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Author: Silveira

nem sonho nem valsa

Published by Silveira on 2025-04-16

Já não sou mais o mesmo. Minhas papilas gustativas já não são mais as mesmas. Tantas memórias de sabores que eu trago da infância são fontes de frustração quando eu tento saciar meus sentidos.

Comprei um sonho de valsa numa loja que importa coisas do Brasil.

O sonho de valsa não é mais o mesmo. Não há sonho nem há valsa. Nem eu sou mais o mesmo mas eu sei que o aqui não foi meu paladar que mudou ou minha memória que me traiu. É bem documentado. Sai o chocolate ao leite e entra cobertura de gordura vegetal hidrogenada.

É nítido o contraste entra a expectativa de um sabor, potencializado pela saudade, com um gosto ruim associado a um chocolate de menor qualidade. O gosto parece daqueles chocolates guarda chuvinha. Sem nenhum desrespeito ao chocolate guarda chuvinha, eles eram ótimos. Eles tinham o gosto que você esperava deles. Eles sabiam o que eles era. Sabe quem não sabe o que é? O sonho de valsa. Bombom sonho de valsa? Pra sonegar imposto eles dizem que nem mais bombom ele é. Opa, sonegar não, maximizar elisões tributárias.

Eu nunca vou perdoar o que eles fizeram com o Passatempo Recheado. O Choquito também se foi. Se foi tudo, eu acho. E prefiro achar, nem quero saber. Não quero ter tantas decepções.

Meu amigo, se você ainda tem a oportunidade eu recomendo que deixe esses sabores nos braços da saudade. Eles tem a marca. Eles lucram com a sua nostalgia. Procure o que há de bom hoje. O chocolate ainda existe e resiste por aí.

iPad apps curation

Published by Silveira on 2025-02-24

Some of the apps I used the most over the years. Every app here is a single purchase model and not subscriptions. Some app offer additional paid content inside the App Store or external paid or free assets from third parties.

🎹 Music

KORG Gadget 3. Music production, DAW, instruments. In a single app you can play, create sequences, automations, loops, export and publish a complete song from scratch. It’s the DAW I use the most even though it diverges from traditional DAWs. It’s technically possible to import or record voice and external instruments but it’s not the ideal tool for that.
💰 Price: $19.99* USD

KORG Module. Stand alone instruments ideally played with a MIDI controller (but can be played on screen). As a stand alone app it can be used as an set of instruments to just jam or play professionally. It’s instruments can be used inside of KORG Gadget 3 seamlessly or in other DAWs as AUv3 plugins.
💰 Price: $19.99* USD

* prices of KORG apps are technically double of that but I only buy KORG apps at their 50% sale that happens a few times during the year.

🎨 Graphics

Procreate. Paint, sketch, illustrate. Also does simple animations. Pretty much the de facto standard on digital painting on iPad. Great support for Apple Pencil. A no-brainer.
💰 Price: $12.99 USD.

Procreate Dreams. An stand alone app for 2D animations very familiar to the Procreate interface. You can use resources from Procreate such layered projects and custmo brushes. Very suitable to 2D frame-by-frame animation but it can be pushed further.
💰 Price: $19.99 USD.

Luma Fusion. Video editing. It works well and does all the basic features I need.
💰 Price: $29.99.

three-circle venn diagram coin

Published by Silveira on 2025-01-17 
$fn=100;

HEIGHT = 5;

CENTER_DISTANCE = 10;
OUTER_RADIUS = 40;
INNER_RADIUS = 30;

module inner_circle(position) {
  rotate([0,0,(360/3)*position])
    translate([CENTER_DISTANCE,0,0])
      cylinder(d=INNER_RADIUS, h=HEIGHT, center=true);
}

module logo() {
  difference() {
    cylinder(d=OUTER_RADIUS, h=HEIGHT-0.01, center=true);
    
    union() {
      intersection() {
        inner_circle(0);
        inner_circle(1);  
      }

    intersection() {
      inner_circle(1);
      inner_circle(2);  
    }

    intersection() {
      inner_circle(0);
      inner_circle(2);  
      }
    }
  }
  
  // piece in the middle
  intersection() {
    inner_circle(0);
    inner_circle(1);
    inner_circle(2);    
  }
}

logo();

half-hexagon in OpenSCAD

Published by Silveira on 2025-01-16 
height = 5;
radius = 20;

difference() {
  cylinder(height, radius, radius, $fn=6);
  translate([-radius, 0, -height/4]) {            
    cube([radius*2, radius, radius]);
  }
}

It works for these parameters but it needs more work to be really parametric. But hey, it’s my first OpenSCAD thing. I actually exported as .STL and printed it.

