Manual Washing Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtbkXyWFFm8

(Watch the above video to see how to construct and use this device)

All parts are available at Home Depot:

Two (2) 5-gal. Homer Bucket; Model # 05GLHD2 = $2.97 x 2 ....= $5.94

Leaktite 5-gal. Homer Leakproof Lid; Model # 5GLD ORANGE LID for 5GL HOMER PAIL ….................................................................................................... = $1.68

NIBCO 1-1/2 in. PVC DWV Hub x SJ Trap Adapter; Model # C48017HD112 =...................................................................................................... = $0.88

HDX 5 in. Force Cup Plunger; Model # PSC2451 ….................................................................................................... = $2.98 ….......................................................................................................$11.48

There are two modifications to the model that are not shown in the video.

1.) Cut and 1-1/2 inch hole in the lid to the unit; then insert the 1-1/2 inch PVC Trap Adapter through the hole and tighten the adapter, this strengthens the hole in the lid where the plunger handle is inserted!

2.) Substitute a longer broom handle for the original handle that came with the plunger; this makes it so the user can now operate the device in the standing position which will relieve any back strain from having to bend over to manipulate the original short handle.

Do you like to camping?

Are you in an "off-the-grid" situation?

Is your financial situation such that you can not really afford to spend $10.00 or more to do a load of laundry several times a week?

Do you live in an apartment and often have small loads of 'personal laundry' that needs to be attended to on a pretty regular basis?

Then the above device shown in the link to the video may just be what you are looking for to help assist you with any of the preceding situations. Long before there were electric washing machines, most laundry in this country and still throughout the world was and is still washed by the manual process of hand washing. The usual method is one of each piece of laundry is individually 'scrubbed' by hand which take a while to go through the whole batch.

The manual washing machine that is shown is extremely low cost {less than $12.00 in total material cost}, can be used very easily in any urban, suburban, rural, and/or emergency situation. Some of the toughest "hard knocks" situations are when the electricity is not functioning for long periods of time and the home and/or commercial laundry facilities are not available to the general populace. Having this manual device sitting in a storage closet may not be a bad insurance policy. {just ask the people that were effected by Hurricane Sandy or the winter of 2014-2015 ice storms}

For the outdoorsman that enjoys going camping for any period of time, it may be just what is needed to bring some sense of civilization to that primitive lifestyle. Spending 20-30 minutes to process a load of laundry in most primitive settings my seem like a gift from society.

For the apartment dweller, it means not having to go to the basement laundry facilities hoping that the machines are unused and/or worse yet taking time and effort to travel to a commercial laundering establishment and spending the necessary money to accomplish the task there; just using the device in the bathtub or shower seems much easier.

SOMETIMES, the low tech solutions to solving everyday problems may be work better than some of the highest technical advances!

Alternative "Luci Lantern" Prototype Example

http://www.tmart.com/10-Lumens-No-Battery-Dynamo-Crank-Wind-3-LED-Flashlight-Torch-Grey_p185383.html

 

First I had ordered some of the items from the above site as "toys" for my grand daughters; then I happened to run across the Luci Lantern video on YouTube.

I had ordered one of the items listed below to add to my household's emergency kit for the few instances that due to storms, falling trees, exploding transformers, and etc. that the electricity powering our lighting fails to function properly.

https://www.mpowerd.com/

I tried a little experiment and came up with an idea for a prototype example of a similar lantern that has a slightly different operating principle than the Luci Lantern.

 

I had an extra 'flashlight', so I took it and an old medium sized plastic mayonnaise jar that was in the recycling bucket and went to work.

 

I cut an opening in the middle of the plastic top just large enough to insert just the lens section of the 'flashlight'; then using superglue I permanently mounted the 'flashlight' to the lid, I also sealed the joints around the flashlight with hot glue on the inside and outside of the lid.

 

I then took some aluminum foil and hot glued it to the inside of the lid where there was no 'flashlight' protruding through the inside of the lid AND on the entire bottom of the plastic jar.

 

I screwed the lid on the jar, squeezed the handle to charge the unit for about two minutes, turned off the kitchen light, and I had a prototype example lantern; which only cost me all of $2.63 and an old plastic mayonnaise jar the was about to be recycled. It comes with a strap so you can hang it up anywhere!

