post anything to groups for several weeks now.
I am not sure how or when this is going to straighten out.
October 8, 2003
The .PSL downloads should work just fine now. Please report any
further problems.
October 8, 2003
Intel has apparently bought into a new lithium battery technology
that has demonstrated 600 watthours per liter and promises even
more. And nanotechnology applied to lithium suggests a further
doubling might eventually happen. When they reach something like
1500 watthours per liter, all of the hydrogen gas insanity should end.
A tutorial on energy fundamentals appears as ENERGFUN.PDF.
October 6, 2003
Oops. There's been a glitch on the new server that has prevented
downloads of our .PSL sourcecode and utility files. This should very
shortly be corrected. Please let me know if you are having any
additional download problems.
October 5, 2003
Latest GuruGram #25 is on Successful eBay Selling Strategies.
Sourcecode is separately available here.
October 3, 2003
Got some nice telecom stuff, mostly 10 baseT panels and 25 pin
extension cables. Both AMP and Ortronics. email me if you
need further details.
October 2, 2003
The "useless PIC programmer" saga continues. The brand X
programmer I just received takes the world's strangest wall wart.
Not clear why ANY power supply is needed at all for PIC flash chips.
September 30, 2003
Arrghhh! Despite weasel words to the contrary, Microchip's leading
PicStart Plus programmer does ~NOT~ program their most popular
chips, specifically the 16F628A and the 16F648A! They promise some
sort of an upgrade by year end. Meanwhile, I'll try to evaluate several
Brand-X programmers.
September 29, 2003
Kepro, the leading printed circuits supplier has apparently dot bombed.
They are having a 75% off sale on most items. Apparently D & L
Products acquired them. (314) 575-7117 ebex@inlink.com.
Another continuing pc supplier appears to be injectorall.
September 27, 2003
Our magic sinewave Simulator Sourcecode assembles just fine
on the http://www.oshonsoft.com PIC assembler. Other assemblers
may need lines like these added at the beginning to maker sure
the 16F628A internal labels are picked up...
list p=16F628
include p16f628.inc
I was also a little sloppy using calculated RETLW's. These may
generate warnings. We are almost ready to go to silicon on this.
September 25, 2003
Need your own earthquake machine? We have some nice Harris
Proof Mass Actuators in transit that should be here in a week or
two. You bolt these onto a model structure either to shake it or to
see how much it is shaking. Apps include everything from aerospace
structures to active buildings. You can email me for ongoing
details.
September 23, 2003
Now have a pair of robotic/automation automatic screwdrivers.
One single, one double. Please email me if you have any interest
in these outrageously expensive devices.
September 21, 2003
We lost our only long term employee due to what appears to be a
monumental medical screwup. Rachael Lopez will be sorely missed.
September 19, 2003
We have picked up some incredible bargains at a recent
automation auction. Adept Robotics linear actuators. These
are basically rails from two to six feet long holding a super
precision ball screw driven slider powered by an internal
servo motor and fed back by a super accurate encoder.
Repeatability is 0.0004 inch ( yup - better than half a mil! ),
and up to TWO HUNDRED POUNDS can be supported!
Please email me for further details.
September 18, 2003
Just watched two auctioneers bidding against each other to
determine how much they would PAY buyers to haul away primo
office desks. They finally settled on twenty six cents each. Which
was well under last week's selling price of fifty desks for one
dollar.
All of which suggests shorting office desk futures.
September 13, 2003
Carl and Jerry have more or less finally made it to the web!
See http://home.gwi.net/~jdebell/pe/cj/cnjindex.htm for a
listing and a partial reprint set.
I guess in many ways I ~was~ Carl, or at least a shorter and
wise-assed approximation to same. Per WAYWERE.PDF.
The "story behind the story" is even more amazing. The Carl
and Jerry author was parapalegic and utterly unable to do any
of the story activities.
September 11, 2003
An unauthorized and partial TV Typewriter reprint as shown up
on the web. I'll eventually try to get the full and accurate info
up here. Pending additional Synergetics Partners support
September 9, 2003
The full PDF search IFILTER should be up and running on
our new website. Everything else should now work, except
for Webtrends that is awaiting an update. Please email me
with any remaining problems.
Should you really need our Website Stats, we can make our
raw log files available to you. Bottom line is around 1800 visitors
and 2700 page views per day. With the usual early fall increase.
September 7, 2003
Now have some improved Magic Sinewave calculators that do
fast custom exporting, handle Delta 44's, and better quantization
estimation. Also some PS postproc code that autogenerates the
needed PIC assembly sourcecode tables.
These are now available to Synergetics Partners, seminar participants,
and as part of our InfoPack services.
September 4, 2003
The Guru's Lair web search on the new server is now partially
working. The IFILTER for PDF still needs installed. I hope to
have this happen soon.
September 2, 2003
Just uploaded some preliminary Simulator Sourcecode for the PIC
16F628A to our Magic Sinewave library. Full performance chips
should also shortly be available in popular sizes. Please email me
for current delivery status.
As before, Seminars, Development Assistance, and Full Programs are
offered. Partners and Banner Advertisers are also welcome.
September 1, 2003
Several amateur astronomers who bought our "dimpled chad" voting
machines we continue to offer on eBay tell us that they make dandy
combination accessory cases and fast setup field tables.
