This homemade ring light is a nifty idea, but it’s a pretty poor execution. I think I might have to make up something like this, though… I imagine I can use a UV filter as a base. Or, just make something which mounts around the front of the camera.
Then again, a true ring ling would probably be best.
This picture has been taunting everyone I’ve sent it to via AIM, so I figured I’d post it here.
That’s tonight’s dinner, menu item 705, Tofu Hunan Style’ from the wonderful China Gourmet at 21 Mile and Hayes. Actually, this is one of two Chinese restaurants that I’ll eat at… The other is Gourmet Garden, who’s amazing ‘bean curd skin with mixed vegetables’ was detailed in this LJ post which appears to have both disgusted and enthralled.
Anyway, it was really tasty, and I ended up having it with a fortune cookie and a pint of my Vanilla Stout. Quite a nice dinner.
Oh, and in other food-related things, tonight I cleaned my dishwasher using this stuff my mom gave me, called Dishwasher Magic. It’s a citric acid blend in a bottle, with a wax cap which melts to let it out. Well, my dishwasher is porcelain inside, so while it didn’t have a bunch of build-up, there were still mineral deposits on the metal parts and such.
Well, after using it, the trays roll a whole lot better. I can only imagine this is how it worked when brand new, back in 1991 or so. The washing mechanisms have always worked well, now it’s just cleaner and it rolls better.
Also, check out the Footie candy bar, as seen at Meijer. With a misogynistic message akin to it’s brother bar Yorkie, this bar exclaims NO WENCHES ON THE BENCHES.
Ahh… And to round out the evening, I finally put a IBM Model M in the car. This one was made in 1995 and should work just great… I just wonder how my coworkers will take it. Now, all I need is a Model M equivalent for my G5 here at home.
Today I also finally opened and tried my new Aerobie AeroPress coffee maker. It came in a rather interesting hexagonal package (rear of package) and contains what appear to be really well made parts. The first cup I made, from a blend that I roasted sometime around NYE, came out quite well. It’s very smooth, almost like the very first pouring from a french press, but all the way through the cup. I think I’ll like this thing lots.
As stated on the site, the resulting coffee was extremely clear, and it had this amazingly soft flavor to it. The level of caffeine from it was also quite low. I think I’ll be using this to make the coffee for the Java Stout I’m hoping to make in a few weeks.
These makers cost right around US$30 and can be purchased from the places listed here. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who wants an interesting coffee maker, especially those who don’t already have a french press. I do, but it’s quite crappy (lots of coffee gets through to the drinkable part) so I figured this would be a good alternative. And I was right.
Well, I just ordered a PICkit 2 Starter Kit. Hopefully using this I’ll be able to learn more about programming PICs, hopefully resulting in re-programming the PIC16F876A in the Honda Music Link Interface Box. With any luck, I’ll be able to build a proper interface between an iPod and the CD changer port on Honda head units and offer the firmware up for download for others to use. Maybe I could also charge $20 or $30 or so to re-flash other people’s Honda Music Link Interface Boxes as well, making the device work differently and better. That’s a goal, at least. :)
Oh, this morning there were also some especially nice things to look at on the way to work… As I left before sunrise, there was a wonderful sliver of brightly lit moon visible, with a whole bunch of earthshine on the dark part. Plenty of planets hanging out in the sky, as well, happily reflecting sunlight and looking pretty to everyone on Earth.
Also, as the sun started coming up, I was actually able to see a golden glow on the Chrysler building in Auburn Hills, visible from five or eight miles away. Quite impressive.
One other thing… The new iPod is so thin that with my headphones plugged in, it doesn’t set flat on my desk. I don’t know if this is good or not. :\ It’s also so thin that it’s a bit difficult to plug in the dock connector in the car. Maybe I just need to get used to it.
Well, as was suggested to me, I ended up going to Camera Mart at lunch and buying three of the 250W daylight GE Photofloods, product BCA. My only concern is that they are only listed as having a 3-hour life, but I’m hoping that means 3 hours at the particular temperature. As long as they drift uniformly, that should be fine with me. Price was US$3.99 each, so I figure it’s worth a try. May as well use the proper item.
