I have been doing some medium-serious designing, borrowing, appropriating, and just plain stealing some 3D designs and printing useful stuff this winter in between shop time, my J-O-B, building projects, and remodel projects. The video below details the printing and use of a couple of safety razor cases, SD card holders, and GoPro Session4 case.
Tag: Tech
YouTube Partnership Program Rule Change Rant
So, I am going to rant for just a bit, bear with me…
-Mounts Soapbox –
“Ahem… I set a goal to be a better filmmaker, content provider, and maker five months ago. Part of that goal was to reach the 10,000 view threshold to monetize my YouTube account. I did not plan to quit my J-O-B, or be internet famous, I just wanted to use it as a milestone for progress toward the goal and I nailed it on January 4th! 10,000 views!! I was so stoked that I woke my wife up way too late one night to tell her. My account was under review for 2 weeks and I was finally officially monetized for two days – two WHOLE days – before BAM!! I was demonetized with a huge group of small and smaller content providers. Son of a…
While this was a while in coming, it looks like the process/decision was sped up when a guy with 15+ million subscribers named Logan Paul posted a video of a suicide victim. 1st, what a fucking privileged asshat. WTF is wrong with people?! He should be forever ashamed, and spend a great deal of his YouTube revenue on suicide prevention and advocacy. What should’ve happened following the public and advertiser outrage was YouTube suspending or deleting his channel, but that dude generates SERIOUS ad revenue, so… What happened instead was that YouTube took him off the top-tier ad group and YouTube punished the SHIT out of the small folks by demonetizing channels with less than 4000 hours of watch-time AND less than1000 subscribers to ‘protect their core values’? Makes zero sense and this guy will continue to post and earn $$$ even at the lower tier.
OK, fine, fuck’em. I was not doing this for some mythical pot of gold. This setback is just going to make me dig deeper. I am 10% to the new threshold and I will keep slogging on. Keep making and doing. Post better and better content. This will make me leaner, stronger, bigger, better, more… A better speaker, better filmmaker, I will get lighting and sound for my videos dialed, have awesome content, and be a better person from it all. Success doesn’t teach half as much as adversity.
To all effected by the YouTube demonetization BS: Don’t quit! Keep slogging on. Keep making and doing. You too will be all the better for it. Send me your channel and I will follow you and help with the watch hour threshold. As I said, I had just hit the monetization before all of this and we will get there again. It will take some hard work but, we can all help each other out.”
– Dismount Soapbox –
Film Friday – Double Feature
I had a found (fly-away issue) DJI Phantom 3Pro sent to me as a gift by an awesome buddy – a SERIOUSLY awesome friend! I took a look and decided to rebuild the thing and see if I could get it back in the air. Here is that process:
From my second You Tube Channel – the one I use to share vacation videos and miscellaneous stuff – I present for your viewing pleasure: Snowboarding at Loveland and Winterpark in Colorado with great friends on MLK weekend 2018
As always, PLEASE hit the subscribe button if you like my content on YouTube. Thank you!
Da Grind 2017 Outrigger Canoe Race
Years ago, while living in Newport Beach, CA, I paddled some with the IMUA Outrigger Canoe Club. I LOVED it and learned so much about stroke technique, timing, Hawaiian paddling culture, and open ocean canoeing. SUPER respect for ancient Polynesian mariners! I made a crossing from Newport Beach Back Bay to Catalina Island (26 miles of open water) and it was crazy scary, really tough, beautiful, smelly, exhausting, and I will love the memory of that day for the rest of mine. I have wanted to join an OCC club in Seattle, but it is only just this year where my work schedule has allowed that and then hip surgery happened. So, this summer I am refinishing my 51″ wooden outrigger paddle (new varnish and adding a little Koa insert) and applying a “F-Bomb” logo to my carbon paddle in preparation for when I am back in fighting shape. I am also living vicariously through the local club and doing a little event filming and one of their big races this year, Da Grind 2017, happened in almost my back yard.
I drug my father-in-law over to Alki Beach early this past Saturday morning to watch the race with me and help out a little if I needed a hand with moving on the beach or hauling my pack – I am still not even 80% with the hip. I did fine though and he was into the race and event as he lived in Hawaiian for a number of years.
I got the drone in the air early and caught the start of the first leg and then the finish. The weather, wind, sky and sea was perfect for the race and for shooting video. I wish I would have brought another battery and that I would have had my big Cannon DSLR instead of my iPhone for still and zoom shots. Lesson learned.
Car Lift and Jeep CJ-7 Saga/Search/Information
Before putting 4000 pounds of 31 year old Toledo steel above my head for the first time I really needed the correct locations for a 2-post-lift pad placement points on a CJ-7. I like who I am and I have some plans for the next 30 years or so and really didn’t not want to be that guy who squashed himself in his own garage. It happens.
I have seen two jeeps on their sides at dealerships after falling off lifts, countless other lift fails, and have seen CJs put up in the air at least four different ways. I have had a couple of cars in the air since building the garage, referencing their owner manuals for lift placement, but not the Jeep yet. Again, I didn’t want to be the guy that drops his 4X4 pride off the lift in his own garage. I started doing a little research and asking questions.
