Two computers, one set of speakers

We have two windows computers in our kitchen. For a while now they have been set up so that you have to plug the one you sound in listen tabwant working right now into the external speakers. Today I finally looked into a better way. Turns out there is a free one, or free as long as you already have a male-to-male audio cable.
Plug one PC’s audio out into the second PC’s audio in. On the second PC (Windows 10), go into control panel, Change sound card settings, recording, pick the plug you used, and click properties. Click the “listen” tab and check “listen to this device”. I had to set the levels way down to 5/100 to not get any distortion and just get a full volume output from the first PC.
No more plugging around!

Greasemonkey script to click “Show more” buttons on web pages

A lot of web sites have “show more” buttons. I am not sure if they are just used for tracking purposes or if some people really thinks that they improve the usability of a page, but I just find them annoying.  It is possible to click these buttons automatically when the page is loaded using the Greasemonkey add-on for Firefox. Here is some scripts that do this.

Kanopy (change the winnipeg.kanopy.com to your library’s URL):

// ==UserScript==
// @name Kanopy more clicker
// @include https://winnipeg.kanopy.com/*
// ==/UserScript==

// wait for page to finish loading
window.addEventListener('load', function() {
    console.log(document.getElementsByClassName("more")[0].click());
}, false);

Kijiji:

// ==UserScript==
// @name kijiji more clicker
// @include https://www.kijiji.ca/*
// ==/UserScript==

// wait for page to finish loading
window.addEventListener('load', function() {
    console.log(document.getElementsByClassName("showMoreButton-4078245409")[0].click());
}, false);

Overdrive (again, change it to your library’s URL):

// ==UserScript==
// @name Overdrive AutoExpander
// @version 1.0
// @include https://winnipeg.overdrive.com/*
// ==/UserScript==

window.addEventListener('load', function() {
console.log(document.getElementsByClassName("TitleDetailsDescription-descriptionArrow js-description-arrow is-unexpanded")[0].click());
}, false);

Goodreads uses a link instead, so an additional library is needed:

// ==UserScript==
// @name Goodreads more clicker
// @description click the "more" button on goodreads pages
// @include https://www.goodreads.com/*
// @require http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.3/jquery.min.js
// ==/UserScript==

//--- find "...more" link; the contains() text is case-sensitive.
var TargetLink = $("a:contains('...more')")

if (TargetLink.length) {
console.log('clicking "more..." button')
TargetLink.click()
}

Adjustable gate latch

The soil in Winnipeg is all clay so it shifts a lot between dry and wet times. That means nothing is ever straight and level for long. So, the gate latch needs to be adjusted frequently.
I finally added the quick release from a bike seat for tool-less adjustments. I have a bunch of them around because I don’t like to help out the thieves by leaving them on a bike.

3d printed fence for a Stanley #78 Rabbet Plane

I picked up an old Stanley #78 rabbet and bull nose combination plane at a garage sale. It works OK as a bull nose and full-width plane, but it didn’t come with the fences needed to make consistent rabbets. I made the following 3D model in Fusion 360 and printed it, this is the final tweaked version. It also requires some nuts and bolts, and I had to re-cut one of the holes in the plane body because it used some crazy non-standard thread.

Stanley #78 fence and depth stop fence model.f3

 

Greasemonkey script to automatically click the “more…” link on Goodreads

It bugs me when web sites make me click a “more…” link to see the last line of 6 lines of text. Apparently it bugs me enough to figure out the Greasemonkey script to automatically click the more button on Goodreads.

// ==UserScript== 
// @name Goodreads Cleaner
// @namespace http://scripts.tenbergen.ca
// @description click the "more" button on goodreads pages
// @include https://www.goodreads.com/*
// @require http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.3/jquery.min.js
// ==/UserScript==


console.log('Overdrive AutoExpander Greasemonkey script is being applied');
//--- find "...more" link; the contains() text is case-sensitive.
var TargetLink = $("a:contains('...more')")

if (TargetLink.length) {
console.log('clicking "more..." button')
TargetLink.click()
}
console.log('Overdrive AutoExpander Greasemonkey script is finished');

Handling the Kirby Cup

Kirby Cup with old handles
Kirby Cup with old handles

I was asked to replace the handles on the new Kirby Cup Rowing Trophy.  The trophy is vintage and has clearly had a previous life. It arrived with straight handles that didn’t really suit its curvy shape, and that were somewhat loose in any case.

I designed some new handles for it in Fusion and 3d printed them.

Kirby Cup with old handles
Kirby Cup with old handles

Block heater cord

In order to start after -30C nights most cars around here have block heaters. Usually the plugs hang out from a radiator slot or just from under the hood. So in that-30C you have to hold the male end and hold the female end while wrangling a -30C stiff cable, while wearing mittens if you have any sense. I wanted the cord to be a bit tidier on the car, and make it so that plugging in is a one-handed thing that can be done more easily with mitts on. So, I took an existing plug and build a Casing for electrical cord plug to mount on a flat surfacenew body for it. I have done 3d modelling before, but this was my first exposure to Autodesk’s Fusion 360. It is the nicest 3d modelling software I have used so far – very easy transition from other tools I have used and it just works. I feel like a total sell-out to use it instead of an open source product like FreeCAD, but it’s like I tried crack, there is no going back.
A friend 3d printed the model for me, we installed it on Friday. The temperature was only -11C and sunny, but with a bit of wind. It was not optimal for playing with small parts and bare hands, but we got it done. For now the setup works, but it will be interesting to see how well the body and the silicon glue pad I used to hold it on will hold up. Generally gluing things in -11C is not a good idea, but this pad did better than I expected.  New blog heater plug on my car

Shim screws

I live in an old brick house in a city with clay soil. When we have a really dry summer the soil dries out and shrinks and everything shifts. Then, when we get enough rain, the soil expands and everything shifts again. If you go to older parts of town, few houses are straight.

In my house these soil changes cause my back door starts to stick, or for the frame to become so lose that it barely latches. I used to fuss around with shims to make this better, but it was a big pain and meant taking all of it apart.

Shim Screws
Shim Screw and crown driver bit

Bring in shim screws. They are a screw with a second screw that spins loosely as a sleeve around the head of the screw. You use a special crown drive bit to drive both the screw and the sleeve into your door jamb. The sleeve only penetrates as far as the jamb, while the screw itself drives into the wall/framing behind. Then you take off the crown bit and adjust only the center of the screw in or out from the frame. Because the sleve spins but can’t slide up or down the screw, the jamb moves with the centre screw.

If the explanation doesn’t quite make sense, there are a bunch of videos online that show it, just google GRK shim screw.

In the case of my back door these gadgets mean that I can now adjust my door in about 2 minutes with one tool, rather than an hour or so with half my toolbox. Like!

Follow an RSS feed on any WordPress site

I use TinyRSS to do most of my daily web reading via RSS feeds. RSS feeds allow me to subscribe to most websites that use content management systems, such as WordPress or mediawikis. Usually there is a little icon for this , but some web sites and templates don’t include them.

To follow a WordPress site that doesn’t provide the link, manually set up a feed and put “/feeds” at the end of the site’s regular URL.

For example, to subscribe to
http://thewrench.ca
create a feed with
http://thewrench.ca/feed/

Removing hot glue with rubbing alcohol

Today I learned that you can remove hot glue with rubbing alcohol. Just drop or dab some around the glue, and then start pulling or prying it off. The alcohol seems to get between the glue and the substrate, it doesn’t dissolve the glue and make a mess of it.

Of course this makes hot glue that much more interesting for temporary fixtures or jigs…