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No offense but fuck you Doug. I don't need to hear that.

Listened to a couple things, one of which is a "catharsis" recording for me. Back in 2001, Karen was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Our son Andrew was all of 1.5 years old, and I imagined him not having a mother. This album by Beth Nielsen Chapman was done after her husband died of cancer. I spent many a night listening to this, bawling my eyes out. To say the least, more tears when I pulled it out again. The London Grammar album is a great one, just listened to that one again for enjoyment.

Here is a long post I wrote, but may have a little help to someone who tries to build the T2 mini by JoaMat. Transformer Specifications: There are two transformers in total. Primary: 120V(USA or other countries like 230V) Secondary: 320V 0.25A 365V 0.25A 190V 0.25A 16-0-16V 0.5A 6.3V 4A × 2 6.3V 2A × 2 I highly recommend adding a soft-start circuit because the inrush current generated by the transformers is significant. High inrush current can easily blow the fuse and cause long-term stress on the filter capacitors. If a soft-start circuit is not added, a high-current fuse will be required, but that would compromise the protective function of the fuse. Chassis: I housed the power supply and amplifier in two separate chassis. For the PSU section, I used Kerry-designed GRHV and GRLV. Pay attention to the chassis height clearance to ensure it can accommodate the transformers. The specific drilling hole specifications can be found in the current thread—I recall JoaMat mentioned them somewhere. All panel holes were made using a desktop CNC router. I believe it's a good investment to have a desktop CNC router, as it ensures precise hole dimensions. The text and graphics on the panels were also laser-engraved using the same machine. Watching the CNC mill parts is quite satisfying. Power Supply: Three different high-voltage power sources are required: -460V, +400V, +220V ±15V for the servo For details on Kerry Design’s GRHV/GRLV, refer to this link: GoldenReference Low Voltage Power Supply Two mainboards are required—one for -460V and +400V, and another for +220V, leaving the rest of the board empty. To save space, I designed a new PCB specifically for the +220V rail. Notes: If using Kerry Design’s GRHV/GRLV, I suggest disabling the high-voltage delay function. In my tests, the 220V rail initially outputs only 20V, while the 460V and 400V rails start around 200-300V before reaching their nominal voltages after approximately 37 seconds (time varies based on capacitor size). Although this delay is short, it prevents the servo from functioning correctly. During this period, the balanced voltage remains around 200V, which could be harmful to headphones over time. A better solution is to add a dedicated tube warm-up circuit. Output voltages may have minor deviations. For instance, the actual 220V rail might measure around 217V. Even with 0.1% tolerance resistors, small variations can be amplified. A good approach is to use a trimmer resistor—for example, replacing a 20kΩ resistor with an 18kΩ resistor in series with a 2kΩ trimmer. Amplifier Assembly: SMD components should be installed first, followed by through-hole components and tube sockets. To simplify the process, I used a paste stencil and a heating plate, which significantly saves time. For the other side, I used a syringe and a heat gun. A more efficient method would be using a heating plate for both sides, with two different solder pastes. For example, using 183°C solder paste for one side and 138°C solder paste for the other. Notes: Don’t forget to connect the +15V jumper and the servo jumper. Otherwise, the balanced voltage may stay at 400V, potentially damaging the servo. This damage may not be immediately obvious, but you might notice the servo stabilizing more slowly, tiny background noise, or excessive sensitivity of the EL34 filament power supply to external interference, leading to noticeable microphonic effects. The T2 Mini’s heat dissipation is moderate, somewhere between the Grounded Grid and KGSSHV. If your enclosure is large enough (not wooden), power transistors like KSA1156 can be directly mounted to the chassis. However, a better approach is to use an L-bracket mounted to a heatsink. My enclosure measures 300mm × 297mm × 62mm, resulting in an internal temperature of around 45°C. Do not use this approach for KGSSHV, as SiCFETs generate a significant amount of heat. 01N100D must be properly insulated. Use single-point grounding as much as possible to avoid ground loops. If using aviation connectors, ensure they are rated for at least 500V. HN4C51J and HN4A51J look very similar—don’t mix them up. Ensure correct polarity for LEDs and 1N914 diodes. Test all components before powering on to verify continuity and check for shorts. For EL34 filament wiring, use at least 18AWG wire. One Last thing: Enjoy the build🙃