After a fairly fruitless internet Search, I called the company that built my lift (it is a Rotary Revolution RPT10) and they referred me to The American Lift Institute (ALI) manual that came with the lift. The 2016 version of the manual only goes back to 1991 for most vehicles and when I called them, there was no answer that they could give me. They referred me to “a local Jeep dealer.”
I dropped in the one nearest the house and there was not an “old-guy consensus” on how to life a CJ: on the frame behind the shackle mounts, on the shackles, on the spring plates, on the axles, etc… My Chilton and Hayes manuals have nothing and I am still trying to source a good 1986 Service Manual (can’t find anything in the downloaded ’82) and would love an original Owners manual. I went by a 4X4 shop a bit ago and the tech there said “lift it on the shackles…” and posed it as sort of a question. I walked away swiftly.
So, relying on Cunningham’s Law, I asked the internet via the JeepForum if anyone had some documentation on where to apply the lift arms/pads on a CJ-7 frame and where the balance point/center of gravity of the vehicle was to put in-line with the lift posts? I got some helpful suggestions and a couple answers that were on the edge of trolling, but the general consensus from CJ owners and mechanics on the forum was to follow the guidelines for the 1991 Jeep Wrangler and their frames, suspension, and balance points are very similar: The lift pads are placed under the frame (centered on the pads), directly adjacent to spring hangers/shackles. Sounded reasonable and plausible, so I decided to go with that. The balance point/CoG is between my dash and the bottom of the steering wheel and that point goes on center between the two posts of my symmetrical lift.
I went ahead a couple weekends ago and decided to put it up and do a little general maintenance. After everything checked out – raising the Jeep 6″ off the ground and giving it a serious shake on all 4 corners, raising it up and down a few times, I spent 30 minute for full oil and filter change. I lubed all the zert points on the drive-line and chassis while I was there. No squashing or falling Jeeps. 🙂
A open letter to GoPro:
Dear GoPro,
I am afraid that our relationship isn’t working out. It is not me, it is you – most definitely you. I have been a loyal fan-boy for years, but 2016 has undone us. Let me explain:
I have 4 GoPro cameras, 2 originals, one Hero Session and one Hero 4 Black. There must be $400 worth of mounts and accessories in my video equipment cabinet and mounted to almost everything I own. I was the first in line for the KARMA Drone, and I own a few shares of your stock. Hell, I was at your booth/jam box at NAMM 2 years ago and gushed to the staff there like teeny-bobber. I was at the 2016 NAB show when you guys won the “Best Of” award. Trust me, that I was all in and committed to making it work between us.
I can’t say enough great things about the cameras I own. I love them and use them while biking, boarding, cart racing, 4-wheeling, diving, running, working in the shop, etc… I am happy that the engineers, programmers, and employees in the SF Bay Area can go to work and do cool stuff, get paid a living wage, and work on tech that millions of people use every day. So why are we breaking up???
I mentioned that I own stock. Have you seen those numbers lately?! Hmmm… Screwing up the Amazon relationship before Christmas and not having production capacity did not help after the KARMA fiasco. Did your Contracts Team not even flip through “The Wal-Mart Effect” before negotiations started? Yes, I am somewhat irritated at losing money because a great product line is managed like a PTA bake sale. Additionally, I have had a DJI Phantom 3 Pro for a year or more and it has never once fallen out of the sky. I had the KARMA for 3 days before I had to climb 30 into a pine tree to retrieve it after it fell out of the sky. Camera was OK after the fall, but I sent the drone back for a full refund. One of the smarter things I did in 2016.
The final straw though is GoPro Studio. Holy sweet baby Jesus, I wish I had all the HOURS of my life that have been lost due to crashes, auto-overwrites, searching web forums for patches, and completely re-processing almost half videos I have made in the last 10 months. A recent attempt to make a film out of a Christmas snowboard trip made me want to beat my computer with a hammer for even associating with GoPro Studio. I know, I know it is “free” software… Bundled software with a $500 camera and an $800 drone is not free. As of the writing of this post, the last update to Studio was in October of 2015 – that was 15 months ago, eons of time for software. I finally had to drink the Kool-Aid and use my wife’s Mac Book to edit the film in iMovie. I made a killer little film in like 50 minutes. The software didn’t glitch, hang, or overwrite my project. It was easy to use even the first time and it just worked. As a note, iMovie is “free” as well…
To be clear, I do not see any of this as a production, software, or engineering failure. It is an issue with program & senior management. Hire professionals that understand product launch logistics, QA/QC, beta test management, vendor & supplier relationships, and the impact all of this has on your business and investors.
In closing, I am sorry that you made me do this on such a public forum. I am sorry that I can no longer support the hard work of your engineering team and production staff by purchasing your products. Spend some time on you, work on who you are and who you want to be, and get some professional help. Maybe someday we can sit down at the table again, but I am going to need my space for now.
I NEED a Lister Diesel Engine
I have a big ol’ crush in Lister single-cylinder diesel engines. These stationary work horses were made from 1926 to about 1985 and were used for pumping water, power generation, inboard flat-water boat engines, and all manner of other uses. They came in 1.5-12 horsepower and would/will burn Diesel, paraffin, kerosene (as a mix), waste motor oil (WMO) fresh or waste veggie oil (WVO), bio Diesel, etc… They were and are so reliable that many of the originals are still running today after 90+ years of just regular maintenance.
