How Plasma Waste Converters Work

Stuff You Should Know Podcast

How Plasma Waste Converters Work (Spotify)

Oct 2015

Plasma Waste to Energy - BBC - YouTube 

How Gasification Turns Waste Into Energy  YouTube (12 min)

Setting up a New PC Checklist

Windows updates

Install anti-virus software (if not already included with the computer)

Install Brave Browser

• Turn on prompt for where to download files
• Disable saving of passwords

Install Chrome

Chrome Settings

• Install Last Pass
• Turn on prompt for where to download files
• Disable saving of passwords
• Turn on the bookmarks bar
• Add bookmarks for the 10 most used websites

Install Irfanview

Install Adobe Products (Premiere, Photoshop, and Lightroom).

Install VPN

Install Torrent program

Windows Settings

• Change power settings to prevent laptop from shutting down in 10 minutes.
• Show file extensions
• Change mouse/trackpad cursor speed

TSR for Photography Product

Link to job on Indeed.com for Technical Customer Support for Arsenal.

Remote job, providing support by email and social media.

Part time: 30+ hours per week.

Full time: 40 hours per week.

This is a Kickstarter funded project with a growing company.

Wage/salary is not listed.

Job description:

Strong technical knowledge of DSLR or mirrorless cameras and mobile device troubleshooting is a must. The ideal candidate will also be familiar with advanced photography techniques like focus stacking, exposure bracketing, and timelapses.

Required Qualifications and Skills

Strong technical knowledge of DSLR/Mirrorless cameras
Hands-on professional experience working with camera hardware and/or mobile hardware accessories
Professional experience in a formal, ticket-based customer support role
Significant photography experience and familiarity with advanced photographic techniques
Enjoys troubleshooting complex technical problems
Self-directed and motivated to help customers
Able to learn quickly by conducting your own research
Fluent in English with strong written communication skills

Company location looked to be somewhere else, but after doing some research, the company is actually headquartered in Bozeman, Montana.

Devices that support the faster AC Wifi standard

Older devices you use in your home are probably not getting the full speed from your cable or fiber optic internet connection because your router must support AC wifi and your devices must be able to receive that specific signal also.

The 5GHz band allows a longer transmission range and faster speeds.

These devices (and newer versions of them can receive the fastest speeds.)

Apple iPhones 6 and later support AC wifi.

Apple iPad Air 2 and later models support AC wifi

Playstation 4 and later support AC wifi.


These devices cannot receive an AC wifi signal and are limited to the older and much slower N wifi:

iphone 5
iphone 5s
Playstation 3

Unique Gift Ideas for Tech Geeks and Hard to buy for People

These gift ideas are mostly pulled from this guide:
The Kinja Deals Gift Guide: 100 Genuinely Useful Stocking Stuffers For Under $20

A great gift for co-workers, friends, and family:
Bestsellers: Belkin 3-Outlet Travel Charger has 3 outlets plus 2 USB charging ports.
$16

Your Favorite USB Charging Hub: Anker PowerPort
5-port USB charger for only $24.

Your Pick For Best Rechargeable Batteries: Eneloop
$19 for a pack of 8 AA batteries

Bestsellers: Mpow Buckler Shower Speaker
Currently unavailable on Amazon....
Amazon's choice: only $19 and 4.3 out of 5 stars: VicTsing Shower Speaker

Bestsellers: Dymo LabelManager 160
Only $11 on Amazon

OXO's Over-The-Door Hook Folds Out Into a Mini Valet

Bestsellers: Squatty Potty


Get Rid Of The Last Ugly Thing In Your Bathroom: The Mouthwash Bottle



These Are the Two Best USB Travel Chargers, According To Our Readers

Bestsellers: Panasonic Vortex Nose and Ear Hair Trimmer
The Panasonic ER-GN30-K Vortex Nose and Ear Hair Trimmer is an effective and cost-effective way to get rid of nose hair and ear hair, clean up your eyebrows, and even touch up facial hair in a pinch. It’s also waterproof for easy cleaning, and can go right into the shower with you. It’s the most popular grooming product we’ve ever listed.

Only $10 on Amazon, and runs up to 90 minutes on one AA battery.


Your Dish Drying Mat Shouldn't Be Made of Anything but Silicone

Sleep Master: A Sleep Mask You'll Look Forward To Wearing

The Philips Bodygroom Is The Best Tool For Getting Rid Of The Rest Of Your Hair
$60 on Amazon

 Bestsellers: Takeya Cold Brew Coffee Maker

Wardrobe Light, OxyLED Motion Sensor Closet Lights, 20 LED Under-Cabinet Lightening, USB Rechargeable Stick-on Stairs Step Light Bar, LED Night Light, Gun Safe Light with Magnetic Strip, 1-pack, T-02U - - Amazon.com
My favorite light of the bunch, the T-02U is the same physical size as the T-02, but with twice as many LEDs arranged in a 2x10 array, a USB-rechargeable battery, an on/off/auto switch, and optional screw mounts.