August 30, 2003
Our Guru's Lair has been moved up to a bigger and better server.
And now should be significantly faster and smoother. Several minor
problems remain with updating Webtrends and getting the site search
fully debugged. Please email me over any other problems.
August 29, 2003
Discovered some curious math as part of our Magic Sinewave
explorations. Say you have a list of groups of numbers that all
have to sum to the same value. If you quantize these to integers
the integers may not all sum to the same value. Caused by how
many of the quantizations are "just above" or "just below" an 0.5
threshold. You instead get a Gaussian type thingy where half of
the answers are what you expect, two fifths are high or low by one,
and the rest are off by two or more.
Which leads to a slight jitter in Magic Sinewave frequency as the
amplitudes are changed. Looks like 0.05% or so for now. This can
be gotten around by adjusting "rounding" to be above or below 0.5.
August 28, 2003
We have an associate site who goes by the name of Sotofamilia
on eBay. They get most of the items we do not want to deal with,
in addition to having lots of unusual goodies of their own. Their
prices are often quite low and bargains abound.
August 25, 2003
At first glance, It would appear tricky to update a Magic Sinewaave
synthesizer more than twice per cycle for Best Efficiency types or six
times per cycle for Delta Friendly types. A sneaky workaround is to
split the amplitudes 0-50 and 51-100 and use different code for each .
There should always be lots of delay time on the low amplitudes and lots
of pulse time on the high amplitudes.
August 23, 2003
Sold out of several items, including the Allen Bradley PLC controllers
and the Motorola 6802 (yup-an eight!) trainers. We only have six of
the Marconi BET's remaining and are unlikely to find any more.
August 22, 2003
Have an interesting Physical Therapy and Circulatory item up
on eBay. This is a Jobst Cryotemp system that circulates chilled
water and pressurized air to suitable arm or leg cuffs. Cost new is
in the $6000 range and we offer this near new system for pennies
on the dollar. Please email me afor further details.
August 19, 2003
We are now sold out of Water Soluble Swimsuits. Getting more may
end up tricky. Meanwhile, they remain available at much higher cost
directly from the MD Industries manufacturer.
August 17, 2003
Put a bunch of interesting Nortel phone stuff up on eBay. Including
music-on-hold, full voicemail systems, and several other goodies.
August 13, 2003
I have a 6000+ square foot building for sale here in Thatcher AZ for
only $199. It is old, huge, ugly, and needs removed within three
weeks. But it does have great heaping bunches of corregated iron
siding salvagable, along with timbers and some electrical. And
should be ideal for any number of farm or ranch uses.
Please contact me IMMEDIATELY at (928) 428-4073 if you
have any interest. Or email me RIGHT NOW.
August 12, 2003
Two morer PICisms: Note that SUBLW subtracts w FROM the
literal, so a SUBLW 0x01 does NOT do a decrement in the way
you might first expect it to. Use ADDLW 0xFF instead.
And that missing INCW is easily faked with ADDLW 0x01.
August 11, 2003
Just put some "dimpled chad" voting machines up on eBay.
Along with an outstanding buy on a Jobst Cyro/Temp compression
therapy machine.
August 10, 2003
More on the PIC's PCLATH: There are NO(!) instructions that
set or modify this latch outside of reset. GOTO or CALL or
interrupts or any related code do NOT change this register!
Thus, if you are using table lookups on several pages, you have
to continually be sure these bits are reset correctly. To avoid
trashing the W register, the three BSF PCLATH,0 through
BSF PCLATH,2 (or similar BCF) commands can be used.
August 8, 2003
Rearranged and expanded our Auction Help library page.
All of the more popular files are now near the top.
August 7, 2003
A curious gotcha on the PIC use of RETLW: If the lookup
tables are not on page zero, you MUST preload PCLATH with
the proper page! Otherwise you end up in a wildly wrong location.
More in their Implementing a Table Read apnote.
August 7, 2003
Some positive developments in the arcane field of solar-to-hydrocarbon
energy conversion per This Abstract and This Paper.
August 4, 2003
Found a nice little PIC Flash Assembler/Debugger/Simulator/etc.. at
http://www.oshonsoft.com. Have only tested it briefly, but it looks
like a real winner. Free evaluation and cost can be as low as $19.00.
August 3, 2003
Expanded our Auction Help page with new and updated links.
July 29, 2003
Two underappreciated PIC programming tricks: The RETLW #VAL
command is the secret to accessing stored data, particularly for
table lookups. This family of 256 instructions BOTH returns you from
a subroutine AND loads W immediate with a stored 8-bit data value.
Plus, the program counter is accessible as register $02. MOVFing a
data value here does a calculated absolute jump, while ADDWFing a
value here does a calculated relative branch.
For instance, a stack of RETLW's can be jumped into to return a
table lookup value. Or three NOP's can be selectively jumped into
to provide otherwise difficult relative time delays of 0, 1, 2, or 3
instruction cycles. Further assistance by way of our InfoPack page.
July 29, 2003
Added two "slides" to our Magic Sinewave intro.
July 29, 2003
A nice plastics catalog is available from http://www.usplastic.com
July 26, 2003
We are down to our last six Marconi BET's from the original trailer
load. See our eBay offerings for details.