After the parent company stopped making them, Indian firms started making clones for Asian and Southeast Asian use due to their inherent long life, simplicity, and ease of maintenance. These are called Listeriods, and they are fairly plentiful, but the quality swings widely.
Why do I want or need a Lister? Reasons. Why did I need a Millennium Falcon in the second grade? Why did I need all those Legos? I just did. Just like I just need a small Lister (or two) in my garage to tinker with and run various other machines that I just need as well.
I have been thwarted in my attempt while living in the US due to EPA regulations making importation verboten. There are some, both original and clones, around, but they command top dollar as they are VERY popular with the off-grid/prepper folks. I like “The Grid” just fine. I am not building a bunker, planning for any sort of societal collapse or EMP weapon defense, I just need a Lister.
I have found a couple here in France, but either the owner has been unwilling to sell or the logistics in getting it have proved difficult – hauling it 30 vertical feet up and 2km down a mountain path sort of daunting. I still haven’t given up. We know a British couple that have been here long term and the husband is a classic car/truck guy – he has a 1962 Unimog fire truck as a daily driver… I spoke to him this weekend about my need and he might know a guy who knows a guy sort of thing. I have my fingers crossed.
Enjoy a few videos of Listers in action below:
10/7/2015 Update
So, I found an engine here in France that was the right size and type, with an outstanding price tag – basically free. But, there is NO way I can bring it back to the US with me. We are bringing home Wine and other stuff that are customs red flags and they are going to go through our shipment container with a microscope. I think I might have a way to get an Indian import once we are back in Seattle, so I will deal with it there.
HACKED…
Son of a… My site got hacked. I thought that I was safe: A host provider I trust, back-doors closed, a random generated password, all the stuff you are supposed to do. I was talking on the phone last night and I noticed a “payday Loan” link just under my site name on my home page. Son of a…
This is a BIG deal. Aside from some ass-hat having a BS ad on my site, it meant that my corner of the web was compromised and the second that Google gets a whiff of it, your site is no longer searchable and you get put into website purgatory. It happened to me in 2005 and it took me YEARS to get it all fixed and to be back in Google’s and all the web filters good standing
I immediately put my site to sleep, scoured my site code for the offending link, and then searched the inter-web forums. It looks like the link was added via a .php server backdoor and was somehow attached directly to my WordPress Theme, so I deleted the existing theme and rebuilt the my main page and widgets. That seems to have done it for now, but I contacted my Web Host to see what they were doing about any possible breach and got the “We are experiencing a large call volume… longer than usual wait times…” message. No luck with live chat or e-mail either. Super pissed. I have been with them since 2002 and have never had a server-based security breach.
New Cell Phone Blues
My J-O-B issued cell phone was on its last legs: broken internal WiFi antenna, if I switched on “Airplane Mode” than I would have to power the phone down to get it to come out again. At the end, it wouldn’t text and I could receive calls, but not make them. It was a sad day when I turned her in to our IT department.
My iPhone was 3 years old; she lived a good life and was as good to me as a phone could be: We traveled the world together, took pictures in exotic locations, drunk texted my wife and friends, sent e-mail sealing $100K+ deals, jammed together on Seasick Steve and Hillbilly music, searched Wiki at the drop of a hat, we ran/biked/lifted together. I had the unlocked version and she took SIM cards from China, the US, Japan, France, Germany, and Morocco like a champ – nary a hiccup. She was my connection to the 21st century. I think her undoing was one to many drops while running and then I used her as a tether for 3 weeks while my home and office internet were down. It was more then her little chip-set could handle.
I was given an “upgrade” and a new Samsung Galaxy S5 showed up at my door. “Ummm, this isn’t an iPhone…” I uttered into the phone at my IT rep who sat in an office 5,000 miles and 7 time zones away. Don’t worry she said, smooth transition she said… Maybe Android will grow on me, maybe, but setting this thing up to be usable makes me feel like a semi-literate 5th grader taking the SATs. It only took 2 hours and two support calls to configure my three mail accounts, my contacts are floating around in the ether somewhere, I had to buy a couple Android apps to replace the Apple ones that I have come to depend on: Turbo Scanner and Photo Toaster. I use a budget/expense app that is not available in Android and my awesome classic pocket watch app, according to the developers, is forever to remain Apple only. Where the Hell is the flashlight function?!?!
My new phone also has the misfortune of being locked – both SIM and region. I had a wonderful experience with AT&T Customer Service, 4 calls actually, where I was finally informed that the only way that AT&T will unlock this bad boy is if my J-O-B buys the phone and the remainder of my contract outright and then pays them a substantial “fee” to unlock it 7-15 days later. OK, small semi-legal Turkish phone shop on a side street in Toulouse, I will soon be on my way to see you with 40 Euros in hand and let you settle this unlock business. Side Rant: I would like to mash the customer service groups of AT&T and Comcast together in Thunderdome and let them battle to the last. Really, really.
