You can get a visa to China in Vietnam. It’s not particularly easy, but it is quite possible. I write this because there is little tolerance for error - if you forget to submit some paperwork and get denied, you can’t reapply in Vietnam. You’ll have to apply in another country. The following is for a US citizen, but the requirements are identical for most countries, except Americans pay much more for the visa! ...
You can see the highlights of Vientiane, Laos in one long day. A scooter will be the cheapest way if you want to see the downtown sights + Buddha park. A bicycle will allow you to see everything in 5 hours. Walking is a great option as well, as you can use a tuktuk at the end of the day! Sights A - Sisaket Temple B - That Dam ...
This ORS (oral rehydration solution) is 10 times cheaper than Pedialyte and contains a wider array of electrolytes. Gatorade, in comparison, is a low electrolyte, high sugar mix and has nothing on this ORS besides marketing. I wanted something to mute hangovers or to drink after a long day of sweating. But I don’t want to spend $4 on Pedialyte or drink a gallon of sugary Gatorade. This ORS closely follows the nutritional profile of Pedialyte. The ingredients are similar too, excluding Pedialyte’s additives to improve solubility and shelf life. As a powder, it is more convenient. Compared to a $4 bottle of Pedialyte, 1 liter of this ORS costs about 41 cents! ...
This is a conversion of a convection toaster oven into a SMD reflow oven. I took a standard toaster oven then added insulation, ControlLeo2 controller, temperature sensor, cooling fan, and a front panel. It has excellent thermal properties and follows a reflow profile well. I bought the ControlLeo2for the reflow controller. It features PID control and is overall good. Still has shortcomings. I had to heavily modify it to make it fit in the front panel. A different LCD (8×2 or 8×4) and a new PCB layout would make this board slim enough to fit. Additionally, I had some issues with LCD corruption and had to modify the software. I am also disappointed with the lack of PID control for the cooling fan. ...
This is a great bluetooth speaker - loud, good sound quality, waterproof, and durable. Yet sometimes it has bluetooth problems, playback problems, and doesn’t work when in motion (like in a backpack). I opened this up to look for issues. I found none. Note that you are removing glued pieces and may lose some waterproofing. Mine still seems very water resistant, but I wouldn’t dunk it in a lake. ...
Recently I looked at the back of a hot dog package and I regret it. Not because of the ingredients list. The nutrition facts. Think about this. One pound of pork has 95g of protein. One pound of chicken breast contains 136g of protein. One pound of cheap hot dogs (which are composed of pork and chicken) contains just 32g of protein. And yet, they aren’t much cheaper than chicken breast! ...
Cold showers are like meditating - there should be more of it in your life, but it’s difficult to habitualize. I enjoy hot showers, so cold showers are difficult for me. And most of the advice on the subject hinders rather than helps. Below are the techniques and mindset that has helped me habitualize cold morning showers. Use less water pressure. My shower’s water pressure rivals a fire hydrant, which isn’t very pleasant. I’ve found partially turning on the shower, so less water comes out, improves the experience. ...
This guide is for removing keys off a Lenovo ThinkPad T450s and should also work for the T430, T440, T450, and T460. There are fragile retaining clips on the underside of each key. Repetitive removal will surely break them. Once the clip breaks, it must be replaced. Key Removal Wedge your finger underneath the upper left and pull directly up until you hear a single click. ...
The Osprey Porter 46 and Osprey Farpoint 40 backpacks are both excellent choices for travel backpacks. I was looking for an ideal backpack for long-term travel and was considering these two. Both backpacks seem quite similar online but are very different in real life. Each is suited to different styles of travel. The Porter 46 is luggage styled like a backpack. The Farpoint 40 is a backpack styled like luggage. ...
I use Neewer’s hot shoe LED lights for a variety of purposes - photography, video, and scanning negatives. The CN-160 is incredibly bright and dimmable. Unfortunately, it is designed to take 6xAA batteries. Or, if you have the right camera, you can attach your camera’s lithium battery to it. I don’t like either option. I use 18650 batteries for my headlight and I want to use them here. I added a voltage monitor so I didn’t accidentally drain the batteries. I added a DC barrel jack for connecting to a wall adapter. This was for scanning thousands of negatives - I needed full brightness for many hours. ...