Sophis' City Fare

^^ this as well. A couple of new recordings I have been listening, but not posted. Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Works by Seong-Jin Cho (2025) No other info - I cannot really recommend. I thought it was good, but I could not get into it. I didn't get pulled into it like I do with others. But.... Ravel: The Piano Concertos by Seong-Jin Cho (2025) https://album.link/vtjmcqgztdbbx Example: This on the other hand I can give a full recommendation on. Nelsons and the BSO with Cho on DG is a wonderful combo. My friend in LA saw Cho playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic last month and he was very impressed, and it was a long show.

It's Ravel's 150th, so listening to some Ravel -- soloists Yuja Wang, Martha Argerich, Heifetz, et al. Will try to squeak in some orchestral works or his arrangement of Pictures.

A little late for Ravel's 150th, but this was my great (ahem) gateway to Ravel's orchestrating genius. I heard his orchestration before I heard Mussorgsky's solo piano version, and have since fallen in love with his genius. Even from his treatment of the opening Promenade, there's a bit more breadth, a bit more gravitas, a bit more there there. Not afraid to solo instruments, or interleave solo instruments against a delicate backdrop of small subsets of the orchestra, it is a masterpiece of restraint. cf. "The Old Castle" movement All the better to contrast the bombast. cf. "The Great Gates of Kiev" movement

Related:

Delightful. Retrospective on its creation: https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/san-francisco-sony-bouncy-ball-ad-20204385.php

My favorite version of my favorite song by REM. I saw this concert and the extra drumstick on the chair was really effective live

Only a single track so far.... https://open.qobuz.com/album/c3b4cxuxv0daa from Wild and Clear and Blue by I’m With Her (2025) Release May 9th - seem so far away.... {as the single plays on repeat for a while}

Umphreys McGee in Knoxville.

Just under 5 hours for part one...

I can only imagine @Grahame is extremely hyped for this? https://www.apple.com/uk/newsroom/2025/03/apple-music-announces-the-kings-music-room-with-king-charles-iii/ Nice to hear he's going to fit some Grace Jones in there. Probably not this one?

I would think DOGE is the revenge of the nerds... Now I see the typo. Revenge of the needy?

I hope Revenge of the Needs starts right after the current administration leaves.

1982 is further from today than it was from the end of WW2.

God 1982 seems so far away now. And wouldn't it be great to have no foreknowledge of the future? Wife's ideal theoretical hall pass was early Michael Hutchence and I can absolutely respect that.

I think everything just needs to calm down a bit, and we need to listen to more Barry White....

Thank you Shawn. Many words of wisdom and common sense. And quite badass to have CNC and laser etching machines at home 😀

(((Hugs!)))

Alternatively

I suggest this standard for all future lens tests.

Woah - how did I miss this? Very happy belated Nate!!

Tried the old "Feel younger by surrounding yourself with Older People" trick. Where The Future of Medicine ... is interesting ... And it would have worked, given the speaker was 86. Except that the 86 year old in question, was not just any 86 year old, but this 86 year old. https://isbscience.org/people/leroy-hood-md-phd/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Hood Oh well, I have another couple of decades to work on my scientific breakthroughs, company founding's, published articles. and patents, so I don't feel I have been slacking. You can see him in action, here. And if you needed any more motivation, from the transcript ... 33:14 say it's exercise so for example this morning I was able to do 190 push-ups in three 33:24 different sets within a 20 minute period and We should all be so lucky

I love this thumbnail ...anyway, here's Elvis Costello:

Something tells me it may wreck you. Listen to the release G3: 25th Anniversary Reunion Tour (G3 Reunion Live) by Joe Satriani on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/album/nwkrf484aks6b

Apple unveils new Mac Studio, the most powerful Mac ever, featuring M4 Max and new M3 Ultra. M3 Ultra maxed out: Apple M3 Ultra chip with 32-core CPU, 80‑core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine 512GB unified memory* 16TB SSD storage $14099 before tax.

