Alan Dove’s Personal Blog
Recent Posts
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If you have an old G3 iMac, the original version with the CRT, and you start looking for ways to reuse it, you’ll soon come across the idea of turning it into a cat bed. Because this is the internet. Having found myself in exactly that position recently, I realized I could create not only…
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One Friday night in early December, Larry Krainson, W1AST, forwarded an email to the WMAFoxHunters email reflector, announcing that a hidden amateur radio transmitter, or “fox box,” was now active somewhere in the area, waiting for people to find it. The game was afoot. Having put together a tape-measure beam antenna and offset attenuator for…
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I’ve added a new subsection to my main site. If you click the “Adventure” tab at the top of that site, or just follow this direct link, you’ll find yourself drifting through an immense void in a tiny escape pod. Figure out your mission, and your true identity, as you play through this short narrative…
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Continuing my AlphaSmart keyboard infatuation, I decided to fix the one major drawback of the AlphaSmart 3000: the keyboard. While the stock keyboard is usable, it’s not very pleasant, especially if, like me, you’ve been spoiled by using a custom-built mechanical keyboard on a daily basis. In typical internet fashion, others have already gone down…
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Fresh from the inbox: Hey , I came across Alan Dove online and wanted to reach out because we’re working with other science journalists that are offering science journalism. Science journalists offering science journalism? You really are hitting those keywords hard, aren’t you? I’m currently working with a few science journalists on campaigns that are…
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I recently acquired an AlphaSmart 3000, a brutally simple word processor from the early 2000s. These have surged in popularity in recent years as a distraction-free writing platform, and now that I’ve tried one I’m completely sold on the concept. I won’t repeat all the praise that’s been lavished on these odd little devices (here…
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Sorting through boxes of old technology my dad had cleared out of his basement, I find a half-remembered piece of my childhood. After hauling the grimy components out, arranging them on my workbench, and hooking up the cables, I flip the switch. There’s a beep, then the chugging of an ancient disk drive, and a…
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I’m scheduled to give a talk at the American Society for Virology’s meeting in Columbus, OH in a few weeks. If you’re there and have nothing better to do on Wednesday evening, feel free to pop in.
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Laura is reading a thriller by bestselling author Ruth Ware, and the main character is a virologist. Here, she laments the prestigious, career-defining events that are apparently out of her reach. I guess we’re officially a big deal.
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We have a Nintendo household, and over the years have accumulated a small collection of the company’s amiibo figurines. If you’re not familiar with them, these are sculpted miniature figures of game characters from various Nintendo franchises, each with a little NFC chip in the base. By holding the figure over the right spot on…