 

The Luci Lantern works on the principle of light energy charging the 'lithium battery', while the prototype example that I constructed works on the principle of a small dynamo charging a 'super capacitor'.

 

I never did test how long the "charge" would last because it is a moot point since whenever it dims you can just recharge it again in less than two (2) minutes.

 

If the Luci Lantern could be fitted with a 'super capacitor' instead of a lithium battery and a flat circular dynamo device instead of having light energy collectors, then it could be an all-weather source of light for those in need of a light source where and when the grid is not available. It may wind up being a little larger in its collapsed form! 

 

Items needed for the project - $2.63 Dynamo Flashlight, an old recycled plastic jar, Aluminum Foil, small amount of Superglue, small amount of hot glue!

Conversion of Analog Photography to Digital Photography

Here is a photograph that I took in 1967 that originally was on the cover of my college's Fine Arts magazine. The photograph was also used in the college yearbook on Page 13 {I disliked the way their Layout Editor cropped the image}:

https://archive.org/stream/yamacraw196736ogle#page/13/mode/1up,

then it was used for a couple of years later in the course bulletins on Page 5:

https://archive.org/stream/oglethorpecolleg6869ogle#page/n5/mode/1up

https://archive.org/stream/oglethorpecolleg6970ogle#page/n5/mode/1up

Of course back in 1967 we had pretty primitive darkroom facilities tucked away in the basement of a building with terrible ventilation, so dust particles on the negatives was always a big problem!



Years later when photograph became all digital, I converted the image from analog to digital taking a relatively pristine copy of an original print and scanning it into a digital .jpg file at 1200 DPI. I then used GIMP to retouch the photograph to remove all those dust spots that kept getting on the negative in that old darkroom. The resulting photograph then looked like the following:

Since the original use for the photograph was for the cover of the college's Fine Arts magazine, I then dabbled with the photograph to make it more artsy by again using GIMP to add some color to an original monochrome Black & White photograph resulting in the following image:

So, this is the final result of retouching a photograph that was had taken in 1967 in the analog age and then using digital procedure to enhance the image to what it could of possibly appeared as all those years ago if I was a more accomplished photographer back then!

Finally using my image manipulation program I also made a 3D anaglyph photograph from that original, you can see the 3D effect by wearing anaglyph glasses (using Red & Cyan lens). Viewing the photograph in the 3D mode really gives the viewer a feeling of how remote the wooded areas of the campus were back in 1967. Students could really find solitude for personal thoughts back then just by going for walks in the secluded areas of the campus.



To see exactly how to produce a 3D Anaglyph photograph using the GIMP program, download the following tutorial and read and learn how to produce photographs with this eye catching effect:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10471230/Anaglyph%20Tutorial%20%28GIMP%29.pdf



Recording Live Audio Streams in Windows

In a Q&A article on 10/07/2014, 'The New York Times' published how to record live audio streams.

Here is ANOTHER way to accomplish the same feat without the hassle of having to adjust your Computer System's internal audio software setup as it is recommended in that article!

ALL of the cables can be bought from MyCableMart! 

 

You connect this device to your Speaker Jack in the back of your computer!

 

THEN you can connect one jack to your speakers (if necessary) 

 

NEXT you connect the following cable:

 

 

One end goes to the other jack and the OTHER end connects to the Line In jack on the back of your computer.

 

NEXT you get the free Audacity software and when you run it make sure you have the following settings:

Then you can record any sound that you hear on your computer using the free Audacity software.

 

To have your computer running Audacity to AUTOMATICALLY record when the audio from your computer's audio source starts; click on 'Edit' and then on 'preferences', make sure that the 'record' dialog box has the following items checked!

 

With this setup you can record any live or recorded audio that is played on your computer, no matter what its source, and then at your leisure, use Audacity to edit those recordings any way that you see fit. 

 

HOWEVER, check your state laws about recording any VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone audio; in some states you can record if you are one of the parties in the conversation without the other party's notification AND in other states you have to notify the other party to the conversation that it is being recorded.

 

__________________________________

 

 

With just a small change of cabling, the user can also configure their computer system to then be used to convert any of their [old] vinyl records, stereo cassette tapes, and any old analog audio output devices that have RCA output jacks from analog out put to a digital recording.

