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Hacker Public Radio

Hacker Public Radio
Hacker Public Radio
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275 episodes

  • Hacker Public Radio

    HPR4655: Tips for Glasses

    05/06/2026
    This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.

    HPR and Glasses





    HPR community members are nerds



    We know from movies that nerds wear glasses



    We can conclude that HPR community members wear glasses





    Cleaning Background





    I have very oily skin and am constantly smudging my glasses



    All lenses wipes are too small.



    I accidentally touch the lenses with my fingers when I am trying to clean them And smudge them up again



    I heard an eye doctor say, the best way to clean glasses is with dish soap and dry with a microfiber cloth



    I tried this method It is a great solution because you wash glasses and fingers tips at the same time





    Cleaning Method





    Hand soap is OK to use on glasses.



    get the soap on you fingertips



    Then hold your glasses one of the lenses



    Use your thumb and finger tips to clean the glasses



    the soap removes the excess oil from your fingertips



    no smudges when you dry with the microfiber cloth





    Progressives





    With regular progressives the top of the lenses is for distance vision and the bottom of the lenses is for up close vision



    There is a zone in the middle for medium distance, but it is very narrow



    Using a computer at work I kept having to move my head up and down to find the best position for working.



    Computer Glasses have more space for intermediate distances



    From
    https://iotlenses.com/blog/eight-types-of-progressive-lenses.html






    Computer progressive lenses, also known as occupational designs or enhanced readers, are optimized for intermediate and near vision, making them ideal for tasks like prolonged computer work or activities at mid-range distance




    Provide feedback on this episode.
  • Hacker Public Radio

    HPR4654: What's in my component Box?

    04/06/2026
    This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host.

    Background



    This episode describes the contents of an old fishing tackle box I got as a birthday present very many years ago. I used it over the years to gather a pile of mostly useless electronic components and junk.



    I came across it recently when we were doing a clear out. Mrs X wanted to throw it out. I had a lot of sentimental value due to the long time I’ve had it. I am a bit of a hoarder and it took a bit of persuasion on my part to be able to keep it especially since I could not think of a single use for any of the contents!







    I’ve not had time to add links against all the items. Hopefully I’ve managed to add links to most of the more unusual items. Apologies if I’ve missed any.









    Contents of Box













    Top row left to right, back to front







    Compartment 1





    Stereo Jack plug & socket




    Double pole double throw (2-way) switch





    12V dc relay from RS




    3 legged semiconductor (voltage regulator?)







    Compartment 2



    Multiple fuses mostly for cars







    Compartment 3



    Small silica jelly pouch





    Micro Switch






    Reed switches (Not reed relays as I call them in my show)








    Compartment 4



    Potentiometers, Rheostat, variable resistors
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer




    Control knobs







    Compartment 5



    Large selection of miniature panel mounted toggle switches
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch#Toggle_switch








    Compartment 6



    Two crocodile clips
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodile_clip




    Half of a Hi Fi speaker plug
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Speaker_din_male_and_female.jpg




    Washer







    Compartment 7



    Mostly chocolate block connectors
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leuchterklemme_75dpi.jpg




    Small selection of glass cartridge Fuses



    Single 13 Amp mains fuse for UK plug



    Assortment of soldering iron tips



    Crocodile clip



    Air adapter for foot pump for blowing up an air bed or similar



    Spare nozzle for a de-soldering tool. Made from PTFE
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desoldering#/media/File:Vacuum_plunge.jpg






    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene




    Ferrite ring
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrite_bead








    Compartment 8



    Rubber Grommets and a heatsink











    Middle row left to right, back to front







    Compartment 1



    Large selection of glass cartridge fuses







    Compartment 2



    Another large selection of glass cartridge fuses



    Small selection of diodes, some quite Large
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode








    Compartment 3



    Two multi turn precision variable resistors
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer#/media/File:Beckman_Helipot_potentiometer_SA1400A_2007.075.002.jpg




    Cheap variable resistor with in built switch







    Compartment 4



    Bag of multi coloured LED’s (Cheap for Pi add on board)



    2 inch 8 ohm speaker







    Compartment 5



    Panel mounted heavy duty toggle switch, two pole one way







    Compartment 6



    Light Dependent Resistor (LDR)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoresistor




    Large Tricolour LED







    Compartment 7



    Variable capacitors PCB (Printed Circuit board) mounted



    Spare nozzle for de-soldering tool. Made from PTFE



    Light Dependent Resistor (LDR)



    Panel mounted heavy duty rotary switch, two pole one way



    Bag of various fuses



    Halogen 12V car headlight bulb



    Variable resistor with long plastic spindle, panel mount



    Heatsink possibly for heavy duty transistor







    Compartment 8



    Variable resistor PCB (Printed circuit board) mounted











    Bottom row



    This is just a big jumble of stuff, listed in no particular order



    DC red and black power lead with inbuilt fuse



    Small solder-less breadboard for prototyping





    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadboard




    Bag of various plugs & connectors mostly Jack plugs and sockets



    Bag of quartz crystals and a components receipt from 1985 I added crystals to an old PMR (Private mobile radio) boot mount radio. Possible a Pye Westminster Radio. I looked but couldn’t find picture of the radio



