A Personal Blog on Science, Technology and Aquariums
Five years into running a Kessil A360X Tuna‑Blue, the unit’s cooling fan began rattling and soon failed, while the LED and driver remained fully functional. In this post I walk through how to disassemble the light, identify a suitable 12 V replacement fan, and splice it directly onto the heatsink using simple tools. The result is a quiet, working fan that restores the light’s function if like me,…
Just wanted to share this cool project I ve been working on. So, it started when I offered to make a prosthetic leg cover for a friend. At first, I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to do it, but why not give it a shot? I usually design and print more functional or mechanical Continue reading A 3D Printing Journey: Creating a Custom Prosthetic Leg Cover
As a preclinical researcher working in a lab environment, my day-to-day work focuses on developing new treatments, diagnostics, and vaccines for tuberculosis (TB). However, I recently had the opportunity to participate in a site visit during the 7th Global Forum on TB Vaccines in Rio De Janeiro, which gave me a glimpse into the clinical Continue reading My Journey to Rio De Janeiro: Exploring the…
While there isn't a native way of using the Quest 3 as a virtual display on Mac, there are many apps which can help with this function. These are the ones that I've tried.
The introduction of transparency effects in 2014 on MacOS was a step backwards in usability and power efficiency. Turning off transparency in system preferences could increase UI responsiveness and decrease power consumption on Intel Macs. Fast forward to 2022, do transparency effects have so much of an impact on Apple Silicon Macs?
MiniLED, baby Apple s shift towards MiniLED display technology on the 2021 M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro s represents a huge leap in image quality as many reviewers have found. Contrast and colour accuracy are best in class, and blooming (a common issue with Full Array Local Dimming (FALD) displays) is well controlled. However, one aspect of MiniLED Continue reading Power Consumption Implications of…
MacBooks tend to run their fans conservatively, opting to prioritise low noise at the expense of higher surface temperatures. This is particularly true for Intel Macs which can get much warmer during normal use unlike their Apple Silicon counterparts. Fan control applications like Macs Fan Control of TG Pro allow you to set custom fan Continue reading Fan Control on MacBook Pro
The Vietnamese Cardinal Minnow (Tanicthys micagammae) are one of my favourite fishes in the hobby (no bias due to their country of origin). They’re very easily overlooked when compared to more flashy and iridescent fish and don’t stand out too much in an aquascape, but upon closer inspection their colours and behaviours are a joy to watch in a home aquarium.
RO/DI water is almost pure and has several uses in fishkeeping especially in marine aquariums. In freshwater aquariums, RO/DI water can be used routinely in auto-top-offs to prevent GH/KH accumulating when topping up due to evaporation. Carefully mixing London tap water with RO/DI reduces water hardness to better replicate some conditions found in the wild. Continue reading New RO/DI system
I’ve always been a massive fan of IEMs ever since my first pair of Shure SE315’s I bought a decade ago, and still use my second-hand SE846’s on a daily basis. The SE846 retains Shure’s signature slightly mid-forward/relaxed treble sound signature but is also able to deliver subwoofer-like performance when tracks call for it. I’ve Continue reading Bringing the 6-year old Shure SE846 into 2020
With every release of Mac OS comes a host of bugs and issues for users. A particularly annoying one in Mac OS High Sierra (10.13) involves the dGPU underperforming in graphically intensive applications after the system has been asleep for a few hours. Users typically report a massive drop in FPS in games and performance Continue reading dGPU Low Performance Bug in MacOS 10.13 High Sierra
Apple has used multiple GPU’s in their 15” MacBook Pro’s since 2011, and have also implemented a system to automatically switch between the slower but power efficient integrated GPU (iGPU) and higher performance discrete GPU (dGPU) depending on what the user’s applications require. At first, many applications didn’t play nice with automatic graphics switching and Continue reading Automatic…
Trying to debunk a persistent myth in the aquarium hobby
I noticed that the fans in my 15” 2016 “Touchbar” MacBook Pro have been making a strange rattling sound when they spin up, so I decided to open it up and investigate.
Biotope There is something quite rewarding about setting up a biotope tank. With high lighting, dosing and CO2 readily available to more everyday hobbyists, it is tempting to go the purely artistic route and select plants, fish and decor for our tanks that look nice and have aesthetic appeal together. But sometimes, it’s nice to Continue reading Easy-Peasy Amazon Biotope Aquarium
I remember upgrading to Yosemite last year and immediately realising my Mac’s performance deteriorate. Battery life was significantly shorter and switching between spaces and windows was sluggish. It seemed like all the improvements to battery life and performance made in Mavericks was to offset the bloated mess that Yosemite turned out to be, and that Continue reading Turning off transparency to…
Most Applications for OSX behave politely in the background, sitting idle and consuming very little CPU time. There is the exception however which continue to use CPU even while in the background and seemingly doing nothing. Not only are these applications reducing performance of foreground tasks, but the additional workload also reduces battery life and Continue reading App Tamer (1.3.2) Review