 

 



 

1.) 1^st the user purchases a second Y-connector cable.

 

2.) Then the user connects the second Y-Connector cable to the line-in jack on the back of the computer.

3.) The user reconnects the lead coming from the speaker output to one of the new the line-in plugs.
 

4.) The new RCA cable set plugs into the other new line-in jack.

Now the output from any analog device {Turntable, Cassette Player, and Radio} can be recorded using the free Audacity program to be saved as digital files of any type (.wav & .mp3 are the most common).



Free Long Distance Digital Audio/Visual Communication

AT&T introduced the “Picturephone System" in 1964, you can read about it at this website:

 

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Did-you-know-that-Bell-now-AT-T-had-video-telephone-service-in-1964_id59374

 

AT&T charged $160.00 per month in 1964 [equivalent to $1228.55 per month in 2014] and of course only a few businesses could afford those prices, so it was a technology that never caught on with American society.

My Wife and myself originally signed up for Skype a few of years ago because our younger son was going to be spending several months overseas and we all wanted to be able to communicate with each other over that vast distance.

Well, being a person that doesn't want to put all their eggs in a single basket, I investigated what other FREE video services were available to a internet user.

Well there are three (3) FREE services that offer video & talking services over the internet;

 

1.) Google Video/Chat

 

2.) ooVoo

 

3.) Skype

 

{Did You KNOW that ooVoo Software System gives the users FREE 12 person video conferencing? Could be IDEAL for organizing family reunions, investment club meetings, and/or such!}

I recently made a video phone call via “Skype” with a good friend that I have known for 56 years that now resides 3000 miles away in California over the internet for FREE {costing really part of my monthly ISP fee} and I also recently happened to send an email to a U.S. Army Primary Flight School classmate, someone I have not seen or spoken to in forty-five (45) years, and then he placed a video/chat notice to me via Gmail and we spoke via "Google Video/Chat" for a good three quarters of an hour; he was in Germany and I was in the USA. It was very nice catching up with him about how our lives have transpired since serving together at Ft. Wolters, TX in 1969, also for FREE {again costing really part of my monthly ISP fee}. Finally, I also have video chatted with 'computer club' friend of mine that lives in the mid west using "ooVoo" software.

Anyone that has family and/or friends several hundreds of miles to several thousands of miles away, then I suggest that if it is at all possible, internet users should probably join each of these services to be able to hold voice and video communications with those friends. The reason I think that the prudent user should have ALL three (3) is because one never knows when one of the particular services may have an outage; it is always good to have a couple of back-ups!  

 

These internet visual communication services fits right into my new saying, "If its FREE, then it is for ME!"

The only equipment cost, other than my computer system, was $20.00 for a middle of the road 'Macally' web-cam bought on sale through "Amazon" several years ago.

 

The internet has really opened up the world of digital audio/visual communication to the general public way beyond anything that could have been imagined in the old analog audio/visual communication world first tried by AT&T. The world probably can thank DARPA and Steven Sasson, for by society combining their two discoveries has been the key to widespread digital audio/visual communication!

Retro Computing Update

There is a newer version of program that does an excellent job of emulating the Texas Instruments Home Computer (TI-99/4A) from the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Here is the site where the program can be downloaded.

	File	Downloads	Date Added
	Win994a Install V3010 (x64) Win994a Version 3.010 for 64 bit PCs	168	Apr 02, 2013
	Win994a Install V3010 Win994a Version 3.010 for 32 bit PCs	122	Apr 02, 2013

Category	Files
Disks Disk Images For Use With Win994a	19
Tapes Tape Images For Use with Win994a	1
Cartridges Cartridge Images For Use with Win994a	5 (212)

Retro Computing with "Plato" Courseware!

Introduction

PLATO is an acronym for: Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations.

The TI-99/4A Plato Cartridge was the ONLY computer system that allowed an independent collection of Plato Courseware to be accessed on the computer; the Atari Plato Cartridge only allowed the computer to act as a Plato Terminal where the computer connected to a mainframe via a telephone connection. 

In mid 1983 TI and Control Data struck a deal to release the PLATO courseware for the TI-99/4A. Until this time PLATO was only available to large businesses, universities and government offices, as it ran on main frames.