I will say that the screen resolution and processor speed are bad-ass! The thing is huge though. I am going to have to start buying pants and suits with bigger pockets.
Apple, why wont you just take my MONEY?!?!?
Statement displayed of the MacRumors website today:
“Apple’s “iWatch” is a smart watch project that Apple is reportedly aiming to launch with a special event in October of this year. Expect a ‘fashionable’ device running iOS with biometrics and other features providing integration with other iOS devices.”
I have been waiting for FIVE years for an iWatch. I held off buying the nano with a Lunatic band/case, because the iWatch was “coming out in the Fall…” every Fall comes and goes and my hunger grows for this bit of techie opulence. I never jump on board when stuff first comes out. I always wait until the 2nd or 3rd Gen, but I NEED an iWatch. Need….. Apple, please just take my money and the damn thing to me already.
9/9/2014 UPDATE:
Oh Apple you sly dog… you snuck my new watch out a month early. I need the stainless bezel, the stainless & black rubber bands. I pray the things it is waterproof – that is all I need before I drink the Kool-Aid. As soon as I get my grubby hands on it I will be drafting up and machining a pocket watch bezel cover, just because I am that nerdy. Let it begin, Let it begin…
9/22/2014 Update:
OK, I have come down from my initial Apple-Crack rush and have had time to look at the facts as they stand today…. Apple wants me to buy a watch that is not a stand alone device, I have to carry my phone for it to be “optimized.” It has a 24hr-ish battery life, is not waterproof, costs $379.00 minimum and probably $450+ for the Stainless model with Stainless band, has ANOTHER new type of plug, and is new tech… Dammit, I should have bought the Nano with the Lunatic case and beat the shit out of it for the last three years. I think that instead of becoming an “early adoptee,” I will keep my Seiko 5 for the foreseeable future. It is Stainless, Shockproof, has a Day/Date display, NEVER needs a battery, glows in the dark, has 12 and 24hr indications, and keeps time just fine with a proven 23 jewel movement. Stupid apple. Stupid me for drinking the Kool-Aid…
What I want Thursday – A Someday Custom Bike build
Someday, I will have a bespoke bike built – custom fit to my goofy measurements and with all the bells a whistles that I want/need/lust after. A bike that is equally suited for using as a city single-speed, a gravel road shredder, light single track, and a 9-speed road rider and tourer.
I want:
A lugged steel frame
S&S couplers so I can fly with it
Disc breaks
Single front 32T or 44T chain ring
18T freewheel (I have an Ultegra 9-speed group and Deraulier in a box…)
Clearance for 33X700 tires
Bull horn bars
Paul 2-finger levers
Flipping Rear dropouts (44 Bike)
Duel bottle cage
Rack and fender mounts (I have a set of wood FastBoy fenders that need a good home)
Brazed on bottle opener (A’la Rodriguez Cycles)
Brooks Swallow Tail saddle.
I really dig what Kristofer Henry in New Hampshire has going with 44 Bikes. If I could talk him into a lugged Huntsman, then we could do some serious business.
Film Friday – Waiting Out Winter
I feel exactly like this: keeping busy, waiting on the rain to stop and the sun to come.
WAITING OUT WINTER from Andrew David Watson on Vimeo.
Stupid Pinterest…
I am an admitted cyber-hoarder. I have gigs and gigs of image files across 5-6 hard drives: Images of furniture, vacations, design details, machines, demotivational posters, LOL cats, etc… that I will someday get around to looking at again or using for some future unnamed and unknown project. The few times I have gone looking for something, it has taken forever to find the wanted file.
I was introduced to Pinterest and I thought that this was the solution to my hoarding problem: a cleared up hard drive, organized files, I would be able to add comments to pictures, etc… Nope. Wrong. Stupid Pinterest solved nothing. Now I save files to my hard drives AND link to Pinterest. I have said many times that I don’t use Facebook because it is the black hole of time management. Now I will “glance” at my Pinterest account and BAM!! it is 2:30 am, I have 2% battery left on my iPad, and I have been repinning pictures for seven hours. This is really cutting into the time I have allocated to plotting my scheme for world domination… Dammit!
Film Friday – Doing what you love – what speaks to your heart
Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.
-David Frost
SILVER & LIGHT from Ian Ruhter / Alchemist on Vimeo.
Film Friday – a handmade watch
Watches… Every man wants a useful, tough, attractive watch. EVERY MAN. Even the guy that wears a Timex Ironman with a suit, or the men that buckle on a Seiko calculator knock-off every morning all want their watches to keep accurate time and need it to stand up to the rigors of their possible day. Some men want a diamond encrusted Rolex, others a multi-dial race inspired TAG, Japanese quartz Citizens are popular, some NEED a slim rose-gold Patek Philippe with a crocodile band, and then there are gents who want a $20 Timex that they will beat on and replace every year.
For me, part of my REM sleep is spent dreaming about a Swiss made, stainless steel, Omega Seamaster 007 strapped to my wrist as I progress from intrigue to adventure to interwoven & outlandish plot in the hours before I wake up to start my real day as a cube dweller. Ever have the dream about showing up naked to class or work? When it happens to me there is an Omega 007 on my wrist. Below is a short film that shows some of the detail of why a Swiss watch is special – enjoy.
