Life Hack - cutting board mousepad

(Left) $0.89 cutting board
(Right) $19.99 gaming mouse pad

It's nice to have a reliable flat surface to serve as a mouse pad. Traveling around, I sometimes use a laptop on a couch armrest or an unconventional table surface that doesn't track mouse movements well - like glass or polished stone, for example.

I've been using a gaming mouse pad that's served me well. So well, that lately I've wanted to buy a second so I can keep one in my car and one in my backpack.

I've had a hard time finding rigid mouse pads in stores, because apparently they aren't that popular. Best Buy sells a $20 pad, but it is out of stock at every location I try.

So I tried substituting a plastic cutting board, which can be found anywhere. Surprise, it's actually quite good for tracking mouse movements!

It obviously doesn't perform as well as the real thing, but it works and it's cheap and it's very portable.

If I wanted to spiff it up a little, I could add felt feet to the bottom so it doesn't slide around and glue a soft mouse pad onto the top. Not high priorities for my needs but it would be easy to do.

Life hack - car screen window

Mosquitoes are plentiful in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area where I currently am. I bought some Tulle craft fabric from Walmart for about $3 and inserted it under the rubber sealing of my car windows to keep mosquitoes out at night.

The Tulle fabric is woven with small holes like mosquito netting. It's soft, lightweight, and somewhat easy to tear. Can be found in the crafts section. One small pack of 3 ft should be enough to cover two rear windows.

Cut out a large piece of Tulle fabric, larger than the window frame. On the window frame, pull the top three sides of the rubber sealing out a little bit. The rubber sealing pops right out.

Spread the Tulle fabric between the frame and the rubber sealing, so that the top edge has just a little fabric overhang and the bottom edge has a generous length of extra fabric, then press the sealing back in. The fabric gets wedged in between.

If the rubber sealing is pulled up too much and the window can't go up, just press the sealing along the side and slide it down.

Stuff the extra fabric on the bottom edge into the plastic molding in the car interior. Keep the fabric straight and the sheet flat so it doesn't stretch too tight and get torn.

It helps to have extra fabric in a big bunch on the bottom so it's easier to fill the empty space without ripping it against the sharp plastic pieces inside the molding. Pry the plastic piece above the door handle out a little, and push fabric into the empty space in under the plastic.

Then trim the extra fabric off with a pair of scissors. That's it. Done.

Alternative places to get materials:

• Mosquito netting can be bought for $10 at L.L. Bean. 

• Ikea sells a white bed netting with big holes for $20. Might work, but probably won't keep out mosquitoes.

• Home Depot doesn't have any netting, but they have aluminum screens - the kind that goes in house windows. I tried using that at first, but the screens have sharp edges that very easily scratch the exterior paint of my car. Dangerous and difficult to work with. Plus, I'd have to build a frame and somehow fix it to the window then figure out how to make a tight seal. Forget it.

Pics

Car body boosts WIFI signal

I'm receiving a WIFI signal from about 0.2 miles away from my car. If I point my receiver antenna perpendicular to the direction of the source, I only get about 150 kb/s download. But if I point the antenna at the side of my car, I get 600 kb/s.

The reflective surface of the car serves an an satellite dish to focus a wider area of WIFI signal towards the receiver. Instead of the antenna itself receiving a thin width of signal directly from the source, the antenna gets a much stronger signal by bouncing towards it a large area of signal that the car is exposed to.

The focal point is rather small and can be easily obstructed. If I put the antenna in front of my car's side view mirror and stand to the side, I create a focal point at the antenna and the signal is a strong 400 kb/s. When I stand far away from the car, the signal drops to a weak 100kb/s. Even though I am not highly reflective, my body is helping to focus the WIFI towards the antenna.

Yesterday, there was a metal trailer parked to the side of my car. When I hung my receiver antenna out the car window, I discovered at just the right height and length I could get the WIFI speed to max out at 1 mb/s. I was surprised that despite the trailer possibly obstructing a line of sight to the source, I could get a very strong signal.

Turns out that the trailer was actually improving the WIFI signal, by reflecting waves in the same way a satellite dish does. Between the trailer and the body of my car, the waves focused at a small spot where the signal was unusually strong. Today the trailer is gone, and I park in the same location Even though I've tested the same receiver spot repeatedly, and I cannot reproduce that 1 mb/s speed. Without the reflective presence of the trailer, that sweet spot is gone.

