Author: Rauf Aliev

We’re slowly watching Parfenov’s series about Pushkin from 1999, where Parfenov mentions that Gabriadze planned to erect a monument to a rabbit that crossed the road in front of Pushkin in Petersburg to join the Decembrists, thereby saving his life (Pushkin took it as a bad sign and turned back). The monument was unveiled in December 2000 and features a milestone stating “416 versts to Senate Square” with a figure of a rabbit sitting on it. A Google search shows that there are only two photos of this monument on the internet. That’s it. Why might that be? Can you find a third one? How can it be that in 21 years not a single new photo has appeared? It is, after all, a landmark. Is the monument still standing? If not, why are there no reports about it? Where was it located? If there are 416 versts to Senate Square, it should be 443 km from Senate Square, but how can this be if Pushkin’s house-museum in Mikhailovskoe is only 400 km from the square? No use asking Rezo Gabriadze, he passed away a month and a half ago… And Andrey Bitov, co-author of the idea, died in December 2018.

Yuki’s favorite toy. Caring, brought it to the feeder

Well, isn’t it just like a cat?

Good 😉

The first rapid prototype of a smart dog bowl. Made in the last two hours from available materials. An Arduino inside a cardboard box sends the weight of the feed to the server (logz) every second. Let’s observe. It’s not unlikely that Yuki will quickly demolish this setup. But that’s what a prototype is for. Actually, the plan is to set up a platform on the same scales where the dog will be eating and simultaneously weigh the dog. It’s relatively uncomplicated (just bulky), but it will be amusing to watch how grams move from the bowl into the dog. Also planned is a feeder which will dispense the feed on a schedule and just enough to fill the bowl. Nothing too complicated either, just need to get around to it.

Check out how inaccurate “eyeballing” measurements can be. If you close one eye, the ruler shows 70mm, while exact measurements yield 79-80 mm.

Right now. Second floor, by the way

In 1966 over the territory of Spain, an American B-52G failed to manage mid-air refueling, crashed, and in the process lost four B28RI thermonuclear bombs in the air, each with a yield of 1.5 megatons (i.e., 70-100 times greater than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki). The bombs fell without exploding (of course) onto Andalusian territory, contaminating it slightly with plutonium. Decontamination of the area was carried out, including soil replacement, etc. There were compensations for those who lost crops, and

“…Another $14,500 was paid to a fisherman who witnessed the bomb falling into the sea.”

An interesting thread on nextdoor. It seems we have a janitor who appeared out of nowhere, works well, and whenever we see him, we give him some money. He says he works just because he wants it to be clean, and doesn’t ask for money for the work, but accepts it gratefully when given. The thread continues with about 60 replies, indicating that many people help him. Some have given him a place to live, others clothes; some help with money, some regularly, others whenever they can. Hence, a local story – all sixty responses are from neighbors, and he only cleans one block and the nearby park.

And I, for one, have never seen cleaners in our neighborhood. Previously, when I lived in an apartment, someone would clean the floors, but now, as I walk my dog around the neighborhood, I see that it’s just clean everywhere, because cigarette butts and empty bottles don’t just appear out of nowhere. The “broken windows theory” really does work.

Decided to upgrade my first 3D printer (FDM) to an Ender 3 V2. Highly recommend, it’s great! 22x22x25 cm. Resolution – about 0.1 mm. The print quality is simply an order of magnitude higher than what I had with Da Vinci. I can also print on ABS/TPU/PETG. And the XYZ DaVinci was successfully sold yesterday on the FB marketplace at the price I paid for it in February. This one took a couple of hours to assemble from a plethora of parts, but that even added to the intrigue. It hardly required any adjustments.