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Nathan and Matthew are two friends and nerds that escape the worries of the world by building new things. This week, Nate built a HEPA filter, Matt shuts everyone off while meditating, and both dream of having the Perfect Panic Room. To escape the worrisome world, of course.
Nate and Matt are two relatively non-toxic, non-confrontational Gen Xers working in the arts and tech industries. They consider themselves "good guys"—often to a fault. But in a world that's more science fiction than fact, more dystopian than utopia, will Good Guys actually Finish Last?
F&%k that! They have a better idea: to sit around and bitch about all the worst clients, terrible software, stupid stupid current events, people with narcissistic personality disorder, and more. Will they find a positive spin amidst the piles and piles of lame? Tune in to find out.
Matt: Nathan Baerreis.
How are you?
Nathan: Matthew.
Yeah, welcome to the Negative Nerds.
Matt: A podcast in which
we both review gear.
We talk about gear.
We talk about automations.
Talk about things that
we have put together.
Basically, we talk about all the things
that keep us going through a week where
we know the world is going to end.
Nathan: Yeah.
Which seems to be pretty
much every week now.
It's interesting.
It is interesting So.
Matt: Interesting is a word.
Nathan: Yeah.
Interesting is an interesting word.
Is it not?
Oh, So I have a question is, is
last week's episode up already?
Matt: Okay.
All right.
So there's a little story.
Nathan: Did I win?
Matt: Oh, you won.
That you, you did better
than when my friend.
Check this out.
So I was working on this
on last week's podcast.
This is sort of what, what
we were calling 0.7.1 beta.
The negative nerds because.
We had kind of come up to this.
This, you know, we, we
we're we've, we've been.
The two of us have been very diligent
about making these recordings every week.
However I feel like we haven't,
we hadn't really found our groove.
Maybe in total last week or Yeah.
Last week.
And I was very excited.
I was podcasting.
We hadn't, we hadn't
figured out is how to.
Really work this system.
So it was taking a good bit more time.
I had to like, do a lot more editing and I
had to, you know, make sure all the voices
were in the transcription work together.
Anyway.
Nathan: Right.
Matt: So I was working on it.
I was like, I swear.
I swear to God, I was 75%
done and then four o'clock.
I was working on it like two hours
ago, four o'clock ran around.
I saw that I had an audio
test in the projects folder.
And I said, oh wait, I
don't need that anymore.
And I right.
Click to delete it.
Nathan: Oh,
So, so now we gotta, we gotta
back this up a little bit too.
Matt: Yeah, I didn't
delete the audio test.
Let me just put it that way.
Nathan: Okay.
Oh,
Matt: I know.
Nathan: All right.
So we got to back it up a little bit
too, because, because the, the bet
that was one wasn't really, even a bet.
It was just an offhand comment that
I made last week when we recorded.
You know, we have been fairly religious
about actually getting, getting together
and podcasting quote, unquote, air
quotes, podcasting every week for months.
You know, so we have, we have
lots of these recordings saved
and we probably won't delete them.
Unless we tried to delete the test,
but, or we put them on, on my direct
attached storage device, the Drobo.
You know, then they'll,
then it can be deleted too.
So.
Anyway, the, you know, we, we probably
won't delete them, but we just, neither
one of us is really into editing them.
And so.
Part of what's come around is
we've made the decision to trim the
format and make it less freeform.
Make it a little bit more organized
and actually create, you know, this is
for the two people who are listening.
And actually create a sort of a
click record, publish situation.
So it goes straight through,
you know, so last week we hadn't
quite gotten to that point yet.
Cause Matt is the automation
guy and he's going to.
Turn turn this into that.
And so the joke was that.
They would know whether or not it
worked if this week's episode gets
published before last week's episode.
So here we are.
When winning doesn't feel good.
Matt: When winning feels terrible.
Nathan: Kind of like losing.
Matt: Look, it's not.
It is not, I can go back and I can.
It's not like the original files
are gone, so that's not a problem,
Nathan: Just all your work.
Matt: Just all the work that I did.
It really was a pretty fun episode where
we talked about doorbells and automations,
and all kinds of fun, things like that.
But you won, you did win this.
This episode will
undoubtedly come out before.
Nathan: So, so tell me,
Matt, what did I win?
Matt: Let's see, what did you win Nathan.
You want a brand new car!
Nathan: Oh, good.
Can I sell it?
Matt: You won the right
to live one more week.
Nathan: Excellent.
I'll take it.
I don't actually know if
that's a prize or not, but…
Matt: Oh, yeah.
Or a promise.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This is a promise.
What are we going to
talk about today, Nate?
