What have you bought recently?


O'Reilly C Pocket Reference, paperback.

I've been wanting to switch from C++ to C, so of course the first thing I do is spend money on it. This book doesn't even teach you to code though, it's just a reference. Figure it'll come in handy when I and the wifi-only Pyra I'll never be able to afford are out of wifi range.
 
Got a second Buffalo pad and a micro USB hub to complete the set:
snes_small.jpg


My most mobile 2 player gaming system (3 if I use the hub) is still this combination though, the screen is big enough:
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Klumpen said:
Ha, I started out in a pipe band as well, as a piper though.

Which brands do you have when it comes to whistles and which low D whistles did you try?
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nothing but cheap ones here , im not that good.. got some "Generation " brand in D Bflat and high G. one is a Sweetone by Clarkethe one i got in Blarney was with a book for beginners..... i think it was something like 10 Quid back in 1992 that was so i dont really remember..
just cheap stuff that makes noise. dont play much anymore , my ex wife didnt like the noise so i stopped playing...
 
@Klumpen, just be weary of that Micro-USB hub I bought that same model and it literally fell apart in my hands the first time using it. Cheap loose casing glued together with poor strain relief on the cables. The innards are likely decent, but still is a single black blob IC with thin foil PCB.
 
The first 4 Books of Georg R.R. Martin s „The Song of Ice and Fire“ (Game of Thrones)
I noticed that the Books are quite heavy so maybe I should order the next 6 Books in pears of 2 cause 4 Books of this weight is a bit too much..

16 € each and the German Version got 10 Books instead of 5

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spud42 said:
nothing but cheap ones here , im not that good.. got some "Generation " brand in D Bflat and high G. one is a Sweetone by Clarkethe one i got in Blarney was with a book for beginners..... i think it was something like 10 Quid back in 1992 that was so i dont really remember..
just cheap stuff that makes noise. dont play much anymore , my ex wife didnt like the noise so i stopped playing...
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Ahh well, I have two from "Generation" and tried a Clark once, the sound really wasn't particularly nice.
When it comes to the one that came with a book, it probably was a Waltons, I started with one of these too and gave it away after a while. The book wasn't teaching a lot about whistling either, just some very basic fingering and some standard Irish folk tunes. It took me about 10 years to notice what's actually possible to do with these instruments, especially the slightly better ones (Tony Dixon's are cheap and very versatile).

I really got into it when i finally got myself better ones and was tired of carrying around my bigger instruments (especially the hammered dulcimer) all the time and wanted to have something really mobile (which still includes the low whistles).
 
Klumpen said:
Ahh well, I have two from "Generation" and tried a Clark once, the sound really wasn't particularly nice.
When it comes to the one that came with a book, it probably was a Waltons, I started with one of these too and gave it away after a while. The book wasn't teaching a lot about whistling either, just some very basic fingering and some standard Irish folk tunes. It took me about 10 years to notice what's actually possible to do with these instruments, especially the slightly better ones (Tony Dixon's are cheap and very versatile).

I really got into it when i finally got myself better ones and was tired of carrying around my bigger instruments (especially the hammered dulcimer) all the time and wanted to have something really mobile (which still includes the low whistles).
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i was more into guitar then.. whistle was bought on a 6 month vacation in the UK. when i got back to Australia i joined the pipe band to help out . my step father ( more like a brother) was a piper and they needed drummers. i used to play the competition sets on the whistle to annoy the pipers..lol my grandad was a grade 1 piper but im asthmatic and could never get the damn things to work..lol Green Hills ,Battles O're quick march...lol . i went to a 8 week TAFE Adult course on the Tin Whistle and the guy was goodish but i got bored as the rest of the class were way behind but i got some new tunes and a bit of help... never had a Low D whistle but hearing Davey Spillane playing one i was hooked...
 
rygD said:
I bid on a terra cotta oil lamp. The auction ends soon, and I was outbid, so I had to let it go. Probably a good thing. My max was $20.23 and right now it is almost double that.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/183047951478?_trksid=p2471758.m4704
It will suck if it was truly old, but since I want it to use I decided to order one for $7 and save some money. If I like it over candles I can order a bronze reproduction that is more fancy and expensive in a couple years. I want to try putting smelly oils in it with the olive oil (hopefully I like it better than the overwhelming Yankee Candle stuff we have).
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I am conducting a test burn, after having coated the lamp with with polyurethane. I am using an unrolled and twisted cotton ball as the wick, and vegetable oil instead of olive oil. I have learned that it is best not to have the wick sticking out of the lamp (Burns dirty) and that it draws air in from the fill hole. I wonder how things work with different styles. I put in one ounce of oil, which supposedly lasts for around two hours, and it has been burning for almost an hour. So far it seems less messy and risky than a candle, except maybe tealights.
 
A bit of a weird setting and a little bit too over the top for me, but the gameplay is more than solid.
 
spud42 said:
whats the smell like?
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At first it resembles french fries, then it smelled like dirty greasiness, of that makes sense. It was outside, so it didn't build up like it would in an enclosed space. Supposedly olive oil doesn't smell as bad. I want to try it out like that, inside, next, then I may try adding some essential oil.

I am very sensitive to the smell of both unscented and scented candles. Although it doesn't really bother me too much, I can still smell the paraffin wax of unscented ones in the air, but it isn't as hard to breathe as certain scented ones. I think the key with an oil lamp (ancient or modern style) is to keep the flame small.

If anyone is interested, the one I got is a recreation of a biblical one, and there are several others made by the same company. This one is the Herodian one, so rather plain (another company makes a combo lamp/tealight holder). There was someone making a large variety sold through ancientlamps.com, but they seem to have stopped for now (there is an awesome Roman one on that site).
[doublepost=1518721017,1518720748][/doublepost]What I wanted:
orgfortis.jpg

What I bought (from a different seller):
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As far as I know most lamps were using paraffin before electric light stopped that. I guess the main reason they used that was that it was a byproduct of the end of the industrial revolution, and the food industry hadn't evolved far enough to provide anything combustible like that beyond lard or butter. But I would be temped to try paraffin in a wicked lamp since it was what they originally used.
 
levi said:
As far as I know most lamps were using paraffin before electric light stopped that. I guess the main reason they used that was that it was a byproduct of the end of the industrial revolution, and the food industry hadn't evolved far enough to provide anything combustible like that beyond lard or butter. But I would be temped to try paraffin in a wicked lamp since it was what they originally used.
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Modern oil lamps use paraffin (I also have one of these for power outages...which we had this morning). Long before that olive oil (and probably other common oil) was used. So originally it was olive oil, but we are talking thousands of years ago. I have read that ghee was also used, but that is probably closer to a candle.

The paper that came with my ancient style lamp says to only use olive oil and vegetable oil type stuff. I should look into whale oil lamps so I can see what the difference is compared to these other types.
 
Buying antique or replica items is not supporting an industry that no longer exists in my country. Not really following what you are getting at...

You can use vegetable oil in any of the more modern lamps, and I am more likely to use something like that if I were to buy and use a whale lamp, but I just want to see how they are designed and work, not actually own one. Too many books out there need my attention to dinner money toward something I won't use.
 
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