Right until the purchase of the Apple MacBook Air M1 in early 2021, my Dell Latitude E5470 14″ had been the best laptop I’ve ever owned. I still use it on a daily basis, it is my main Windows 10 machine and I just love it. It sits on top of a docking station, on the right side of a Dell 27″ screen and on the left side is another dock with two computers: The MBAir M1 (that connects via USB-C), but also a Dell Latitude E7470 (which has its own 22″ monitor).
Heute habe ich mit einer Bekannten/Kundin telefoniert, deren ältere Hardware so langsam an ihre Grenzen kommt und eigentlich mal ausgetauscht werden müsste. Aufgrund der aktuellen Lage hat sie wenige Aufträge und dementsprechend ein geringeres Einkommen. Der Computer und das Telefon sind aber wichtig, und es sollte auch keine Billiglösung sein, sondern neuere Versionen der alten Systeme. Hier also ein MacBook Air und ein iPhone. Die Standardausstattung bei vielen von uns Selbstständigen.
Und: Es sind Arbeitsgeräte. Die müssen einfach funktionieren.
The quest for the ultimate Leatherman sheath may be a never ending story, although I have to admit that I stopped caring about this issue when two things happened some years ago:
1. The purchase of a Skinth OG sheath in 2012. This sheath was made by the Canada-based designer Eric Au and is well worth the money (~ 40 EUR).
2. I switched from carrying a bigger Leatherman (LM) multitool to a Leatherman Squirt PS4 which is a tiny little multitool that sits in the 5th pocket of my jeans.
My initial desire for the ultimate sheath began in 2004 when I got the (back then) updated LM Wave 2004 which was a massive improvement over the „Original Wave“. Bigger, wider, much more useful on the one hand, but on the other hand it came shipped with an awful Leatherman sheath made out of stiff leather. Now in 2018 it is still very stiff, not very useful. And sadly, the current Wave as sold in this Shire still comes shipped with a really stiff leather sheath that may look durable, but is a pain to wear on the belt. Who uses these sheaths anyways? And why can’t they make great leather sheaths even when they carry the “leather” word in their name? Continue reading “The Leatherman sheath, part 3”
Dieser Tage musste ich eine neue Badewannenarmatur montieren, weil sich der Vorgänger trotz Kartuschen-Überholung mit Armaturen-/Hahnfett nicht mehr zur vollen Dichtigkeit überreden ließ. Außerdem war es mal Zeit für einen Wechsel. Die verchromten Überwurfmuttern sollte man laut der Anleitung mit einem 30mm Schraubenschlüssel anziehen, aber weil meine Schraubenschlüsselsammlung bis dahin nur bis Größe 22 ging, und selbst diese nur als Ringschlüssel vorhanden war, griff ich notgedrungen zur altbewährten Wasserzange, die mit einem Handtuch unterlegt war. Eine Armaturenzange mit Schonbacken wollte ich mir für diesen einmaligen Anwendungzweck nicht zulegen und zur Not geht es mit der Wasserzange auch immer, aber als Technikmensch ärgert es einen natürlich schon, wenn das falsche Werkzeug am Start ist.
Das Leben ist zu kurz für das falsche Werkzeug. Das erkannte ich spät, aber dennoch vor einigen Jahren, als ich für meine diversen Handyreparaturen und Repaircafé-Aktivitäten den ganzen China-Schrott entsorgte und dafür meine geliebten Wera, Wiha und Gedore Schraubendreher organisierte.
Continue reading “Der 30 EUR Ringmaulschlüsselsatz und seine Maßhaltigkeit”
Gegen Ende einer sehenswerten Doku des Wired Magazines über Shenzhen erklärt einer der Protagonisten, dass die Industrie in Shenzhen jetzt eigentlich schon fast perfekt sei, für das letzte Stück aber die Aufmerksamkeit fürs Detail fehlt. Er zeigt das anhand einer Reihe von Lichtschaltern in einem Hotelzimmer, die alle nicht gerade angeordnet sind.
When was the last time you’ve switched on a radio? In your car, maybe. And at home? In the kitchen? In your garage? And when was the last time you’ve listened to music from a tape?
Most (publicly funded) radio stations in Germany suck, as they often only play dumb music (“Formatradio“) – so if you’re into music and live in Germany, you’ll probably prefer golden silence or music from an mp3 source.
If you’re a fan of radios though, have a knack for fixing stuff and don’t mind the space vintage equipment takes up in your tiny city apartment, then you probably can’t let go when you come across a neglected radio full of chicken shit and which has a need for some TLC.
And here’s why: Continue reading “Aiwa TPR-930”
Back in the early 1990s, picking someone up from Nairobi JKIAirport sometimes also included tuning into 119.700 MHz on the beloved Standard C168. A VHF radio, tuned to the frequency of Nairobi approach that tells you whether the expected plane would be landing soon. Unable to understand any aircraft radio communication back in the days, I never really had a benefit from this service, even though it was still cool.
The view from my balcony via Flightradar24 (pro) on my iPhone 4S.
Continue reading “How I track airplanes using a RaspberryPi and a DVB-T stick via #PiAware”
I recently bought a 12W charger for my iPad mini which was said to be an “Original Apple” product. Being the nerd I am, I had to take a closer look on this item upon arrival and quickly realized that it is well made, but unfortunately FAKE charger. Well made, as it comes with a nice print and metal connector.
After posting this on Instagram and adding some notes, I realized that I should instead turn this into a blogpost as it may be useful to someone out there:
As someone who used to sell polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) for a French mineral oil company some years ago, the plastics often are the biggest hints why something is of lower quality and probably fake. For a device that can not be opened and thus requires the user’s trust (that the inside PCB / circuit is of higher quality), the external appearance often is the only criterion we can rely on.
And as someone on Instagram also noted: the only method of buying chargers these days is going for 2nd hand gear that is proven to be original. THIS very auction, however, was one of those “let me buy a used item via eBay to make sure it’s original”-approaches, but which also failed.