I've got, I've got a couple
of, I've got at least a thing.
Nathan: Okay.
Let's let's start with your thing.
Let's start with your thing.
Yeah.
Matt: It's light.
It's easy.
It's you know, whatever.
One interesting thing that you
and I are having fun with is
reviewing things on Amazon.
Nathan: Ah.
Matt: Reviewing products on Amazon.
And you actually have been elevated
to a Vine reviewer, a Vine consultant.
What are they?
What do you call it?
Nathan: They call them Vine Voices.
Matt: Yes.
Been elevated to the Vine,
which is a great honor.
A very mysterious.
Very…
Nathan: To be clear?
I never, tried to do that.
Like, my goal was not to do that.
It was just to leave a informative
review about things that I had
a negative experience with.
Matt: Negative nerds.
Right.
Yeah.
So you were just, you know,
We're just playing a character.
That is your self.
You were, you were not
playing a character.
Nathan: That's not a character.
I'm genuinely this negative all the time.
I don't know why you're my friend.
Matt: Because, because,
because so many reasons.
Anyway so, you've fairly
recently gained this great honor.
And yeah, I mean, you
can't, you don't know.
No one knows, the, the criteria really?
You can guess people have gas.
They don't really know it's been going on.
Anyway, so it's really fun because now you
are able to, you have a whole new world
of Amazon things that they'll send to you.
And for reviewing, and I
just got bit by this bug.
I mean, first the concept of, of having
things that could come, that I don't
pay for that, I just have to review.
That's just fun, right?
But then I was like, well, wait a minute.
I already have all manner of
shit coming to me from Amazon.
Just endlessly.
And so maybe, I mean, partly,
maybe I could join you as a Vine
voice, but also just for fun.
And so there's a couple of things that.
I I've really had fun doing.
I've just kind of gone through all
the, all the products that I've had and
made little videos and, and taken some
pictures and had a lot of fun doing it.
Today, in fact, we got these
little pieces of plastic.
We were stunned to find they don't
even have like a sticky, sticky
side, but they're a little tiny,
super rubbery stoppers that you put
underneath a big old chopping block.
Cutting board
.
Nathan: Silicon feet.
Matt: Yeah.
Yeah.
yeah.
Yeah.
And cause, cause ours for some reason,
just suddenly out of the blue started
like flip-flopping around, which is
extremely dangerous if you have a sharp
knife and you're cutting on stuff.
So man, I just freaked
out about this $7 thing.
So I'm going to, I'm
excited to review that.
But.
You and I both are fans
of a fella named Caleb.
Who has a YouTube channel
called DSLR Shooter.
And he's a smart guy.
He's obviously very good at what he
does, but, but he likes to do the,
sort of the little click baity,
five things under 50 bucks, blah.
Blah, blah, blah.
Nathan: I mean, he's
got a YouTube channel.
That's what they have to do.
Matt: Yeah, he's smart.
That's what I'm saying.
He's obviously a smart guy.
I really have learned so
much from that channel.
And he's done it really well and he's
not cheese ball and is really great.
Anyway.
So one of the things on that he found
on Amazon, he likes to find little,
just kind of like what we're talking
about, these weird little things.
One of the things that I saw.
You turned me on to the RODE
Wireless Go 2 series of wireless
microphones and they are miraculous.
They are miraculous.
For people who don't know
there's one transmitter.
That you, you can attach
to literally anything.
Laptop with USB-C.
Regular old mic cable.
And then the other side you've got these
receivers and the receivers are… sorry.
transmitters.
Sorry.
Sorry.
Two transmitters, one receiver.
The receiver goes onto your camera,
your microphone, your computer, or
wherever you want to pull in sound from
the transmitters, the microphones, but.
And these little squares, tiny squares
are above average microphones on their
own, but you can then add a separate,
better microphone from anywhere and
there's no latency that anyone can tell.
Anyway, The one issue is that
they're three little things.
The battery lasts for a long
time, but it doesn't last forever.
It's still a battery.
Because it's wireless, you
know, it doesn't last forever.
And so up till now, I've had this little
thing on my desk with three USB cables.
And I have to remember to
plug it in .You were, you were
crafty enough to build your own.
RODE Wireless Go 2 mic
box charging system.
Which is probably better than
this thing that I just got, but I
now have my own version of this.
And, it's like 50 bucks
and it's a very sturdy box.
Nathan: Yep.
Matt: Heavy, with like a battery in it.
And you just take your devices and they've
actually even kindly you know, separated
the TX from the RX and you just kind of
slip them in to these little slots and.
Nathan: That's just for
organization, but yeah.
