Orphan Source [471]
Greetings from the shed...
I’m Christian Payne, autotelic, photographer, writer. In this weekly dispatch I seek out novelty, explore the relations between things, how we share, what we share, plus where we might be going. Thanks for joining in.
#TheAction
EMF camp was an adventure throughout. (I’ll eventually upload some photos to my Flickr) In fact it was my favourite EMF since my first in 2014. Exciting right up to the last minute when two radioactive objects got left in the swap shop. The afternoon before that happened I’d measured a weird amount of Americium-241 while demoing my Radiacode to a fellow amateur radio operator. It’s the kind of isotope that would be found in a smoke detector but I’ve not seen a random spike in a field before. I wonder if I was sensing the mysterious devices before they were dropped on the trestle table in the swap shop. Other folk keen on tracking ionising particles measured them emitting 360,000 Bq (Becquerels) of Americium-241. A few smoke alarms worth. Not crazy dangerous unless dismantled.
I heard that the object was removed and safely contained by a Furry who just so happens to work in the nuclear industry.
FYI: An Orphan Source is a 'self-contained radioactive source that is no longer under regulatory control.
#ThePictures
If you are in Europe and have not got your camera set to PAL frame rates your video footage might be using a frame rate out of sync with the grid frequency. This can cause flicker around some artificial lighting. In your camera settings select ‘Show PAL Formats’.
This video goes into more detail.
#TheWords
A somewhat long but fascinating post on the moral economy of The Shire.
An extreme surgery reading list.
#TheSound
I’m pleased to have found the BBC Radio 4 Podcast Open Country and the episode ‘Bats on Punts’ Although I now pine for a bat detector and a moth catcher.
It is of course audio bloggers month aka #AudioMo all through June. Although a few of us try (and often fail) to record and share a little audio every day, it’s also fine to do so if and when you feel like it. In fact all audio shared to the feeds with the hashtag is welcomed and embraced by a wonderful community. There’s not rules as such and I tend to post a bunch of random stuff. So far I have mainly been sharing to Mastodon.
Day 01 - An early morning greeting from EMFcamp.
Day 02 - A selfie with R2D2 and Lee Towersey
Day 03 - Inside An Acoustic Hologram This audio features a wave field synthesis [WFS] experience. But I recorded it on my phone in mono so you’ll have to take me on my word that it was mind-blowing. WFS is a powerful audio technology that aims to create truly lifelike, spatially accurate audio experiences by physically reconstructing the original sound field with speaker arrays. Max Hunter and Daniel Jones.
Day 04 - A chat on my local amateur radio repeater.
Day 05 - Playing with a Star Wars R2D2 laptop.
Day 06 - Space Cake. An old demo found on a minidisk alongside the finished song.
Day 07 - I interview my son and ask him his top 10 favourite games on Steam.
#TheConsumed
Thanks to Ross Dargan I got to try some Deep-Fried Buckfast in Iron Brew Sauce.
It was a unique experience. Tasty. I guess. But with a sense of danger. Here is how to make it and reduce your lifespan with every portion.
#TheFound
More on the radioactive object.
#TheThings
This impressive looking money-type note was given to my daughter by temporary barman Edent as he served behind the bar at EMFcamp.
It was a very convincing feeling note and i’d totally use them instead of business cards.
I’m pretty sure Terrance has not started touting paper crypto and hadn’t even visited the URL on it: MoneyFromTheFuture.com.
[Some of the following links go to Amazon. I’ve been assured that if you click them, kittens won’t die, but tax evasion will probably happen.]
I have bought two of these little solar panels for charging tech while camping. Or even outside my shed. They work.
I find I have to add an USB extension lead for some uses but i’ll be taking this on my off grid summer travels for sure.
I’ve shared my favourite headtorch in this email before but when it comes to an EDC flashlight this is the one for me.
The Rovyvon A5. Yes you can find cheaper flashlights, but I doubt you’ll find better that are this bright (600 lumens), flexible (main light, side light or UV/red light), or as small and light (29.7g). Mine came with a cap-clip so it can be clipped onto the brim of a hat or cap as well as a magnetic tail-cap that can attach to the base for placement on metal objects. The red light is great for illumination that retains your night vision but choose the one with the UV light should you need to detect counterfeit currency, identify bodily fluids, find bedbugs, or cure glues and sealants. Oh, it’s also waterproof and glows in the dark.
So that’s the One-EDC Torch-To-Rule-Them-All. Now meet the One-Badge-To-Rule-Them-All…. The EMF festival badge is already stuff of legends but this year they really upped their game.
The Tildagon is a reusable programmable badge with an app store, modular components that can be upgraded at each festival, and six 'hexpansion' slots that you can fill with your own creations.
To fit badge hexpansions they need to be 1mm thick objects with a particular shape on one edge. They can be a custom circuit board controlled from the main badge interface, or a simple 3d printer thingamajig that does or holds something. (Like my mini tabasco sauce holder, kindly gifted by geologist John T). So far I’ve mostly only plugged things in, downloaded and played games and customised the interface with an animated avatar.
More info on the badge here.
#TheThanks
Writing and curating this is what I love to do most of all. If you are able to, please consider becoming a paid supporter to keep these emails free for all. (Ask me for other ways to support). Many thanks to all who support my time here, even if it’s just reading, sharing and liking.
#TheWeb
The mystery of secret hand gestures in old paintings.
Either no one in South Africa reads this or they have forgotten to add themselves to the Documentally community map. Know anyone there? Or in any of the spaces?
Meth-addict fish, aggro starlings and caffeinated minnows.
Some suspect guns function as an emotional support penis for insecure men
Man threatened with a $50,000 fine and a banned on buying future Teslas if he sells his Cyber Truck. Like he’ll buy from Elon again.
Towards federated key transparency. I’m not going to pretend I understand all of that.
Some of my other places include Letterboxd, Discogs, Flickr, Strava, Untappd, LinkedIn, Mastodon, a ham radio newsletter or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire, Birdsite, Bluesky or Daft Social.
How to bring more awe into your life.
#TheEnd
Thanks for reading. It’s taken me a few days to recover from EMF camp and the echoes and reverberations around the web (mostly Mastodon) have me still plugged in to an amazing community. If you surround yourself with techies, artists and creatives you get the overwhelming sense of anything being possible. And perhaps it is.
Raising a drink in your direction and wishing you a wonderful weekend.
“You are under no obligation to remain the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, or even a day ago. You are here to create yourself, continuously.” ~ Richard Feynman
Create.
See you out there.
Over…