    Several bits of Perfboard or strip board





    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfboard




    1 Watt audio amplifier kit with instructions not built!



    D-type serial port mounted to PCB with screw down connections



    Bag of resistors
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor




    Large bag of LED panel mount holders



    Electronic Instruction guide XH79L (Maplin) price 25p



    Chocolate block connecting block
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leuchterklemme_75dpi.jpg




    Telephone pickup for recording phone calls. (Never worked)
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Telephone-Pickup-Sensitive-Microphone/dp/B000L1OZG8




    Multi coloured ribbon cable



    Plastic trimming tool screwdriver set.
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/C-K-T4857-Precision-Plastic-Trimmer/dp/B000WKIYTW




    Panel mounted BNC socket (Baby Neill Constant)





    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNC_connector








    Provide feedback on this episode.
  • Hacker Public Radio

    HPR4653: Starting the Habit of Reading

    03/06/2026
    This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.

    Openreads is a privacy oriented and open source cross-platform app written in Flutter available for Android and iOS for keeping track of your books.

    There are four lists provided so you won't get confused:

    books you finished,

    books you are currently reading,

    books you want to read later,

    books you didn't finish.

    You can use custom tags and filter through them.

    A book can be added by:

    looking it up in the Open Library database,

    scanning its barcode,

    adding its details manually.

    You can also view some cool statistics!

    Links:

    Battletech: Mercenary's Star by William H. Keith


    Permaculture for the Rest of Us by Jenni Blackmore


    Piranesi by Susanna Clarke


    Battletech: The Price of Glory by William H. Keith


    The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne


    Battletech: The Sword and the Dagger by Ardath Mayhar


    Battletch: Warrior En Garde by Michal A. Stackpole


    Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

    Fundamentals of the Wudang Sword Method by Scott M. Rodell


    Battletech: Warrior Riposte by Michal A. Stackpole


    The Cardio Code by Kenneth Jay


    Mentats of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson


    How to Grow More Vegtables by John Jeavons

    Provide feedback on this episode.
  • Hacker Public Radio

    HPR4652: simon says

    02/06/2026
    This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.



    From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_(game)




    Simon is an electronic game of short-term memory skill invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison, working for toy design firm Marvin Glass and Associates, with software programming by Lenny Cope. The device creates a series of tones and lights and requires a user to repeat the sequence. If the user succeeds, the series becomes progressively longer and more complex. Once the user fails or the time limit runs out, the game is over. The original version was manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley and later by Hasbro after it took over Milton Bradley. Much of the assembly language code was written by Charles Kapps, who taught computer science at Temple University and also wrote one of the first books on the theory of computer programming. Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City and was an immediate success, becoming a pop culture symbol of the 1970s and 1980s












































    Provide feedback on this episode.
  • Hacker Public Radio

    HPR4651: HPR Community News for May 2026

    01/06/2026
    This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host.

    New hosts
    There were no new hosts this month.
    Last Month's Shows
    Id Day Date Title Host 4630 Fri 2026-05-01 Playing Civilization V, Part 11 Ahuka 4631 Mon 2026-05-04 HPR Community News for April 2026 HPR Volunteers 4632 Tue 2026-05-05 Hackerpublic Radio New Years Eve Show 2026 Episode 6 Honkeymagoo 4633 Wed 2026-05-06 Ham Radio Licence Lee 4634 Thu 2026-05-07 Upgrade Failsause operat0r 4635 Fri 2026-05-08 What did I do at work today? Part 3 Section 1 Lee 4636 Mon 2026-05-11 7 seconds memory Antoine 4637 Tue 2026-05-12 UNIX Curio #6 - at and batch Vance 4638 Wed 2026-05-13 Simple Podcasting - Episode 3 - Analyzing and Filtering Whiskeyjack 4639 Thu 2026-05-14 NLUUG Spring Conference 2026 Ken Fallon 4640 Fri 2026-05-15 Robert A. Heinlein Ahuka 4641 Mon 2026-05-18 Technical Dutch Open Source Event (T-DOSE) Ken Fallon 4642 Tue 2026-05-19 Hackerpublic Radio New Years Eve Show 2026 Episode 7 Honkeymagoo 4643 Wed 2026-05-20 HPR Beer Garden 13 - Triple IPA Kevie 4644 Thu 2026-05-21 Response to comments on HPR4424: Newsboat... Archer72 4645 Fri 2026-05-22 ZERO HOUR: FRIDAY AFTERNOON APK HACKING operat0r 4646 Mon 2026-05-25 Mobile Gaming Elsbeth 4647 Tue 2026-05-26 UNIX Curio #7 - Compression Vance 4648 Wed 2026-05-27 Simple Podcasting - Episode 4 - Audio Analysis Fun Whiskeyjack 4649 Thu 2026-05-28 What did I do at work today? Part 3 Section 2 Lee 4650 Fri 2026-05-29 Playing Civilization V, Part 12 Ahuka Comments this month
    Past shows
    hpr4424 (2025-07-17) "How I use Newsboat for Podcasts and Reddit" by Archer72.