Matt: Exactly.
Yeah.
And you just kinda click them in.
I said it and forget it.
And man.
It's so cool.
Nathan: It's nice to be able to
pull it out and it's always full.
The battery's always full.
Matt: Yeah.
Nathan: You know, and then if you're,
if you're on location somewhere and
you're filming something and you're
moving to another location, when
you pack it up, before you go to the
next location, you put it back in
the box with tops off the charge.
By the time you're over there.
Matt: Right.
Nathan: You know, it's
it really is gorgeous.
I think I built mine
in sometime last year.
I don't remember.
Matt: And also this also
doubles as a portable battery.
You know, I don't know that I want
to charge my phone in an emergency.
Nathan: Yeah.
Does it have an external, like a
USB port that you can plug into?
So good.
Awesome.
3d printed the inset for mine.
And then I used a Pelican 10 60 case.
And so that was really nice
because it's waterproof.
I actually put an external port on it.
That is also a waterproof USB-C port.
So that's a really nice sort of bonus.
And then when the battery dies,
I just pull the insert out
and I put a new battery in.
Matt: See you did make it better.
Nathan: Well, I mean, it's,
it's probably clunkier too,
not as polished, but it's mine.
If something goes wrong, I
know what I could do to it.
Matt: It's true.
That's true.
Nathan: And I probably spent a
lot more time than going to Amazon
and clicking and buying something.
I spend a lot more time
on the design element.
So, cause I had to actually
3d print the insert.
So,
Matt: This is something that we did
touch on last week, which was you build
hardware because you genuinely want to.
You put it so well last week.
Now, even though I edited, I can't
remember what exactly you said, but
you were, you were basically saying,
look, learning to build something
on your own is not necessarily the
time saving or money saving thing.
It's just, it's just the, I want
to know how to, how it works.
Nathan: Yeah.
It's, it's the, it's the joy of doing it?
I mean, my time would be better spent
if I went and did a paying gig and then
took a tiny fraction of that money and
went and bought the thing that I choose
to design, but the reality is, is that
nothing that you buy online is exactly
the way that you would've made it anyway.
Matt: Right.
Nathan: You know, and so, so by going
through that iterative process and
learning how to use my 3d printer
you know, I bought a bought a
transformer and I wired a plug onto it.
And then I 3d printed a housing for it.
And now it's mounted out front
and it's running my video doorbell
so that I don't have to be out
in the gallery all the time.
Somebody could just press the button
and I can say, Hey, do you want it?
And they say, yes.
And I go up and I let them in
and they can buy something.
You know, but building the housing, doing
all those things, assembling the parts.
I spent probably, I don't know, $15
on the doorbell transformer and I
had wire and stuff laying around.
And then the video doorbell itself,
I actually got off the Vine.
So my, my input to it was very low.
But the satisfaction of doing
it and knowing how it's wired.
And I think something that's interesting
is I can almost guarantee you that very
few people listening even know where the
doorbell transformer is in their house.
Matt: Oh, hell no.
Nathan: You know, so going to find
that to replace it is a whole thing.
Like they're going to call an electrician
and they're going to blah, blah, blah.
It's just a pain in the ass.
But, if you install one, you know
where it is, you can move it around.
You can do different things with it.
One of one of the revelations to me is
the doorbells actually function on AC
power, not DC, like everything today.
So the transformer doesn't turn it from.
From AC to DC.
Well part of it is probably because
whenever it happened, everything was AC
whenever they first came up with them.
You know, doorbells have been
basically the same since the 1940s.
And so using direct current
in a house environment wasn't
something that we really did.
You know, we were just, just getting
used to having AC power, much less
converting to different things.
So what they did is they put a step down
transformer that takes it from 120 or I
guess back then it was 110 volts it takes
it from that down to like anywhere from
12 to 24 volts, depending on the doorbell.
And so it's a much lower voltage, much
higher amperage, but a much lower voltage.
And, and it's just made to run forever.
And they did, they do.
You know, I've got a doorbell and in my
other building the warehouse building.
And that thing's been there since
the 1950s and it still runs, it
just needed a little cleaning up.
Matt: Wow.
Nathan: Yeah.
I mean, they just don't,
Matt: don't update it.
Yeah.
Nathan: Yeah, they don't die.
They've been making the same
exact doorbell since like 1948.
So.
Yeah.
It's just neat to like, knowing that
and knowing that history and knowing
sort of the elements about it.
That's the process that,
that fascinates me.
And that's what keeps me
from jumping off a bridge.
I mean, just, you know, that's,
that's the part of life that I really
engage with more than anything else.
