nuxx.net
Making, baking, and (un-)breaking things in Southeast Michigan.

Month: February 2008

Trashwall Failure

February 12, 2008

Hrm, the Trashwall failed sometime during the night.

I think it may have bad RAM… I’ll have to hang a serial console off of it so I can actually watch it go down.

<sigh>

This stuff is never as straightforward as it should be.

computersmoved from livejournal

500 Days

February 11, 2008

c0nsumer@rowla:~> uptime
 5:23PM  up 500 days, 5:14, 8 users, load averages: 0.19, 0.28, 0.26
c0nsumer@rowla:~>

Today marks over 500 days of uptime for rowla.nuxx.net.

Also, work is horribly busy lately. I guess that’s what I get for attempting to move into Engineering.

computersmoved from livejournalwork

Starburst, without the drool.

February 11, 2008

Lovely Unintentional Starburst

I love the unintentional starburst on this image which was taken while acquiring photos for my Trashwall article.

I didn’t do anything special for that… It’s just my standard Tokina 100mm macro lens at ƒ/18 pointed into the case of the computer, and no other processing.

Ah well, now it’s time for bed. My alarm rings in seven hours, and I have a long day of work ahead of me.

making thingsmoved from livejournal

Compact Flash in the Trashwall

February 9, 2008

So, I won this eBay auction for some Compact Flash to IDE adapters. As you can see in the image, those adapters are supposed to plug right into a 40-pin ATA port. In the Trashwall I was hoping to plug one of these right into the main board and use it for booting the OS from a compact flash card.

Unfortunately, the seller instead sent me a normal end-of-cable mount adapter, similar to the one used in my MAME Cabinet, except without the second slot. At least it was the newer version which supports DMA transfers, which was one of the big things I wanted.

This evening I took the adapter, screwed some old motherboard standoffs into it, then screwed it into one of the Power Mac G4 AGP’s drive trays. Despite being something other than what I wanted to use, it has worked out pretty well.

It turns out that the two fastest (specification) cards I have are my Sandisk Ultra II 2GB and the el-cheapo Micro Center-branded 2GB card, which are both DMA Mode 2 devices. While this isn’t too slow, it’s not as nice as what I’d get if I were to shove one of the newer Transcend 133x as did with his IBM z50. But, being cheap and trying to keep with the spirit of the Trashwall, I’ll use the spare, leftover Micro Center card.

Now, I just need to install OpenBSD on it again, fit it in the rack, and get it integrated into the network here. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow. For now, beer and relaxing.

computersmaking thingsmoved from livejournal

More Bike Stuffs

February 9, 2008

Bike in Stand

Today I ran by Fraser Bike with Danielle and picked up second bottle cage for my bike. While there I asked if they also sell the stands used on their floor models, and it turns out that they do, for $41.99. This stand, the RK-B RAKK STORAGE STAND is just a nice, simple roll-in stand which is extremely stable.

You can also see the rear rack, snap-in bag, light, and second bottle cage there.

I questioned getting the rack and bag (and basket) for a while, but it’s pretty light weight and seems to work out quite well. Unfortunately that bag there, the Topeak RX TrunkBag EX, is the smallest one which will latch into the rack. It holds everything I’d want to bring with me (spare tube, pump, Cliff bar, multi-tool, patch kit, phone, wallet, keys, lights, etc) with plenty of room to spare, so (for now) I’ve had to stuff a inflatable packing bubble thing in there. At least it’ll be good when going for multi-hour rides down the trails near here. I can stick a sandwhich or whatnot in there and stop to eat a bit before continuing on.

Now I think it’s time to go get some dinner. I’m thinking some decent beer, and maybe pizza… although… that’s not sounding so hot either. Hrm.

acquired thingscyclingmoved from livejournal

Tires, etc.

February 9, 2008

New Tires!

On Wednesday I left work at about 11:00 PM, and took almost an hour to drive home, turning my car almost sideways on M-59 twice. It was only once I got home that I noticed the main reason: my tires are down to the wear marks, leaving very little tread.

So, I hurriedly sorted out getting new tires and had them installed Friday morning. By the way, if you are in my area and need car work done, I suggest Shelby Tire over in Utica. Their prices are reasonable, and they are an independent shop which does both tires and other car repairs. This is where Danielle had a new wheel bearing done as well, and the price was good and the service was really quick (~2.5 hours).

Anyway, here’s a bunch more moblog photos which I uploaded this morning:

· Mushrooms on toast, farmhouse cheddar, and cheap red wine. This is the perfect dinner after working until 11pm. Danielle prepared the mushrooms while I was at work.
· The Burger King breakfast menu board, as I stopped on the way to work after getting new tires on my car.
· My car at about 11pm after leaving work really late one evening in the middle of a snow storm.
· Lil Tater! at Penn Station in Rochester, MI.
· Two hunks of farmhouse cheddar, a dulce de leche brownie, and some jamón ibérico, all from Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor.
· The coffee roaster at Nino Salvaggio in Troy, MI.
· Sending the lens for Danielle back to the person I bought it from via eBay. It doesn’t work right (front element is loose).
· Wow. A Mac running OS 9. I haven’t seen one of these in years. (In Bob’s basement at IPM.)
· Inside of the U of M Dearborn SLRC, where Danielle works.

automotivefoodmoved from livejournal