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Area 51 is Drinkable!

Published February 10, 2011

It might possible be a bit cloudy, but the Area 51 American IPA (previously), which is really more of an American Pale Ale, is ready to drink. Comparing it to other beer photos of mine I think it’s pretty spot-on style-wise, and taste-wise it’s really quite nice. This is the first beer that I’ve made which I’d easily think came from a proper brewery had I not known that I made it.

This, plus the ease of kegs, is a good thing. If I can keep up quality like this I’ll be quite happy and likely brewing a lot of my own beer in the future.

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Thrasher Non-Dairy Creamer

Published February 9, 2011

This container of non-dairy creamer found at one of my workplaces as one of the least applicable fonts for a food product, Banco, complete with a dark blue outline. You may recognize this font from the Thrasher Magazine logo (warning, NSFW content on site) and all manner of “edgy” text. Things which are exactly the opposite of non-dairy creamer.

(Thanks to the helpful folks over at AskMefi for putting a name to the image.)

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Blue Cheese and Bacon, etc

Published February 9, 2011

Here is a blue cheese dressing and bacon salad made with a wedge of iceberg lettuce. Danielle made this for dinner on Monday evening and it was absolutely wonderful. I had more of it for lunch the next day, and it really hit the spot then too.

Here’s some other moblog photos that I’ve taken recently:

· Looking out from an elevator at the RenCen at an artificially accelerated sunset.
· My reflection in an elevator while heading down to my car.
· Yay! I have a trash can at work!
· Blue cheese and bacon salad made by Danielle with fresh dressing and extremely high quality bacon.
· Racking the Area 51 American IPA to a corney keg for carbonation.
· The non-dairy creamer at work has one of the worst possible fonts.
· Arek eating a sandwich at Al’s Famous Deli on Woodward.
· Horny Goat Brewing Company Variety Pack.

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Friends Don’t Let Friends Buy eMachines

Published February 4, 2011

Danielle’s dad’s computer has been having a bunch of problems, and as some of them seem malware-related I am planning on wiping the computer and reinstalling Windows XP. Unfortunately when attempting to back up data it keeps rebooting unexpectedly, so I’ll have to pull the disk to recover data. I suspect the power supply may be going, which may cost a non-trivial amount if it’s even worth replacing.

Worse than that, when dusting out the machine I decided to pull the CPU heatsink / fan assembly as it was pretty well caked with dust. When I did this the CPU popped out along with the heatsink because the CPU was not latched in place. The downward pressure of the heatsink retention mechanism must have been allowing it to make enough contact to work. (For those that don’t know, CPUs normally sit in sockets with large latching levers which actuate contacts to ensure that all pins make contact. This wasn’t set in the socket, just on it. Here is a diagram.)

I hate working on eMachines. The cost saved up front bites you in frustration and parts later.

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The Energy Detective TED 5000-G Teardown

Published February 2, 2011

Back when I owned a TED 5000-G, before realizing that it has a critical software design flaw which makes it unusable on my network, I decided to open up the enclosures and see what’s inside. Since it’s a power monitoring system which uses PLC (power line communication, one type of which is the familiar X10) to communicate to a data logger and an embedded webserver I figured it would be fairly interesting.

Here’s the teardown photos, with the more interesting chips called out. Links to full-res photos are in the top right corner of each page:

MTU:
    · Unopened
    · Enclosure Opened
    · PCB Top
    · PCB Bottom
        – Microchip PIC24FJ64GA004: Microcontroller.
        – NXP TD5051AT: Home automation modem. Used for PLC.
        – Cirrus Logic CS5461: Power measurement device; does the monitoring itself. EOL’d on 15-Dec-2006, Data Sheet Mirror (PDF).

Gateway:
    · Unopened
    · Enclosure Opened: ZigBee Daughter Board plugged into mainboard.
    · Mains Connection: Ground / earth pin is not connected.
    ZigBee Daughter Board:
        · PCB Top
        · PCB Bottom: Note printed antenna near bottom of photo.
            – Microchip PIC24FHJ64GA106: Microcontroller.
            – Microchip MRF24J40: IEEE 802.15.4 radio, used for ZigBee communications.
    Mainboard
        · PCB Top
            – Microchip ENC28J60: Ethernet Controller.
            – Microchip PIC24FHJ256xxnnn: Microcontroller. Can’t read entire part number.
            – Macronix MS25L3205D (PDF): 32Mbit Serial Flash
        · PCB Bottom
            – Vossel VS1307Z (PDF): Real-time clock, keeps time with main power off by automatically switching to backup source (CR2032).
            – NXP TD5051AT: Home automation modem used for PLC; same as in the MTU.
CTs:
    · CTs: Sealed, not easy to disassemble. Likely nothing interesting inside.

I was really looking forward to getting a TED, and save for the PLC quirks and the webserver bug that made it unusable, I really liked the device. The PCBs themselves also appear to be very well made, and I particularly appreciated that they were closed with simple Philips and Torx fasteners and thus easy to look inside of. If Energy, Inc. releases an updated version with the firmware fixed I’ll consider buying another one, particularly if they stop using PLC and move to all-ZigBee (or some other PAN) for communications from the MTU(s) to the Gateway.