The Alaska Airlines iPhone App is the Shiz-nit!
I have been out of touch and away from my blog for a month or so: lots of travel including a 48hr trip to Ireland, a climbing vacation with the boys, a couple short trips to SoCal, and 5 days in the English countryside on a tour of round-a-bouts and concrete cows…
In the process of racking up a large hump of air-miles I have flown on 11 different airlines and I can say without a doubt that Alaska Airlines has been the carrier that has provided the fasted check-in, slickest and most useful App, and all my flights were somewhat on-time. The Alaska App was the clincher. I checked in on the way to the airport, chose my seat, fast-tracked through security, and the QR bar code on my iPhone was scanned at the gate for my boarding pass. From Taxi to assigned seat in the aircraft it took me a total of 23 minutes! Really, I timed it. Now, I still had to remove my shoes (fvck you very much asshat shoe-bombing terrorists!!) and take my laptop out of my bag, but that is just par for the course. If every flight check-in and trip to the gate was this great, then I wouldn’t complain at all about air travel.
What I want Thursday – 4/12/12
A list of stuff and things that I want currently – not that I necessarily need, but that i wuold like to have or see done/happen:
1. More time to read, write, build, snuggle, climb, bike, run, laugh…
2. A twin Murphy-bed in my office disguised as a mid-century modern wardrobe so that we have more guest space.
3. For my year-long kitchen project to be finished
4. To remember the password for my old laptop so I can have access to 10+ years of pictures…
5. My very own spending money that I can do with what I wish without submitting to a vote/need analysis
6. To have my FVCKIN’ tools back that some asshat stole…
7. A few new t-shirts for summer and a flat belly to reside under them.
8. For my Mother and Sister to find the perfect place in life
9. For all the dandelions in my yard to cease to exist
10. I would very much like for the really sad, really pregnant girl I say in Seattle yesterday to find someone/something/someplace that makes her warm, happy, and safe.
Steamcon III
Stamps-With-Foot and I went to the 3rd annual Steamcon this past weekend with our hearts open and expecting to be impressed. Last year we had a ball at their western/adventurer themed event: Great costumes, a cool retail section with memorable window shopping, and lots and lots of people having a great time. This year, the theme was a “20000 Leagues Under the Sea” affair. We had HUGE hopes for some very cool costumes/props and had been looking forward to going all year.
“Expectation is often better than realization…” I am not sure what it was, but this year’s show just didn’t have the same spark. Some of the costumes were terrific, but there seemed to be fewer original ones. Don’t get me wrong, we saw some classy dresses, finely tailored suits, mechanical hands, harpoons, gvns, hats, Leather roller derby gear, big wrenches, a pet shoulder dragon, and a goldfish tank on a leash. Some serious thought and skill went into these outfits. There were just fewer kinds of them this year than there were last year. It also seemed like the event goers this year were more subdued.
The convention was held at a larger and more spacious venue, which would normally be great, but it took away from some of the intimacy of the gathering as compared to last year. We were somewhat disappointed with the retail space/offerings. It seemed to be a rehash of last year, with each vendors efforts doubled at another booth. While I appreciate the entrepreneurial sprit, some of the items for sale were not made to withstand the test of time: if one uses hot-glue on an artistic/functional creation, shit will fall off and it will be neither the latter nor the former any longer. I will say that the art displays were terrific and we picked up a couple of small things for Le Maison du Talley.
I am holding out hope for Steamcon IV. I know some people that are discussing an awesome vendor booth and Victorian Monsters is the theme – rich material for the creative set. The Steampunk crowd has a high relative population of former Goths, so I am figuring that black capes & cloaks with high collars will be coming out of hope chests everywhere. Wooden crosses and silver bullets for the initiated. More lace, bite marks, wolf references, mad scientists, mummy’s, parasols, and meerschaum pipes will be seen. Vampire hunter kits will be produced, there should be some terrific League of Extraordinary Gentleman inspired regalia and maybe the show will find a home that is equal parts convenient for participants, has the perfect ambiance, and room for running amuck.
Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs. Sent with admiration from my iPhone
An iPad worthy of Gene Rodenberry
Someday I will have a phaser and a tricorder, but for now my iPad is a real close second. This baby let’s me get stuff done! The third morning that she (my white lovely has to be a girl as she is smooth, helpful, and sexy) came to live with me I hopped on first thing that morning while in my bath robe and with a cup of coffee in my hand. I got my daily news fix, sent seven e-mails to customers, corrected a drawing on my work machine via remote access, looked to see if my bus was on time, checked that week’s weather forecast, looked at the traffic on the bridge, made a quick Skype call, and for good measure updated a spreadsheet – all before that first cup of coffee was gone.
Below are the apps that I have loaded and that I have found most useful. Before loading anything, I had tried all out on others’ iPads or used the iPhone version. This is not an end all, be all review/recommendation, just a list of what I use and find really helpful. note: I am not a big gamer, but I have a couple that I will resort to on long flights.
Pages: Word processing that I import and export Word files from.
Numbers: I can edit any spread sheet I have in it – home or work.
