T

Posts

Recent Comments

1d ago

in

Old school method for mountain shading I never see anymore

Those tight hash marks gave mountains actual weight and shadow direction" - yeah, that's exactly it. I read an article once about old map illustrators using hatched lines specifically to mimic how light hits rocky terrain from a low sun angle. You can really feel the texture in those vintage maps, like the paper itself is rugged.

1d ago

in

Almost fried my Xbox board using isopropyl that wasn't high enough proof

70% has water in it, water leaves gunk behind when it dries. It's like using dish soap to wash your car in direct sun, sure it works but you end up with streaks everywhere. I've seen this same thing happen with people cleaning their phone ports or switch cartridges, they grab the wrong bottle and wonder why it's sticky later. The difference between 70% and 91% is just enough water to leave residue that conducts electricity. It's like paying attention to the small details in other stuff too, like making sure your hands are dry before touching bread dough or using the right drill bit for drywall.

1d ago

in

I lost a full day's pay on a wireless sensor that kept dropping signal in a brick house.

Did you try moving the sensor around before giving up on it? I had a similar issue at my old place with a smart plug that just would not work in the kitchen no matter what I did. Ended up putting it in the hallway and it worked fine there, go figure. Brick houses are like signal black holes, I swear you could put a wifi router right next to one and it'd still struggle...

3d ago

in

Realized my cheap rain jacket was the reason I was always soaked during hikes

Gotta agree with @zara_hunt on the brim and drawcord thing. I've been burned too many times by hoods that just dump water down my back. Now I test them by actually shaking my head around hard in the store to see if they stay put.

5d ago

in

Found a trick for scoring cheaper hostel beds in Lisbon last month

36 euros buys me dinner and a few drinks one night so if i can stretch my budget to afford another day of travel i'm absolutely shifting dates around. Hostels in lisbon already squeeze you for weekend rates when half the things you want to see are just as chill on a tuesday.