I love learning shit.
Matt: No, I, yeah.
And I think.
You could definitely, definitely
argue that you did learn more
than I would have by spending,
you know, 50 bucks on this thing.
Nathan: Well, and, and more than
that, I mean, I think that there's no.
There are no original ideas.
Matt: Hm.
Nathan: You know, I don't, I don't believe
that like, like that idea was my idea.
I think that that's just it, you know, I
think that at this point in human history,
almost everything we do is iterative.
Matt: Sure.
Nathan: You know, and so just figuring
out how it works, you know, up until I
read one time that up until the industrial
revolution, one person could encompass
within themselves, all of human knowledge.
You know, so they could be a doctorate
in multiple things and be as good at it.
As any other doctorate, they could
learn all the sciences, they could
learn all the history, right.
And that after that point, when
we started going up that curve at
an exponential rate, our capacity.
We no longer can do that.
We cannot learn everything
that there is to know anymore.
And so we can, we can delve into the
minutia and delve into the things
that are, that we enjoy, you know,
but, I'm never going to be a surgeon.
And I'm cool with that.
Matt: Right.
Nathan: You know.
Matt: Yeah, no, no, no.
I get you.
You know, I love software.
I love software things.
I love, I love the iterations.
I love the Christmas present, or the
Hanukkah present, or the atheists…
Nathan: Festivus?
Matt: Gift?
I like the waking up and going
that's that's the thing that
I wanted from that developer.
And I think as a developer, that's the
kind of thing that I'm always trying to
fix and make better and find for people.
And I want them to wake up and
say, oh my gosh, it's so much
easier than it was last week.
So much better or
prettier or this or that.
It feels like presents.
Nathan: I think that you just
struck on the one thing that I think
binds us together, in friendship
and in this podcast, You know, we
both enjoy the iterative process.
We enjoy finding something,
refining it, making better.
And making it do specifically what
we want the way we want to make it.
But I think that like we said,
last week, you know, your approach
is more software and sort of UX.
My approach is more hardware
and making something through a
specific function on its own.
You know, and I think the beautiful
thing about that is that it's all
refinement and it all has to do with
paying enough attention to the thing
that it is that you're trying to do
to want to make it, do it better.
And I think that's that connection.
And that's sort of the way that when we're
just looking at the same issues from two
different perspectives and it's beautiful.
Matt: Hm.
I like that.
Nathan: Yeah, why not?
Matt: I accept that.
Well, along those lines, I've been
trying to automate all manner of things.
We talked last week, about how mad I get.
Needlessly furious of things that
I'm doing over and over and over.
Get tripped up or blah, blah, blah.
So.
So the one this week was I like using a
guided meditation app, it's called Calm.
I usually kind of live with
timers and things because I
don't have a great grasp on time.
So meditation is always the kind of thing
that I try to do in the morning when it
came to work and, and without fail as
soon as I turn on this app and I have like
my headphones on and I'm kind of sitting
quietly, like my watch will just go Bzzt.
Bzzt.
Bzzt.
Bzzt.
Nathan: Oh wow.
Matt: Because texting,
you can get to me, right.
There's certain things I don't let
notifications, but typically people
don't sit around and text me all day.
It's not…
Nathan: Is this, is this your
way of saying stop texting me?
Matt: Nathan?
God Dammit, Nathan.
Nathan: I didn't know that.
I'm sorry.
Matt: I'm kidding.
No, no, I'm kidding.
That's the point.
There aren't a lot of
people have my number.
Aren't a lot of people who text me.
It's basically you, my wife.
My brother doesn't even,
because he lives on Slack.
You know, my Mom, basically, not that many
people do, which is wonderful, but you
know, and then a couple of other friends.
It's it's only, like a group blank.
Right.
So this morning it was a
friend of ours got a promotion.
And so it was Lindsay and this friend
and you know, the husband and all these
things are just beep beep beep beep.
And it's fine.
It's fine.
I love them.
I'm not going to check it.
But it's already hard enough
try to sit in silence.
Anyway, long story short.
I wrote a little shortcut so that
when I open up this app, it sets
a do not disturb, which shuts all
those things down automatically.
Sets it for 10 minutes And
then it turns it back on.
Because I don't want to forget
that I have you know, this do
not disturb, this focus mode on.
Nathan: Yeah.
Yeah.
Matt: But it gives me the 10 minutes that
I meditate and maybe people are texting
me in that time, maybe they're not, but
it shuts everything down for 10 minutes.
And so I won't, I won't experience that
anymore, which is…[whispers] lovely.
Nathan: I bet you can breathe better.
