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AA Battery Hack

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  AA Battery Hack Buzz McCool <buzz_mccool@yahoo.com> - 2026-05-26 14:29 -0700
    Re: AA Battery Hack The True Melissa <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> - 2026-05-27 07:02 -0400
      Re: AA Battery Hack Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2026-05-28 05:15 +0000
        Re: AA Battery Hack The True Melissa <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> - 2026-05-28 12:39 -0400
        Re: AA Battery Hack Kragen Javier Sitaker <kragen@canonical.org> - 2026-08-28 16:57 -0300
        Re: AA Battery Hack Andy Valencia <vandys@vsta.org> - 2026-08-28 17:07 -0700
          Re: AA Battery Hack Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2026-08-30 02:53 +0000
            varnishing screen doors (was Re: AA Battery Hack) Kragen Javier Sitaker <kragen@canonical.org> - 2026-08-30 12:33 -0300
              Re: varnishing screen doors (was Re: AA Battery Hack) Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2026-08-30 22:01 +0000

#72 — AA Battery Hack

A message in a bottle to whoever is still out there.

ObHack:
AA batteries that no longer work in my various remote controls
seems to work fine for quite a while in my bicycle's blinking
front and rear safety strobe lights. So I save up old batteries
and get a few more months use out of them.

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#73

Verily, in article <10v53au$2bvt2$1@dont-email.me>, did 
buzz_mccool@yahoo.com deliver unto us this message:
> 
> A message in a bottle to whoever is still out there.

There aren't a lot in this group. I've seen a only a few messages over 
the past year. There are a few still reading, but not enough to sustain 
a conversation. 

> ObHack:
> AA batteries that no longer work in my various remote controls
> seems to work fine for quite a while in my bicycle's blinking
> front and rear safety strobe lights. So I save up old batteries
> and get a few more months use out of them.

Huh, that's interesting. I guess those lights use less power. 

I find batteries work a little longer if I swap their places in the same 
device. 

-- 
The True Melissa - Canal Winchester - Ohio
United States of America - North America - Earth
Solar System - Milky Way - Local Group
Virgo Cluster - Laniakea Supercluster - Cosmos

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#74

In alt.hackers, The True Melissa  <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote:
> Verily, in article <10v53au$2bvt2$1@dont-email.me>, did 
> buzz_mccool@yahoo.com deliver unto us this message:
> > A message in a bottle to whoever is still out there.

{wave}

> There aren't a lot in this group. I've seen a only a few messages over 
> the past year. There are a few still reading, but not enough to sustain 
> a conversation. 

Quite possibly people don't know the trick to post and that reduces
activity.

> > ObHack:
> > AA batteries that no longer work in my various remote controls
> > seems to work fine for quite a while in my bicycle's blinking
> > front and rear safety strobe lights. So I save up old batteries
> > and get a few more months use out of them.
> Huh, that's interesting. I guess those lights use less power. 

I expect the blinky-ness helps. Possibly they have "joule thief" type
circuits, which are ideal for squeezing the last bit of power out of a
battery.

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

> I find batteries work a little longer if I swap their places in the same 
> device. 

In remote controls, I find just moving the batteries can help. I figure
it has something to do with oxides forming on the contacts, but that is
an admitedly wild guess.

ObHack:

The local gas company was digging up the street recently to replace the
main and feeders. It caused a lot of traffic disruption. On one day of
the construction, a delivery truck choose to park partially on the
sidewalk in front of my house. No problem except that it ran over the
sewer vent cover and shattered the cast metal. These covers are square
lids five inches on a side. They sometimes have a single screw to hold
them in place. Without the lid, there's a significant hole in the
sidewalk, not likely to trap an adult foot, but risky for a dog or
someone walking with a cane. And someone here walks with a cane.

I went looking for a piece of metal big enough to cover the hole until I
could find a replacement. My first choice of a square electrical box
junction cover, since I have spares lying around, was thwarted by being
too small. Then, also in electrical I found a spare "loader" weight from
a lamp. These are weights designed to be incorporated into the base of a
freestanding lamp to lower the center of balance. Sometimes they are
cast, usually they have a cord notch, and always they have a center hole
for lamp pipe. This one is 3mm steel plate with a threaded center hole,
and about seven inches in diameter, more than enough to cover the hole
and more than strong enough to hold the entire weight of me (= not
insignifcant) standing on it. 

