Arduino Nano with IPv6

I haven't touched my Arduino Nanos in a while because they didn't do IPv6 with the arduino_uip library I thought would work. However, I poked around again, and found EtherSia, so I thought I would give it a try. In the intervening time, I have switched from Mac to Linux for my daily driver.

I went to the Arduino Getting Started page, and downloaded the latest version of the IDE for Linux. I connected my Nano v3 that has the FTDI controller, so I selected Tools (menu) > Board > Arduino Nano and Tools > Port > /dev/ttyUSB0. The software selected Tools > Processor > ATmega328 automatically (which is correct for the Nano v3, but not what the hardware-specific page says to expect). I selected the "Blink" sketch (the hardware equivalent of "Hello, World!", from File (menu) > Examples > 01.Basics > Blink), clicked on Verify, clicked on Upload, and my Arduino Nano is blinking at me.

The relevant output line from lsusb for me was:

Bus 003 Device 047: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC

When I run Tools > Get Board Info, I get

BN: Unknown board
VID: 0403
PID: 6001
SN: Upload any sketch to obtain it

No drivers were downloaded; it just worked. Despite knowing that I should quit while I'm ahead (so I can have dinner at a reasonable time), I wanted to try IPv6 from EtherSia! I went to Sketch (menu) > Include Library > Manage Libraries. I put "ethersia" in the Search box, it showed up, I clicked on Install next to the (most recent) version number, and that was just too easy. File > Examples > EtherSia > Minimal. I knew I would want it, so I brought up Tools > Serial Monitor as well. I switched it to 38400 baud (as mentioned in the sketch), and again it just works! I could even ping6 it!

Now I just need to see how it feels about reporting temperature and humidity from HTU21D over IPv6 into my monitoring. That can wait until after dinner!

TIL: Roku NASA HD

The NASA channel on my Roku wasn't working this afternoon before the launch; luckily we checked on it early enough to get through the ads without missing the launch. So I turned to Google, and I learned that ...

1. The NASA public Roku channel has ads (from the channel dev).
2. And more importantly, there's a NASA private Roku channel that is HD, with multiple streams (I remember when I couldn't watch the ISS because something else was on the NASA public Roku channel!), and no ads! (ref1 and Space Time, ref2 for NASA HD link)

Greasy Knees

A few weeks ago, on both Monday and Tuesday, I got a grease mark on the knee of my pants. The first one didn't wash out with just a stain spray, so I looked for other treatments. (What is it with me lately, and marks that don't come out in the laundry?)

• How to Get Grease Stains out of Clothes | Cleanipedia
• How To Remove Grease From Clothes: Home Remedies & Tips
• How to Remove Oil Stains or Grease Stains from Clothes

I am happy to report that dish soap (I had Palmolive in my kitchen) and a little scrub brush action before letting it sit in the laundry basket for several days worked just fine!

For grass stains, also common on knees, read Grass Stain Removal at House Cleaning Central, especially the note not to use ammonia, degreaser or alkaline detergent. I was impressed with how much peroxide and bleach removed (although not all).

The Battle of Chocolate Milk

There was an incident last month, between chocolate milk and gravity. Gravity won, of course; and I ended up with chocolate milk spattered far and wide. The Very First Step is to make sure no one is freaking out about this! A certain child was sure he was going to get into big trouble. I'm still trying to clean up the impact, but it clearly wasn't intentional, and these accidents aren't common. The hardest hit were a white teeshirt and my hardwood floor. (Of course the shirt was white. This can't be easy!)

After cleaning up the main splatter and the child, I ran cold water over the white shirt. This reduced the chocolate marks, but did not remove them. I tried soaking the shirt in water; no improvement. I tried soaking the shirt in salted water; no improvement. Salt acts as a water softener to make water-for-cleaning more effective, but this chocolate was more stubborn. Next I put the shirt in the washing machine and washed it in cold water with OxiClean White Revive Whitener. The stains might have been lighter, but were still present. So I did some research:

• How to Remove a Chocolate Milk Stain from Clothing
• How to remove chocolate milk stains from clothes - Laundry Advice
• Removing chocolate stains from clothing

Based on that research and availability, I tried soaking the formerly-white shirt in a solution of water, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda (I purchase the last two in large sizes because they're both so handy). Success!!!