That's that's an interesting
thing though, because we are given
to believe in, in our society.
We, we are given to believe that
if we're not on all the time,
something is going to burn down.
You know, it's that constant
fear that there's going to
be a crisis in that instant.
When the reality is that even if
there's a crisis, 10 minutes, half an
hour, an hour, Is not likely to make a
significant difference, in the outcome.
Matt: Right.
Nathan: You know, if
somebody needs you that bad.
It's going to be your wife.
Or they're going to be able to
get in touch with your wife.
And she's not really very far away
because your office is not far from home.
And if you're not answering for
an hour or two hours, And she
needs something desperately.
She'll come knocking
on the door, you know?
That's something I've been kind of trying
to to come to grips with in my own work.
I've been a wedding
photographer for so long.
And that's not really
where my heart is anymore.
And so, So I have been.
Having to come to grips
with the fact that.
I only have so much energy
that I can give to it.
Daily.
Matt: Right.
Nathan: And whenever I'm done, if I try to
continue to give to it, bad things happen.
You know, In my own head and in reality,
because I don't edit well, I don't
call well, I'll sit there and stare at
pictures for an hour and not do anything.
And then that, that leads to the whole
cyclical depression, because how can
you be a wedding photographer or do this
stuff if you don't do the stuff, you
know, if you can't do it on command.
But I think that, that by creating a
different kind of space for ourselves.
You did it with software.
I've done it in the physical world.
I've created myself a room.
That nobody else is allowed to come into.
This is the first time in my life.
And I'm 47 years old.
It's the first time in my life.
That I've ever had a space that's
just dedicated to my stuff.
I've had office space, but
always at home, which no matter
what you do when it's at home.
It's it's, it's got at least
two or three uses, right?
But here I have to physically come here,
I have to physically come in the door.
I lock it behind me and I'm in my room.
I'm in my space.
Matt: I've seen this room, but I'm kind
of in my mind hoping that it's like
one of those legitimate panic rooms?
Nathan: With like a vault
Matt: door?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Where you press a button and
like your sister or someone are
following you into the building.
And then you go get into the room,
maybe, you know, 10 feet ahead
of them and you press one little
button on the side and they're
just like, there's this metal door.
Nathan: And it has to have
that hissing air sound…
Matt: Yes exactly.
Nathan: Of the airlock.
Yeah, yeah.
Matt: And you, and you don't even
hear heartbreaking knocking happening.
That's what I want it to be like.
So, okay, so here's the question then.
I'm with you.
And I think that finding that
silence, finding that space
needs to be easier in life.
I do say that the Googles and the
Apples are doing a much better job
than they did when they discovered the
nightmare that they created for people.
But the truth is that what I'm
learning now is, oh, oh, I can't
just remember to turn it off.
I now have to actively force these things
to be off when I need them to be off.
And that's okay.
I build it once and it's done
and I don't think about it again.
And I just, I get that panic room.
I build my own software
version of a panic room.
And that's good.
So what do you do to keep from
experiencing the outside world.
Nathan: You mean in general?
Matt: So once you're in this room,
like what's to keep people from
texting, calling, emailing you?
What do you do from within there
to, to beat out distractions.
Nathan: None of the people that
I, I love really initiate texting.
Matt: Right.
That makes sense.
Well, we are of an age.
Nathan: Yep.
And so, I don't leave my
ringer on ever on my phone.
Matt: Me neither.
Nathan: So it's, it's always
on silent and I don't turn my
computer off of focus assist mode.
You know, so.
It's not so much, what do I do
to keep things out as what doors
do I open to let things in?
Matt: Okay.
Sure.
Nathan: So, so what I'll do is
I'll work on whatever I'm working
on or I'll organize my day or I'll
clean the desk or I'll pick my
nose or whatever I feel like doing.
Until I'm done with that thing.
And then I might go check my email.
You know, or I might look at
my phone to see who's called.
But I don't actively engage
anymore with, with anything.
You know, and that's not my default.
I don't engage by default.
Right.
So, so rather than having to turn
it off, I have to turn it on.
And that's that's how I kind
of keep the world at bay.
I've kind of reached that stage
where people don't they don't reach
out cause I don't answer the phone.
Matt: I guess I was just saying.
I'm exactly the same way.
Like I have.
I have trained myself now
to check email twice a day.
But I have to, based on business things.
I don't answer my phone either.
I thought I used to be
really good at multitasking.
That was a lie.
I was living a lie.
I'm good at doing two things at
once or seeming like I can, but
there's no, there's no quality.
It has nothing happening there.
So even someone talking while,
we're watching a movie or something
is an impossibility for me.