So it really is a tricky art to finding the best orientation and positioning of a receiver antenna to pick up the best WIFI signal from a source far away. There are many objects in the way that may be absorbing and/or reflecting the signal that it is hard to know for certain where the best spot is.

Population density a factor in finding a good city to live in

While planning a travel route, I'm trying to strike a balance in the size of cities I stop at. I want nice restaurants, businesses, libraries, and parks. And I also want quiet, open spaces without a lot of people around to park my car at night. More populated areas have more services, better quality restaurants, more options than towns out in the sticks. But big cities have prohibitive rules and a host of problems for car living. Traffic congestion, lack of seclusion, no place to park and plug in at night.

So before I plan to pass through a city I want to know how big its population is. I hate big cities, was my working opinion. So I asked Google to sort a list of U.S. cities by population to consider avoiding. I saw places I disliked on the list that supported my opinion and reinforced my criteria for what makes a good city.

Then I was surprised to see Colorado Springs, CO, what I consider a medium city and a place I love, to be more populated than St. Louis, MI, what I had thought was a big city and a hellhole of shitty attitudes. How could I feel Colorado Springs is sparsely populated when it is actually 465,101 people and St. Louis so cramped and uncomfortable when it is 311,404? Well, of course, I hadn't been thinking carefully about what determines how 'big' a city feels. I had been only considering population size when what I actually was experiencing was population density.

I looked back through all the places on the list I traveled and enjoyed enough to consider living in. Was population density a common factor? At what population density did I get all the services I needed but not feel strangled by the hot reeking breath of anyone besides my bear, Ulix?

a list of U.S. cities by population

2016 rank	City	State[5]	2016 estimate	2010 Census	Change	2014 land area	2010 population density	Location

33

Tucson

Arizona

530,706

520,116

+2.04%

226.7 sq mi 587.2 km2

2,294 per sq mi 886 km−2

32.1543°N 110.8711°W

40

Colorado Springs

Colorado

465,101

416,427

+11.69%

194.5 sq mi 503.9 km2

2,141 per sq mi 826 km−2

38.8673°N 104.7607°W

54 Aurora Colorado 361,710 325,078 +11.27% 154.1 sq mi 369.1 km2 2,110 per sq mi 881 km−2 39.7082°N 104.8235°W 67 Henderson Nevada 292,969 257,729 +13.67% 107.7 sq mi 279.0 km2 2,392 per sq mi 924 km−2 36.0122°N 115.0375°W 99 Boise[22] Idaho 223,154 205,671 +8.50% 79.4 sq mi 205.56 km2 2,592 per sq mi 1,001 km−2 43.5985°N 116.2311°W 155 Fort Collins Colorado 164,207 143,986 +14.04% 54.3 sq mi 140.6 km2 2,653 per sq mi 1,024 km−2 40.5482°N 105.0648°W

Yes! I believe so! They all have very similar population densities! Despite differences in total population or total land area, the cities that I like to live in are in a range of about 2,100 to 2,600 per sq mi with an average of 2,364 per sq mi.

What about a city that I liked, with population less than 100,000 so it wasn't included in the list?

City, State. Population. Area. Population density.
Idaho Falls, Idaho  56,813. 22.80 sq mi. 2,542/sq m

Falls within the range. This seems to be a good predictor! Note the population density of cities I like tends to be higher for cities with smaller total population. This is likely because for smaller populations, there needs to be a higher concentration of people for decent restaurants and stores to make enough business.

What about the big city feel? How dense do these places get before I say too much?

1	New York[6]	New York	8,537,673	8,175,133	+4.43%	302.6 sq mi 783.8 km2	27,012 per sq mi 10,430 km−2	40.6643°N 73.9385°W
2	Los Angeles	California	3,976,322	3,792,621	+4.84%	468.7 sq mi 1,213.9 km2	8,092 per sq mi 3,124 km−2	34.0194°N 118.4108°W

