danie10

Like lifeforms, human culture continually evolves, and for much the same reasons: reproduction with variation, occasional mutation, and a built-in selection process that results in some entities prospering while others struggle or die off. Cultural evolution is so fast that we can trace the evolution of language, music, fashion, technology, and so on. In this piece, Leisureguy takes a look at how traditional shaving has evolved over the past decade and a half.

See https://sharpologist.com/15-years-wet-shaving/

#traditionalshaving #wetshaving #TraditionalWetShaving

This module Implements the ActivityPub protocol for your site. Readers will be able to follow content on Mastodon and other federated platforms that support ActivityPub. Responses are possible too (Reply, Like, Announce) with more to come.

It is a bit like a Facebook Follow, but for the Fediverse of different social networks.

The module has been tested with the following federated platforms:

• Mastodon
• Pixelfed
• Pleroma
• Write.as

See https://www.drupal.org/project/activitypub/

#technology #opensource #drupal #fediverse #activitypub

The company recommends against mounting an iPhone on a motorcycle, as the vibrations may be transmitted via the bike’s handlebars and chassis. Long-term direct exposure to high-amplitude vibrations within certain frequency ranges may degrade the performance of these systems and lead to reduced image quality for photos and videos. It is recommended to avoid exposing your iPhone to extended high-amplitude vibrations.

Apple says if you’re planning to mount your iPhone to a scooter or a moped, it recommends using a vibration-dampening mount to lessen the risk to the phone and its camera system.

See https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/11/22668294/motorcycle-vibrations-damage-iphone-camera-apple

#technology #iphone #motorcycles #scooters #mobilephone

This application used to be called PulseEffects but it was renamed to EasyEffects after we started to use GTK4 and replaced GStreamer by native PipeWire filters.

This is really useful for cleaning up audio when doing recordings for videos. Yes OBS Studio has many of these built-in, but if you are using third party screen recorders like say SimpleScreenRecorder, they have no audio input processing, and this is where EasyEffects is really useful. There are a good 23 effects, but some like auto gain, compressor, equalizer, and noise reduction will be most useful.

I installed from AUR for Arch Linux, but there is also a Flatpak install that should install on most Linux distros.

See https://github.com/wwmm/easyeffects

#technology #Linux #EasyEffects #Audio #Recording

Apple Wallet is usually a quick double-press away on the iPhone or Apple Watch to pull up payment cards or travel cards. In a very few places you can already add drivers licenses and IDs, but beyond that, not much else (I did note Discovery Health in South Africa does a quick add of your health insurance as a digital card too).

Wallet Creator is an app that allows you to easy scan QR codes and manually add these with some details to Apple Wallet, no matter what region you are in. It works ideally with a QR code being scanned, because although it can also scan a photo or image, this ends up as a tiny thumbnail only, as far as I can see.

Just a pity my vaccination card has no QR code, and the imported image is too small to read.

See https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-manually-add-vaccination-certificate-apple-wallet/

#technology #applewallet #digitalcard #vaccinationcard

A team of biohackers with a wide geographic footprint, OIF is a non-profit focused on creating community-scale systems that can produce safe, affordable insulin.

See https://hackaday.com/2021/08/23/open-source-insulin-biohackers-aiming-for-distributed-production/

#diabetes #insulin #BigPharma #health

There is one in three guys who undergo skin irritation once they’ve shaved. Considering that you are reading this post, you’re most likely one of these guys.

If your sensitive skin is a newbie to shaving, then your best bet would be a safety razor. A double-edged safety razor can give you a close and clean shave without as much fuss as a straight razor.

It’s also hygienic than a multi-blade cartridge disposable. Because there are no multiple blades lying closely beside each other, there will be no hair, skin or oil stuck in between the blades. And since we all know that acne results from follicles clogged with sebum and dead skin cells, you won’t get an acne blow-out after shaving with a safety razor.

The beauty of a safety razor’s single blade is that it does not irritate. Multiple-blade disposables actually damage your skin because the blades are scratching the skin repeatedly. It can also lead to a lot of ingrown hairs which are painful.

There’s also a practical benefit to using a safety razor. The replacement blades are less expensive and you don’t have to buy them as often as you would with a disposable cartridge razor. And because it’s usually made of metal or some other form of durable material other than plastic, you’re not contributing to the plastic pollution that’s making a mess out of our environment.