Currency: Great when I am haggling over prices at the Souks in Morocco, buying a hoodie in Belfast, or for filling out my J-O-B’s crazy over-complicated expense report forms…
Kindle: Knowledge is power. If my Kindle dies, I have a back up and if Stamps-With-Foot is reading the same book that I want to read on my Kindle, then I can access it on the Kindle App and we can both read the same book at the same time.
Word Press: For updating my ego blog during lunch or while flying from here to yonder
Convert Units: How many rods are in a league?
NPR: My day starts with coffee, NPR, and cereal
Photo Studio HD: Nice compact foto editor
Notes Plus: Hand writing recognition that lets me organize all my meeting notes and doodles – I doodle a lot, it helps me organize my ideas into something workable.
Skype: Awesome. I can talk to my wife and see her face from ½ around the globe.
Jump: Remote desktop access. Probably the most powerful App in my arsenal. It helps me get a huge amount of shit done!
One Edit: Batch photo conversion, resizing, and renaming
Ukulele Tabs: For my Bad-ass Koa axe!
Zombie Gunship: Because shooting Zombies and saving civilians from behind a 105 in a C130 is just good clean fun.
Angry Birds: I have no excuse – it is addictive
Hulu+ : I hate to miss an episode of Archer
Netflix: Loved Netflix more two months ago before they screwed with billing, but I will still watch a movie lying in bed
Drop Box: Absolutely the best thing I have found to move and back up files on my iPad.
One Bus Away: Up to date/minute bus information for Seattle
eWallet: A really handy and secure password safe that I first used in 2002 on my Handspring Palm Pilot.
What I want Thursday:
- More time with my children. No one ends this life with the thought – ‘Man, I should of spent more time working...’
- The Longines 2011 24hr watch. Unveiled at Basel World 2011 and is an update of the Classic Swiss Air pilots watch custom made for the airline in the 1950s. It has a half-hunter case that NEEDS a picture of my wife and kids in it.
- A great sport coat that looks as good with jeans as it does with a tie and slacks.
- For my birthday to finally arrive so that I do not feel bad about buying an iPad2. I both need and want a new computer and I figured out that I can do 95% of what I need to do on a daily basis on a pad. As soon as I can open and edit CAD file reliably, then it will be 100%. I have started lusting.
My Kindle e-reader is about to be even more awesome!
I was reading the Seattle Times on my Kindle saturday morning while having my coffee and croissant and what appears before me: “Owners of the Kindle from Amazon will be able to download e-books from 11,000 U.S. libraries later this year, the company said Wednesday.” This is HUGE. The one reason that I ever even give the Nook a passing glance is because I could use it at the library. Living a few houses from my local branch has saved us some cash, but my wife mentioned last week that my e-book shopping is getting spendy. Problem solved! Man, I want to hop up from my bench, drop my oar and dance in the bilge, err I mean push away from my keyboard, leave my perfectly 5S’ed cubicle, and see the sun outside.
Seattle Bike Expo 2011 – Sights
Sunday before last, my Father-in-Law, the Chatty Buddha, and I trekked over to the 2011 Seattle Bicycle Expo. We got a late start, make later still by the whole Spring Forward thing. We arrived at the show a little after 3:00 (show ended at 4:00), snagged free parking, and talked the two young ladies at the door into letting us in for free! We spent some time looking at the classic bikes (Where I drooled some and my pants got a little tight), made a quick walk of the show floor, and the circled back to the booths that were most interesting: the $70 cycling Jerseys going for an end-of-show-special for $30 were particularly attractive. We picked up a couple and a conned the vendor into giving us two caps that matched the jerseys for the price of one. J
I walked through the Bamboo Getto and took a few shots, talked to the gents at Co-Motion cycles, Eben Oliver Weiss, AKA Bike Snob, gave a talk that I wanted to see, but my packed weekend schedule prevented it. He Blogged about his trip here.
F-ing Auto-complete!!!
The auto-complete function on my iPhone is making me crazy. I keep sending inappropriate e-mails to friends, the dog walker and now a big-wig at my company… My greatest hits include:
Boiling customer issue:
What I meant to say: This is going to get ugly, I feel it in my bones
Auto-complete: This is going to get ugly, I feel it in my boner
Discussing an author with friend:
What I meant to say: I bought a couple of her books on Amazon, It was just too good a deal to pass up.
Auto-complete: I bought a couple of her boobs on Amazon, It was just too good a deal to pass up.
My ex asking me what my son can buy me for Christmas:
What I meant to say: Hmmm… Smart wool socks?
Auto-complete: Hmmm… Smart wool dicks?
The latest incident was sent to a director concerning a document package:
What I meant to say: I put it in your office.
Auto-complete: I put tit in young office.
His Reply: Thanks buddy!
My reply: Not an issue. Oh damn…
Since this “feature” is making me seem even more inappropriate than usual, I hopped onto in inter-webs to figure out how to turn it off. I ran smack into a site listing MANY more examples of auto-evilness. Thought I would share.
~Matt
Our Dirty Little Secret…
The wife and I strive to have as little impact as possible on the world around us. My green lawn is chemical free, our firewood is shop-scrap and blown-down timber, our garden is organic, we conserve water and electricity, I compost our kitchen and yard waste, we are looking at honey and egg production this year, we recycle or reuse over 92% of our waste (real number – I calculated it out over a three month period by volume), I build furniture and cabinets from recycled and thrown away wood, and we either carpool or I ride to work most days.