262

Cambridge

Massachusetts

110,651

105,162

+5.22%

6.4 sq mi 16.5 km2

16,469 per sq mi 6,359 km−2

42.3760°N 71.1183°W

276

Boulder

Colorado

108,090

97,385

+10.99%

25.7 sq mi 66.5 km2

3,947 per sq mi 1,524 km−2

40.0175°N 105.2797°W

22 Boston Massachusetts 673,184 617,594 +9.00% 48.3 sq mi 125.0 km2 12,793 per sq mi 4,939 km−2 42.3320°N 71.0202°W

26

Portland

Oregon

639,863

583,776

+9.61%

133.4 sq mi 345.6 km2

4,375 per sq mi 1,689 km−2

45.5370°N 122.6500°W

28

Las Vegas

Nevada

632,912

583,756

+8.42%

135.8 sq mi 351.8 km2

4,298 per sq mi 1,660 km−2

36.2277°N 115.2640°W

61

St. Louis[16]

Missouri

311,404

319,294

−2.47%

61.9 sq mi 160.3 km2

5,157 per sq mi 1,991 km−2

38.6357°N 90.2446°W

214

Elizabeth

New Jersey

128,640

124,969

+2.94%

12.3 sq mi 31.9 km2

10,144 per sq mi 3,917 km−2

40.6663°N 74.1935°W

Anything pushing past 4,000 per sq mi starts to get on my nerves.

What about big cities that are too sparsely populated?

24

Nashville[14]

Tennessee

660,388

601,222

+9.84%

475.1 sq mi 1,230.8 km2

1,265 per sq mi 489 km−2

36.1718°N 86.7850°W

123

Salt Lake City

Utah

193,744

186,440

+3.92%

111.1 sq mi 287.8 km2

1,678 per sq mi 648 km−2

40.7785°N 111.9314°W

129

Knoxville

Tennessee

186,239

178,874

+4.12%

98.5 sq mi 255.2 km2

1,816 per sq mi 701 km−2

35.9709°N 83.9465°W

179

Savannah

Georgia

146,763

136,286

+7.69%

103.2 sq mi 267.2 km2

1,321 per sq mi 510 km−2

32.0025°N 81.1536°W

It's less clear to me where to draw the line when a population density is too low. The main concern is if there's limited services available. Which I kinda know anyway just by searching 'buffet' in Google maps. I'd say I should watch out is the density is 1,800 per sq mi or lower.

Of course, this is all totally subjective according to one person (me) using an insignificantly small set of cities. It won't prove anything, but it I still think it's useful to consider for me when I look for a new city to settle in.

Consider the underlying reasons that make sense. To get places to park and plug in at night I need the population spread out enough that all the people will leave one area of business after work. To get quality buffets, I need enough people in the area to support the restaurant but not too many that the restaurant has no need to improve their food for people to eat there. To have nice parks and libraries, there needs to be enough taxpayers but not too many homeless. And so on.

So I should not judge that I won't like a big city just by looking at its population size. The population density may be a better indication of the relative ease and options I'll have in a city.

Yeah this map doesn't help. Everything above 530 per sq mi is the same color, so I can't tell the difference between an ideal 2,300 per sq mi and an unpleasant 4,000 per sq mi density. I tried.

Troubleshooting my computer that powers up but won't start

I have a bit of computer trouble. I have a case-less motherboard computer I'm running every night, out of a plastic bin in the backseat of my car. Yesterday morning I started it up, let it sit at the Windows login screen while, then for no apparent reason the computer powered off then tried to turn itself back on, but it couldn't start.

I'm having trouble diagnosing the part that's malfunctioning. The keyboard displays three steady red lights, indicating that some hardware component is preventing the computer from staring. But everything looks normal. The motherboard lights up, the CPU and GPU fans spin, and the hard disks whir.

The two main culprits to my computer not starting are usually bad memory (RAM) or the graphics card (GPU) not securely connected to the motherboard. I've tested both, but it doesn't seem like they're the problem.

I ran each of three RAM sticks individually on every module, and wiped the contacts with rubber to remove static charge. Computer still can't start, so if it's RAM then all three simultaneously failed. That is possible, but I have never had it happen before.

The GPU lifting slightly off the motherboard is a common occurrence for my computer. Sometimes things bump into the graphics card while I'm driving and dislodge it enough that my computer doesn't start unless I adjust the card so it's seated properly. This was my first guess while troubleshooting, and when that's the problem it has always fixed it. Not this time. I tried the card in both slots, and also tested using a second, older card that I know works. Nothing.

I have left to rule out the power (PSU), and the motherboard itself. I'm thinking there was a power surge that knocked out my computer, and it may have fried a capacitor on the board or in the PSU. If that's the case, then maybe a small amount of voltage gets to the GPU - enough to spin the fans, but not enough to power up the processor.