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Four-Bolt Stem on the VooDoo Dambala

Published February 2, 2011

Due to the two-bolt clamp on the stem on the VooDoo Dambala I’d occasionally have problems like this where the bar rotated precipitously while going off a small drop. While at this year’s MMBA Annual Meeting in Lansing I found the 80mm Specialized stem seen above for $10. I fitted it tonight, and hopefully it’ll keep the bar solidly in place.

At 80mm it’s maybe 5mm shorter than the previous Bontrager stem, but I don’t think this will make much of a difference. At least now I’ll be able to ride without worrying about the bar suddenly changing position. And, if it proves to be too short, it was cheap enough to not be a big deal.

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Blade Tandem Rescue RTF

Published February 1, 2011

On the way home from work I stopped at Larry’s Performance RCs in their new location just off of M-59. I’ve been wanting a radio-controlled helicopter for a while and I wanted to see what they had. After talking to one of the sales guys for a while I picked up a Blade Tandem Rescue RTF for $64.95, which is quite a bit cheaper than the normal $90 to $200-ish that they sell for online.

Being an RC design this helicopter has considerably more range than the IR designs, and one doesn’t have to keep the controller pointed at the unit. It’s also possible to use this controller with a number of other models of RC helicopter and basic airplane, which means that if I ever want a more complicated model I can simply buy one without controller and and reuse this one.

So far I really enjoy flying it. It’s challenging and will take some learning, but I’m getting the hang of it. I’ve crashed it enough that two of the plastic pins which hold the shell in place have broken and thus the housing doesn’t sit quite right any more. One of the broken pins can be seen on the front above. It’s not interfering with the flight, but it’s not as perfect as it could be. I may take the housing off as a whole, as this should lighten it up and allow me to get more flight time. The only downside to this is that the LEDs on the body are affixed to the plastic shell, so removing it will require disconnecting the shiny blinky lights.

While flying it around the house I failed to notice that a metal tray full of greasy water had been left sitting in the sink. When the helicopter crashed in the kitchen, into the greasy water it went. I tried to clean it off, but now there’s a thin layer of some random fat all over it. While I wiped off as much as I could from the exterior plastics some water definitely got inside. Hopefully it hasn’t damaged it.

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Lazy Stout is Ready!

Published January 30, 2011

Here is a glass of Lazy Stout all ready to drink. It’s well-carbonated, with the ~10psi working out well in the ~40F temperature that the keg settled to. There is a slightly odd flavor to the beer that I dislike and I think comes from using all extract, but Danielle likes it and doesn’t notice anything odd. I also think it’s a bit too roasted-tasting for me, so maybe next time I’ll have to try it with both a dark and light extract. Still, overall, it’s good.

Now to finish this off and get the Area 51 into the keg and carbonating. I suspect this will take a while. Anyone want a growler fill?

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Stony Creek’s SNO-MASTER 72 and TRAKORs

Published January 29, 2011

This is the grooming equipment that the park system pulls behind a snowmobile to groom the trails. This setup, two TRAKOR groomers set behind a SNO-MASTER 72, is made by Snow Groomers of Harbor Springs, MI.

With around four new inches of snow here and some time this afternoon I decided to go cross country skiing at Stony Creek. This was a really good day for it, as the trails were freshly groomed, with tracks set throughout most of the two track mountain bike trail system, even beyond the signs that read Not A Ski Trail. I was able to ski for an enjoyable 2.5 hours covering most of the mountain bike trail and the loops in the golf course without backtracking.

Skiing down one rather steep hill† I screwed up and fell. It could have been bad, but instead I just ended up topping over forward and landing on my knee and shoulder, throwing a spray of snow on my face and head while packing a bit inside of my jacket. I tried to snowplow down a particularly smooth, trackless, steep, but short section of trail and dug one ski in a bit too much, which caused me to flop straight over on to my face. Oops. I really wish someone had seen it, though, because it must have been pretty comical.

Here is another photo taken today of my skis in tracks somewhere in the southeast corner of the mountain bike trail area.

† For those of you that know the Stony Creek trail system (map) I was skiing down the Woohoo hill from #23 to #22, and fell on the steepest of the three climbs; the middle one. This section is commonly ridden up on a bike after the Roller Coaster when heading to the right and climbing back up to cut through the middle of the park and head towards the trail head.

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Goose Island Night Stalker

Published January 28, 2011

Earlier this week I picked up a bottle of Goose Island’s Night Stalker and tonight I’m drinking it. This 11.7% stout is a bit harsh when cold straight out of the fridge, but as it warms up it gets considerably smoother tasting. It’s just hoppy enough, but roasty and malty enough that it’s very clearly a stout. There’s just a bit of alcohol burn, but nothing unpleasant. Goose Island claims that this beer can be cellared for up to five years, and I can see this turning into something even nicer as it sits.

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