However, we have a dirty little secret that needles at my green-bent little soul at least a couple of times a day – the massive 1942 oil-fired heater in our basement. We burn diesel to warm our home. Worse, we burn it in an antiquated heater that our service person said was “…about 30% efficient…” I feel like I and wearing a scarlet H (hypocrite) on my chest. We HAVE to do something about it!
I had considered switching to biodiesel, but so much oil is used in the production of bio-crops (tractor feul and fertilizer) that there is actually more oil used to produce most available biodiesel than regular fuel. I do not have the time, room, and am not zoned properly to produce my own biodiesel from used fryer oil. We have instead decided to replace our war and famine-fueled antique oil guzzler with a modern heat pump. I wanted a closed-loop geothermal system and we have the ground space for it, but the $25K price tag put it out of reach. We have instead opted for an above ground model that will have an electric booster for when the outside ambient temperature falls below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. It will increase our winter electric bill some, which now sits at ~$40 a month, but it will give us air-conditioning for the one week a year that we need it and the projected price increase (~$20 a month) will be offset by the $2K+ savings on oil every winter. The system has a 20 year warrantee and will pay for its self in fuel savings in three years J I wanted it installed last fall, but it looks like it will go in this summer.
Additionally, I am installing a fireplace insert upstairs and am building an electric “fireplace” for the basement family room to help out when the temperature drops. We have only lost power once in the year and a half that we have been in our home, but just in case I am having an auxiliary generator adaptor wired to our main panel during the kitchen remodel so that our heat pump, fridge, freezer, stove, water heater and a few lights will be available if a storm or wind knocks our power out.
The Sights of Steamcon 2010
“Steampunk is for Goths that have discovered brown.” – I love that quote and it makes me giggle every time I think about it. While I can really get into the Victorian Zeitgeist, making your own cool stuff, recycling old gears into art, bargain hunting at flea markets, and retro-fying 21st century gadgets – I think that it is the roll playing sub-set that has kept me away from embracing the movement. Well, that and I already have WAY too much crap going on and not enough time/money to do any of it that well. I can’t add another hobby, but like I said, I can appreciate some of the aspects of the movement/genre/fashion/cult/trend/??/….
Anyway, when I saw that the largest Steampunk show in the US was going to be held in Seattle this year, my interest was piqued. When I later read that Gail Carriger was going to be signing her books and meeting fans, well that sealed the deal. Don’t judge me! I picked up her first book, Soulless, at an airport bookstore on a trip and that tiny little woman’s writing is so God damn good that she hooked me (qwerky, well built characters and she uses English as an offensive weapon…). I will drink some beer later, burp and scratch while watching some football or hockey as my man-penitence.
Stamps-With-Foot and I got up early on Saturday, I proptly forgot the camera, and we headed off to the wilds of the SeaTac Airport Marriott for our chance to say hello and gush at Ms. Carriger. We did just that and found her to be very approachable, genuine, funny, and sincere – all that you could ever want an author that you meet to be. Buy her books! We then decided to take a walk and look at what and who there was to see. HOLY CRAP! we stepped into a mess of nerdy, techy, historically inaccurate stew! All ages, races and genders were present and I was shocked to see that the male/female ratio was 50/50ish. It may be profiling, but… at most tech, comic, or game conventions there are significantly more males of the species and the few ladies in attendance have their pick of which Spiderman loving, +2343 hit-point having, IT professional they will be going so be spending time with. Steamcon seemed to appeal to both sexes equally and there were some truly beautiful people walking around in costume, shopping, flirting, and having a great time. The costumes were interesting and for the most part very well done: Victorian fantasy accessories, sexy boots, tiny hats, spats, ray gvns, a steampunk Geisha jet packs, a saddle(?!), parasols, wings, accoutrements that looked like they took months to build, some really good art, pith helmets aplenty, monocles galore, and some characters of questionable lucidity. The people watching was A++. I would wager that more nerd-nooky was had this weekend at that hotel than the combined amount in all of the western US up to this point in 2010. I took a few pictures with the iPhone and below are the best of them. Sorry for the pixilization.
Kindle, I Heart You!
I have made the leap into the arms of technology once again. After months of internal debate, fondling display models and endless questions & comments, I bought a Kindle 3 this weekend.
My wife gave me the cash and “permission” to buy my e-reader crack of choice for my birthday. We were in Portland this weekend and since Oregon has no state sales tax, I figured it was the right time to buy. We did go to two different stores to find one in stock and were greatly assisted by the magic of the iPhone and its ability to look up store locations and phone numbers on the fly. I opted for the plan-Jane cover and the wifi-only model: I don’t NEED a Cole Haan calf skin leather case, polished with the tears of a busty virgin for $100 and am never joinsin’ for a book so hard that I need 3G coverage. After loading a couple free books, I bought a Steampunk novel and downloaded a newspaper to take a shake down run. Results: Matt likey!! It is small, light, simple, and a pleasure to read.
