Mobile Website Version

Friday, March 1, 2013

I have updated my website to display better on mobile devices, like cellphones and tablets.

X10 Challenges

Friday, February 1, 2013

For the past several months some of my X10-controlled lights have been randomly turning on. I have only recently had time to research this, and after days of unplugging devices and turning off circuit breakers, I found that my Lenox heaters were the cause of the random behavior. They were producing enough electrical interference to trigger X10 devices to turn on. I installed an X10 filter on the heater and it has fixed the problem.

This certainly shook my confidence in continuing with X10, and with X10 production fading, I would love to have a flexible, affordable alternative, though I am not sure one exists currently.

Climb the New High Mountain

Monday, January 21, 2013

As a history buff, I was aware of the secret code phrase used to signal the start of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941. The secret code was "Niitaka-Yama Nobore 12 08" (original Japanese, movie rendition), meaning "Climb Mount Niitaka". ("12 08" indicated December 8, Japan time, which was December 7, Hawaii time.) In 1941, Mount Niitaka was the highest mountain in the Japanese empire, higher than Mount Fuji. (It is the current-day Taiwanese Yushan mountain.)

I assumed Mount Niitaka was chosen because it was the highest Japanese-controlled mountain, but today I learned that Niitaka means "new high mountain", so "Climb Mount Niitaka" literally means "Climb the New High Mountain", the "new high mountain" being the United States.