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This computer, which predated Apple & the TRS-80, was instrumental to the beginning of “personal computers” and resulted in the creation of Microsoft. This in turn resulted in Linus Torvalds wanting something better so he created Linux.

Portable Power Station still at 100%

I checked a few days ago. Apparently in a about a week, my Portable Power Station has been sitting idle on a shelf, for a year. It doesn’t seem like a year. I last tested, about 6 months ago here, after sitting for 6 months. Looks like I did a 3rd (and I think final) test here, after I built my solar panel rack. I did coffee making tests earlier in the July 2025. It’s nice knowing it holds a charge a long time.

Perhaps I should use… drain it some and recharge.

Router power problems

Evidently using my Precor 7.2 E/L stepper/Climber put a strain on my electric outlet. The same outlet that my router is on. The Precor would trip a switch and turn off. After that the router would just randomly keep going on and off.

Both the Precor and router worked fine using an extension cord from the garage.

I could hear crackling at the on/off switch for that outlet. I’d plug it in and out and it was still flakey. Finally I just turned the switch rapidly on/off multiple times and so far it’s been working steady. Spoke too soon… didn’t fix it.

Obscure motorcycles

Obscure to me. My Log/Blog is mostly about Technology especially computers. But in the early days, before PCs were a thing I was into motor vehicles (basically anything with a motor), and animals (mostly dogs). I was plugged in back then to all the popular makes and models. Not so much today, although I’m still interested. So recently I’ve been hearing about Royal Enfield (an Indian motorcycle manufacturer) and Aprilia (an Italian motorcycle and scooter manufacturer). Apparently they both make fine motorcycles. I expect the Italians to make good motorcycles. But Indians? That was a surprise to me.

Does the Cessna 172 even have aileron trim?

In researching my aileron trim problem, I asked and received a response from Googles AI. As you can see from the first bullet point below, it states that the Cessna 172 does not have in-cockpit aileron trim. What does in-cockpit mean? It has out of cockpit aileron trim? It out side the pilots window on the side of the airplane?

That seems ridiculous to me. So you have to have your hand on the yoke the whole time? Or use autopilot? Which is what I’ve been doing from the beginning.

I noticed (in one test) if I was going North on autopilot, and turned it off. it would gradually veer right and took 3min 21sec to go East. I’m sure that’s not always the same time. But in 2 tests it always veered right. I’m sure wind could affect this. A little confusing because the plane pulls left on taxi down the runway, because of the propeller rotation.

X-Plane 11 trim or level flight

As I do from time to time… I decide I want to try and fly again.

However, X-Plane 11 trim is… the bane of my existence.

Or trying to fly somewhat level, without fighting the controls.

I asked (in DuckDuckGo)… is roll trim the same as aileron trim in X-Plane 11?

And their AI responded…

Yes, roll trim is the same as aileron trim in X-Plane 11. Both terms refer to the adjustment of the ailerons to maintain level flight without constant control input.

But I can tell you (in my case) that’s NOT true. I have 2 buttons on my Logitech set to “roll trim” there is no “aileron trim” setting you can apply to the buttons.

Jump down to “I solved it!” to make a long story short. I had already typed all of the below before figuring it out.

There are also keyboard keys defined in X-Plane 11 as
8 – aileron_trim_left, 0 – aileron_trim_right

If you’re flying somewhat straight. and you press 0 or 8 the plane will start turning to that side.

So, taking the above sentence into consideration, you would expect the same result if you pressed those 2 Logitech buttons.

But that’s not what happens!

Well the “roll trim right” button does nothing but keypad 0 does… should be the same thing.

But the “roll trim left” button works which corresponds keypad 8. Even if it starts drifting right, a few taps of button 14 and it goes left.

I’ve tested this numerous times by using auto pilot to first fly level then turning it off and using the joystick buttons.

BTW: I also use buttons 6-9 all the time, and they work as expected.

Yes I can level my flight if I press 0 and/or 8. But I don’t want to do that because that’s not how you fly a plane in real life… you don’t have a keyboard in the cockpit.

So I’m flying one day and the pilot dies. And I try and take control. The tower contacts me because I’m flying erratically. I say, I’m trying to level the plane. Where are the 8 and 0 keys? They respond… “WTH are you talking about?”

It’s one thing using the B key, that you use once to release the brake. It’s quite another to use 8 and 0 keys constantly in the simulator. I want a somewhat realistic flight experience.

That’s why from the get-go I didn’t want to fly by keyboard and mouse. That’s how they tell you to fly in their tutorial.

I solved it!

The button is broke.

I don’t know why in a earlier post, I said I fixed it. Maybe the key stopped working after that.

Here is my new joystick settings, that work.

If I press button 13 as I have here, notice the setting on the right becomes brighter. But that didn’t happen when I pressed button 15 (old setting), as seen in the 1st image.

Tested and now works. Hallelujah!

Haiku OS

I saw a YouTube video titled “This Alternative OS Is Unlike Windows, BSD or Linux”. And the first thing I thought was “I bet it’s just another Linux distribution”. I was wrong. According to Wikipedia, Haiku OS “is a community-driven continuation of BeOS and aims to be binary-compatible with it.

I find most of these new OSs very insulting to Linus Torvolds who created Linux. I’m sure it bothers me more than it bothers him. These geniuses create in a matter of months a new OS, with all the stability and tools that Linux has. Poor Linus has been working on Linux for years, and it only took them months.

Linus Tech Tips is pro Linux

Linus Tech Tips put out a video titled “I Don’t Think I Can Go Back To Windows…”. I think it’s pretty significant he has 16.8M subscribers. He’s mostly MS-Windows. But occasionally puts out a computer agnostic video. A few months ago he interviewed Linus Torvalds, and built him a computer. He and 2 co-hosts came to the conclusion that they are sticking with Linux in some capacity.

It’s significant… but is it a good thing? When it comes to Linux being mainstream, I have never thought it’s a great thing. I always think of the Eagles song The Last Resort…

They call it paradise
I don’t know why
You call someplace paradise
Kiss it goodbye

Calendar

I just assumed it would be easy to find a website that has a decent large monthly calendar for the current month. But so far I’ve struck out. Size-wise something like this (click to enlarge). Except this has no Father’s Day. You know the day that’s been around for over 100 years. Like the cheap Dollar Tree calendars have. You know a day I might like to see and be reminded of (if my father was still alive) on the calendar, and is on most calendars you would buy, including the cheap Dollar Tree calendars.

No Father’s Day but Juneteenth, a day I (or most other people) never heard about until a few years ago, but apparently it’s been a thing since 1866. The day was officially recognized as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021. Of course, Mr DEI, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

Shouldn’t June 13th be Juneteenth? We could start on January 13th, it would be Januaryteenth… and so on.

Juneteenth is on my cheap Dollar Tree 2025 calendar… of course. But not on my cheap Dollar Tree 2014 calendar. But Fathers Day is. Or probably any calendar before that, honestly probably not before 2021. Few heard of it… or cared.

What a stupid name Juneteenth. Before labeling me, I also think Generation Jones, which I’m supposed to be in, is a stupid name too.

I did find this. At least it has Father’s Day! And Juneteenth… rolls eyes. But it fills just a small part of the screen. The page is way to busy. Also frankly I don’t care about Catholic holidays. So it’d be nice if those were separate options.

I just want a large calendar with common calendar days and holidays on it.