Hiking Mount Rainier

October 20th, 2008

This last summer, we decided to visit Mt Rainier for the first time.  See the mountain up close. Its not too far from Seattle, but is definitely a 1 day round trip with actual visitation time. We did not actually climb Mt Rainier, there is a peak right next to it that gets close to 8000 feet.  The place is stunning.  Here are a few photographs. Click on any to view the image at higher resolution.

Mt RanierAlpine LakeAlpine Lake
ChipmonkMt RanierCute Feet
More Alpine Lake

The next two paragraphs come from Wikipedia. 

Mount Rainier is an active volcano located 54 miles (87 km) southeast of Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is the highest peak in the Cascade Range at 14,411 feet (4,392 m). The mountain and the surrounding area are protected within Mount Rainier National Park.  Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states with 35 square miles (91 km²) of permanent snowfields and 26 major glaciers.  A small crater lake, the highest in North America, occupies the lowest portion of the west crater below more than 160 feet (50 m) of ice and is accessible only via the caves.

Mount Rainier has a topographic prominence of 13,210 feet (4,026 m), greater than that of K2. It dominates the southeastern horizon in most of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area to such an extent that residents sometimes refer to it simply as “the Mountain.” On days of exceptional clarity, it can also be seen from as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Victoria, British Columbia.

How to custom paint an Electric Guitar

October 11th, 2008

Introduction

My son (12 years old) this summer was bored. He plays the electric guitar.  He owns 2 electric guitars, a Fender Starcaster electric guitar and a Gibson SG Menace electric guitar. 

Gibson SG Menace Electric Guitar

Fender Starcaster Electric Guitar Sunburst

The Fender Starcaster was his first electric guitar.  The best thing about it was it’s price.  It was cheap. We purchased it at Costco.  It came with an amp that stopped working after a year of use.  Several years later we purchased the Gibson SG Menace electric guitar which is his main guitar for both practice and preforming.  A bad ass guitar for a 12 year old.  Did I mention that he is a great kid?

Early this year, he gained an interest in Van Halen.  Specifically Eddie Van Halen and his guitar playing.  He has been practicing tunes from Van Halen and has gotten pretty good at it.  While watching Van Halen videos on YouTube, he decided that he really likes Eddie Van Halen’s guitar which happens to be a Fender painted by Eddie Van Halen himself.  It is red with black and white stripes. He called it “Frankenstein”.  See Eddie Van Halen and Frankenstein below.

Frankenstein Fender Electric Guitar  

So, my son decided that his summer project would be his very own customized “Frankenstein” Fender Electric Guitar.  With his own touches! My son decided that he would take his Fender Starcaster electric guitar apart.  He asked for my help.  Not only did this seem like a great father and son project, but it was just too much fun to pass up.

Taking the guitar apart

Only four tools were needed, a small screwdriver for the scratch plate and rear plate that covers the springs, a large screwdriver to remove the neck and a wire cutter to cut three wires from the electronics from inside of the guitar and needle nose pliers to remove the springs from the rear.  We first took off the guitar strings. The off came the neck, only 4 screws.  The scratch plate and the rear plate.  Off came the three springs, the three wire cuts and the two screws that hold the tensioner on the back.  We placed everything into zip lock plastic bags and set them aside.  All we had left was the body, completely empty.

Needed Supplies

We drove down to the local hardware store to pick up some supplies to get the guitar body prepared for paint and to pick up some paint.  We decided to use spray paint since I don’t own a paint sprayer.  Instead to Van Halen’s red, he decided to use only two colors, bright yellow with black stripes.  So, we picked up the following:

  1. Painters blue masking tape
  2. Krylon Gloss Black paint
  3. Krylon Gloss Sun Yellow paint
  4. Krylon White Primer
  5. MinWax Clear Gloss Polyurethane for a clear coat once we were done painting
  6. Sanding block
  7. 3M dust mask
  8. Tufpro Tack Cloth
  9. 800 and 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper
  10. 100, 150, 220,330,400,600 grit sandpaper

Work area preparation

I took a wire coat hanger and cut at the split below the hook and straightened the hanger out by hand.  At the non-hook end, I bent a square hook that would fit through the hole where the guitar neck was normally attached.  This would be our guitar body hanger.  This hook would allow us to hang the guitar from the garage door rails and allow us to easily paint the guitar body.  We also taped newspaper to the floor of the garage and placed newspaper over everything in close proximity to where we would be painting. Just to make sure everything but the guitar body would stay paint free.

Sanding, lots of sanding

My son (wearing the dust mask) started with the 100 grit sandpaper and sanded the front, back and sides with the sanding block.  Once the dust slowed down, he moved to the 150 grit.  Again, once the dust slowed down, he moved to the 220 grit, and then the 330 grit.  He did this sanding outside.  It was a mess. I must assume that on these cheaper guitars the manufacturer must dip these things in paint.  There was a lot of it.  He tried not to go to the raw wood, but it did happen in spots.  When he was done, it looked like this:
Sanded Fender FrontSanded Fender Back

If you look closely at the back side, you can see the raw wood breaking through. Please note that on all these photos, a larger version of the photograph is visible by clicking on the photograph. 