So I'm learning that the levels
of sensitivity to my focus.
To my my tendency to jump focus
to anything new, you know.
So that's all.
Yeah.
That's it sounds like you're on
the right you're on the right road
and you, and you don't have that.
You don't have the distractions
that I have for trying to change
things, trying to move things.
You know, trying to get away from Gmail.
Nathan: And there's also, there's
also the fact that the, where I
live there's less stimulation here.
You know, I mean, there's, there's,
I live in a tiny little town.
You live in Chicago.
You know, by the tiny little
town, I mean that there are
1600 people living in this town.
You know, it's this is, a different thing.
I actually have a friend that I
think I've talked to you about them
before, but I've got a friend whose
family opted out of electricity when
they were bringing it up the valley.
And so he grew up he's maybe
10 years older than us.
He grew up without electricity.
His kids grew up without
electricity in their house.
They still use an outhouse.
They've got a, they've got a
well pump inside the house that
they hand pump that they use.
It's wood-fire wood-fired heat,
you know, just totally, totally off
the grid, completely off the grid.
They wouldn't even let the electric
company put lines across the land.
Matt: So.
At a certain point though, why.
Do they feel like they're living better?
Is it a religious thing?
Nathan: It's not religious.
So, so this particular
guy makes moonshine.
You know, the, the moonshiners.
That anti-government mindset,
has been here all along.
So where I live is one of the few places
in the United States where the trail of
tears started near here with the Cherokee.
It started multiple locations.
It didn't only start near here, but
this was one of the primary places that
they, they brought the Eastern band
of the Cherokee from out to Oklahoma.
500 men stayed behind
from the Eastern band.
And we're so successful at fighting the
government, that they won the right to
have a reservation on their native lands
on their indigenous, their Homeland.
Right.
That did not happen with
almost anybody else.
And so when you talk about
like the Cherokee casino on the
Cherokee reservation that's here.
That is from those 500 men fighting.
Matt: Hmm.
Nathan: But that mentality has been
present in this area all the way back.
And it wasn't perfect.
It wasn't idyllic, but everybody who
came here was so far away from any
of the rest of the world that like in
the 1920s, a guy came through here.
And started the John C.
Campbell Folk School.
And initially they had a hard time
getting started because what they
wanted to do was to teach local
people how to integrate with society.
And so like, you know, what fork to
use and how to, how to read and write.
And be in society and all that stuff.
And they were shocked to learn that
the local people were actually really
very smart and completely capable.
They just didn't care.
So instead they shifted their whole
focus and started teaching and bringing
students here from everywhere else in
the country and later on in the world.
And now they teach 850 classes
a year, primarily focused
around Appalachian traditions.
Right.
I mean, there are other things that
aren't Appalachian inherently, but
things that were done here were
the core of their, their teachings.
So, you know, the people here
were, were smart, independent, and
didn't like to be told what to do.
And so that's, that's kind of what this
guy, you know, he got, he got busted a few
times for making and selling moonshine.
He's got a really nice truck.
You know, and when the city of Hazel,
North Carolina wanted to put up a still
as part of the of this museum that
they were building they called him to
build it for them because they wanted
to make sure they got it accurate.
So,
Matt: Wow.
Nathan: Yeah.
So it's, you know, and he just,
he's just, he's funny, man.
I mean, he's about my height, but
he is probably 10 inches broader
in the shoulders than I am.
And I'm not a small dude.
Right.
But he always talks like this.
He talks like this all the time.
My name's Luther.
Yup.
It was nice to meet you.
When I first moved up here, I got sick.
I had pneumonia.
And I was, I was dead to the world
and he came over and brought a
little pint of his moonshine.
And he said, what you do is you pour
it into a saucer, you set it on fire.
You let it burn for 10 seconds,
snuff it out and shoot it.
And he said, it'll knock you out for a
day, but you'll be fine when you wake up.
Sure enough.
I did it.
18 hours later, I woke up and I was fine.
Matt: What are you?
What do you mean.
Wait a minute.
What do you mean you are knocked out?
Nathan: It was that potent.
You know, I was already sick and it
was just ridiculously strong moonshine.
So.
Matt: Oh, my God.
Nathan: It was medicine.
I mean.
It was, it was fun medicine
when it was medicine.
Matt: Was it fun?
Nathan: I mean that wasn't particularly
fun to me for me, because I was like
bordering on the edge of pneumonia, but.
But yeah, it would have been fun.
Matt: Jeez.
That's that's amazing.
Yeah.
Did you have any other projects
that you, that you were.
That you wanted to speak a boot.
Nathan: Oh, I don't know.
