These stupid things are needed for cleaning guitars and electronics
This is one of those "you can find them when you know what they're actually called" things.
I play guitar and also work with small electronics at times. Both of these types of things need periodic cleaning, and both have tiny areas that are really difficult to clean just because of the way they're shaped. An example of this is the inside of a guitar tuner post where the steel string goes through. There is absolutely nothing out there that can clean that because the space is so small...
...except one thing: cosmetic swabs.
And wow, sometimes these things are difficult to locate. If you're lucky, you might be able to find them at your local department store, but probably not and you'll have to get them online. Yes, these things are wonderful to have.
Cosmetic swabs, as in "a Q-Tip with the pointy tip" isn't something you know unless you specifically know what it's called. And now you know.
How often will you use these things? More than you think. Anything you need to clean that's in a very small area where you need a precision tip so you don't splash solution (usually isopropyl alcohol) is where cosmetic swabs come in handy more than a little bit.
Cosmetic swabs also come in extremely handy for small electronics areas where you need to use DeoxIT D5. Clean a micro USB or USB-C port? A regular size cotton swab can't do that, but a cosmetic swab can.
If the whatever-it-is is tiny and a precision tip is needed for cleaning it, get a box of cosmetic swabs.
Why I will never own a Gibson SG guitar
I won't own an SG for the same reason I won't own a Fender Duo-Sonic.
Recently, I tried out a Gibson SG Standard in Cherry finish - a totally gorgeous instrument. The guitar shines in all the right places and wow, does it look nice.
Why did I try the guitar out? Two reasons. First, the Guitar Center I went to did not have it locked to the guitar stand (it is typical for GC to lock higher priced guitars to the stand so you have to ask to play it). Second, this is one of Gibson's lower priced guitars. Yes, the SG Standard I played was priced at $1,799, but that's a bargain compared to a '50s or '60s Les Paul Standard that sells for $2,799 at the time of this writing.
Side note: Yes, I know the Gibson Les Paul Tribute is $1,299, but if I were going to buy a Gibson Les Paul, it would be a Standard. Not the Tribute, not the Studio. Standard. That's the one that matters...
...which makes the SG Standard all that more attractive, because after all, it is a Standard model.
So what's the problem with the SG Standard? It's a problem all SG's have.
No, it's not neck dive, because that can be easily accommodated for by snaking the strap through the belt.
No, it's not the sound, because the pickups sound great.
It's the lower bout curve position that forces the bridge forward when playing the guitar in the seated position.
Confused? You won't be in a moment.
Look at the curve beneath the pick guard of the SG and where its position is. Now look at the same place on the Les Paul. Notice how the SG's curve (as in the curve going up towards the pickups) is further back compared to the Les Paul...
...and that's the reason why I can't own an SG.
When playing in the seated position with the guitar rested on the leg, the SG's bridge sits more forward and there's not a thing you can do about it. Every time you sit and play an SG, that bridge will be further forward. I absolutely cannot get used to that. The Les Paul bridge position when playing seated is just fine, but not the SG.
This is literally the exact same problem when comparing the Fender Mustang and Duo-Sonic. One plays great seated (the Mustang) and the other feels terrible (Duo-Sonic) all because of the position of the lower bout curve cut position.
As a playing-when-standing guitar, the SG totally works. It's when you sit down with it that everything is terrible if you play with it resting on the leg such as I do.
It's a darned shame, because said very honestly, I really like the look of the SG. But I can't own a guitar I can't play seated.
I place the guitar further back when playing seated in an attempt to get that bridge positioned where I want. That helps a little, but not enough.
While I wouldn't go Gibson, if were I to put the money down for the good stuff, it would be towards an Epiphone Les Paul 1959 model. I'd get all the good stuff and a guitar that rests on my leg correctly when playing seated.
The difference between CMR and SMR hard drives and why it matters
I just ordered a new-old-stock CMR hard drive, and for good reason.
This year was supposed to be the one where I moved away from all computer storage media that physically moves, which means no more optical discs and no more hard disk drives.
I was able to get away from the discs; that wasn't a problem. As for hard disk drives, I found out the hard way that yes, still necessary, but for a very specific reason.
Before I get into that, let's talk about CMR and SMR. Those are not brands but rather abbreviations. CMR is Conventional Magnetic Recording and SMR is Shingled Magnetic Recording. CMR is the older tech.
The advantage to SMR is you get more space out of the drive. The disadvantage is that for big file writes to the SMR drive, the write speed can slow down. A lot. For file reads, yeah, SMR is fine for that. If I were using one for, say, playing back movies or some such, sure, no problem. But as a backup drive, I won't touch it, hence the reason I decided to go with the older CMR...
...which is not exactly easy to come by in 2.5" form factor. What I wanted was a 1TB HGST brand drive (small, I know, but it's all I need), and I had to order the stupid thing from overseas just to get it. At the time I write this, it's on the way here. Why HGST? I have a 500GB HGST I bought new years ago, it's still working a-okay and I'm hoping to get a repeat of that performance in 1TB flavor.
