iPad mini with Retina - much easier to read text!

 I've had the iPad mini for some time now and just recently switched to the iPad mini with Retina. I must say that by far the biggest advantage with the Retina screen is that small text reads so much easier!

I spend a lot of time reading and annotating PDFs studying publications. I switched to the mini to make it easier to bring along compared to the full size iPad I started with. The mini is much easier to have in my lap when I attend lectures and participate in meetings. But reading normal size magazines on the small screen was a little hard due to the pixelation. I had to zoom in sometimes to ease the strain on my eyes. The mini with Retina? No problem, no zooming! Reading this as I write it is also much easier than with the old mini.

I've found that imported pictures from my iPhone or DSLR also displays much better and are easier to adjust or edit compared to the plain mini.

I use the "darker colors" setting under settings/general/accessibility/increase contrast. I've set my iPhone to match so I've got the same look on both units.

So if you are choosing between an iPad mini Och iPad mini with Retina and expect to reader write smaller texts - go for the Retina. You'll never regret you did!

Billiga kartonger och bubbelplast!

Hittade en hemsida med billigt förpackningsmaterial! Det finns ju påsar på Clas Ohlson och bubbelplast på Biltema, men här tyckte jag utbudet var större och helt rätt i pris: www.mailingbags.nu
Det finns kartonger som man klarar Schenkers S och M storlekar på. Klickar du på länken ovan är du med och stöttar mej lite utan att det kostar dej något!

Perfekt för oss som säljer på Tradera!

How to protect your iPhone

If you're like me you want your iPhone to look good. You've spent your money on the thing and we all simply want our phones and other things to look as good as possible. So what can you do to keep your sparkling new iPhone looking good?


You protect it, that's how ;-) There's a whole industry making accessories for phones and they're doing that for a reason. There is a lot of money to be made of course so that's the main reason, but the things they sell are useful too - that's why they actually manage to sell the stuff they make.

Get yourself a case first. That'll protect against scratches and dents. I've been saved several times by the case taking the hit instead of my iPhone getting banged up. Last time however the case got smacked up and unfortunately my phone too. Still, without a case my iPhone 5s would look really battered from all the drops!

Second, get yourself a screen protector like the Linocell Glass screen protector. It's more expensive than the plastic films but it lasts much longer, protects against blows and scratches and feels like the original screen. No sticky feeling, no drag. These glass protectors are made of glass and an adhesive film. They are relatively easy to install and you get no bubbles that look ugly. The only telltale signs are the increased thickness around the home button that will feel a little "deeper" and the slightly raised edges. It's 0,4mm thick so it's not much but still.

I've been saved twice now by this glass protector! My screen would probably have cracked the first time and definitely the second time I dropped my new iPhone! The frame got a little dented the second time and weren't it for the plastic case it would be much worse. I smoothed the dents with a felt wheel on my pedestal grinder. Sure felt funny!

Third, put your iPhone in a small plastic bag and roll it up before you put in in your work pants pocket. If you have a dusty or dirty job this is a cheap way of protecting your phone. It's a great tip for your wallet as well, keeps the drywall dust from sanding you credit cards. It will also protect against water splashes. While you might get funny looks and comments for your "cheap case" it really works!

So protect your new phone. It'll look better and it'll last longer. You'll also get more paid when you sell it some day if you've kept it protected. Yes, it'll cost you some money to buy the case and screen protector, but you'll regret if you don't do it when you stand there with a busted screen and a scratched and dented iPhone. Ouch.

/J

iPhone photos "Through The Loupe" - check this out!

So I got this idea of trying to take a photo with my iPhone through a pocket loupe I have. Well, the image turned out kind of interesting, so I´m going to try to take some more photos the same way and post them here.

It will be a kind of photo project using just the iPhone 5s and a 10x pocket loupe. Not very high technical quality of the images but that´s the charm of it. 

This is the loupe I use:

Pocket loupe (10x) - iPhone 5s, some cropping

And here is the picture that got me started:

Jeans Through The Loupe - iPhone 5s + 10x loupe, cropped

Closeup of iPhone magnetic case:

iPhone magnetic case, camera lens opening - iPhone 5s + 10x loupe, cropped

Closeup of some crud that the factory included on a Linocell Extreme Glass screen protector:

Wife´s iPhone screen - iPhone 5s + 10x loupe, cropped

More pics coming!