 The Philips OneBlade is the Easiest Shave Ever and Costs $35 [Updated]



Dreamfarm Tapi: Squeeze To Rinse

Gmail Doesn't Receive Emails Frequently Enough from My External POP3 Email Account

This article from Lifehacker (Make Gmail Check Your POP Accounts More Frequently)
helped me solve an ongoing problem where Gmail was only checking a branded, external email address (POP3 mailbox) about once an hour.  Clients and prospective clients were sending me emails to collaborate on projects and I wasn't receiving anything right away.  Emails were taking 10-60 minutes to be retrieved.

It was frustrating to have to go to Settings > Accounts and Import and manually tell Gmail to fetch more mails from my email address at another domain.

There's also this option in the Labs options section. [source]

Buying an iPhone 6 in Q4 2016

In December 2013 I bought an iPhone 4S for about $250 to use with H2O wireless and it's saved me about $20-25 per month for the last three years ($720-900).  Since updating to iOS 9, the phone has really slowed down and I notice that new apps don't run as quickly as they could on the phone.

It's time to buy an iPhone 6!  They cost about $330-350 to buy a used model in good condition, and the accessories should be included at this price.

Why an iPhone 6?

• Faster processor to run current apps without delays
• Bigger screen - the iPhone 4s screen is hard to use with some apps and tiny for photos and video.
• Massive Panoramas!  I saw a panoramic print that was probably 24 x 36 in a local business that was taken on an iPhone.  Up close you could see the pixels, but at a reasonable viewing distance, it was not apparent that the landscape photo was captured on an iPhone.
• 64GB of storage.  Because I store some music on my 16GB iphone, I'm constantly wrestling with space to take photos and download apps...with the Shutterfly app and this amount of storage, I'll never have to worry about free space to take pictures!
• Store more music.  A 4x increase in storage space means that I could use this like an iPod more often and rely on Spotify less.

Having an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus is like having a miniature tablet.

Another size comparison, just showing iPhones.

Full feature and spec comparison chart for iPhone 6 and smartphones released in 2014.

The iPhone 6 is just a little thinner than a 5s, but much thinner than a 4s model.

Current used prices on Amazon for unlocked iPhone 6 64GB phones.

Awesome Products Funded with IndieGoGo and Kickstarter

A Speaker : The speaker that only YOU can hear | IndiegogoIt creates a narrow beam of sound, the same way that a laser creates a beam of light to focus on a precise area, allowing you to blast sound directly into your ears from across the room without anyone else hearing it. 
$210 - Junior 'A' speaker
$490 - Original 'A'.

Prepd Pack - The Lunchbox Reimagined | Indiegogo
Prepd Pack consists of a beautifully designed case, a premium modular system of containers and smart magnetic cutlery.
$55 + shipping
Regular retail: $70

WaterO - The only SMART reverse osmosis purifier | Indiegogo
Enjoy the purity of WaterO's countertop reverse osmosis system without the hassle of installation.
Reverse Osmosis is a water treatment method that purifies drinking water by forcing untreated water molecules through a semi-preamble membrane or filter.  The membrane blocks contaminants and the impurities are removed leaving you with the purest drinking water.
$250 (includes a filter set)

The Future of Battery Technology for Electric Vehicles and Solar Energy Storage

8 Potential EV and Hybrid Battery Breakthroughs
Article from 2012 that covers a slew of different technologies.  One of the most promising battery technologies is being developed by IBM and uses oxygen for Lithium Air Carbon.  It's been coined a 'breathing' battery that expels oxygen when the battery is recharged.

Lithium Silicon could reduce the charging time needed since silicon can expand and contract as it absorbs and discharges ions.  It is being developed at Northwestern University.

A Carbon Foam Capacitor Hybrid could combine the energy storage density of traditional chemical batteries with the delivery efficiency of a solid-state capacitor.  "The unit can be recharged thousands of times without showing signs of degraded performance."

Lithium Silicon Polymer would store more energy than the batteries used in current EVs because the contacts between connections between electrodes are not broken when they expand and contract.

Lithium Sulfur Carbon Nanofiber uses "carbon nanotubes coated on the inside with sulfur" that could store up to ten times the the energy of regular lithium batteries.

Lithium Manganese Composite/Silicon Carbon Nanocomposite 
Envia's primary development is a proprietary cathode material based on manganese, an abundant metal that is stable when used in the battery. Manganese is also less expensive than the more common cobalt-based cathode material, Envia says. The firm has received grants from U.S. auto companies and federal and California energy agencies to continue developing the battery for commercial use; it says the battery could give a range of 300 miles in an EV.

