Air pollution experiment (part I)

Another experiment using PPD42NS device to capture the air pollution (particles >=1um and >=2.5um danger for human health) on the roof of my house.

Im this new experiment I used the same device but another old notebook (very very old, it's older than 10 yrs!) equipped with an Ubuntu 16.04 distribution and LXDE desktop environment (one of the lightest de!).

At the time I'm writing the work is in progess yet. It will be finished in about an hour and it has sterted this morning at around 11 am. Thus, the following pictures was taken this morning:

My old notebook protected by a plastic box (I)

My old notebook protected by a plastic box (II)

 As you can see I protected my notebook with a plastic box in which I placed even its supplier (the idea of the box is of a friend of mine (a researcher who studies the atmosphere at the CNR of Lecce).

Arduino Uno placed neare the PPD42NS I

PPD42NS attached to a wooden stick (a broom stick :P) 

Vertical position with a view to the north: PPD42NS received the northern wind directly instead Arduino Uno was near there to capture each value.

Group photo: cheese!

Non vedo l'ora di conoscere i risultati!

...continue

Bash: download data from NOAA #1

It's going to start a new adventure: download data directly from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

Few rows written in bash useful to download data from the NOAA to obtain information about weather for the next days: a lot of data.

Here is the github project named ngrib:

ngrib

Extending the monitor: if the DisplayPort doesn't work

For a long period of time I tried to connect my notebook Dell with his related monitor to extend it without success.

The particular connection between those two devices was:

• DisplayPort standard cable as first port on the monitor (also this device was branded Dell);
• HDMI port on the notebook.

The connection (it seems like a movie's title..!!)

We usually have a connection which is HDMI-HDMI, but this is one of those strange cases in which the cable has two different ports on the different sides.

The first think a guy thinks to do is to buy a perfect cable for this case: I bought a wire with HDMI on one side and DisplayPort on the other (I spent 12€!!).

DisplayPort-HDMI cable.

Nothing.

It didn't work anyway. At this point my colleague suggested me to use a normal HDMI cable and on the monitor side to use an HDMI-DVI adapter. In this way I could connect the HDMI side direct with my notebook and the other side connected with the adapter and the adapter with DVI port of the monitor this time.

HDMI-HDMI cable

HDMI-DVI adapter

 Finally this solution worked perfectly!!

#RomaFF13 | L'anti-scienza - Il caso Ilaria Capua

Between Italians and Science there is a relationship of distrust.

Just think of the vaccines. But, the case about Ilaria Capua, internationl famous virology overwhelmed by a media false scandal that branded her like a trafficker of viruses, it's exemplary.

Now Ilaria reconstructs the story and elaborates its teachings. And a group of authoritative witnesses analyzes a collective feeling: in Italy it's easier to trust a fake news than a scientist?

Posterity will judge...

How machine learning helps scientists track asteroids