Paint and even more sanding

After all that sanding, he carefully cleaned the surface with a slightly damp rag.  He let it dry for about 15 minutes and wiped the guitar body down with a tack cloth just to make sure all the particles were removed.  We masked off all the parts that we did not want paint on.  especially the area where the neck attached.  We also masked off the area in the cutout where the strings pass through and the electrical wiring passed through just to make sure there would not be any trouble when assembling the guitar later due to paint residing in places we did not want it.

My son then hung the guitar body using the wire hanger hook we created.  While wearing the dust mask, I made the first pass just to show the technique for painting with a spray can.  We took turns and covered the entire guitar body with the Krylon white primer.  We waited as the instructions required and added a second coat of primer. Once the guitar body was dry, he sanded the primer coat with the 330 grit sandpaper, cleaned it with the tack cloth, hung it and painted another coat of primer. He sanded it again lightly with 330 grit and put the first coat of Krylon Sun Yellow Gloss and let it dry over night.
Fender Primer FrontFender Primer Back
The next day, he sanded with 400 grit, cleaned with the tack cloth and added a second coat of Krylon Sun Yellow Gloss paint. He repeated this over several days until he got a nice smooth and deep looking Sun Yellow coating.

Next, the blue masking tape.  He started adding tape to get his desired effect. He ended up cutting some of the tape lengthwise to get thinner pieces and even cutting out some shapes for what could best be described as a “cat scratch” effect along the bottom.  It ended up looking like this:

Masked Yellow Fender Guitar

He then painted it with three coats of Krylon Gloss Black paint with a light sanding after the first coat, no sanding afterward.  He waited a day for it to completely dry and then put three coats of Minwax Clear Coat Polyurethane.
Fender Black Gloss Krylon
He waited a week before handling the guitar body.  We then assembled the guitar.  We had to solder three of the wires back to where they belonged.  We restrung the guitar and tuned it.  This is how it ended up:

Fender Yellow Complete



Click here to subscribe

The 10 Dirtiest Places for Germs, Bacteria and Viruses

October 4th, 2008

1.      Someone else’s hands – When you shake hands, be careful what you do afterwards.  Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth.  You have no idea what might be on that persons hands.  Residue from a sneeze, the toilet, animal feces, almost anything.  Do yourself a favor and wash your hands.  If you don’t, the dirtiest place is item number 2.

2.      Your HandsThere are proven health benefits of hand washing, but many people don’t wash their hands as often as they should. During the day you accumulate germs on your hands from sources, such as contact with people, contaminated surfaces, foods, animals and animal waste.  The Mayo-Clinic has a great article about this along with how to wash your hands.  The post is located at:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hand-washing/HQ00407.  Wash your hands often!

3.      Door knobs and handles – Door knobs are touched hundreds if not thousands of times a day depending on the location.  You have no idea where those hands were, especially in public places.  Not only do you not know what their hands have touched before entering the bathroom, but many will use the toilet or urinal and not wash before leaving.  Mix that with wet hands touching the door hardware upon leaving and you have moisture and bacteria forming on the inside of the door.  The inside may be more dangerous than the outside!  Do yourself a favor, wash your hands well, dry your hands well, and then use that same paper towel to open the door of the bathroom upon leaving.  Hopefully there will be a waste basket close by.

4.      Money – Where has it been?  Who touched it?  How long has it been in circulation?  Researchers have found everything from cocaine to feces on money.  Its dirty stuff.  When possible, use your credit card!

5.      Buses and Trains (public transportation) – Buses and trains are good for the environment, but not good for you.  They carry everyone from babies to retirees, the healthy and sick, the blue collar to the white collar and everything else.  You have no idea what the riders have touched, when they washed, where they walked, what they sat on or what disease they are carrying.  A lot of people pass through a bus on a daily basis.  Stay out or wash and disinfect afterward.  While riding, don’t touch your face, eyes, nose or mouth!

6.      Gas Station Pumps – Those gas pump handles last a long time, at least a year.  Who cleans them?  No one.  Who touches them?  Everyone.  You can typically smell a well used pump handle while filling your car.  Nasty stuff!  Use the paper towels from the dispenser at the gas station as a barrier from the spigot.  If the gas station has exhausted its supply, simply drive to another.  The risk isn’t worth it.

7.      ATM machines – Not only do the feed filthy money, but I have never seen an ATM maintained in any way.  The typical ATM machine is touched often by everyone.  They are slimy and nasty.  If it wasn’t for the Braille encoding on each key, you would have trouble pressing each button due to the slickness of the film of filth covering each key.  Get some disinfectant to clean your hands afterward. Be sure to do so before you touch anything in your car!

8.      Public and Office Computers – Public internet terminals and computers used by more people than yourself have that gross waxy film covering those keys and mouse.  It may have been 3 or 4 years since that system was installed.  I promise you it has never been cleaned since.  Bring your own laptop with wireless.  There simply is no need for sharing these devices.  And people think office telephones are disgusting.