TI released 108 courses with 481 programs for students in grades 1 through 12. To be able to use the PLATO system you needed: TI-99/4A console, Disk controller and drives, memory expansion, and of course the PLATO interpreter cartridge.

Did you know that there is a whole community of TI-99/4A hobbyist that are avid PLATO enthusiasts?

Many of the TI-99/4A enthusiasts over the years have acquired the entire TI-99/4A Plato System which consists of a Plato Cartridge & 481 90K 5¼ inch disks.

There are now even TI-99/4A emulators that run on IBM PCs running Windows 7 that also execute the Plato System as it was executed back when Control Data sold the product.

1.) http://www.99er.net/download2/index.php?act=view&id=216

2.) http://www.99er.net/download2/index.php?act=view&id=217

3.) http://www.99er.net/download2/index.php?act=view&id=218

It may be a curiosity resource that you might want to obtain and demonstrate an actual Plato System from around circa 1983 in action! 

TI Plato Course-Ware is divided into eight curricula:

1) Basic Skills Math

2) Basic Skills Reading

3) Basic Skills Grammar

4) High School Skills Writing

5) High School Skills Math

6) High School Skills Reading

7) High School Skills Science

8) High School Skills Social Studies

Curriculum 1: Basic Skills Math

Subject: Basic number ideas

PHD 5201 (15205575) Numbers 0-9 

PHD 5202 (15205595) Numbers 10-1000 

Subject: Addition 

PHD 5203 (15205655) Addition 1 

PHD 5204 (15205657) Addition 2 

Subject: Subtraction 

PHD 5205 (15205683) Subtraction — basic concepts 

PHD 5206 (15205700) Subtraction skills 

Subject: Multiplication 

PHD 5207 (15205673) Multiplication — basic concepts 

PHD 5208 (15205765) Multiplication skills 1 

PHD 5209 (15205828) Multiplication skills 2 

Subject: Division

PHD 5210 (15205830) Division — basic concepts

PHD 5211 (15205847) Division skills 1

PHD 5212 (15205873) Division skills 2

Subject: Fractions

PHD 5213 (15205945) Fractions — terminology and concepts

PHD 5214 (15205993) Addition and subtraction

PHD 5215 (15207271) Multiplication and division

Subject: Decimals

PHD 5216 (15207319) Decimals — terminology and concepts

Subject: Ratio, proportion and percent

PHD 5217 (15207321) Ratio, proportion and percent

Subject: Geometry and measurement

PHD 5218 (15207347) Geometry — basic concepts

PHD 5219 (15207407) Measurement

Curriculum 2: Basic Skills Reading

Subject: Making new words

PHD 5220 (15207409) Basic word building

PHD 5221 (15207426) More basic word building

PHD 5222 (15207446) Complex word building

PHD 5223 (15207509) Prefixes, suffixes and compound words

PHD 5224 (15207511) More prefixes and suffixes

PHD 5225 (15207534) Prefixes and suffixes in context

Subject: Understanding new words

PHD 5226 (15207554) Selecting the proper words

PHD 5227 (15207580) Choosing the proper words

PHD 5228 (15207603) Dealing with confusing words

PHD 5229 (15207623) Word meanings

PHD 5230 (15207643) Applying new words

PHD 5231 (15207660) Understanding and using new words 

Subject: Understanding what you read

PHD 5232 (15207683) Locating basic facts 

PHD 5233 (15207700) More basic facts from reading

PHD 5234 (15207717) Understanding what you read

PHD 5235 (15207737) Remembering what you read

PHD 5236 (15207800) Remembering more of what you read

PHD 5237 (15207802) Interpreting what you read 

Subject: Thinking about what you read

PHD 5238 (15207819) Understanding basic facts

PHD 5239 (15207839) Understanding more of what you read

PHD 5240 (15207856) Describers and conclusions

PHD 5241 (15207873) Different types of describers and conclusions

PHD 5242 (15207893) Understanding the whole story

Subject: Judging what you read

PHD 5243 (15207910) Fact and non-fact

PHD 5244 (15207921) Author's purpose

PHD 5245 (15207935) Evaluating what you read1

PHD 5246 (15207949) Author's purpose and your conclusions