See https://www.nakedarmorazors.com/blogs/news/which-razor-is-best-for-sensitive-skin

#shaving #sensitiveskin #traditionalshaving #safetyrazor #skinirritation

It turns out that the Volkswagen ID.4 is a lot tougher than the average crossover. It didn’t win any Baja races, but it did finish one without any repairs. That’s something most vehicles couldn’t do.

Individual stages ranged from as little as 33 miles to 167 miles. Between stages, they charged the ID.4 with a 50 kW charging station, powered by a biofuel generator. Out of 90 vehicles that entered the race, only 64 vehicles finished the brutal race. The ID.4 was raced mostly in “B” level battery regeneration mode with stock traction control turned on.

Race testing is an important part of new design validation as it helps tweak components to endure conditions that most normal users will never encounter.

See https://cleantechnica.com/2021/05/25/vw-id-4-survives-1000-mile-off-road-race/

#environment #EV #VW

Tier One automotive supplier Mahle has developed an electric motor for EVs that uses no permanent magnets. It is not the first to do so, but it is the first to create a motor that is scalable to fit the needs of many sizes of vehicles, from subcompact cars to medium duty trucks. Mahle says the ability to tune and change the parameters of the rotor’s magnetism instead of being stuck with what a permanent magnet offers has allowed its engineers to achieve efficiencies above 95% right through the range of operating speeds. Only the motors used in Formula E cars offer such efficiency, according to New Atlas.

As a result, there’s practically nothing to wear out, says IEEE Spectrum. “There are no contacts to transmit electricity, no abrasion, no dust formation, no mechanical wear,” Berger, said Wednesday during an online press conference. He adds that the new motor combines the best points of several motor designs by offering good efficiency at both low and high torque.

See https://cleantechnica.com/2021/05/17/mahle-develops-magnet-free-motor-for-electric-vehicles/

#technology #environment #EV

In fact, South Africa ranked fifth globally in the ratio of public electric vehicle (EV) chargers to electric vehicles in 2020. Only Korea, Chile, Mexico, Indonesia, and the Netherlands have more chargers per EV than SA, according to the IEA Global EV Outlook 2021 report released recently.

So what’s holding back the transition in South Africa? Well, the limited range of EVs available and the high sticker prices thanks to hefty import duties and taxes for EVs. While petrol and diesel vehicles from the EU have a customs duty of 18% in South Africa, for electric vehicles the duty is 25% in South Africa! Then there is the Ad Valorem Customs Excise Duties and VAT.

See https://cleantechnica.com/2021/05/12/south-africa-has-one-of-the-highest-ratios-of-public-ev-chargers-to-evs-in-the-world/

#environment #EV #southafrica

I enjoyed watching some of the Long Way Round, Long Way Down, etc videos with a pair of guys and their support and planning crew tackling travelling on dirt roads through the wilderness.

Noraly, from The Netherlands, though is tackling similar terrain but completely on her own on a  relatively small 250cc bike, and doing all her own video and editing as she moves around. The notorious Sani Pass on the South Africa/Lesotho border is not a pass most of us riders would tackle, yet she goes and does it all on her own.

For the South African leg of the trip she has started amassing a number of followers who are just in sheer awe of her gutsy approach to riding through the wilderness of South Africa, and how she is showing off the amazing scenery and sights along the way. With good reason her YouTube channel has just passed 100 million views, and fans are suggesting she should become an ambassador for her country.

She has previously covered some other continents, so who knows, maybe your own country has featured as well.

Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3tXaBCxtWA&list=PL8M9dV_BySaUDASnfKSmm_DNlvdeP6cSc

#motorcycling #advetureriding #itchyboots #soloriding #southafrica 

Modder ‘Willybach’ released earlier this week a 1.1GB HD Texture Pack for Valheim that aims to improve most of its textures. This pack covers most Biomes so far and many Building and Crafting textures. Furthermore, and by using AI techniques, it tries to stay as close to the vanilla textures as possible.

As the modder noted, loading times are drastically reduced, as well as performance. Additionally, this pack does not suffer from an issue that reverted rocks back to their vanilla textures.

See https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/valheim-gets-a-new-1-1gb-hd-texture-pack-overhauling-most-of-its-textures/

#technology #gaming #valheim #mods