Helioza is a collection of thoughts, musings, lessons and images from a lifetime spent observing and wondering about this vast world in which we all live. Varied, and even eccentric, it veers between humor, technology, health and whatever seems interesting to me at the time.
Ray N. Franklin
This is where to find my books and stories. I’ve recently added science fiction or SF to my non-fiction writing. I’ll be logging each new publication as it launches. Stay tuned for much more to come.
Follow me on Mastodon: @rnf@mindly.social
Pack the Court SCOTUS Song
Sing the SCOTUS Song to the tune of Rock the Boat by the Hues Corporation. I wrote new lyrics to support rebalancing the radical right Supreme Court. Give it a try and perform for your friends, family, and congressional representatives and senators. Pack the Court.
New Science Fiction story posted on Helioza, Trending, A Man Story. What does it mean when every post-puberty male on the planet wakes up with man boobs? Charlie wonders, asks the hard questions, and finds the answers for you.
Just released, Galaxy Field Guide For Kids Age 4-8 is a new version of the older guide. This one is for children aged 4 years to 8 years. Beautiful images of classic galaxies grace the pages. Simple, easy to understand text keeps younger kids engaged as they learn about the stars outside our Milky Way.
Audio
Would you believe I still have the vinyl LP turntable I bought when I was in high school? It’s true, and while vinyl is not exactly cottagecore, spinning discs on a vintage seventies BIC 960 turntable is definitely old school. My articles cover a common problem with the old BIC line of turntables, and what to do if you make the same mistakes I did. Forewarned is forearmed. Then, when you’ve finished restoring your old hi-fi equipment, you can kick back and enjoy the tunes that made your teen years tolerable.
Water
In the Mountain West, water is life. The same is true in many arid places around the world. As climate change heats and dries out the planet, some places will be harmed more and faster.
Lithium Mining Threatens Andean Flamingos
Lithium mining in the Atacama evaporates 400,000 liters of water per ton of lithium, depriving people and flamingos of life giving water. Solutions exist. Your actions can help these people and birds.
Brita Advanced Filter Slow
Why do the new Brita® Advanced filters clog so quickly? They are rated for 40 gallons and two months, but mine clogged in just one week after only 10 gallons.
Composing Palindromes
For nearly two years, I’ve been working on a set of tools to help people write palindromes. You may not think a palindrome is so tough until you try to write one. I know. I’ve failed to write palindromes for years, decades. Now, it is literally possible for anyone who can read to create beautiful, original palindromes. Read more about these tools here: Composing Palindromes.
Cia, So Manic In A Mosaic
My collection of original palindromes is Cia, So Manic In A Mosaic. This book shares palindromes composed by users of Franklin’s Palindromedary. My palindrome compositions are examples in the instructional sections. They show you step-by-step how to use the tools at Palindromedary.us to compose your own great palindromes. What are you waiting for? Become a palindromist today!
RoHSwell
The RoHSwell.com site was born in 2004 as news of the new environmental regulations in Europe was spreading across the US. This is a high-tech section focused on regulatory compliance with RoHS, WEEE and REACH. It applies specifically to the electrical and electronics industries.
RoHS stands for “Restriction of Hazardous Substances” and WEEE for “Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.” REACH is short for “Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals.” All three are directives from the European Commission (EC) to the member nations. A directive is a set of instructions to member countries requiring implementation of local laws.
The RoHSwell site was one of the first to explain these confusing and very significant changes to the landscape of environmental law applied to high-tech industries. The RoHS-WEEE directives were fully implemented in 2006, but changes continue to trickle out. REACH was implemented several years later and there have been changes to RoHS as well.
As this all became old news, it made more sense to merge RoHSwell with the Helioza site. RoHSwell is now part archive and part reference. I still find new material to add to this collection from time to time. If you work in this arena, have a look. There are still quite a few gems to be found for compliance engineers.
“Brita” is a registered trademark of Brita LP.