I spent Sunday morning sitting at a friend’s table reading the International Times Herald, drinking coffee, and popping doughnut holes into my mouth. It made for a really nice rainy Pacific Northwest morning inside. I will include a gallery below of my e-reader lovely next to the Moleskine medium square-ruled notebook that I use for work
Stupid freshman mistake
I feels extra-smart… Like i gots me some real serious book-learnin’, whew-ee!
My wife, Stamps-with-Foot, went online last night and tried to comment on my Kindle lust post. She gave me a wry look and said that the comments weren’t working. I glared at her with the same suspicion your IT guy at work gives you when something is supposedly “wrong” with your computer. I issued the “move over” command – I have been studying how IT works and nerd-bravado is something like 72.61% of their technical skill set – and took her laptop. Sure enough, the comments were off. Huh? I turned them back on and in just a minute the very same thing happened with the next post that she wanted to make some witty quip about. I then spent close to an hour, hunched over her netbook, figuring out what was up…
It would seem that when I updated the appearance on my blog template a month or so ago, I somehow turned off all the comments on all my posts. I have had swarms of e-mail lately and zero comments, so I wondered what was going on; now I know – I clicked the wrong check box and that was that. I feel extra-smart.
Gun Nuts
Why am I surrounded by Gun Nuts? It is not just the ones with “…out of my dead cold hands…” tattooed somewhere, the other side of the spectrum is very well represented as of late. Three weeks ago I bump into a guy running for city council. I talk to him a bit, he seems to be on it concerning local issues, appears to listen and think before he responds, and I am starting to like the guy. Then, he notices me noticing his very poorly concealed pistol. I mention that he should get a better holster, like a Kramer, so as to blend better with the non-pistol toting folk. At that precise moment, he stepped on the express train to Crazy-Town!! Immediately he perceives that I am also a member of the lunatic fringe who thinks that our current President (you know the one I voted for and love) is trying to repeal the 2nd Amendment, that Hillery Clinton is secretly running things, and that we are on the brink of a conservative proletariat revolution. He went so far as to use the ‘Tree of Liberty…” Thomas Jefferson Quote. I smiled, nodded, took his literature and walked briskly away.
Not two days after my run-in with Candidate-in-need-of-a-straitjacket, I am in Big 5 buying pellets for my son’s air rifle. The checkout lady asks me if I’m going hunting. I smile, gave a little chuckle and said no, that they were for a small pellet gun and that I was teaching my 9-year old the basics of proper marksmanship. A nano-second after it comes out of my mouth the lady behind me in line, buying a new yoga mat (no demonetization meant against yoga practitioners – I love yoga – it is just what she happened to be buying) shrieks and starts yelling at me – no really yelling at me about how I should be ashamed “teaching a child to kill.” She launched into a a stuttering unrehearsed diatribe about how wrong guns are, how evil and vile they are, how I was “perpetuating violence against animals and women” – really, she said that – and that “I should be arrested…” I stood there like a statue, not knowing what to do or say. The cashier started yelling at this woman and by the time an employee from the baseball section came running up, the screamer was so worked up that she was almost foaming at the mouth. She dropped her stuff on the floor and charged out the door. The three of us were left just staring at the glass door and each other. I shrugged, they shrugged and I left. I am afraid of both sides of the spectrum when it comes to gun nuts, so I didn’t walk strait to my truck, I stopped in at Starbucks for a much needed Mocha first and took a long look at the parking lot. I was half afraid that the anger over our “discussion” and the loss of a new mat, might drive the woman into braining me with a tire-iron as I tried to leave. No joke, the thought went through my mind.
What has happened to the middle of the road citizen? What is it that seems to have made so many people so aggressively partisan? How is it that all these rational people with real jobs, education, hobbies, etc… go off the deep end? It is that you just never hear from the moderates? Do they just keep their head down, go to work, occasionally go to the pistol or clay range and just go on about their lives????
Kindle Lust
I have a book addiction and right now I am jonsin’ for a binary fix: I have a mad case of Kindle lust: one eye is starting to twitch, my mouth is dry, I am all itchy, and I can think of little else but e-ink. I need a Kindle….. NEED! I complained about the size and Amazon made it thinner. I reasoned that it sucked because I couldn’t arrange content and they released new software to allow organization. I bitched about the high price and they dropped it, if only to mock me! 1500 books, my daily paper and Wikipedia access… Fvck it hurts! I am starting to shake.
I am trying to be good, trying so hard. My wife said, “No, we have other things to spend money on right now” (she is right) and she knows that I will spend hours every night for weeks downloading from Project Gutenberg and will buy a crap-ton of new stuff online – she KNOWS… If I just go out and buy the thing, I will get it taken away like I am 3 years old and she will start using it smugly to ‘teach me a lesson.’ That and the sleeping outside alone (dog snuggles with her…) for the months it would take for her to calm down from my wanton disregard of our financial responsibilities would be too high a cost to pay if figured into the overall purchase price.
I am holding out for now, but God as my witness, the minute I can go to the library and check out an e-book with a Kindle, I am gonna go online and buy me some dirty e-reader relief, even if I have to prostitute myself out to a sweet old lady at the retirement home up the street for the cash!