PHD 5247 (15207966) Separating fact from opinion

Curriculum 3: Basic Skills Grammar

Subject: Parts of Speech

PHD 5248 (15204600) Nouns and Verbs 

PHD 5249 (15204617) More about nouns and verbs

PHD 5250 (15204634) Pronouns

PHD 5251 (15204654) Making nouns and pronouns agree

PHD 5252 (15204668) Adjectives and adverbs

PHD 5253 (15204688) Prepositions, conjunctions and articles

Subject: Building and using sentences

PHD 5254 (15204702) Learning about sentences

PHD 5255 (15204716) Phrases and Clauses

PHD 5256 (15204733) Subject and verb agreement

PHD 5257 (15204750) More about sentences

Subject: Spelling and usage

PHD 5258 (15204764) More than one 

PHD 5259 (15204778) Word confusion

PHD 5260 (15204795) Possessives

Subject: Capital letters and punctuation

PHD 5261 (15204809) Capital letters

PHD 5262 15204826) Punctuation

Subject: Writing letters

PHD 5263 (15204843) Making letters look right

PHD 5264 (15204857) Giving the employer the correct information

Curriculum 4: High School Skills Writing

Subject: Spelling and punctuation

PHD 5265 (15208506) Spelling

PHD 5266 (15208523) Punctuation

Subject: Grammar

PHD 5267 (15208543) Grammar 1

PHD 5268 (15208566) Grammar 2

PHD 5269 (15208592) Grammar 3

Subject: Diction

PHD 5270 (15208609) Diction

Subject: Sentence structure

PHD 5271 (15208629) Sentence structure

Subject: Logic and organization

PHD 5272 (15208649) Logic and organization

Curriculum 5: High School Skills Math

Subject: Basic number ideas

PHD 5273 (15205250) Basic number ideas 1

PHD 5274 (15205267) Basic number ideas 2

Subject: Math sentences in one variable

PHD 5275 (15205287) Math sentences in one variable 1

PHD 5276 (15205304) Math sentences in one variable 2

Subject: Math sentences in two variables

PHD 5277 (15205321) Math sentences in two variables

Subject: Geometry

PHD 5278 (15205338) Geometry

Subject: Measurement

PHD 5279 (15205358) Measurement

Subject: Special Topics

PHD 5280 (15205378) Special topics

Subject: Practical reading

PHD 5281 (15205400) Practical reading 1

PHD 5282 (15205423) Practical reading 2

Subject: General reading

PHD 5283 (15205443) General reading 1

PHD 5284 (15205463) General reading 2

Subject: Prose literature

PHD 5285 (15205486) Prose literature 1

PHD 5286 (15205500) Prose literature 2

PHD 5287 (15205520) Prose literature 3

Curriculum 6: High School Skills Reading

Subject: Poetry

PHD 5288 (15205537) Poetry

Subject: Drama

PHD 5289 (15205557) Drama

Curriculum 7: High School Skills Science

Subject: Physics

PHD 5290 (15208860) Physics 1

PHD 5291 (15208923) Physics 2

Subject: Chemistry

PHD 5292 (15208983) Chemistry

Subject: Earth science

PHD 5293 (15209031) Earth science 1

PHD 5294 (15209033) Earth science 2 

Subject: Biology

PHD 5295 (15209091) Biology 1

PHD 5296 (15209130) Biology 2

PHD 5297 (15209172) Biology 3

PHD 5298 (15209220) Biology 4

Curriculum 8: High School Skills Social Studies

Subject: Geography

PHD 5299 (15208669) Geography

Subject: Economics

PHD 5300 (15208695) Economics 1

PHD 5301 (15208715) Economics 2

Subject: Behavioral science

PHD 5302 (15208735) Behavioral science 1

PHD 5303 (15208752) Behavioral science 2

Subject: Political science

PHD 5304 (15208769) Political science 1

PHD 5305 (15208786) Political science 2

Subject: History

PHD 5306 (15208809) History 1

PHD 5307 (15208826) History 2

PHD 5308 (15208843) History 3

Now the users can see what a nice collection of Plato Software that the TI-99/4A had available for the machine as compared to other micro computer users.

Conversely, they can actually load a Plato Terminal program onto their current computers and then join the www.cyber1.org site to then experience Plato from a mainframe as it was back in the mid 1980s for a comparison between the two methods of accessing Plato Software.