I cut out a piece of wood to loosely fit inside the sewer vent and then
bolted the plate to the wood. The wood plug keeps the lid centered, and
the sidewalk hole is no longer a risk.

It will will be a while before I make it over to one of the stores that
stocks the replacement lids and now I can really take my time about it.

Elijah
------
always strips discard lamps of parts for cobbling his own lamps

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#75

Verily, in article <eli$2605280048@qaz.wtf>, did *@eli.users.panix.com 
deliver unto us this message:
> 
> Quite possibly people don't know the trick to post and that reduces
> activity.

Could be.

Some people have been using the same trick to post to headless Big 8 
groups, but the admins don't like it. It would probably be better to fix 
the groups than to hack them, so I can see why. 

 
> I expect the blinky-ness helps. Possibly they have "joule thief" type
> circuits, which are ideal for squeezing the last bit of power out of a
> battery.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joule_thief

Interesting. Thanks. 


> ObHack:
> 
> The local gas company was digging up the street recently to replace the
> main and feeders. It caused a lot of traffic disruption. On one day of
> the construction, a delivery truck choose to park partially on the
> sidewalk in front of my house. No problem except that it ran over the
> sewer vent cover and shattered the cast metal. These covers are square
> lids five inches on a side. They sometimes have a single screw to hold
> them in place. Without the lid, there's a significant hole in the
> sidewalk, not likely to trap an adult foot, but risky for a dog or
> someone walking with a cane. And someone here walks with a cane.

You're using your lamp expertise to be a good neighbor. Good for you.

ObHack: This isn't very good, but... I like to watch TV while I work 
out, and I got tired of fumbling with remotes. I crocheted a harness to 
hang from the treadmill handle and make them easily accessible. 

-- 
The True Melissa - Canal Winchester - Ohio
United States of America - North America - Earth
Solar System - Milky Way - Local Group
Virgo Cluster - Laniakea Supercluster - Cosmos

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#80

Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> writes:
> In alt.hackers, The True Melissa  <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote:
>> There aren't a lot in this group. I've seen a only a few messages over 
>> the past year. There are a few still reading, but not enough to sustain 
>> a conversation. 
>
> Quite possibly people don't know the trick to post and that reduces
> activity.

I actually had the impression that eternal-september.org didn’t allow
it, but I guess that isn’t true, at least as of a few months ago?

Kragen

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#81

Kragen Javier Sitaker <kragen@canonical.org> writes:
> I actually had the impression that eternal-september.org didn't allow
> it, but I guess that isn't true, at least as of a few months ago?

It certainly _used_ to reject the needed header.  This posting is a test
to see if that has changed?

Andy Valencia
Home page: https://www.vsta.org/andy/
To contact me: https://www.vsta.org/contact/andy.html
No AI was used in the composition of this message

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#82

In alt.hackers, Andy Valencia  <vandys@vsta.org> wrote:
> Kragen Javier Sitaker <kragen@canonical.org> writes:
>> I actually had the impression that eternal-september.org didn't allow
>> it, but I guess that isn't true, at least as of a few months ago?
> It certainly _used_ to reject the needed header.  This posting is a test
> to see if that has changed?

Path: reader1.panix.com!panix!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!
      eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!
      nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail

I saw it, and the path shows it came from Eternal September, so yes, it
works now. I wonder if they special cased the group or if other
self-moderated groups are also now unlocked. Or just general
self-moderation in other groups.

I emailed ES about what was needed to post to moderated groups there
some years ago and never got a reply. Panix lets me do it in any group,
but would surely have words with me if a moderator complained. Panix is
one of the few places where active policing of posts happens at the
posting news server level. Or at least used to. I posted a "uuencoded"
(ascii art in uuencode form) message just now to misc.test and that
wasn't blocked, so maybe they turned the filtering off.

I run a mail-to-news gateway for a low-volume moderated group where the
official source has lost a local news server, so I'm (my account)
posting once or twice per month with the header to a big-8 group. I've
also previously moderated an alt group, so things like "where can I post
moderator approved messages" is of some concern to me.