I’m back to 3D printing

Published by Silveira on 2025-01-09

In 2016 I got a Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer (model number 15365) for $200 USD. That was incredibly affordable for a 3D printer back then. That printer only gave me disappointments. I was never was able to print anything completely with it. My main problem was adhesion. The only help I got was online forums (there was a really active Facebook group about it). Debugging and trying different solutions without any success was not fun. It ended up just accumulating dust and occupying space in a corner.

Years later I found that my local library had working and calibrated 3d printers that I could just use. Just upload a .stl file and they would just email me when the print was ready. Also, for free. I tried it and it worked really well.

Example of 3D printer available in Fairfax Libraries
My head, 3d printed at my local library. I had my head 3D scanned by MakerBot in 2014.

So I filled some paperwork and donated my Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer to the library. They also had a lot of other cool technology programs going on. From now on if I need to print something I know I could just use the library. I promise myself I would not mess with 3D printers themselves anymore.

Now in 2025, someone in the neighborhood was looking to donate their Monoprice Maker 2 Ultimate 3D printer. Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. I got it from his hands, bought a spool of PLA Filament and started playing with it.

Monoprice Maker 2 Ultimate 3D printer

Monoprice Maker 2 Ultimate 3D printer technical specifications:

  • Maximum build volume: 200 x 150 x150mm
  • Filament diameter: 1.75mm
  • Nozzle Diameter: 0.4mm
  • Maximum Nozzle Temperature: 250°C
  • Maximum Build Plate Temperature: 100°C
  • Printing Speed: 20 ~ 150 mm/sec
  • Positioning Accuracy: XY Axis: 0.011mm, Z-Axis: 0.0025mm
  • Supported Filament Types: ABS, PLA, PLA Pro, TPU, TPE, PET, Metal fill, Wood fill, etc.
  • Supported Software: Wiibuilder, Cura, Simplify3D, Slic3r, Kisslicer
  • Supported File Formats: .STL, .gcode, .OBJ
  • Print Interface: USB, microSD card
  • Input Power: 24 VDC, 10A
  • AC Adapter Input Power: 100 ~ 240 VAC, 50/60 Hz
  • Maximum Power Consumption: 200 watts
  • Dimensions: 15.0″ x 13.4″ x 16.5″ (380 x 340 x 420 mm)
  • Weight: 33.1 lbs. (15kg)

I started just printing whatever gcode it had on its sdcard. My first prints were just adhesion failures again. That’s when my previous experiences from before were handy. I re-applied painters tape on the print bed, then the prints started to get further and further before failing. Then I got my first complete 3d print.

My first 3d print

Then I started trying with Thingverse stl objects, cutting them in Ultimaker Cura and printing my own gcodes. Here is the catch: the Monoprice Maker 2 Ultimate is a rebranded Weedo F150s. After I configured Cura to use a Weedo F150s the gcodes produced started to print with success.

Gearbox Keychain XL

The printer was modified to have this box with the filament spool over it.

USB cable extension holder.

A Cat phone holder.

Flexi cat.

I have now printed this flexi cat that took almost 6 hours. Do you know what I never got it printing correctly? That 3DBenchy that I always tried to print on my first printer. On this one it always causes the printer to shift layers and fail. Surely with some fine tuning of the parameters I can get it right but the lesson learned here is that sometimes a simple vase is a much better goal. Also, sometimes a 3D printer have more success printing larger objects rather than small ones.

Trying to delete photos from iCloud

Published by Silveira on 2025-01-03

I want to delete about 16 thousand photos from iCloud that I have already backed up somewhere else. First I tried using iCloud and Photos interface on Safari.

Safari

It can only delete 1000 items. It only alerts you about this when you have already selected the ones you need. Once it errors, it does not even give you a button to reduce to selection to a 1000 or simply batch and repeat 1000 at a time. Bad API, bad UI, bad UX.

Even when you manually select under 1000 items, it sometimes just errors. Probably because it is not handling exceptions properly when moving around the app while a delete request is still pending.

Native app

Then it happened to me that I could use the Photos app on a macOS Sequoia. I wish the web app (which does not feel like a web app on Safari) had told me that.

The native app did not have the same limitation of 1000 photos.

It took some minutes of almost no feedback in this progress bar but apparently it got the job done.

Now I have to delete these from the Recently Deleted Album in order to liberate my iCloud space. I could not finish this in the native app, probably because during this I turned off the iCloud Photo sync in my macOS.

Back to Safari

Trying to empty the Recently Deleted Album.

Ok, same error. But then I realize. Safari was still showing the photos I delete as not deleted.

I guess the macOS got really out-of-sync.

Google Photos

Because these photos and videos are already backed up on Google Photos, the Google Photos app could recognize they are already backed up and offered me to delete 5000 photos from my device.

This however did not delete the items from iCloud which was my initial goal.