Finger Limes - aka Citrus Caviar

Finger Lime bush.

Harvest of Finger Limes.

Inside a dehydrated Finger Lime. 

Our Finger Lime bush has produced a bunch of fruit this season. The photo shows a recent haul and there is still more to pick.

Such a super little Australian fruit.  Lots of citrus zing and looks like caviar pearls. Awesome in mayonnaise to have with seafood.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_australasica for more info.

Citrus caviar...a little dehydrated.

Try some. Grow some.

The Finger Lime bush can be kept in large pots, they don't need to grow very big to produce a lot of tasty fruit. Ours grows well in Melbourne.










*I'll update the pictures with better shots of a fresh Finger Lime's insides. 

                           

Toasty warm again - new USB heated vest - first use at dialysis

This is the vest I purchased from eBay AU. Looking very stylish there in my pjs. ;) I got the large size and it seems to fit well. This vest isn't very long. 

VMFORN USB Heated Vest

The control panel (blue) looks a little 'star trek' like and lights up to indicate a working state.

The heat panels are sewn into the vest, with the USB plug end coming out a hole in the left pocket. This vest is able to be washed in this state. Hmmm, sounds strange, I'll provide an update once I put it through the washing machine.

There are two front pockets, they are quite small. A rectangular shape power bank just fits in the pocket but the pocket can't be closed. This is a small downside to the vest, I will look for a more suitable size powerbank (square?) so I can close the pocket and not worry about the powerbank slipping out.

Heated vest control panel

The control panel has two buttons. One button controls how many heat panels are operating, from a choice of 2, 6, or, 8. The other button is for the heat setting from a choice of low, medium and high.

The vest gets very warm on the highest heat setting, so warm, I needed to drop down to low/med a few times. I'm still experimenting with how the vest can best work.

I have noticed that the two front heat panels sit under the pockets of the vest. One of the pockets gets really warm due to the powerbank being active in there.

The smaller Heller battery (from the Heller heated vest), fits perfectly in the pocket. As the Heller battery has its own controls for heat settings, while it worked with this vest, it wasn't perfect. The control panel would flicker quite a lot when hooked up to the Heller battery. I won't be using the Heller battery with this vest again.

Apparently this vest can run off a USB port, for that to work, one would need a USB extension cord because the cord from the heating elements via the pocket - is not that long.

Like the Heller heated vest, the USB cord on this vest - is pretty flimsy - and it has the potential to break easily after repeated use.

I'm thinking to reinforce this wire with heat shrink plastic or maybe some gaffa tape. If I don't do this, I think it will break, just like the Heller vest.

So far I'm very happy with the purchase, I'm comfortable at haemodialysis again. For around $61 AUD and a powerbank (I already had) - this is well worth the expense.

As time goes on, I'll post additional updates about using this vest. I'll definitely include an update on how washing went.

Got another USB heated vest to wear at dialysis.

After giving up on getting the Heller heated vest working again as the wiring broke I decided to purchase a new USB heated vest.

Without the heated vest, I've been really freezing at my haemodialysis treatment sessions (even with three blankets). The heated vest I'd been using really made a big difference in the comfort department. Having to sit reasonably still for 4.5 hours with two big needles in my left arm, isn't exactly a walk in the park. Being able to stay warm gives a boost to being able to be positive about having to do dialysis treatments.

I ordered a vest via ebay AU - for $61 AUD - it arrived quickly. While it was shipped from NSW, it came from China or Hong Kong and clocked up some serious travel miles.  The vest works off a powerbank. It works off my existing Heller battery (which does still work). The vest itself has a button panel on the front to control the heat setting and to control how many heat panels are working. There are 8 heat panels in total - 6 on the back and 2 on the front.

At first I didn't get which setting was the high setting so I initially assumed it was only warm. After figuring out how to operate the vest and turning on the high setting...the vest is very toasty. Just on first initial try, this is better than the Heller heated vest.

The one drawback is the small pocket where the USB connection cord is - my powerbank just fits in it, but the pocket can't be closed. The Heller battery power pack from the broken vest, fits perfectly. I'm yet to figure out how this will work with it - the Heller battery had controls to drive the heat setting in the old vest.

I can't believe that this vest can be washed with the USB cord in it. I don't trust that claim and will do further research on it. I will also provide another update for this visit, very early days, only having just got it. Looking forward to being warm again when I attend my treatment session tomorrow morning for start time of 7.30am.

Not a joke... Microsoft to use Linux

Big news this week is Microsoft announcing they will use a Linux kernel (emulation architecture) in the next release of Windows. Wow.

See https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-is-getting-a-microsoft-built-linux-kernel/?fbclid=IwAR2bTfWhvM3XfoeVpaHOvgsybkBZ9dv48Ik0-h8RYqqAY0Gg7KhtonEyaVI for the news info.

Access via this big link of Google search results - https://www.google.com/search?q=microsoft+use+linux+kernel&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHmevf8oriAhXBe30KHVlzBRUQ_AUIDigB&biw=911&bih=365 will also turn up heaps of news and information about the announcement.

After all that FOSS/Linux has been able to achieve, and now with even Microsoft taking it on, people might appreciate the power and see more possibilities with this model of shared development.

Turns out back in 1999 - as a social work student - The Computerbank Project – is it Community Development? - A third year Community Development Social Work Essay- in conceiving the Computerbank project and using GNU/Linux/free/open source software for recycling and redistribution of donated computers - I (and others) was on the right track. If a bunch of people can create something like this (GNU/Linux) - for the common good and to share - just maybe there is still some hope for the world.

12-05-19 Update: Here is an article by PC World - How Windows and Chrome quietly made 2019 the year of Linux on the desktop by Brad Chacos

20 year anniversary of Computerbank coming up in November

This year in November is the 'official' 20 year birthday of Computerbank Victoria having incorporated on November 1, 1999. The work to get to that point had been happening since September/October 1998 or earlier. The first mention of the idea of Computerbank was in an article 'The People's Revolution' by Eric Wilson in The Age newspaper.

Just an idea, I think it could be something to have a Computerbank get together celebration event with all the different people who have helped make Computerbank what it is today. Running and providing services to the community as a self funded not for profit organisation for 20 years is a great and longstanding contribution that everyone (ever involved) can be proud of. It is also another example of free and open source software being a much better and longer lasting solution for computing. Maybe the Victorian Government could contribute funding for such an event as a way of giving recognition for all of Computerbank's efforts and contributions.