ObHack:

I took down my home made screen door last weekend in order to reapply
varnish. The door is wood with a metal screen, and I made it myself
because the door is very odd size so off-the-shelf screen doors do not
fit. I need narrower and taller than most. And since it is wood, and
exposed to the elements, it needs protection. Marine grade spar varnish
is my preferred protection.

I covered an outdoor table with newspaper, took the door off it's
hinges, and laid it flat to apply the varnish. But I needed to lift it
off the news paper so that the varnish won't glue it to the newspaper.
Looking around I found a pulp fiber drink tray in the recycling. You
know the ones, probably, brown paper in a 3-d molded shape to hold four
coffee cups:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61wdlVUB1YL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

I cut it up into four individual cup holders and put it in the corners
of the screen. They worked like springy feet to hold up the door and I
varnished away with no newspaper sticking to the door problems.

(When I first made the door, I assembled it with screws and then put wax
in all of the screw heads so that varnish won't clog them. That wax is
still there, and I have not yet needed to disassemble the door itself.
If I ever need to change the screen, I will need to take some screws
out. This is not constructed with splines to hold the screen in place.)

The door is back in place and the spar varnish looks great, so shiny and
glossy.

Elijah
------
was thinking of making little stands with cardboard and tape at first

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#83 — varnishing screen doors (was Re: AA Battery Hack)

Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> writes:
> I covered an outdoor table with newspaper, took the door off its
> hinges, and laid it flat to apply the varnish. But I needed to lift it
> off the news paper so that the varnish won't glue it to the newspaper.
> Looking around I found a pulp fiber drink tray in the recycling. You
> know the ones, probably, brown paper in a 3-d molded shape to hold four
> coffee cups:
>
> https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61wdlVUB1YL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
>
> I cut it up into four individual cup holders and put it in the corners
> of the screen. They worked like springy feet to hold up the door and I
> varnished away with no newspaper sticking to the door problems.

How did you keep the varnish from gluing the door to the four individual
cup holders?  Did you only varnish the side of the door that was on top?

Here's some foolish Monday-morning quarterbacking:

I guess making your feet springy ameliorates the wobble problem that a
three-legged stool solves with exact constraint.  Having only three feet
under the door would mean that downward pressure outside the triangle of
feet could tip the door up, but I don’t know if that would be a problem
when varnishing it.

I suppose the extreme version of marine spar varnish would be to use
fiberglass-laminating epoxy, and maybe fiberglass sheets too.  But maybe
you live in a place where firefighters being able to break down your
door improves your survival prospects more than burglars being able to
break down your door harms them...

Kragen

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#84 — Re: varnishing screen doors (was Re: AA Battery Hack)

In alt.hackers, Kragen Javier Sitaker  <kragen@canonical.org> wrote:
> How did you keep the varnish from gluing the door to the four individual
> cup holders?  Did you only varnish the side of the door that was on top?

Oh, I let it dry overnight, then flipped and did the over side. Three
day project, with two dry overnight steps.

> I suppose the extreme version of marine spar varnish would be to use
> fiberglass-laminating epoxy, and maybe fiberglass sheets too.  But maybe
> you live in a place where firefighters being able to break down your
> door improves your survival prospects more than burglars being able to
> break down your door harms them...

There's no latch on the door, it is held shut with a spring. Also, this
is the door to the back yard and I live in a place where there is no
easy route to the back yard from the street. I've never worked with
fiberglass, I do know that you can apply it over wood and still be able
to see the grain, like with spar varnish. Besides having never used
fiberglass, I also can just walk a couple of blocks and buy spar
varnish, but I'd have to hunt around to find fiberglass supplies.

ObHack:
I have a link shortcut maker I created that uses a DNS label as the
shortcut name, implemented with wildcard DNS. I've also configured my
browser to only suggest sites that have been bookmarked when I type in
the URL bar. I've come to find that I can use the combination of
creating a shortcut with bookmarking that shortcut to get around having
many sites I want to visit start with the same letters. In my case, I
have a bunch of "a" sites with "ar" being a big subgroup. So, for
example, I can create a shortcut dropping the "a" when it is used as an
article, and create shortcuts with leading letters otherwise. The "ark"
archive I use turned in "dark". And for some I just use new words, not
in original URL at all, eg "pave" takes me to a reference page, using
a QWERTY key layout shift for "g" to "v".

Elijah
------
has heard of Dvorak key layouts leading to vulgarity with "n" to "s" swaps

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