In the 3.5" size, the go-to hard drive for CMR is the Seagate Barracuda Pro. All of them are CMR, start at 2TB and blast up to 10TB and well beyond that for storage capacity. It's the tried-and-true good ol' 7200 RPM CMR hard disk drive. If you need something enterprise grade, then you step up to the Seagate Ironwolf, which are also all CMR (but probably also loud since they're meant for industrial use). The Seagate Skyhawk, meant for surveillance use, is CMR and notably quieter, but that's 5400 RPM and not 7200. The Skyhawk would probably make for a fine backup drive.
The Barracuda Pro would still be my pick if I were going the 3.5" size route. Grab one of those, install it in a box or an enclosure and you're good to go.
I said I discovered the hard way that HDD is still necessary.
What I found out is that using SSD for storing backup data is a bad idea. More specifically, nightly backups.
Writing a large amount of data to SSD sometimes is okay. The same can be said for any flash memory. If you have 5GB or more that you write to the media periodically, that's fine. If however this is done daily, that's when problems can happen with flash memory.
I didn't lose any data when I attempted to use SSD for nightly backups, but wow did the write speed dive. It was bad. With my aging 500GB HGST HDD, read and write speeds were (and still are) always consistent and speedy. No problems. With SSD, not only did write speeds dive but also fluctuated. Not wildly, but enough to raise my eyebrow and think, that really doesn't look right.
SSD as a host drive for the operating system? That's fine. Windows, Linux, whatever. It works. SSD for movies and music used write-once-read-many style? Again, fine. SSD for backup use? Not-so good from what I saw.
Why did I decide to use a 2.5" HDD? I already have drive enclosures for that size and I prefer the smaller form factor. But it's probably true what I just bought will be the very last CMR 2.5" HDD I ever own. After this, if I want to stick with a CMR HDD for a backup drive (and I do), I'll have to go with the larger 3.5".
For my host drive, that's staying as SSD. Absolutely. For my backup drive, that's staying as HDD with CMR. I thought SSD-for-everything would work, but HDD with CMR appears to still be the best thing for backup use, short of a NAS (more specifically, NAS with CMR HDDs in it).
I am a card guy
This is a real test of whether somebody actually cares about you or not.
Today is Valentine's Day, and per my usual, I did buy a card for the special someone in my life.
I'm writing this not to talk about Valentine's Day but rather the importance of sending and receiving cards.
Cards matter, and don't let anybody tell you differently.
Some businesses send out birthday cards. True, it's not the most personal thing in the world when a business sends one of these. However, any business that sends one gets a thumbs up from me because they actually spent the money to mail one out. Somebody working for that company thought it a good idea to mail out cards like that just to be nice. It puts a human face on the company, which is a very good thing. And I know that for a lot of people out there, those are the only type of birthday cards they even receive. Getting one of these cards will at least put the thought of, "Well, at least somebody cared" into the mind of the recipient.
The cards that matter the most are the ones you receive from people you know, be they family or friends. Whenever you receive a card, be it for Valentine's Day, birthday, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, anniversary or whatever it is, that person actually cares about you. Why? Because they took the time and effort to pick a card, buy it and mail it or hand it to you in person.
Anybody you know that sends a card is giving of themself to you. Always remember to contact the person who sent the card and say thank you. That's not optional. You do it.
Sending a card is a really good test to see if somebody actually cares. If you send a card but never get a card back or even a thank-you, well then... you know where you stand.
And while the internet is a wondrous thing that connects people in many ways, one of the absolute worst things is the e-card. Sending a card electronically has no thought and no effort behind it at all. The only thing worse is sending a text message. And the absolute most bottom-of-the-barrel thing one can do is sending a text message with one emoji in it. Doing something like that is totally lazy and insulting.
However, a phone call where you speak nice wishes to somebody is okay. It's not as good as a physical card, but at least taking the time to dial, call and say something nice to somebody takes actual effort.
I've encountered people who make very lame excuses why they didn't send a card. I'll send them one, then ask later if they received it since they never said thanks or sent a card in return. They say yes, they received it, and then comes the lame excuse of why they didn't send one.
Example: I mailed a card to somebody some years back, waited, and there was no return card or even a thank-you. About a week later during a phone call with them, I asked if they received the card I sent. They said yes, and then I was told, "Oh... I don't do, um.. cards..." That means a) they received my card, b) could have said thanks for the card but didn't, and c) never thought once that maybe they should send a card in a return.
I don't talk to that person anymore.
Does this mean you always have to send a return card? No. But if you care about who sent the card at all, at least return contact and say thanks. If you don't, the only thing you'll ever receive for the rest of your life will be birthday cards from businesses for the ones that even bother to do that.
Installing USB ports in a house the easy way
It's becoming increasingly necessary to do this...
...and I don't consider that a bad thing.
Examine a wall charger with outlet extender. You get 5 conventional power outlets 3 USB ports and 1 USB-C port for powering/charging stuff. This could be complemented with some USB-C cables.
Installation of one of these is stupidly easy. Unscrew the center post for a standard two-outlet plate, push on the USB wall charger, screw in the center post, done. The only tool you need is a small screwdriver for that center post.
And believe me, yes, it's necessary to use that center post so the wall charger stays put. Don't skip that part.
Best to get used to USB-C now
The reason? Spec 2.1 of USB-C can support 240 watts. The previous spec was 100 watts.
Even if you can't bump to USB-C v2.1 and have to use the 100-watt spec, get the wall charger anyway because it's cheap and overall better than using a USB hub or your computer to charge/power stuff with.