CD-4810 ultraljudstvätt från Kjell & Company - jodå, den är bra!

Efter att ha hört och läst mycket om ultraljudstvättande bestämde jag mej för att köpa en ultraljudstvätt. (För egna pengar - ingen har bett mej eller betalt mej för att skriva detta!) Valet föll på en ultraljudstvätt från Kjell & Company som är mellanstor (2 liter) och har inbyggd värme. Värme påskyndar ju allt kemiskt och naturligtvis även hur fort saker blir rena i en ultraljudstvätt. Modellen jag valde heter "Ultraljudsrengöringsbad 160W" och har artikelnummer 40499 på www.kjell.com. Enligt den fina texten på förpackningen har den industriell kvalitet på komponenterna. Tvätten kommer i en vettig kartong som är bra att spara för förvaring av tvätten. CD-4810 tycks tvätten heta i vissa sammanhang - det är det som står på kartongen med.


Hur ultraljudstvättar fungerar kan man läsa mer om på diverse sidor på nätet så om du inte vet är det bara att googla. Den korta förklaringen är att ultraljudet skapar kavitationsbubblor som sedan imploderar och "vibrerar" bort smutsen. Av det förstår man att det hänger på tvättvätskan att lösa upp smutsen så bubblorna kan få loss den, någon mirakelkur är det inte fråga om. Och därför har temperaturen också betydelse - dels uppstår kavitationen lättare i varm vätska och dels löser varm vätska smuts bättre. Tänk också på att nypåfylld vätska ofta har lösta gaser i sig så det tar ett par minuter att "gasa ur" vätskan innan full effekt uppnås. Att bara hälla på vätska och stoppa ner bitarna kan nog ge besvikelse över dåligt resultat. Kunskap om hur saker fungerar är viktigt - först då kan man använda tillämpad kemi och fysik till sin fördel. Nog tjatat!



Hur fungerar tvätten då? Bra, tycker jag. Ser man till effekten så är det 70W ultraljud i ca 1,8 liter vätska. Det är bra att tänka så när man jämför olika tvättar och även när man tvättar stora detaljer. Effekt fördelat på detaljernas yta och vätskevolymen i tanken.


Jag kommer att lägga till olika exempel nedan efterhand som jag laborerar färdigt.


Fettiga, smutsiga gångjärn:
I lägenheten vi flyttat in i var gångjärnen till badrummet svarta och kladdiga. Säkert många år av tveksamma smörjmedel, nikotin och smuts. När dom dessutom började gnissla var det dags att göra något åt dom. Jag lossade dörren från gångjärnen och skruvade loss gångjärnen från karmen, sen blev det plums i tvätten. Vanligt diskmedel och vatten gjorde inte så mycket på fettkladdet, men Biltemas grovrengöring gjorde susen!

Lägg märke till att jag tvättar i en glasburk - då slipper man smutsa ner själva ultraljudstvätten:

Förgasare:
Gräsklipparens förgasare tvättade jag i alkaliskt universalrengöringsmedel och sedan i T-röd en stund för att dra ut vatten. Efter urblåsning med tryckluft gick klipparen så fint så!

Sänk volymen innan du tittar på klippet:

Mässing:

Fosforsyra är killer på oxiderad mässing! Bitarna kommer upp rödtonade ur tvätten eftersom det är mer koppar än zink kvar i ytan efter att oxiderna (och antagligen lite zink också) är borta. Att bitarna är rödtonade beror på att koppar som lösts upp från oxidena pläteras tillbaka på mässingen medan upplöst zink inte gör det. Ett par tag med en mässingsborste eller lite putsmedel så är det fint skick igen på bitarna:

Före - iPhone 5s, beskuren

Efter - iPhone 5s, beskuren

Även rost försvinner med fosforsyran, jag testar citronsyra också men har spontant känslan av att den är lite mesigare. En positiv bieffekt med fosforsyra på järn är att det täcker ytan med järnfosfat som är en utmärkt primer och samtidigt ger ett visst skydd i sig själv. Om man inte vill ha det gråaktiga fosfatskiktet utan bara ta bort rost från ett föremål är citronsyran bättre.
Fosforsyra hittas i många kalkborttagningsmedel som med fördel köps hos städgrossister typ INPA (webshop). Leta efter "Sani Acid" så får du mycket fosforsyra för pengarna. Tar kalk effektivt dessutom - vem kunde tro det heh heh. På ICA får du mycket mindre syra för mer pengar...