    أحمد المحمودي said: "How did I find HPR" (2026-05-12 17:16:07)

    candycanearter07 said: "Re: How did I find HPR" (2026-05-12 19:36:04)

    hpr4502 (2025-11-04) "Cheap Yellow Display Project Part 3: Reverse beacon network " by Trey.

    Archer72 said: "Morse code" (2026-05-19 15:00:39)

    hpr4567 (2026-02-03) "Movie Recommendations for Hackers" by Deltaray.

    Antoine said: "Some watched!" (2026-05-27 03:33:12)

    hpr4587 (2026-03-03) "UNIX Curio #1 - Shell Archives" by Vance.

    Dave Morriss said: "Great reminder! I had forgotten shar" (2026-05-07 18:18:05)

    Vance said: "Color printing" (2026-05-08 22:02:23)

    hpr4607 (2026-03-31) "UNIX Curio #3 - basename and dirname" by Vance.

    Vance said: "Correction" (2026-05-12 01:03:12)

    hpr4618 (2026-04-15) "Simple Podcasting - Episode 2 - Basic Filtering" by Whiskeyjack.

    Henrik Hemrin said: "Generating sine wave" (2026-05-14 19:59:46)

    Whiskeyjack said: "Reply to Henrik Hemrin on Sine Waves in HPR4618" (2026-05-15 15:22:16)

    hpr4627 (2026-04-28) "UNIX Curio #5 - Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" by Vance.

    Steve Barnes said: "Thanks for the context!" (2026-05-21 05:28:05)

    hpr4628 (2026-04-29) "Nuclear Power Technology Follow Up" by Whiskeyjack.

    Antoine said: "o/" (2026-05-17 00:24:23)

    Whiskeyjack said: "Reply to Antoine on HPR4628" (2026-05-17 18:08:18)

    This month's shows
    hpr4631 (2026-05-04) "HPR Community News for April 2026" by HPR Volunteers.

    Whiskeyjack said: "Response to Ken Fallon in HPR4631 Community News" (2026-05-04 05:13:02)

    candycanearter07 said: "new episodes" (2026-05-04 18:47:39)

    Ken Fallon said: "new candycanearter07 episodes" (2026-05-05 09:00:00)

    أحمد المحمودي said: "Thanks for the encouragement" (2026-05-12 17:18:20)

    hpr4634 (2026-05-07) "Upgrade Failsause" by operat0r.

    YourName said: "Why is the audio so bad OMG sorry" (2026-05-06 20:05:43)

    Ken Fallon said: "Already reported and fixed" (2026-05-06 20:35:49)

    hpr4637 (2026-05-12) "UNIX Curio #6 - at and batch" by Vance.

    candycanearter07 said: "still useful!" (2026-05-13 03:43:37)

    norrist said: "at for scheduled reboots" (2026-05-16 19:41:04)

    Vance said: "Good points" (2026-05-17 03:03:47)

    Whiskeyjack said: "At and batch in HPR4637" (2026-05-17 18:35:11)

    hpr4640 (2026-05-15) "Robert A. Heinlein" by Ahuka.

    Antoine said: "Nice tips" (2026-05-17 00:22:01)

    Kevin O'Brien said: "I enjoyed doing it" (2026-05-17 19:14:19)

    hpr4646 (2026-05-25) "Mobile Gaming" by Elsbeth.

    candycanearter07 said: "my opinion of mobile gaming" (2026-05-27 00:24:58)

    hpr4647 (2026-05-26) "UNIX Curio #7 - Compression" by Vance.

    xmanmonk said: "Great Series" (2026-05-27 00:29:32)

    candycanearter07 said: "thoughts" (2026-05-27 13:20:13)

    Mailing List discussions
    Policy decisions surrounding HPR are taken by the community as a whole. This discussion takes place on the Mailing List which is open to all HPR listeners and contributors. The discussions are open and available on the HPR server under Mailman.
    The threaded discussions this month can be found here:
    https://lists.hackerpublicradio.com/pipermail/hpr/2026-May/thread.html Events Calendar
    With the kind permission of LWN.net we are linking to The LWN.net Community Calendar.
    Quoting the site:
    This is the LWN.net community event calendar, where we track events of interest to people using and developing Linux and free software. Clicking on individual events will take you to the appropriate web page. Provide feedback on this episode.
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About Hacker Public Radio
Hacker Public Radio is an podcast that releases shows every weekday Monday through Friday. Our shows are produced by the community (you) and can be on any topic that are of interest to hackers and hobbyists.
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