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Odd Lots
- The Make Blog recently aggregated a very nice FM Crystal Radio. A diode can detect a strong FM signal via slope detection, and by "strong" we may mean "within a mile or two of the broadcasting antenna." I grew up a couple of miles from WJJD-AM just outside Chicago, and was looking right down the throat of its 50,000 watt directive array. Not only would a crystal radio receive it, WJJD was all that any of my crystal radios would receive, and receive so well that they drove a small speaker that could be heard clear across my bedroom. I intuit that an FM crystal set would work best with a Schottky or microwave diode having a low forward voltage, and (having a drawer full of same) if time ever allows I'll attempt one. A silver-plated tank coil would help too, perhaps—Q matters!
- Slashdot reported that IBM is about to release a derivative of Open Office under the name...Lotus Symphony! That, my friends, is trademark recycling with a vengeance.
- From Denis Ryan I got a pointer to Favicon from Pics, a neat Web-based utility that takes an image and crunches it into a favicon for you. The site produced the favicon that you can now see on my Copperwood Press page. The little graphic isn't perfect, but neither did it take any work to create.
- Fair use exceptions to copyright law help the economy more than copyright itself, according to this study. Thanks to Bill Meyer for the pointer.
- Do not miss The Museum of Unworkable Devices. Learn how most of the popular perpetual motion machines don't work. My favorite quote from the article: "Be skeptical of any cyclic perpetual-motion proposal that can be operated equally well in either direction." Thanks; I may be skeptical about some of the others, too.