Lut (kaustiksoda) löser upp färg. Akta hud och ögon!


Glasögon:
En väns glasögon åkte i tvätten i varmt vatten och någon droppe tvål. Det blev ett moln av gammal hud och smuts så fort jag startade ultraljudet! Både bågen och glasen blev helt rena! Det finns dock historier på nätet om hur glasögon tappat beläggning så man behöver kanske inte ha starka medel och full värme - better safe than sorry...


Rakhyvlar:
Min Feather Popular får åka i då och då för att få bort gammalt tvålskum och allt annat som stannar kvar även om man sköljer den. Jag tycker om att prova olika hyvlar så även en Gillette Super Slim Twist säkerhetsrakhyvel fick bada efter att ha fått lite puts:

Gillette Super Slim Twist - iPhone 5s, kvadrat

Insidan av huvudet, med trånga skrymslen:

Clean Gillette Super Slim Twist - iPhone 5s, kvadrat

Den blev riktigt ren och fin! Inte illa för en rakhyvel från 1971. Den kommer man kunna hitta på Tradera bland mina auktioner på denna länk: http://www.tradera.com/auktioner/minitan

Jag har märkt att det ofta räcker med en 10-minuters tvättcykel i ultraljudstvätten. Med värme och rätt tvättkemi behövs det inte långa cykler även om tvätten kan ställas in på upp till 30 minuter. Efter 45 minuter rekommenderas man låta den vila 20 minuter - vill man köra kontinuerligt bör man nog ha en industriell maskin.
Men är det mycket skräp vinner man på att ta det värsta med en gammal tandborste och låta tvätten ta de skrymslen man inte själv når.

Fler bilder och test kommer läggas till efter hand. Har du frågor eller önskemål? Använd kommentarsfältet nedan!

Bluebeards Revenge shavette - once again, stand aside Gillette Mach3! ....and it´s getting crowded.

As you might have read here, I opted out of the pay-lotsa-bucks-for-lotsa-blades-camp some time ago. My bucks, actually "kronor" since I´m Swedish, end up in shaving stuff to some extent anyway. I still buy soap, new brushes (The Body Shop one is good) and now also a shavette:

It´s getting crowded - iPhone 5s, cable release, flash

I have a large interest in sharpening things. Of course I´ve tried to sharpen a straight "cut throat" razor   too, and I´ve gotten it so sharp it kind of passes the "hanging hair test". But I wanted to try a shavette  so I can just change the blade when it´s getting dull instead of having to maintain the straight.

My theory is that the DE blade cuts the hair more easy because it is so thin. The safety razor blade still needs less force than the straight razor blade to cut a hair even if the edges are as sharp simply because it´s thinner. I like to think it´s pure physics - a thin wedge needs less force than a thick wedge, even if the tips are as sharp.  Of course a dull edge needs more force which brings us to the next point:

With a shavette for safety razor blades you get very, very sharp blades for little money. When the blade is getting duller you simply insert a new one. No sharpening, no hones, no strops, no stropping or messing around. Just pick up the shavette and start shaving. I know that many guys enjoy the straight razor routine and as I enjoy sharpening stuff I can understand that. And if you want the "old days" or "self sufficient" feeling the shavette is out.


Lets look at it from a "money spent" - perspective. I´d say a straight razor is about even with the Bluebeards Revenge shavette if you buy an old used one on ebay. If you buy a new, finer, straight razor you can spend some insane amounts of cash, so for this comparison we choose the used one.
The strop you need runs about $40-80 for a basic one and a waterstone around $90 depending on what you buy, both bought new from amazon. (These are just examples and you can certainly find both cheaper and more expensive alternatives.)