July 25, 2003
The newest GuruGram #24 is on Magic Sinewave Visualation and shows
the latest Magic Sinewave upgrades. Sourcecode is here.
July 22, 2003
Discovered some further improvements in our Delta Friendly Magic
Sinewaves. You can now use as few as FIVE stored 8-bit data words
per amplitude and still gain nearly full precision! Per this update in
MINDIST1.PDF, its sourcecode, this somewhat crude delay-vs-
amplitude plot and its sourcecode. Plus its improved Visualization.
Also please see our Magic Sinewave library page and this Development
Proposal. Magic Sinewave calculators with greatly improved data
exporting are now newly available to Synergetics Partners.
July 21, 2003
A reminder that we have some really nice Tektronix DA4084 distortion
analyzers available. Super clean mil surplus ~with~ manuals and 15 day
inspection for $379 each plus shipping. 11 units remain. email to order.
July 19, 2003
Made some additions and corrections to our MINDIST.PDF file in
our GuruGram library. New sourcecode appears here.
July 18, 2003
Jeff Duntemann has an often interesting weblog up at
http://www.duntemann.com/Diary.htm Where he raises some
rather interesting points on the ongoing RIAA stupidity.
It turns out that anybody can do a local WiFi to distribute their
music all over their home. If somebody happens by, they can
help themselves. Within a year or so, this should extend to two
individuals with PDA's simply walking past each other and thus
automatically ~doubling~ their personal music collections.
The RIAA "problem" is not piracy. It is having a horribly obsolete
business model and an utterly useless product that no longer serves
~ANY~ sensible purpose whatsoever.
As I've said before, the outcome is not the least in doubt. Just ask the
printed circuit tape and dots folks or the litho camera people.
July 16, 2003
Summary: The only apparent way to return mid document in a web
distributed .PDF file is by using named page destinations. IE seems
to refuse to let one .PDF file return you to a named destination in
another, giving you a blank screen instead.
One workaround is to have the .PDF file do a .HTML redirect as
anything BUT a .PDF fill apparently will work just fine.
Solutions are discussed in Fancy JPG to PDF Conversions. A demo
appears as My eBay PhotoSecrets.
And a new GRABJPG.PSL utility and a GRABJPG.PDF demo now
are added to our PostScript Library.
July 15, 2003
We've sold over half of our new hypnosis audio tapes and they are
flying outtahere. Certain titles are now in short supply. You can
email Bee for a current inventory list.
Two titles they should have done: "Overcoming your fear of
Chocolate" and "Weight Loss for Anexorics".
July 14, 2003
Found a crude sledgehammer cure for the IE-hangs-on-PDF-return
problem. Put a named page in the original PDF doc. Have this click to
the expanded photo PDF doc that has a return box. Make the return
box go to an HTML REDIRECT(!). Have the redirect put you back
on the page where you wanted to return to in the first place.
The repairing redirect should look something like this...
<html>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>IE REPAIR REDIRECT</TITLE>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" CONTENT="1;
URL=http://www.tinaja.com/glib/ebayfoto.pdf#GoBack4">
</HEAD>
<body>
Avoiding an IE Acrobat bug.
</body>
</html>
One gotcha is that you should NEVER do a redirect with a zero time
delay as this will hang the normal browser back arrows. This example
uses the one second minimum. Yes, it is also Netscape compatible.
Yeah, you could also go to a HTML file consisting of a .JPG and a
return message in a table. But this would be less flexible and may
prevent you from overlaying a return button or box.
Apparently IE does not mind going to an internal page in a PDF
document so long as it is not a PDF document requesting the link!
See My eBay PhotoSecrets as a test platform.
Yup, this is a downright awful hack. But it works. Again, please
email me if you have any better ideas.
July 13, 2003
Am still trying to find a solution to the Acrobat "GoBack" problem.
The goal is to view a .PDF file inside IE, click expand to a larger
photo, and then return to the same page and position you started in
the original .PDF file. Typically, you are forced back to page one instead.
Or end up stuck on a white page.
Some possibilities are newly outlined in our Fancy JPG to PDF
Conversions tutorial. Meanwhile, I've been using My eBay Photo
Secrets as a test platform, so expect some glitches for a while. At
present, the code works beautifully with NetScape but hangs on a
white screen return with IE. Not sure if Acrobat 6 is any better.
Your suggesions and help on this sticky problem welcome via email.
July 9, 2003
Newest GuruGram #23 is on Fancy JPG to PDF Conversions.
Source code is Found Here.
July 6, 2003
The latest GuruGram #22 is on My eBay Photo Secrets.
Source code is Found Here.
July 5, 2003
Decided that additional Blatant Opportunists will be released in
GuruGram format. For better web appearance and distribution,
among other advantages.
July 4, 2003
Added some new links to our Its A Gas hydrogen energy page.
July 3, 2003
There's a new fuel Fuel Cell Store website that offers educational
and full size units, along with lots of support materials. Their bargain
basement 200 watt unit sells for a mere $3500.00. But that, of course,
excludes all the expensive essential accessories.
