Author: john

Which method of data wiping (1,3,7 or 35 pass) on a disk can guarantee that data cannot be recovered from it even by today’s technology?

john

let’s talk about installing a driver. if you really want your data unrecoverable you should use the Dewalt method. or the Mikita method which is the same thing. either works wirelessly or with a wire. the method you ask? drill holes in the hard drive until there are a lot of holes. 

there is also the disassembly method which breaks the drive down into pieces and parts. the more pieces the better. bend. break. scratch. and scatter the parts.

finally, stop the world from prying your old data by installing MELT. to do that you have to make a mini forge. read article

Is a 5th Generation Core i3 laptop good for a beginner programmer?

john

I learned programming on a TRS-80 and a Apple II. you don’t need an i7, an i3, Core2Duo, Pentium Pro, or a PowerPC 603 to learn. CPU power is not that important. mostly you are typing and reading text. I always say, “3.2Ghz… we’re typing fast now!”

the things I consider important are:

the keyboard. if you do not like typing on what is in front of you the you will be annoyed about using the laptop. too loud, too squishy, or just feels wrong.

trackpads that are hard to use make for a bad experience. clicks should feel transparent. it should not get in the way of work and if it does, because it does not track, it will be frustrating. yes, you can add a mouse. and you should. but the track pad is part of it. read article

What third-party applications has Apple made obsolete?

john
contact manager. the name, address, phone number apps used to be something that you needed to buy. all of them had useable features like printing to an envelope or labels, etc. now the contact program that Apple provides is marginally useful.   email app. there are a few survivors but why would you use any when the free

Mail app does okay mail. LookOut, err Outlook might be better. as long as you are paying for Office you might as well try out LookOut. read article

tool my Moto X

john

THUMB for SCALE

I made a tool to fix my Moto X. a USB-C cable was not going into the port. it would start and then hang out. charging was problematic. sometimes it charmed. sometimes it charged. when a thing is fuxord you cannot fuxor it more. meaning? try to unfuxor it.

when I played iPod all the time I found that the headphone jack (remember those) would get lint on the inside. the plugging in ear bugs would hammer down the lint until the LEFT or was it RiGHT channel stopped. the fix was to tooth pick the goo from the hole. read article

What tools should you have for electronic repairs and projects?

john

the usual screw, TORX, pentablob, jack-a-lope drivers the box of bits with all the weird heads inside. sockets in MM and fractions.

soldering iron. the ZD-99 for $17 is adequate. KSGER T12 Soldering Station is a better idea but is 5X more money compared to the ZD-99.

hammer.

side cutters aka dykes. get the RED handled cutters from Xcelite. cutters are not to be used a pry tool. get two because you will.

pliers. needle, fat, small, large. cheap assortment vs quality? maybe… channel locks to really force it. read article

some Mendel parts arrive

john

these parts were made by a mold process instead of using a printer to make each part built up from plastic. the parts aren’t finished and require drilling. if you don’t have a drill press or a very steady drill technique you may want to consider other options.

http://reprap.org/wiki/Clonedel