Hmmm - when I looked up G3 on QOBUZ - I got this... Not sure what I am going to get with this one...

The ChatGPT wine problem. I had not heard it before, more of a philosophy. {Also "AI does not exist, but it will ruin everything anyway" - Angela Collier}

GTAV: Enhanced unlocked today. It's free to owners of plain old GTAV on Steam and the R* store (apparently EGS users get the shaft, but seeing as how GTAV was free on the EGS, I can see why.) The visual upgrade is pretty, but not earth shattering. Frame rates are slightly better on the same hardware. That is a rare one for R*. I'll post screenshots later if I think of it.

Thanks everyone. It is probably indicative of everything going on right now that I am just replying to this thread a half a day late. Dinner with the family last night was good. Work remains far more challenging than I could have imagined 40 some days ago. More celebration this weekend when time.permits.

The common contemporary treatment seems to be if not caught and removed before rupture, eliminate the infection and leaked fluid through drain and antibiotics, then a bit of a race with waiting up to 6-8 weeks for the majority of inflammation to decrease, including rupture point self-healing, then removing laparoscopically, before the slowly climbing rates of possible obstruction reoccurrence. In our case had to go back on antibiotics for a week between. I’ll just say, we’re only twelve hours after the latter step, but it was outpatient, Esmé had solid food last night, sleeping soundly now, and we’re just on alternating regular doses of Motrin and Tylenol. Such a huge difference from the multiple hospitals, days without eating, week long stay, crazy January experience.

I'm also O-neg and this reminds me to get back to donating. 1,100 times is epic.

RIP Mr. Harrison. Thank you for you contribution to humanity.

Marinara, mozzarella, sweet Italian sausage, fennel and onion with a sprinkle of parmesan.

🐓 🌶️

A thinly sliced Skillet potato bake. I just have to wait for it to cool down for a bit before diving in.

🐔 🍛

A very one and done supergroup.

Wool - Hugh Howey. Fun book. They adapted the first half of this one in to the TV show "Silo". I do enjoy the story archetypes where they drop you in a world with lots of strange stuff where things start happening and you have to keep reading to figure out what the heck is going on.

This is an odd one for me. Going back to the 1990s, when the internet was much more sparsely occupied and still primarily text based, I knew a guy named RalphE. He was a bit older than me, very gay and quite successful. He was charming, witty, engaging and prone to making bad decisions then doubling down on them repeatedly. He had his own vocabulary. When giving directions (he helped me drive through Boston, which is no mean feat) he'd say "go gayly forward" because telling someone to "go straight" went against his principles. He walked a delicate line of being just a tad condescending but having enough charm and empathy to always pull it off. I remember him telling me "I don't know how you silly hets (heterosexuals) manage without us (gay people.)" Ralph was always strong in his professional life, but in his personal one he was always getting out of or freshly into some disaster. I observed him spend every cent he made (which was quite a few, most of the time) on some hot young European guy who was clearly only in it for the money. I lost contact with him not quite 20 years ago, but I'd occasionally hear about him from a mutual friend. Today I heard from her that Ralph was gunned down after withdrawing cash from an ATM in the Philippines(!) There's an obituary page up. As per usual, I'm the last to learn of such things. I have mixed feelings. Ralph lived life more intensely than most folks, and got a lot out of it. I always got the feeling he wasn't entirely sure what he was chasing, but the passion with which he went after things was a force to be reckoned with.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/health/james-harrison-blood-donor-death-scli-intl/index.html RIP to James Harrison, the man who saved 2 million babies. I don't have this, but I'm O-Neg and CMV-Neg (universal for neo-natal emergencies.) I learned about this guy when I found out I had some pretty special blood (7% of pop has O-Neg, and 15% are CMV-neg, so I'm in the 1%). He hasn't been able to give in a bit, but he made a huge impact.