Ford Develops Car Materials from Dandelions, Shredded Currency, and Tree Pulp

Indsutrial and agricultural waste products can be used to create and augment plastic materials and Ford is taking a big step forward by developing car materials from unusual sources.

Best Selling Electric Cars of 2015 and 2014

For the first half of 2015, the Telsa Model S is the best selling Electric Car in the U.S with 11,254 cars.  For the month of June, however, the Nissan Leaf just barely won, selling 2,074 units vs. 2,054 for the Telsa Model S.

Considering the price of the two cars, I would expect the Leaf to sell 25-35% more units since it's less than half the price of the Model S, but apparently the consumers with upper income are (for the time being) fueling the popular of the Model S.

Reading Roundup - ebooks read you and organzing 101

Organizing 101 :: Complete Organizing Solutions

Your E-Book Is Reading You - WSJ.com

The 10 Golden Rules of Simple, Clean Design - Speckyboy Design Magazine

Computer Programming: Should most young people learn to code? - Quora
(via Anna on Twitter)

CHISEL industries
Their website has a layout that I'm noting as something to emulate for my photography website.

Bob Krist on Finding a Digital Photography Archiving Solution

Outdoor Photographer
Bob Krist
January/February 2005
(Excerpted from Resolutions - Ideas to make photography better in the coming year)

Produce digital archiving and storage devices that are easy, stable and, well, archival.  Digital photography isn't still in its infancy; it's a full-blown toddler and there are shooters who have been doing enough of it for long enough that they have substantial archives of photographs. I haven't been doing it too long, and I've got a huge amount of files.

Unfortunately, CDs are too small, DVDs are too slow, hard drives are too prone to failure, and all of them are less than rock stable.  There has to be as much R&D at this end as there is on the capture side.  If it's going to be Blu-ray or multi-layered DVDs or military-spec hard drives, let's perfect it and get it out there.

The other day, I received a stock request for an area I photographed in the late 70's.  Since it was a wilderness landscape area, the views hadn't changed.  I was able to walk to a file cabinet, open a drawer, pull out a sheet of slides I had sleeved up during the Carter Administration and pull out a perfectly good chrome.  I've already had two FireWire hard drives fry in less than a year, and at times, I have more trouble retrieving digital images I shot last month than film images I shot decades ago.  The thought of migrating huge numbers of digital files from old storage technology to new storage technology as the years pass is numbing.  It makes me glad, for once, that I'm not in my 20s or 30s!

How to Email a Text Message

How to email a friend a text message or send an email to any cell phone [that can receive text messages].

1. Determine which wireless carrier your friend uses (Verizon, Alltel, AT&T, etc.) and use the corresponding email address for that phone.

Alltel
10digitphonenumber@message.alltel.com

AT&T
10digitphonenumber@txt.att.net

Cellular One
10digitphonenumber@mobile.celloneusa.com

Metro PCS
10digitphonenumber@mymetropcs.com

Nextel
10digitphonenumber@messaging.nextel.com

Sprint
10digitphonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com

T-Mobile
10digitphonenumber@tmomail.net

Tracfone
10digitphonenumber@txt.att.net

US Cellular
10digitphonenumber@email.uscc.net

Verizon
10digitphonenumber@vtext.com

Remember to keep your message short and to the point, just like a regular text message.

Anyone who can send text messages from their cell phone can also send you an email, just have them send the text message to your email address.

For a complete list of cell phone carrier email addresses, see the list at EmailTextMessages.com

Blockbuster gets new releases when Netflix and Redbo don't

Blockbuster gets deal that Netflix, Redbox couldn't
Warner Bros., the same movie studio that has recently announced "deals" with Netflix and Redbox to delay the DVD release of its titles for 28 days, has announced a new agreement with movie rental company Blockbuster. Unlike to its previous deals, however, the new agreement makes Warner's titles available immediately in Blockbuster's dying brick-and-mortar stores, by mail, and on-demand.

In its announcement, Warner reaffirmed its commitment to assuring that Blockbuster remains the "only multichannel provider that has every hot new movie on the day of its release." Indeed, with the agreements it struck with more innovative and competitive movie rental services like Netflix and Redbox, Blockbuster really is the only mainstream way for people to get movies on release day without buying them.

The company has been entertaining the idea of bankruptcy for close to a year now and has closed nearly a thousand stores in recent years.

Blockbuster: Warner Bros Pact Retains New-Release Advantage - WSJ.com
To capitalize on its head start for rentals, Blockbuster wants to boost the number of movie copies it has, but its cash is constrained, and studios are concerned about the health of movie-rental chains. Another movie-rental chain, Movie Gallery Inc. (MVGRQ) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year.