July 2, 2003
Trying to figure out how to make web viewed .PDF files click expand
into a larger image and then return to the old image page rather than
returning to the document start. Making the larger file .PDF rather
than .JPEG does not seem to help, and I'd like to avoid some sort of
clickable return note. email me if you have any suggestions
July 1, 2003
Improved our bitmap magic background utilities as MAGFILL2.PSL.
This takes all true white (or other selected RGB value) pixels in any
.BMP format 24-bit file and replaces them with a mottled three color
random pattern. Colors and "mottle depth" are now much easier to
preselect. Based on the autopat code in our PS PowerPoint Emulation.
Besides being visually interesting, these patterns dramatically reduce
JPEG edge artifacts on later conversion. Read file in WP or editor,
modify, send to Distiller. Use "edit colors" in Paint to assist selection.
Your results can be post-vignetted by using our new Dodge and Burn
Utilities.
June 30, 2003
Added new content and links to our Magic Sinewave, Acrobat, and
PostScript library pages.
June 29, 2003
Uploaded a new Three Phase Magic Sinewaves slide show and
tutorial to our Magic Sinewave library. This is a second example
demo of our PS PowerPoint Emulation found in our GuruGram
library. Gonzo sourcecode is Found Here .
June 28, 2003
Bee now has a list of all the hypnosis self-help audio cassette
tapes in stock. email Bee for our free inventory list.
June 26, 2003
Also just got four telco T3 to T1 multiplexers, available for a tiny
fraction of the list price. EZT3/ES units from ADC. Still in original
factory packaging. email me for further details.
June 25, 2003
...and some Fibronics FX8210 telco to fiber bridges. email me
for further details on these five available units. For those of you
on a high fiber diet.
June 24, 2003
Just got in the eleven Tek DA4084 Distortion Analyzers and they are
all real beauties. Available direct for $479 each plus shipping, or per
our various eBay listings.
June 22, 2003
Latest GuruGram #21 is a tutorial on our Website Fades & Wipes.
June 21, 2003
May have found a bizarre bug in Acrobat 5 PDF: If you run my
FADEWIPE.PDF from Internet Explorer and click on the third
party wipes demo URL in the middle of the second page, their
demos will NOT run corrrectly. Neither will the "circular demo".
Only if you copy the URL and then reboot IE do the demos run ok.
It appears as if any acrobat access in IE "poisons" the browser
against any fades and wipes by any other following URL forever.
Comments appreciated.
June 20, 2003
Latest GuruGram #20 is a tutorial on our PS PowerPoint Emulation.
As per This Demo.
June 19, 2003
Expanded our GuruGram and Auction Help library pages.
June 18, 2003
Just got some really nice Tektronix DA4084 Programmable
Distortion Analyzers and mainframes. These are the mil spec
version of an AA5001. email me if you want to get in ahead of
the hoarders on these spectacular instruments. WITH manuals.
Also have a bunch of ADC DS3 and FDDI telecom multiplexers
from the same lot at a tiny fraction of list prices. email for info.
June 17, 2003
I finally got mad enough at PowerPoint that I rewrote the entire
program as a Gonzo PS emulation. Files are now one fifth the size
and further reducable; display instantly, device independently, and
glitch free; look ridiculously better; and now web link and transfer
effortlessly. Yes, all the GIF's and huge bitmaps are now history.
A rework of our new Introduction to Magic Sinewaves tutorial was
the first project. Sourcecode and tutorial GuruGrams should shortly
follow. Your comments are welcome.
This should be most useful for Linux and Open Source folks. As
always, Gonzo is proudly not WYSIWYG and has a moderate to
steep learning curve.
June 13, 2003
Betchya you'll never guess what the primary subject matter of the
http://www.powergenitalia.com website is.
Uh, that's what those French Veternarians call a "four paw".
Like the Pacific Rim mini-PC named the "Hand Job".
June 13, 2003
Did a major expansion, verification, and overhaul on the Offsite
Links on our Home Page.
June 12, 2003
Some interesting links: Abbeon Cal has all sorts of neat stuff that
includes a new plastics catalog. A new Acess to free Journal Reprints
site looks promising, but so far is uneven and mostly foreign. And a
new Scientific & Engineering Innovation site pays you for your ideas.
June 9, 2003
GuruGram #19 is on some sneaky methods to Reduce Distortion on
8-bit Magic Sinewaves.
June 7, 2003
June 5, 2003
Added a new Introduction to Magic Sinewaves tutorial to our
Magic Sinewave page. This is a PDF adaptation of a Powerpoint
slide show. A Magic Sinewave Development Proposal is found here.
June 4, 2003
June 2, 2003
A reminder about our PARAFIT.PSL utility in our Math Stuff
library. This shows you how to exactly fit any three data points
to a parabola. Some preliminary work shows that this should be
able to significantly speed up solutions of Magic Sinewaves that
have hundreds or even thousands of low harmonics forced to zero.
If you are Newton's Method solving any difficult math by finding
minimums, you measure one point, one point incrementally above
and one point incrementally below your current "best". Your true
"best" will often be the minimum of the three point parabola fit.
Additional assistance here. Partnering and associates welcome.
May 29, 2003
Enhanced our Power Curve Fitting Data Points so that ONE
self-generating routine now solves ALL linear equations of ALL
orders. Sadly, PostScript's limited 32 bit math may start creating
problems above an 11x11 solution or so. Strangely, it seems to
affect the plot before the actual solution. Blame ~exp~ for this.
