Category Archives: Diary

555 timer

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One day I intend to Build My Own 555 Timer.

In the recent past I posted How a 555 Works as a Timer which refers to an interesting video on the topic.

In that video the speaker gives us a mnemonic for remembering the transistor schematic symbols. Referring to the direction of the arrow on the symbol the “NPN” transistor “Never Points iN”. Good to know!

Unboxing #19: Kingston Fury Beast White XMP DDR5 128GB 5600MT/s CL40 RAM DIMM – KF556C40BWK4-128

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This post is part of my video blog and you can find more information about this video over here.

You can support this channel on Patreon: patreon.com/JohnElliotV

In this video I unbox my new Kingston FURY Beast White 128GB (4x32GB) 5600MT/s CL40 DDR5 XMP DIMM | Overclocking | Plug N Play | Intel XMP 3.0 | Kit of 4 | KF556C40BWK4-128.

This is the replacement RAM I ordered after the Corsair RAM debacle (wherein they sold me scrap metal, not RAM, really, you wouldn’t dream of it!)

You can read about Kingston FURY Beast DDR5 Memory and find the KF556C40BWK4-128 specs (PDF). There is also warranty information and memory installation instructions.

You can learn more about memory timings, particularly CAS Latency.

Today I managed to double the RAM in ‘charisma‘ from 64GB to 128GB and also double the RAM in ‘treat‘ from 16GB to 32GB. A productive day!

Thanks very much for watching! And please remember to hit like and subscribe! :)

Following is a product I use picked at random from my collection which may appear in my videos. Clicking through on this to find and click on the green affiliate links before purchasing from eBay or AliExpress is a great way to support the channel at no cost to you. Thanks!

Eversure PB-10-HT3 Black 10-Way Power BoardThis is an image of the product.

Let’s go shopping!

Homework

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This is a part of the homework feature of my blog, which is an ongoing conversation with my mate S.F.

Hey mate. Lovely to see you again, as always.

First, two things from last time which I forgot to write up:

I mentioned Veritasium which is a video blog of interest.

I have a note here that says “ASI”. And that’s all it says. Not sure what that was about?

I did consider writing my response to Mark Fisher‘s work Capitalist Realism (which is available on the web here), but in researching him and his work this evening I have learned that he died by suicide in 2017. I think suicide is the worst thing ever and I can’t bring myself to write something which tears strips off people who are no longer here to respond. (I intend to read Mark’s PhD thesis Flatline constructs: Gothic materialism and cybernetic theory-fiction.)

You mentioned Pick of the Litter, noting that dogs are trained to sometimes ignore the command of their master, particularly when it wouldn’t be safe.

One good thing about arguments with friends is that there is always time to pee.

Norvig’s Law: Any technology that surpasses 50% penetration will never double again (in any number of months).

This marketing dude Rory Sutherland is actually quite impressive. I hadn’t expected as much from someone in advertising! He has given a number of TED talks and there are many interviews with him on YouTube.

The documentary about the 2008 financial crisis that I mentioned was Inside Job. Not to be confused with the TV series with the same name (which is excellent, by the way).

My favorite philosopher of the day is Iain McGilchrist. I suspect my own beliefs and preferences diverge from those of McGilchrist but I do really enjoy his thought. I have watched a number of interviews with Iain McGilchrist. He has written a number of books, a few of which I have purchased and intend to read: The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, and The Divided Brain and the Search for Meaning.

The book Thinking, Fast and Slow by psychologist Daniel Kahneman demarcates two systems of thinking: one fast and automatic, the other slow and deliberative.

The quotation “the stupid are cocksure, while the intelligent are full of doubt” is variously attributed (including to Bertrand Russell).

Check out Mr Inbetween, it’s really excellent!

Love you my brother, see you on Christmas Day! <3

Electronics projects mentioned by friends

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Today on IRC some of my friends recommended or mentioned:

Also, honorable mention: Eliza for the Neo6502 running Morpheus firmware and Neobasic.

And there are heaps more boxes at HackerBoxes.

Unboxing #18: CORSAIR HS55 Surround Sound Gaming USB Headset w/ Microphone | In The Lab With Jay Jay

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This post is part of my video blog and you can find more information about this video over here.

You can support this channel on Patreon: patreon.com/JohnElliotV

In this video I unbox and install my new CORSAIR HS55 Surround Sound Gaming USB Headset with Microphone made by CORSAIR and sold by Amazon.

If you’re interested in buying a headset yourself you might like to know that CORSAIR has other models. I am very happy with my new HS55 headphones. They sound great and they feel great too.

In the video I install the iCUE software from CORSAIR and the NVIDIA App from NVIDIA.

The NVIDIA App is used to install the drivers for my RTX 4060 graphics card in my gaming rig ‘treat‘. NVIDIA maintains a list of games supported by the NVIDIA App.

We also install the NVIDIA Broadcast software following this setup guide.

I had some trouble I think with the compatibility of the NVIDIA Broadcast software and the iCUE software. If I had my time again I wouldn’t have bothered with the NVIDIA Broadcast software, I don’t intend to use its features (it can filter out background noise on your microphone, but I don’t care about that). The only reason I installed the NVIDIA Broadcast software at all is that the iCUE software seemed to suggest that it integrated with it, but if it does it didn’t work for me. After I reinstalled the iCUE software it seemed to work properly again, so not really sure what happened there, but I think it all worked out in the end. Also I seemed to have some trouble when using VNC to connect to my gaming rig that didn’t happen when I used it directly (via the ATEN CS1922 2-Port DisplayPort KVM on my desk).

There were some YouTube videos from CORSAIR which played during the iCUE installation:

While reading about the NVIDIA driver options I learned about WHQL Testing:

The Windows Hardware Certification program (formerly Windows Hardware Quality Labs Testing, WHQL Testing, or Windows Logo Testing) is Microsoft’s testing process which involves running a series of tests on third-party device drivers, and then submitting the log files from these tests to Microsoft for review. The procedure may also include Microsoft running their own tests on a wide range of equipment, such as different hardware and different Microsoft Windows editions.

There is some more info from Microsoft about the program over here: WHQL test signature program.

Thanks very much for watching! And please remember to hit like and subscribe! :)

Following is a product I use picked at random from my collection which may appear in my videos. Clicking through on this to find and click on the green affiliate links before purchasing from eBay or AliExpress is a great way to support the channel at no cost to you. Thanks!

Yum Cha KT-908 Digital ThermometerThis is an image of the product.

Let’s go shopping!

Designed by in California

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My Chinese knock-off USB wall chargers say “Designed by in California” on the back. Classic.

I got myself a new iPhone 6s this week on eBay for forty bucks. Gonna use it as an extra small screen on my bench. The features to price ratio is insane. When I was a kid I couldn’t even imagine a pocket computer like this, let alone getting one for forty bucks.

Here’s a happy snap of me getting the new iPhone setup:

John setting up two iPhones and metering the power draw