Keyes said last week that one option under consideration by at least one studio was using Blockbuster's Canadian assets as collateral for inventory purchases. A Blockbuster representative on Monday couldn't immediately say whether collateral was pledged in connection with the Warner Bros. pact.

Blockbuster estimates that 60% of the $22 billion in movie rentals and movie sales at retail occur during the first 30 days after a film is released.


The Official Netflix Blog: Netflix via Wii - Coming Soon

Apple releases new iMacs and the Magic Mouse

Apple Releases Updated iMac Models With 21.5- and 27-Inch LED Screens - Mac Rumors
Not only has Apple finally bumped the base amount of memory up to 4GB, but the iMacs can
be had at 21.5" and 27" sizes! All the dual-core iMac base models now have 3.06GHz processors.
>> Still no blu-ray drive, however. I expect that Apple will include blu-ray drives in the next update
to the iMac line.

Apple - Magic Mouse - The world’s first Multi-Touch mouse.
I like the dexterity of a mouse wheel, but this looks incredible, like something brought back from the future.

Apple Stock Hits All-Time High on Earnings Strength - Mac Rumors

Apple Introduces New Aluminum Remote, Improves Performance on AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule - Mac Rumors
- new Apple remote includes a wheel and separated menu and play/pause buttons. It's compatible with any mac made since 2005.

When will blu-ray make it into most homes?

Let's take a look back at the release of the DVD format to get an idea.

DVD Progession

1997 DVDs released
2002 Most people buying DVDs by now
2005 DVDs outsell VHS tapes
2006 Wal-Mart stopped selling VHS's
2006 A History of Violence is the last major Hollywood release in VHS format.

It only took five years (1997-2002) for DVDs to make it into most American living rooms.

Blu-ray progression

2006 Blu-ray released
2008 Blu-ray wins in the format war
2010 Estimated Star Wars release on blu-ray
2012-13 Most people buying Blu-ray discs by now
2016-17 DVDs are phased out

Factors that will make blu-ray adoption take longer
- Consumers must already own an HDTV set to benefit from blu-ray
- Many consumers are satisfied with DVD quality
- The current economic state affects how much disposable income people have. Consumers
are spending less and putting more consideration into purchases.

Most people will buy blu-ray titles when:
- The price of a good midrange player comes down to $150 or less
- Most new titles are available for $18-20 at Superstores and less popular titles available for $10 or less.
- They have just purchased an HDTV.

Future Technology

Cheap Blu-ray discs and drives
Cheap Solid State drives
Holographic discs
- current max capacity is a whopping 500 GB, but could theoretically hold up to 6 TB of data.
Sony Philips, TDK, Panasonic, Optware, and planned to release a 1 TB discs in late 2016, and Maxell planned one for early 2017 with a capacity of 500 GB.

OLED displays and TVs.
Ulra HD
- 2k is 2048 x 1920 and 4k is 4096 x 2160 via After 1080p - all you need to know about Ultra HD
Ultra HD has the biggest benefits right now for digital cinemas and other commercial applications where massive screen sizes are essential.

Growing Up with Technology

Blu-ray
Solid State Drives
Second displays
PDA's
external hard drives
cell phones
iPods
DVDs
VHS tapes

What's next in future technology

* Purchased my first DVDs in 2002.
* Bought a 60GB Creative Zen MP3 player from Amazon in 2006 and then sold it and bought a 30GB Gen 5.5 ipod in 2006.
* By 2005, during my senior year in high school, most of the people in my class had cell phones. Everyone at work had cell phones.
* Purchased my first Blu-ray movies in November 2008 in anticipation of getting a blu-ray player soon. (The movies were less than $10).

Bozeman Area Digital TV Stations

The Digital TV Channels for the Bozeman area:

ABC
CBS
FOX
NBC
PBS

ABC's analog broadcast was turned off on February 17, 2009, the original deadlines for the digital TV transition. All of the other stations are turning off their analog broadcasts on the new deadline of June 12, 2009.

FOX and ABC are listed as having only "moderate" signal strength. ABC is received well in Livingston, so I assume the reception is good in Bozeman if your antenna is oriented correctly.

To get the new channels on a converter box:
Many stations will be changing channels at various times during the day on June 12, 2009. Be sure to scan for channel changes as convenient on that day and particularly on June 13 after all stations have changed to their final DTV channels.

When we programmed our converter box in March, only PBS, CBS, and the KBZK-CW channels were received in Livingston. All three of the PBS stations have always display crisp, clear, and without any picture issues. The CBS and CW channels sometimes have picture issues, because of a lower signal strength. We actually receive three PBS channels: PBS HD, PBS Kids, and PBS-L (living?).