May 27, 2003
Our latest GuruGram #18 is a tutorial on our Power Curve
Fitting Data Points. Its sourcecode is also available here.
And its described utility here.
May 26, 2003
A big flap on Slashdot over a PostScript "life" routine. Not one
of the posters picked up on the fact that you can instantly run
PostScript as a general purpose language on Acrobat Distiller
without needing a printer or two-way comm. Or on GhostScript.
A reminder that many hundreds of unique ready-to-run PostScript
as Language routines appear in our PostScript library and elsewhere
on our Guru's Lair web site. Including robotics apps and the ability
to generate complex JavaScript programs.
May 25, 2003
I continue to be fascinated by PostScript's stunning abiltity to
write programs and procs. Especially in other languages. A stack
based method newly appears in CURVEFT3.PSL Here you simply
start an array with a mark and anytime you want a proc, you insert
the NAME of the proc, followed by an ~exec~. A final cvx then
converts the array into a real proc.
Use of PostScript to auto-write incredibly complex JavaScript code (!)
is found in our Magic Sinewave library. This approach is disk rather
than stack based.
May 24, 2003
A reminder that PostScript math is limited to 32-bit precision. While
highly useful for most sane apps, this may not be enough for solving
high order linear equations, configuring digital filters, or analyzing
magic sinewaves. JavaScript offers 64-bit math and better interaction.
May 23, 2003
Our latest GuruGram #17 is a tutorial on our Dodge and Burn
Utilities. Its sourcecode is also available here.
May 22, 2003
Added some big time new features to DODBUR01.PSL, our
bitmap dodging and burning utility package. These include a
selective gamma correction (increase/reduce contrast, blacks,
whites, etc...), a black mask generator, a color sep generator
(also useful to extract detail from very light or very dark
images, and, finally, a selective transparency generator!
Hope to get a new GuruGram tutorial up soon on this.
Custom consulting and Partnering available.
May 20, 2003
In the process of doing a major overhaul of our Santa
Claus Machine library. Much of it is finished, but some
checking and a few more links still need added.
May 18, 2003
Tektronix has just released the copyrights on ALL of their
earlier test equipment manuals per this document. Applies
to TEST EQUIPMENT ONLY and ONLY to products no
longer supported.
May 17, 2003
The EAC Library just did a major update on their online
access. They now have free access to some harder-to-reach
online services such as EBSCO, NewsFile, SIRS, and
CQ Researcher. You have to ask at the front desk for the
free magic passwords.
May 14, 2003
Updated the Santa Claus Machine book access page.
May 12, 2003
Latest GuruGram #14 is on Exploring the .BMP Data Format.
Sourcecode is also newly available.
May 11, 2003
Can't tell the players without a program. Here is a guide to the newest
and latest of our PostScript-as-Language utilities and tutorials:
Heavy #1 is our Swings & Tilts Utility and Tutorial. And #2 is our
latest Dodge & Burn utility and its not yet available Tutorial.
Together, these allow exceptional bit-by-bit manipulation of .BMP
images. Yeah, you can use PhotoShop for some of this, but these
routines put all the algorithms out front where you can understand
and customize them. A Bitmap Fundamentals tutorial is in the works.
Supporting utils include NOWHIT01.PSL used to avoid punchthrough
when transparently towing over new backgrounds, and MAGFILL1.PSL
to do "magic" backgrounds that virtually eliminate JPEG edge effects.
An older cut-and-paste catalog of magic backgrounds appears here,
while an example of the latest and best of everything working together
can be found here.
SATADJ01.PSL and SHADE1.PSL were used for preliminary work
on the Dodge & Burn package. They are standalone modules that let
you adjust bitmap luminance and chrominance.
Also new are our Power Curve Fitter, and its demo, a new Histogram
Generator, and its demo plus a not-yet-ready-for-prime-time
Burn Eliminator.
Custom consulting is available on all of these concepts.
May 10, 2003
A reminder about or PostScript Gonzo Utilities. These are a
series of purposely and proudly non-WYSIWYG routines that
give you exceptional typography and layout capabilities. They
are especially strong for non-traditional PostScript-as-Language
apps such as manipulating foreign file formats, robotics, or doing
exotic tricks such as automatically generating JavaScript programs.
Yeah, the learning curve is tough and parts of them are tedious. Most
of my newer PS routines highlight these routines. If you must, only
key parts of Gonzo need be split out to initially run these new apps. In
particular, the ~mergestring~ utility sees a lot of standalone use.
May 9, 2003
Just uploaded a major new PostScript-as-Language utility set
that lets you do all sorts of pixel-by-pixel dodging and burning of
bitmaps! Correcting or enhancing luminance, saturation, hue, or
doing vignettes, waterfalls, and bunches of other special effects.
Tutorials are in the works, but the working code is DODBUR01.PSL.
As usual, load into wp or editor, change filenames and parameters,
save to disk as standard ASCII textfile, and send to Distiller.
Yeah, much of this can be done by PhotoShop. But here the underlying
algorithms are all up front and easily customized for your own uses.
May 8, 2003
Oops. Norfolk & Waay now have a life of their own! Curious how
their url is the same as their mission statement.