For about the same $150 you can buy 1200 Astra Superior Platinum blades here, that's 2400 blade changes for the shavette as it uses a blade snapped in half. That means you´re set for 23 years if you change blade two times every week. I doubt the strop will last that long...

Keep in mind when you read this that my hands are rather clumsy, I have limited sensory function so I find it difficult to apply just a little pressure which of course affects how my shave turned out:
The first shave with the Bluebeards Revenge shavette went quite ok. The Astra blade sliced through my beard effortlessly going along the grain. All you have to do is kiss the face with the edge, no pressure needed. I did cut myself a little on my upper lip. Lesson learned: don´t try going against the grain on the upper lip on the first pass. Actually you´re never supposed to go against the grain. The first pass should be along the growth direction and the second pass across it, if your skin can take it. Some people do go against the grain on the third pass. I do that with my



A few things about the Bluebeards shavette: The packaging is quite funny! "Not for girls" heh heh. You´ve gotta smile when you read that! Also quite funny website at Bluebeards Revenge.
The quality? I´d say you get what you pay for. Tiny cracks around the rivets in the scales, a little rough edges on the blade holder as its a stamping, a little crooked grind around the exposed edge. But it´s perfectly useable and the price is very fair so I don´t complain. I actually like that the scales are plastic as they feel warm to the touch.


Even though I like the shavette and the idea of shaving with it, the british aluminium Gillette Tech still is the best razor I´ve ever used. It´s very good, cheap and mild. It´s kind of a shavette but with built in protection so its much harder to cut the skin. The razor holds the blade and guides it and you simply drag it around your face. You can actually just view both as razor blade holders, one with guards and guides and one without.

The shavette has the advantage that it doesn´t care if you have one days growth or a full beard. It simply can´t clog since it´s an open razor. That´s why it´s also good for the neckline, more so than the safety razors.



Colclusion: The Bluebeards Revenge shavette with Astra Superior blades is an economical way to shave if you are willing to learn the skills it takes. The Bluebeards Revenge website has good how-to videos. The shavette is also just the tool to shave the neckline or a long beard.

UPDATE: I've gotten several ingrowns after using the shavette several times, of course I just had to go against the grain. Told you that was a bad idea. Changing the blade to a Derby helped some, the Astra SP in a shavette seems too sharp for my clumsy hands. Since the Gillette aluminum Tech gives me great shaves I think I'll stick to that, at least until I'm patient enough to use the shavette.
But I will still have the wife shave my neckline with the Bluebeards Revenge Shavette, so it's not a wasted purchase. Actually, if all you intend to do is trim your neckline I'd say the shavette is a perfect buy!

Linocell Elite Extreme Glass Screen protector - it works! ...and their quality control doesn´t?

I got tired of bubbly, scratched up plastic screen protectors on my iPhone, so when I got my new iPhone 5s I decided to try a glass one. It´s more expensive so hesitated a bit - after all the Linocell Extreme Glass screen protector is like 20 times the price of the cheaper plastic films.

But I bought one and put it on. One thing I noticed was that it was easy to get a perfect result. Included in the package is a piece of sticky film that you use to remove dust from the screen before you put the glass on. If you have a light colored surface in front of you and look at your phone at an angle its easy to see every speck of dust on the screen. Once the screen is as clean as possible you drop the glass in place and watch as it adheres to the screen.

Take care to line the glass up well. A tip is to center the home button and while holding the top end up a few mm away from the screen, press and bend the glass gently so it sticks around the home button. Then, while maintaining pressure around the button hole, align the top edges and let that end go so it gently snaps down against the screen. It can be a bit fiddly to move the top end sideways as you probably have to release the bottom end a bit. You´ll get there!

A tip is to do this in the bathroom after somebody has taken a shower as that cleans the air. And if the floor is wet that also lowers the amount of dust in the air. Fluffing around a towel does not. Its a balance...



Back to the reason I write this:

Busted screen? Nope, busted Linocell Glass! - iPad mini, some cropping

I fumbled and dropped my phone and, of course mr Murphy, it landed face down on the ground. And the asphalt was covered with coarse sand left from the winter season. Nice point impact.