I can talk.
I made that HEPA filter.
Did I tell you about that?
Matt: Did you.
Nathan: Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just basically a box
with a fan and some filters.
I mean, it's super easy.
It's quiet.
I use a Noctua fan from a computer fan.
Yeah.
Moves a really good volume of air.
I haven't measured how much air it
moves, but I use my little decibel meter.
It's no louder than ambient sound.
So I've put it up underneath
my bed in my bedroom.
And it's noticeable.
Matt: Damn.
How would you, how would you
hack a better humidifier.
You know, I've, I've learned that
the research I did this year was
definitely that the, the evaporative
method of humidifier is, is best.
Over the mists or anything like that.
And I don't, you know, you don't want to
have to get into the whole distilled water
thing cause that's painful and expensive.
How would you build a better humidifier?
Nathan: I mean, they're, they're
basically simple, you know, the
humidifiers and water heaters and
all that stuff that, that technology
hasn't really changed much.
Matt: No, it is, it is literally a
pot of water and a wick, some sort
of wicking thing, like a light towel
and it just evaporates and it's just
whatever picks up through the wick.
Nathan: So I think warming the air would
really help because it would, it would
push, but you would meet need to make
it point toward the center of the room.
Just point it toward the middle
of the room and that'll increase
the humidity across the room.
Matt: I see.
Okay.
Nathan: It'll it'll distribute it more.
It'll mix more with the
existing ambient air.
You know, the, the air
that's already in there.
And instead of being a stream of
supersaturated air, it will be
sort of like a a general increase
in humidity throughout the room.
Matt: Hm.
Nathan: Is the purpose of this to
go specifically for anti-static.
Matt: Well, No.
This started this year for me, because I
got back from Louisville, and, I just, my
asthma was, worse than it has ever been.
And so, I, and it was super dry.
And so I just did all the research
and we, we paid someone to clean air
ducts and we, and we, you know, spent
a long time trying to find humidifiers.
And I did.
I got a couple and it,
it, it really does help.
It does really does seem to help.
But they're always talking about how
hard it is to clean and how everyone's
almost died because of the mold.
And I know that these are probably morons
that, that don't ever clean the thing.
But in this process I found this dude.
That had, he was a musician.
So whether it's static or
drying out guitars or asthma,
Whatever it is it, you know?
Most people say evaporative is
the best, not the, not the mist,
Nathan: Yeah, the cool mist or whatever.
Yeah.
Matt: that, that stuff
doesn't really work.
But this guy set something up
in his, in his instrument room.
And it was basically a bucket.
That he cut a hole in
and a little towel rod.
And he had shredded a
bunch of like handy wipes.
He installed the fan on the other
side of the bucket so the water wicks
up, but the best thing about that is.
There's no buying or paying somebody
for, you know, filter wicks.
He just they're so cheap.
He just makes a bunch
of them replaces them.
Every week or something and he's done.
Nathan: You could also throw a
Raspberry PI in the mix if you
wanted to, or just an Arduino.
Yeah.
Matt: Keep going.
That's what I want to do.
That's what I was getting at Nathan.
Nathan: It would be very
minimal amount of code.
All you would have to do is have
it measure your ambient humidity.
Set a target value.
You know, or a target range, more
likely like a few percentage points.
And then have it turn on when it's below
and off, when it's above a cutoff point.
That's it.
So.
You just need the appropriate sensor,
which will probably cost you $4
and, you know, I don't know, maybe.
10 minutes, of Python code.
Matt: Oh my gosh.
And with that.
Oh my gosh.
So here's, here's the problem with all
the store bought ones, which run anywhere
from 30 bucks that, you know don't
work to I guess the ones that I bought,
which were closer to the 60 or 70 range.
And then, Dyson.
Nathan: Oh, sure.
Matt: 800 bucks just
literally I'm not joking.
I think it's 800 bucks.
Nathan: Some people have
more money than sense.
Matt: Yeah, well, I mean,
you know, it doesn't work.
No one says that it works.
But anyway, whatever.
It's hot as hell, but
I'm not going to buy it.
That's not my point.
They all have these monitors.
They all have sensors.
But they're all worthless because
the water and the fan is right there.
There's no way to accurately
gauge anything because it has
to be a standalone device.
So with your arduino idea,
Nathan: You do is get a longer wire.
Matt: But it, whatever
you want, multiple places.
You attach it to.
Nathan: You would probably want to
put it if since your, since your goal
is not to deal with a guitar, but
to deal with your asthma, then you
want to put it at head level where
your mouth is usually going to be.