UPDATE: It seems that one can also get compact fluorescent bulbs with a CRI of 93, and a temp of 5500K. They are probably going to be around US$15/each, so maybe I’ll order some of these for working with in a few weeks. For now I’ll play with these photofloods and hope I don’t burn any out. :)
Well, tonight I went to the North American International Auto Show with
While the show was typically so-so, there are a few points to mention:
1) My Nikon Coolpix 5400 doesn’t compare to the Canon 20D. At all. I was becoming increasingly frustrated with it. I think the CP5400 will do nicely relegated to the status of pocket camera when I’m out and about in the woods or some place where I don’t want to be seen with expensive camera kit, but it won’t get much normal use.
2) When I was poking around the Honda exhibit just before we departed, the sales guy I purchased my vehicle from came over. It seems that the Honda booth is (generally?) staffed by local sales people, and tonight was one of his nights. He asked about the vehicle, so I explained that it was going well and that I like it quite a bit.
I also explained a bit about the Honda Music Link iPod Adapter to him and handed him a copy of my review. I stressed that I am happy with the vehicle and that I have no issue with him nor the dealership and I am taking it up with Honda corporate, but I wanted him to be aware of the issues experienced with it. He took the review and, I can only assume, will give it a read. We’ll see where that goes…
I am cleaning up the photos for upload now, but they aren’t that great. I’ll probably post one tomorrow, if I get around to it.
Now, I think I’m going to relax a bit before bed.
UPDATE: Oh, I forgot to mention that either I had made up the image I (still) swear I saw of a Honda Element with iPod logos all over it, or it wasn’t at the NAIAS. When visiting both Honda exhibits, I saw no mention of the Music Link iPod Adapter or anything about connecting a Honda vehicle to an iPod. Perhaps my suspicions about Honda’s just-wanting-it-ready-for-NAIAS were unfounded… Ah well, at least I was able to inform someone there of the issue. Hopefully he’ll actually read the review.
Yay! My project boxes, line filters, PCB etching kit, and a few other things came in today. Now I can get to work on the final bits of putting my iPod in my car.
Wow, check out the AeroPress coffee maker made by Aerobie. Yes, the same people who make those top-notch flying discs. I think I’ll have to get one of these, as it seems like it’ll solve the problems I’ve been having with inconsistant coffee from my french press.
Well, today I finally received my DGC-100 Digital Gray Card from Robin Myers Imaging. I had read about this just before acquiring my 20D (photo gallery retired), and I finally got around to picking one up.
At US$9.95 (plus $1.10 postage) it’s fairly expensive for a grey card, but it’s also really well made. As it is a solid slab of appropriately colored plastic, should it become scratched or too damaged, one can sand it with 100 grit sand paper and then rinse it off, and it’s good as new. It’s also not vulnerable to things like finger oils and water and such as the cardboard ones are. Also, it seems to be quite a bit more evenly colored than the cardboard one I picked up for around US$3 back at the end of December.
I have to say, after seeing one of these in person, I have to strongly recommend that anyone who needs a grey card get one of these. I like it because it can easily be stuck in a backpack or something, and one doesn’t have to worry about the color rubbing off, corners bending, etc.
Tonight I also did a good bit of work on my car, pulling the dashboard off, Navigation Unit out, and figuring out where to get power and such from for the vehicle. I did screw one thing up, though. And I feel pretty bad about that. See, the Navigation Unit is held down (probably for security reasons) with two bolts up through the bottom of it. Well, when replacing everything at the end of the night, I dropped one of the bolts somewhere in the center console. I spent about 10 minutes looking for it, and I just simply can’t find it. I can only assume that it fell to the side and is now somewhere under the carpet or something. Blah. Well, at least the Navigation Unit is still held down fairly well… I do feel stupid, though.
I grabbed a few pictures of the torn open dash and some scans of my notes of pinouts, but I’ll post them here tomorrow or something.
Also, I think I’ve got the physical mounting of the iPod figured out, and I’ve now got the electrical worked out. The only things I still have to figure out are what connectors to use for the iPod dock cable and the audio out on the box which will couple everything together and where to get a .100″ spacing header with 3/8″ long leads. I’d use a standard IDE connector cut down, but those are only 1/4″ leads. I can work around this if I can find the same connector Honda uses if I look hard enough. (This is for the auxiliary audio input connector.
Now I just need to get all the parts, assemble it all, and install it all. Yay!
Oh, and a HUGE thank you to
[Cross posted to
Upgrade iTunes to 6.0.2, put the v6.3 firmware on your Airport Express, restart iTunes, and there will be a ‘Multiple Speakers…’ option at the bottom of the drop-down to pick through which Airport Express (or local) to play the music. Select it and one gets the above dialog box.
Nice, eh?
Sync also appears to be dead on…