I guess the saying is true, "The value of an item can be very different from the price paid for it"! In my case a 20-dollar screen protector saved my iPhone screen. 

However. After dropping my phone I bought two Linocell Extreme protectors, one for me and one for the wife, and the wifes one had this included:

Not so neat looking huh? - iPhone 5s, some cropping and adjusting 

And this is what it looks like through the loupe:

A grain of sand? - iPhone 5s + 10x loupe, cropped

Looking real close it looks like a small grain of something found its way between the glass and the adhesive film. Oh btw, they advertise this screen protector as 0.26mm thick, but that is just the glass. Add the adhesive film and you get 0,40mm instead. Not much difference but worth mentioning.

Here´s the great part: I contacted the vendor by email and they promptly sent me a new one free of charge. Thats the way costumer support is supposed to work! I bought these at Kjell & Company (in Swedish). In all situations like this it helps to take pictures and include them in the email. It makes things easier for the costumer support and it helps you get help faster.

The sum of it all: I´m real happy about this screen protector. Being glass it feels just like the original screen, and it doesn´t scratch as easily as plastic films. And since it has already saved me a screen swap, I´d say its earned its keep!



Update november 2015: I´ve bought several glass screen protector since this post was written. I´ve found them for as little as $8 sold under differet names. But the product seems so similar it makes me think they are all made in the same factory in China...

I´ve dropped my iPhone three times now breaking the screen protector. I actually had my iPhone 5s replaced since I dropped it into my ultrasonic cleaner while filming a clip for Youtube. Ooops! Luckily enough insurance covered most of the cost.



"The value of an item can be very different from the price paid for it". Word!

VW cylinder head machining - increasing compression ratio

Well this guy came to the shop with two VW cylinder heads that he wanted some machining done to. The idea was to remove 2 mm from the combustion chambers in order to raise the compression ratio. Not being a specialized VW shop, or a car engine machine shop for that matter, here's one way to do it:

First, find a a big faceplate for the lathe. Somewhere there's bound to be an old one with a roughly 4" by 4 tpi mount, so make a threaded stub shaft that fits, generously loctite the threads and assemble with a cheater bar and BIG hammer. Machine a slug with a centre hole. Make it so it just fits the cylinder seats, toss the faceplate-on-a-shaft in the three-jaw, pinch the cylinder head against the faceplate with a live centre pressing against the slug inserted in the cylinder seat, bolt it onto the faceplate with suitable fasteners and it should look like this:

Big faceplate with VW cylinder head - iPhone 5s

Remove the tailstock and slug, indicate the cylinder seat and tap it around a bit if you need to, tighten the bolts, mount some scraps to balance the faceplate, and bore 2mm deep. Paint the first bore with a magic marker so you can touch off and set your dials for diameter and depth, then bore to size and depth on all four.

Of course you need to use the slug and centre on all four holes while setting up. It's so much easier when you don't have to fight gravity. Depending on how flat the faceplate is you may also have to use shims. I did not want to add that fuss so I took a skim cut after assembling the stud shaft and faceplate. Next time around though, I might have to shim since I don't want to turn the faceplate into chips. It's only so thick to begin with.

Well the job was a success and I made myself a faceplate that can go in both of the big lathes without removing their chucks. Fun stuff!

iEngineer - handy pocket reference

...because you have your iPhone in your pocket, don't you?

And when you stand there wondering about what the recommended torque for a M12x1,5 grade 10.9 bolt is, whip out your iPhone and start iEngineer:

Start-up screen - iPhone 5s screenshot

And then select your bolt size:

Easy selection of screws - iPhone 5s screenshot

Hey, it even shows the pitch diameter! Nice! But swipe sideways on the top half, and soon you'll see

Ahh, there's the torque - iPhone 5s screenshot 

There! Now just oil the threads, set your wrench to 92 Nm and pull. What are those funny numbers instead of the signal strength bars? Field test mode!

Interesting that a bolt of this size and thread clamps five tons!

I find this app well worth having, packs a lot of useful info into your already crowded iPhone!
Couple this with MechTab if you need more thread data, like if you need to cut a thread in the lathe and don't have dies or taps. Those two apps can really make mechanical work easier.