baked goods and smacking the EPA

Today I learned that if you assemble PC boards (PCBs), after you position your surface-mount components over the solder blobs on the board, you could solder all those connections by hand, which would take a long time, or you could put your creation in a proper (expensive) reflow oven. However, it appears based on the work of the guys at Spark Fun Electronics, who cooked a few USB connectors trying out an ordinary toaster oven, that your best bet is likely a $30 griddle from Target, but try not to burn your arms on the sides. Also, they said:

As always, this stuff can kill you, burn your house down, or make your basement smell pretty foul. Don't try any of this at home - wait, you are at home. Well, just take everything we say with a grain of salt.

They sound like fun guys. I miss hanging out with the guys.

In other news, the Supreme Court told the EPA to get off its behind when it comes to tailpipe emissions because it does, too, have the authority and the responsibility to do something about them. Conservatives reportedly replied by screaming, "Oh, nooooo, the economy will collapse," but I think it'll collapse if everybody's kid gets cancer from living near the freeway* and everybody stays home to look after them, never mind that thing where everybody spends all their money on health care instead of Glade and Velveeta and cell phones that take pictures and play Underdog and.... Oh, wait a minute, I have one of those, so we're all going to die.


* Ok, that study didn't talk about cancer, but the one about the Houston shipping channel giving people cancer isn't posted anymore.