May 5, 2003
I am very much bemused by the RIAA fiasco. As times change and
paradigms shift, certain products and services are no longer of any
value. Obvious examples are printed circuit tape and dots or litho
cameras. Wanna buy my NuArc Rocket cheap?
With today's technology, there is no point whatsoever in having ANY
physical embodiment of a song being delivered from artist to listener.
And certainly no justification whatsoever to force a particular collection
of songs off on a listener who just wants one or wants to specify exactly
which assortment from ALL artists that they want.
And absolutely no justification whatsoever for any transaction costs
that does not leave the lion's share of income in the hands of the artist.
We'll also note in passing that anyone who wants to can produce a record
by buying readily available software that costs less than a traditional
recording hour in an older studio.
As I see it, the RIAA has two choices: They can continue to blow funds
pissing off customers and suing everybody in sight until they inevitably
lose big time. Or, instead, they can have one hell of a party and then a
really, really big yard sale.
Either way, the outcome is not the slightest in doubt.
May 3, 2003
Created a new PostScript-as-language utility that lets you at least
partially correct .JPG image color saturation. You set a value (that
is nominally 1.0) for the new saturation values you want. A 0.0 will
give you an eyeball-NTSC-PostScript adjusted gray picture of 0.29
red, 0.6 green and 0.11 blue instead. Also useful to enhance or back
off on your color saturation.
The code is SATADJ01.PSL. A saturation workfile is here and its JPG
result here. As usual, read file in wp or editor, change filenames &
variables, resave as an ordinary ASCII textfile, and send to Distiller.
Custom assistance is available by way or our InfoPack services.
May 2, 2003
Started offering bunches of prime Allen Bradley components on
eBay. These are mostly quantity one in original boxes.
By the way, A-B is one of the good guys that has seen the light.
To instantly find pricing on any of their products, simply use their
shopping page.
May 1, 2003
Created a new PostScript-as-language utility that lets you at least
partially correct .JPG image shading. You pick a point on the picture that
is "just right" for brightness and place a tilted plane on it with x and
y brightness adjustment gains.
The code is SHADE1.PSL. A shaded workfile is here, its correction
showing shading is here, and its white knockout result here. As usual,
read file in wp or editor, change filenames & variables, resave as an
ordinary ASCII textfile, and send to Distiller.
Custom assistance is available by way or our InfoPack services.
April 29, 2003
I continue to be galled by old line industrial manufacturers who
refuse to provide instant pricing. Only a third of them so far have
picked up on the fact that survival DEMANDS one-click registration-
free website pricing available to anyone at any time.
April 28, 2003
Created a new PostScript-as-language utility that dramatically
speeds up image post processing. Take a bitmap. Apply our
older NOWHIT03.PSL utility to eliminate any and all whites.
Then knock the background out to all white. Then apply our brand
new MAGFILL1.PSL to apply a rich color background that will
both look good ~and~ agressively suppress .JPG edge artifacts.
As usual, open in editor, change filenames and params and send to
Distiller. Here's the raw file, the knocked out file, and the final JPG.
Notice the total absence of JPEG edge artifacts.
April 25, 2003
Added new links to our Auction Help page.
April 24, 2003
Discovered a super method for improving photography - Use BOTH
a scanner AND a camera! While we really like the Nikon Coolpix 5000
it tends to wash out meter faces on autobrightness. So, I use the camera
for the instrument and a scanner for the meter face.
My Swings & Tilts routines are then used to distort the meter face to
where it will exactly fit where it belongs. You first crop and scale the
right edge. Then crop and scale the correct width. Then go vertical and
provide the needed S&T offset. Finally, provide the S&T scale for the
righthand side. Per this Example.
Custom consulting and training available here.
April 21, 2003
The AMOE gets at least a dozen requests a week as where to find
instant wholesale drop shipping suppliers. Since eBay prices are almost
always well BELOW wholesale, the only recommended company here
would be Norfolk & Waay.
Who this week only have free sample pallets with free shipping from
their choice of Sears, Neiman Marcus, Land's End, Sharper Image,
Macy's, or Bruno's Trucking.
The REAL key eBay source secret is simply this: Quality merchandise
MUST have taken a stupendous hit in value BEFORE it will be of
interest to a successful eBay seller. Sources that work for me include
mil surplus, community college auctions, industrial bankruptcies, and
dot com failures. Some recent medical stuff has also worked out well.
Other key eBay success secrets include always seeking out a 30:1 or
higher buy sell ratio, seeking out sales above $19.63, listing not less than
75 items at any time, spending at least two hours post processing each
photo, and selling US only & VISA/MC/Paypal only.
More on our Auction Help page and in our MYEBAYS.PDF and
MOREEBAY.PDF tutorials. Custom assistance also is available by
way or our InfoPack services.
April 19, 2003
There's a new electric motor drive trade journal you can find at
http://www.e-DriveOnline.com.
April 14, 2003
Carefully studing the quirks of your Local Auctioneers can reap huge
benefits. One carelessly puts whole unsorted rooms full of industrial
stuff very late in their auctions. A second is easily trained to continuously
accept your $2.50 opening bids, even for valuable test gear.