I didn't try ammonia or an ezymatic cleaner or club soda (didn't have any); I figured the bubbles of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda could approximate the fizziness of club soda, assuming that's how it is effective. I didn't try cream or full-fat milk because I don't keep that around either. I have Borax; it's a component in my homemade laundry powder, so I figured it would be tested in the washing machine soon enough.

I've been known to forget what worked last time, so I'm sharing with everyone.

TIL: Geany and Shellcheck

I've been using Geany for a while. When I selected it, I was looking for a cross-platform text editor with convenience features for writing code because all of the IDEs I had tried were cumbersome. I wanted syntax highlighting and code folding. I was happy that Geany also includes auto-completion, project support, vertical selection (when that's useful, nothing else will work as quickly), and plugin extensibility.

More recently, I ran across Shellcheck and was impressed with what it detects. Of course I could use it online or on the command line, but wouldn't it be nice to have it integrated with Geany also? Sure it would! So I proceeded to look for a Shellcheck plugin for Geany, in a case of retrospectively-humorous linear thinking.

The punchline is that Geany doesn't need a plugin; it has a far simpler approach. When I open one of my bash scripts in Geany, the first menu item under the Build menu is Lint. Guess what lint on a shell script runs? Of course it runs shellcheck! So today I learned that the feature I wanted in Geany was already there in the most appropriate place ... once I broke out of the linear thinking.

Stay Well!

A friend of mine was in the hospital two weeks ago due to a condition triggered by a reduced immune system. That got me thinking ...

Immune System Stressors

• emotional stress
• physical stress
  • inadequate sleep
  • athletic overtraining
• smoking
• diet
  • high fat consumption
  • alcohol consumption
  • high refined sugar consumption
  • inadequate protein consumption
  • inadequate calorie consumption
  • inadequate vitamin consumption, including inadequate Vitamin B12
  • inadequate mineral consumption, including inadequate iron and/or zinc
  • inadequate water intake
  • food allergies, mostly if not avoided
  • food intolerances, mostly if not avoided
• UV (sunburn!) and other types of radiation
• chemical sensitivities
• environmental and occupational chemical exposure
• any immunodeficiency or autoimmune condition
• common viral or bacterial infections
• cirrhosis of the liver
• certain drug therapies, including prednisone
• blood transfusions and surgery
• over age 40

[1] http://www.diagnose-me.com/symptoms-of/weakened-immune-system.php accessed 2016-07-09

How to Help Your Immune System

• wash your hands frequently to avoid infection
• get adequate sleep: 8 to 10 hours a night
• exercise regularly, but do not over-exercise
• maintain a healthy weight
• do not smoke
• do not drink alcohol, or only in moderation
• drink plenty of fluids, especially water
• reduce in your diet: saturated fat, refined sugar
• adequate amounts in your balanced diet: protein, calories, vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids
• eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
• cook meats thoroughly to avoid infection
• do not over-eat
• to counter stress, try massage, mindfulness relaxation techniques, and spend time with good friends who make you laugh
• avoid false friends who tell you how to feel, and who your friends are/should be
• avoid allergies and food intolerances
• avoid sunburn
• avoid exposure to radiation and unhealthy chemicals
• control your blood pressure
• get regular medical screening

[2] http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system accessed 2016-07-09

The Three Bins

When I have something that I want to talk out, I try to place the topic into one of three bins.

1. The default bin is: talk it out, and forget it. Let it go! Luckily, a lot of stuff goes here.
2. The middle bin is my least favorite, because it's filled with what I couldn't let go of from the first bin. There's a reason why some topics continue to gnaw at me, but figuring out what is actually bothering me isn't always easy. If it were easy, it wouldn't be in this bin in the first place!
3. The smallest bin is my favorite: figure out what is actionable to improve that situation, and do it. I consider this bin the smallest because I'm always emptying it by doing what needs to be done. Woo-hoo!

So I guess that's: forget about it, chew on it, or do it. Let it go, let it stew, or take action.

And so goes the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bins.