Matt: I create a mask and I
install it in the mask wear the
Nathan: Put it in the mask, but it only
works on the inhale, not the exhale.
So if you really want to get
into it that way, you could just
put it on the back of your head.
Matt: Super comfortable.
Nathan: You know?
Yeah.
And it's like a little gimp mask
and you're just walking around.
And then there's something
for everybody, right?
Matt: Yes.
I'm trying to do my Bane impression.
Oh, Batman!
Nathan: You merely adopted the humidity?
I was born to it.
Matt: Can you put one in the
bedroom, one at anywhere?
Nathan: So, yeah, so that would
actually be really easy because
that is just an adaptation of the
same code that I wrote for the
thermostatically controlled outlet.
And that runs just fine on.
Let's see, I have it running on an UNO
right now, but you could run it on a Pico.
You could run it on anything.
Because it doesn't.
And so you can run it on an $8.
Ardino
You just need a power source.
Which, you know, you've got a
million chargers lying around,
so you just, one of those.
And if we want to get fancy,
we could use a wireless unit.
We could actually put the sensor.
On its own Pico board.
Matt: Roscoe P.
Coltraine.
Nathan: Good.
Good.
Some days, I feel like we are
young and with it, and some days
I'm like, God dammit, we're old.
Matt: So much.
I mean, I never, I never call myself
old cause I think it's so boring,
but yes, when I think about, I
Nathan: Okay.
I'm old and boring now Great.
Matt: I was trying to explain to
Lindsay the Dukes of Hazard and
she just, it just did not compute.
She was like, wait, whoa, wait a minute.
I mean, she remembered Daisy Dukes.
She knew what that was.
I was trying to just say like, yeah, so
it was a bunch of moonshine and rednecks.
But it was actually the
sheriff that was corrupt.
Nathan: Right.
Matt: It was so hard to explain.
I'm like, I don't know
what they were doing.
Like, what did they.
What did they spend their days doing?
What are they detectives?
I know, I know that I had
Nathan: Runnin' moonshine
and helping people.
Matt: They were helping
people, weren't they?
Like, they were actually
supposed to be the good guys,
Nathan: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Matt: Oh my God.
Oh my God.
What a world?
What a world.
Nathan: So yeah.
So what other, what are the projects
that we're going to do for next week?
Matt: Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think, no, I think that's, I think
that's the point of this podcast.
That there may not be next week.
Nathan: Right.
That's the, yeah.
Fair fair.
Matt: Let's see, I am really, I'm
really getting all in to the home
automation thing, just because
I'm realizing more and more like.
How much it reduces the stress in my life.
Nathan: Well, and then once you get
into, once you get into that and you
get into the Arduinos, you know, the
compiler is you just pick the right
board and it compiles it for that board.
Matt: Yeah.
Nathan: And then you've told
them what pins are input.
What pins are output.
You know, you tell it what to do,
where to send… like it's so easy, Matt.
It's so easy.
So I've got a system that I built for
the front that turns my lights on.
So in the gallery it gets dark here.
I don't like having lights on all the time
because I don't like the electric bill.
So I built a little, a little
trigger that turns the lights on at
5:30 and then turns them off at 11.
And it's just these little
RGB floodlights that I put in.
That light up specific parts of the wall
that you can see as you drive or walk by.
Right.
That's all.
That's all I wanted it to do.
It does it.
It's beautiful.
It's perfect.
I'm happy.
You know, and I get a little notification
whenever it turns on and turns off.
So super simple
Matt: Not in your panic room.
Nathan: But not in my panic room.
It's on my phone.
So whenever I happen to go check
my phone, I can see that it did it.
Matt: I love that.
Nathan: You know, but the it's, this
stuff is all really straightforward and.
I love.
Two things I want to make.
I want to show you how
to make the HEPA filters.
'Cause they're stupid easy.
You know, you basically get
any HEPA filter that is on
sale for cheap, super cheap.
The nicest one you can get.
And I like the circular ones that
go into vacuums because they're
easy to put a bottom and a top on.
Matt: Okay.
All right, so that's next week.
Nathan: Okay.
We'll have, we'll have our
prototype of the humidifier.
Initially, we won't
involve the pump element.
So we'll do one thing at a time.
But we'll have the humidifier.
Matt: Yes.
Okay.
Nathan: That's that's that's our homework.
Matt: All right.
Okay.
Good job as always, Nate.
It is fun to ruminate about
the end of the world with you.
Nathan: Word.
Matt: Okay.
Hmm.
Nathan: All right, brother.
I love you
Matt: I love you too.
Talk to you next week.
Nathan: Talk to you next week.
Matt: Byeeee.