A third insists on moving high tech stuff to an obscure rural location. A fourth
keeps taking bids off you after you have stopped bidding. A fifth welcomes
side deals, loading, and hauling. A sixth takes all the trash you do not want
so you do not have to haul useless grunge long distances. And virtually all
of them are sloppy about their websites and underutilize them.
We can do custom local auction finders for you.
March 9, 2003
Some of the newsgroups I follow include...
alt.marketing.online.ebay
sci.energy.hydrogen ( WARNING: some posters not housebroken! )
sci.electronics.design
comp.text.pdf
comp.lang.postscript
I've yet to find a way to live link newsgroups that works on all browsers.
April 3, 2003
Discovered a shipping charges comparison service at InterShip.
March 29, 2003
Found out that Google does reverse phone lookups! Just enter your
number as the search term. Works amazingly well & super convenient.
Can also sometimes be used to resolve UPS business vs residence.
March 22, 2003
Added a new PostScript-as-Language Speedups tutorial as
GuruGram #16. The Gonzo sourcecode can be found here, and
custom assistance here.
March 18, 2003
Got some nice "Moose Antler" Ortronics cable organizers at
the Pima College auction. They are up on eBay.
March 15, 2003
Added our Swings & Tilts tutorial as GuruGram #15. The
sourcecode can be found here, and the actual swing and tilt
utility here. And custom assistance here.
March 15, 2003
Our latest PostScript Utility solves a nasty little problem involving
bitmap images. In Paint, if you knock out to a white background and
then copy to a new background, any inadvertent true white pixels
INSIDE the image will "punch through" with disasterous results.
What NOWHIT01.PSL does is go through an uncompressed 24-bit
.BMP file and replace each FF FF FF true white with a FE FE FE,
"light ivory". You also have the option of making ANY color the
Paint transparent color. To use, load into a wp or editor, change the
filenames (and optionally the color), resave, and send to Distiller.
Before and After test files are available. A GuruGram should
follow shortly.
March 14, 2003
Just picked up a pair of large and superpremium vibratory parts
feeders with lots of accessories. Also some rather large (10 x 12 inch!)
heavy duty neopreme bellows. email me for further info.
March 13, 2003
We sold out of Tut LR2000T's! All 2000+ units are outtahere and
shipped. While we think we can get some more, we can only do so
on a prepaid 30 day delivery basis. No ship, no cost, of course.
Price would be $349 per case of 14 plus shipping. Four case minimum.
email me if you need further info.
March 12, 2003
Added new utilities and links to our Bitmaps & Fonts library page.
March 11, 2003
Improved the response speed and code cleanliness of the Swings
& Tilts routine. Speed is now in the 4 megapixels per minute range,
which is amazingly fast for bicubic pixel interpolation on a general
purpose interpreted language.
March 10, 2003
Added new files and links to our PostScript library.
March 9, 2003
Just added a new PostScript Swings & Tilts routine that lets you
add these view camera special effects to your digital camera!
I'm still working on the GuruGram, but here is the Sourcecode,
a Before and an After demo, and a Practice Bitmap.
Load the sourcecode into a wp or editor, change the params and
your .BMP format filenames, then send to Distiller.
March 5, 2003
Added new files and links to our Cubic Spline library.
March 2, 2003
Our newest PostScript utility is BMPRPT01.PSL, which reads .BMP
bitmap file headers and reports their characteristics. Edit this with
a wp or editor, modify filename, and send to Distiller. Uses gonzo.
March 1, 2003
Just picked up a large pile of The BlueJacket's Manual, which is
~the~ US Navy book. New and like new mil surplus. 22nd edition, 1998.
email me if you want any copies.
February 27, 2003
The latest GuruGram #13 is on PostScript PostScript Disk File Utilities. The
The Sourcecode is found here.
February 23, 2003
February 22, 2003
Provided some new additions to our Auction Help page.
February 19, 2003
February 14, 2003
Wanna buy a fire truck? (A pumper engine, actually. "truck"
has a very specific meaning in the fire service.) But you knew
that. Only 10,600 miles, always indoor station quartered.
Details on my eBay auctions.
February 9, 2003
Picked up some X-ray image intensifiers from a medical equipment
bankruptcy. email me if you have any interest in these $40,000+
devices for pennies on the dollar.
January 30, 2003
Just awarded some gen-U-wine civil defense SKIV sanitation kits.
From the golden age of "what were they thinking" kiss your onaager
goodbye. Basically a fiber drum temporary porta potty for fifty.
Which is your choice of (a) eminently collectible, (b) a ridiculous
present, (c) a survivalist "must have", or (d) utterly ignorable.
Thinking about something like $79 each plus shpiping. You can
email me if you want to get in ahead of the hoarders. Unused.
January 27, 2003
Got two more review books: Roger Allen's Quick Guide to Book-
on-Demand printing which I hope to say more on in an upcoming
Blatant Opportunist. And Steve Bottoroff's Sharpening Made Easy
which, while highly readable, just ain't me.
Most of our knives around here are about as sharp as five pounds
of raw liver.
January 26, 2003
Some industrial suppliers still do not get it: If you are to survive
the next few years, you ~will~ have one-click and registration-free
pricing of ~all~ of your products on your website, and you ~will~
have instant shopping cart small quantity ordering.
The outcome is not the least in doubt.
