Feb 222011
 
DIY Multi-Monitor Stand (Part 3)

Wshew!! This was a serious exercise!! My arms are sore and my back is killing me!! Next time I will get bigger pipe wrenches (something larger than 14″) if I ever have to do this again. Without delay, here’s the temporary setup while I move my big desk… I’m just infatuated with these little HP […]

Feb 172011
 
DIY Multi-Monitor Stand (Part 2)

So, now that I’ve dealt with the VESA mounting bracket, it’s time to tackle the pesky problem of how to resolve the geometry of the brackets behind the monitors. As I’ve already mentioned, I want to maintain some adjustability both for individual monitors (pitch and yaw) but also have the ability to accommodate a future […]

Feb 172011
 
DIY Multi-Monitor Stand (Part 1)

First of all, I’d like to acknowledge all of the people that have inspired me to even think of doing this myself… Persimmon Gauge’s blog post – one of the first articles I found online about DIY monitor stands DrFish at the TechReport.com forum – first got me thinking of doing this entirely out of […]

Nov 042010
 
Halloween 2010

This year’s Halloween celebration was a rather special one for me. I actually wasn’t DJ-ing the event for the first time in many years! I was truly able to enjoy this year’s Trunk-or-Treat party at the Antelope Valley Church. Candi and I decided on a whim to be a “flower and bee” couple this year. […]

Nov 042010
 
New Intake Manifold  / Air Filter!!

I managed to install a new intake manifold / air filter for my 2003 Mitsubishi Galant today. Not too shabby for $30 on eBay. I’ll never pay for another disposable air filter again! Although it mentions that there is no need for “extra parts”, I found myself in need of a few miscellaneous nuts and […]

Oct 132010
 
How to Catch Fruit Flies...

So I recently managed to acquire a family of fruit flies in the house (thanks to a rotting watermelon I left in the trash can too long). As it turns out, they are immune to ant and roach pesticides (among other things). I was afraid they would never leave! But after a bit of web […]

Sep 252010
 
Can YouTube Fix My Car?

…The answer is YES!! I have been plagued with a noisy car for about a year now. It’s been slowly getting worse. At first, I thought it was the cheap used tires I had just purchased. Up till now, I would only buy used tires but this episode managed to change my mind. So I […]

Sep 192010
 
Some Amazing DJ's I'm Listening To...

Well it’s been a while since I’ve posted a review of any music and I guess I’m due… The two DJ’s I’ve grown fond of are from a new trend in doing some rather creative remixing work involving either a mash-up of old tunes to make a completely new product as Osymyso does, or pulling […]

Sep 162010
 
Triple Router Y-configuration

Well I finally ran into a situation where I needed to implement the so-called “triple router Y-configuration”. There are several pages that talk about it but the one that I got the information from Steve Gibson and Leo Lapporte’s podcst of Security Now. You can find a transcript of the episode here. There is another […]

Sep 162010
 
Church Networking Job

Another job I did for a church about a year ago. I just wish I had snapped a shot of the “before” condition! I added the plywood at the top, re-routed all the coax components to a more clean-running setup (and made room for the new parts). I cleaned up all the phone line cabling […]

Sep 162010
 
Home Networking Job

Just finished another home networking job for a client. Nothing too fancy but I did manage to clean up the “fire hazard” wiring that was running over the floor of their covered patio room (that occasionally would flood when it rained). Now all the equipment is tucked neatly away in a small cabinet at arm’s […]

Jun 162010
 
Custom Fileserver Wiring

I’ve slowly been working on this machine for quite a long time now. I started with a Coolermaster CM Stacker chassis with a micro-ATX form factor mother board. The combination of a large case and small motherboard gave me much room to work with inside! The CM Stacker has 12 full-size bays which I populated […]

Jun 072010
 

Oh Lamb of God2 Well now I’m mad I rushed to post the original recording a couple of days ago! This version has a few flat notes “fixed” and I added about 3 more tracks with a little bit of ornamental touches to the chorus. I’m really enjoying this process! It’s like having an entire […]

Jun 072010
 
The Baby Hummingbirds Are Getting Bigger!!

Well it’s been somewhere around a week or so since these guys hatched (we can’t be sure). The mother is rarely around anymore. We’re assuming that she’s very busy gathering food for the kids. In fact, we don’t even see her at night anymore (not that she would fit on top of them anymore). It […]

Jun 052010
 

Oh Lamb of God So I’ve been working with Audacity for a few months now trying to make multi-track recordings of my own voice and finally figured out how to work around the latency problems. In any event, have a listen to this recording. I was trying to figure out both a tenor and alto […]

Jun 022010
 
The Hummingbird Eggs Have Hatched!!

Well it took about twice as long as we had expected but after about 4 weeks the two hummingbird eggs finally hatched. Thanks again to my wonderfully 2″ taller wife, we got this magnificent shot of the nest and the two baby hummingbirds patiently waiting for mommy to return home with some food. We’re going to […]

May 252010
 
The Biggest Loser...

I’m not trying to rain on someone’s parade but I’m getting fairly sick of The Biggest Loser and the message it sends. I’m overweight –by about 100 lbs. I know I have a problem with the way I live. I also know that I have an addiction to food. That’s the truth of the matter. […]

May 192010
 
Finally a shot of the nest!

So I guess it helps being 2 inches taller (as my wife is)… I managed to do a manual focus and exposure shot and had Candi hold the camera right over the nest while mama was out briefly. Looks like two eggs in a rather impressive nest of spider web material and what appears to […]

May 192010
 
Update to the "Hummingbird Saga"

Well it’s been about a week since mama completed her nest and made a career out of keeping her eggs warm and tended for. I anticipate less than a week until they hatch. The nest has gotten larger and she now spends a great deal of time there holding on as the wind will toss […]

May 152010
 
We have a new "house guest"!

So about a week ago we started noticing one of the branches of the tree in front of our house (the branch that actually makes it under the eave) was getting a new “addition”. It took about a week for her to build the complete next and lay her eggs. Another week and the nest […]

May 122010
 
My Temporary Workshop

So I’m remodeling my house. Yeah, I know it’s been several years –and it will probably be a few more before I’m done. Hell, I’m hoping to get it all done before I die at this point! But in the mean time, work has to get done so I’m now working out in the living […]

Jan 162010
 
The value of good technical illustration...

So I’ve been working on repairing the parking brake on my wife’s 2003 Toyota Sequoia and had an absolute nightmare figuring out how the assembly all went back together. So I obtained the Toyota factory service manual and tried to interpret the exploded diagram of the system. Boy was that a mistake. I guess this […]

Dec 032009
 
Microsoft Security Essentials vs. NOD32

So, I’ve been a long-time user of ESET Nod32 for all my personal machines, corporate systems, servers, and client PC’s. I’ve heard many positive reviews for the newly-released antivirus and antimalware platform from Microsoft called Microsoft Security Essentials. My results were a little surprising and a bit disappointing… Read on for my full review. I […]

Oct 272009
 
Fun at Disney...

All I have to say is: my wife loves me!! So, for $10, I lost a full 30 years of maturity over a silly plastic light saber!!