A motherboard requires a CPU, RAM, GPU, and PSU to boot. That's everything that would prevent it from starting. There's no need to test hard drives; even without them, the computer can start into BIOS.

So I'm looking at cost of about a $30 PSU and/or a $80 motherboard to fix. Not a big deal. Problem is, I'm currently in Stirling, Colorado out in farm country where an entire town smells like fertilizer and there are no computer parts stores. So it won't be until Chicago that I can get to a Fry's or a Microcenter to buy parts I need. That'll be a twelve hour drive.

It sucks not knowing for sure what the problem is until then. On the way are a few sizable cities where I can get to a Staples or a Best Buy for a new stick of RAM just to rule out a memory problem. I might even find an old computer at a Goodwill to strip for a PSU. If I find myself in a nice city and want to stay several days, I could order parts online.

Lots of online vendors (Tigerdirect, Newegg, Fry's) won't deliver to a post office because their shipping only covers residential addresses, but a trick to get it there is to write "- general delivery" after my name and type in the street address of a post office that services general delivery.

I have an old laptop to substitute in the meantime. I forgot how slow, heavy, and unwieldy my laptop is. Hope to have new computer parts soon.

I should probably invest in a good surge protector, to prevent voltage spikes from damaging my computer components. I used just a plain extension cord for seven months without any trouble. I usually plugged in to the exterior of commercial houses at night when no one else was around. Not much danger of damage to my computer then.

But in the morning when my computer went out, I was plugged in at a baseball park that had tall stadium lights. Workmen were maintaining the field and maybe one of them turned on some heavy electrical equipment that sent a power surge through the same electrical line I was tapped into.

I shoulda known better than to turn on my computer in that situation, but I'll know better next time. After I get a nice new motherboard and bring my computer up to date. : )

Cute lil prairie dogs

Not knowing where I'll wake up every day can have its nice surprises. Today I slept outside the home of a family of prairie dogs.

They kissed to identify their relatives.

"Hey, can I get some privacy here? I'm kissing my sister."

They tackled each other, jumped in and out of their burrow, and dug up dirt for fun. Every once in a while, one would cross the parking lot to play with its cousin on the other side.

Humans hunt and trap these dogs because they're seen as pests. When a car came by, they'd all stand at attention and signal to the other prairie dogs across the lot.

It's funny to see them always standing on their hind legs, like a pack of Rory Calhouns. Who has the heart to shoot an animal that can do an amusing trick?

What the inside of a phone camera looks like

My phone was taking blurry pictures with black spots. Cleaning the front of the lens didn't help, so I took it apart to see what was messed up inside. Here's the camera on the back of a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone.

camera box (top)
lens (bottom)

Turns out the lens wasn't the problem, but a smudge on a light receptor panel at the back of the camera box. The long smudge appeared as a black spot when the lens focused on an object in front of the camera.

I dabbed at the smudge as best I could with a writing pen wrapped in a cloth, not having any adequate cleaning wipes at the time. The image did not turn out perfect afterwards, but the large black spot went away.

Image before

Image after

Image blurriness was caused by the lens not resting on top of the receptor panel. Inside the camera box there were very small beads that work as ball bearings to keep the lens in position.

My lens was jiggling up and down a bit. I found that if I pushed the lens into the box a little, the image came into focus better.

Loose lens

Snug lens

I used the tip of a pen to push the lens. Look at how the word 'Belkin' comes into focus. Not everything in the image looks better, though. The left side got sharper and the right side more blurry.

I didn't fix my camera much but at least I figured out why it's no good.

Rocky Road

Canyon View Park in Grand Junction, CO

Western Colorado Community College in Grand Junction, CO

Low rider in Grand Junction, CO

Drove through Colorado Rocky Mountains today. Took I-70 East from Grand Junction, CO to Denver, CO.

Lots of pretty views on the way.

Palisade, CO

Palisade, CO

Glenwood Springs, CO

Glenwood Springs, CO

Glenwood Springs, CO

Gypsum, CO

Areas between Vail and Breckenridge are popular ski destinations. I-70 passes through them, then climbs at an incline. The grade does not appear very steep, but it is very difficult to drive up.

I don't know why my engine was going at 5,000 rpm and the car barely pushed 50 mph. Maybe the road surface is rough or maybe it is paved with fly paper.