January 25, 2003
Two recent items I've been very impressed with: The Nikon CoolPix
5000 digital camera, which ~completely~ blows film away on ~all~
counts. And Frank Stefanick's Inside the Auction Game book that
has otherwise incredibly hard to find auctioneer insider info.
January 24, 2003
Our Tut LR2000T inventory is now down to 24 cases of fourteen
each. Or less than ~one-sixth~ of what we started with. Current
price is $319 per case plus shipping. This is waaaaay less than
the manufacturer's price. We do not expect these to last long, nor
are we likely to get any more.
Once again, these let you run Ethernet on top of an ordinary phone line
without voice interference. You can click here for a Tut LR2000 intro.
January 23, 2003
Added a new tool to our Auction Help page that lets you edit and
list local trucking firms for your eBay sales.
January 21, 2003
Watch for some really nice video goodies going up on eBay.
January 19, 2003
Made some corrections and updates to our Auction Help page.
January 17, 2003
It really pains me to throw away top quality equipment worth hundreds
to thousands of dollars, simply because it is bulky or heavy. Case in
point: We just got four super premium "medical console carts". These
are on nice casters and about three feet high. The top includes a keybord
and two pull handles. They are waaay beyond ultra rugged and quite pretty.
They are "not quite" relay racks as they lack the standard mounting
rails. They do come apart for flat shipment. Most panels are intact.
These are immediately available. email me for more info.
January 13, 2003
There's been a merger of two Virginia shipping firms. Who now offer
overnight coast-to-coast delivery by rail for a flat fee of $19 per
thousand pounds. The new firm name is Norfolk & Waay.
January 11, 2003
Just picked up a 30KVA power quality conditioner from a power
utility auction. Liebert DataWave CAC030C. This is a magnetic
synthesizer type of thingee used to insure superb ac power quality.
I've just put it up on eBay with a $990 reserve. Price new is over
$10K and normal used street is $6K. Because of some third party
involvement, if this does not move fast, it will be stripped for parts.
FOB Willcox AZ. Buyer arranges all shipping. email for more info.
January 9, 2003
Also picked up some older peak current recording ammeters and a
few Marconi signal quality transmitters and receivers at the same
auction. Again, please email me for more info.
January 8, 2003
Discovered some easy to use wipes and fades that are bulit into
Internet Explorer. Will try to work up a GuruGram on this. But
meanwhile, search the web under "revealTrans" for secret info.
January 6, 2003
Closed out our What's New? blog page WHTNU02.ASP and
started WHTNU03.ASP. The earliest pages have also now
been autolinked.
January 4, 2003
We wholesaled out our remaining Tektronix 7912AD inventory. One
power supply remains and will go on eBay shortly.
January 3, 2003
Picked up a nice quad survellience video display system.
Please email me if you have any interest along these lines.
December 30, 2002
Gernsback Publications has recently ceased publication of Poptronix.
I expect a lot of trade journals to suddenly merge or fold as well. The
underlying model of paying an outrageous ad price for leads that may
or may not happen six months in the future that may or may not result
in a sale no longer makes any sense whatsoever.
I also see that industrial suppliers are at long last starting to put their
prices on their web sites. I'd further suspect that those who do not will
soon become history.
December 28, 2002
Latest Blatant Opportunist #73 is Son of eBay Secrets.
December 25, 2002
Expanded the Blatant Opportunist and Auction Help libraries.
December 22, 2002
Parting out an older Westinghouse motor drive. email me if
you have any interest in the 1000 volt, 100 amp dual Darlingtons,
the current transformers, or the three phase reactors.
December 18, 2002
Gathered together a bunch of our background patterns used for
knockouts on our eBay and Bargain Page images. Besides their
subtle textures, these can greatly minimize JPEG edge artifacts.
December 16, 2002
This is more for your locals living within the greater Bonita-Eden-Sanchez
metropolitan area: Just picked up a large pile of Sears/Craftsman gifts
at half price. Table saws, submersible pumps, yard vacuums, drills, food
processors, weed wackers, leaf blowers, humidifiers, etc... etc...
Probably going to yard sale these at 3860 West First Street in Thatcher.
Call 428-4073 or email don@tinaja.com or bee@tinaja.com
December 15, 2002
Speaking of which, I've pretty much decided that liquidation pallets are
at best marginal and usually a worthless scam. Went to the best of best
possible pallet auctions -- genuine Sears, no cherry picking, total
inspection, doubly distressed. $175 pallets cost more like $300 after
time and U-Haul and such.
And held something like $1500 in list price merchandise, of which around
$450 could be realistically sold without too much refurb. Bottom line:
Waay too much risk for too little return. I'll probably stick to my 30:1 buy
sell rule found in MYEBAYS.PDF.
December 14, 2002
Expanded our Offsite Links on the Guru's Lair home page.
Also added links to our Auction Help library page.
December 12, 2002
Latest GuruGram #12 is a PS Search & Replace Utility.
December 11, 2002
Found out a little more about our PIC Projects components we
have up on eBay. These were intended for hot tub contollers,
with the main pc board doing things like relay controlling the
pump, heater, and blower. And the small pc board being a three
digit Farenheit temperature display.
The original proto house just bought a lot of our parts back for
an improved design!
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