Jack of Too Many Trades

Welcome to Jack Of Too Many Trades, or JOTMT for short.

This is a new site brought to you by the Andromedary Instinct (in the heart of Silicon Valley) and rsts11.com. I’m Robert Novak, your host and tour guide through a range of short reviews, comparisons, considerations for projects I’m working on, and more.

It’s also a venue attempting to earn a few bucks to cover the cost of some of the more esoteric items I want to bring to you, or at least to cover the domain registration fees. Purchases through many of the links on the site may earn me a commission at no extra cost to you.

Not everything here is tech per se–that’s one reason it’s not just a category on rsts11.com. The first post is deodorant of all things. But since a lot of my interests are electronic in nature, you will see a lot of that sort of thing.

Any photos not otherwise disclaimed are taken by me, of products I own and possess (or owned and possessed, if it’s something I lost or recycled or sold). I will try to avoid stock or product photography, and will disclose any externally-sourced content. This site has my personal opinions and observations, not a vendor’s marketing material.

What to expect here

You can expect a few things from JOTMT.

First, I’ll try to be detailed enough to make a meaningful read for you, but not so detailed that it’s a veritable novella, unless it’s something really complicated. And longer form posts will likely still live on rsts11 anyway.

Second, everything will probably start with some form of “It’s a….” A simple pattern, with a word or two of what is being talked about, and a word or two of what makes it different. There’s no point to my reviewing a dozen identical USB-C cables for you here. But if something has a power meter (spoiler!) or some other unique feature that might meet a specialized need, you may find it here.

And third, the affiliate links mentioned above. I do participate in the Amazon and eBay affiliate programs, as well as a few smaller ones. If you choose to bypass those links, you can just select and right-click on the product name and search the web for it. But I appreciate your support through those links. Any explicitly-commissioned posts (of which I think I’ve done one in 13 years of blogging) will be clearly labeled as such.

But wait, there’s more

Aside from the reviews of new and current items, you’ll also get an inside track on projects in the back of my mind, or stashed behind my desk. I’m planning to bring you some interesting antiques from the collection of the Andromedary Instinct (like the rather weird third party SPARC board in the featured image of this welcome post). And I’m open to your requests, suggestions, gear loans (if local) and donations.

I’ve staged this site to have a few entries for you to read from the launch, and I’ll plan to get a couple of items up every week for your reading pleasure.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!