9.      Elevators – Thousands of people push those buttons every day.  Little kids with dirty fingers that touched who knows what covered with saliva or mucous from their noses and mouths absolutely love to push those buttons.  Use the knuckle of a finger or sometimes your elbow might even work.  Just keep your hands away.

10.  Rental Car Steering Wheels – After I drive a rental, why do my hands smell so bad?  Because that rental car steering wheel has been touched by many people and has never been cleaned by the car rental company.  On your next trip for work or your next vacation, be sure to bring some antiseptic wipes or gel and coat that rental car steering wheel before you drive it.  You should be able to sleep much better that night in your hotel knowing you have just drastically lowered your chances of getting sick on that trip.


Subscribe by registering here!

How to add a BlogCatalog rating widget to the WordPress Kubrick Theme

September 6th, 2008

I signed up for BlogCatalog the other day.  Its a pretty neat site.  If you haven’t you should.  It seems some traffic can be generated for your blog just by joining.  One of the requirements is that you have a link or one of their widgets that points back to them.  I chose to have the rating widget appear on my blog. This is problematic because of the <non-script> tag on Blogcatalog’s script is not terminated properly and causes problems with Google AdWords or anything else you might have that follows it.  The solution is simple, add the terminating tab and everything will start working fine.  I choose to place it in my sidebar ahead of my Google ads. This should work with other themes, but I am using the WordPress Kubrick Theme.

1. Go to “Presentation:Theme Editor” and select ”sidebar.php”.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the php code.  You should see something like the following:

<li><a href=”http://wordpress.org/” title=”Powered by WordPress, state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform.”>WordPress</a></li>
     <?php wp_meta(); ?>
<li></li>

    </ul>
    </li>
   <?php } ?>

   <?php endif; ?>
  </ul>

3. After the final </ul>, paste the following:

<!– blogcatalog code goes here –>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://www.blogcatalog.com/rate-button.js.php?id=yourid”></script>
<noscript><a href=”http://www.blogcatalog.com” title=”Blog Directory, Find A Blog, Submit A Blog, Search For The Best Blogs”>
Blog Catalog Blog Directory</noscript>

4. Notice I added the final “</noscript>”.  Make sure the “</script>” exists as well.

5. Place you Google ad code after this as well.  It should all work fine.  Have a look at my sidebar.

6. Be sure to press the update button.



Click here to subscribe!

Building a Windows Vista Gaming and Video Editing PC part 1

September 3rd, 2008

ApeviaI have a 12 year old son who really has needed a computer for several years now. He has an old HP laptop that while reliable, is unbelievably slow. I gave him the choice of a new laptop ( Apple MacBook Air ) or a desktop. He tends to use his XBox 360 and Nintendo for gaming, but still thinks he might want to run a few games on his PC which somewhat eliminates the Apple MacBook Air. He’s really interested in those see through neon lit desktops. I not really a fan of these desktop computers, but he really seems to like them. Also, lately, he really is interested in building things himself. He is also into video. Creating and editing his own video for Youtube. Especially stop motion video.
I gave him some time to think about all this and he finally decided to build a PC himself. So, this last Sunday, we spent many hours on the Newegg website searching for cases, motherboards, video cards, and everything else he might need to build his PC. This is what we finally choose:

  • 1 APEVIA X-QPACK2-GD/500 Black/ Green Aluminum Body/ MicroATX Desktop Computer Case with 500W Power Supply - Item #: N82E16811144143 - $98.99

  • 1 Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB 5400 to 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - Item #: N82E16822136151 - $139.99

  • 1 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail - Item #: N82E16819115037 - $169.99

  • 1 COOLMAX SATA POWER ADAPTER Cable - Item #: N82E16812104652 - $2.29

  • 1 ASRock G43Twins-FullHD LGA 775 Intel G43 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Item #: N82E16813157137 - $97.99

  • 1 SAPPHIRE 100225L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Item #: N82E16814102719 - $129.99

  • 1 ione KBP20 Silver & Black USB RF Wireless Ultra slim size design Keyboard Mouse Included - Item #: N82E16823192001 - $41.99

  • 1 LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-04 - Item #: N82E16827106228 - $21.99

  • 1 Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS24G8500ELKR2 - Item #: N82E16820220315 - $119.99

I also have a Windows Vista Ultimate package that I have not been able to install onto my PC.  The installer goes into error every time.  I will install this version onto his new PC.

It all came to about $850.  We placed the order.  He is now loosing sleep with excitement! I hope the parts come in soon.

Part 2 of this article will cover construction. 

Ryan Leach’s amazing Bicycle Riding Video

September 2nd, 2008

I’m in love with Bicycle riding, both on road and off road. If I only had talent like this!
This is Ryan Leach. Totally amazing. Don’t stop until you see him on the railroad tracks!

Amazing stuff!

Google AdSense and your WordPress Blog Kubrick Sidebar part 2

September 1st, 2008

If you are following this blog, you may have noticed that in a previous post, I had some bitter thoughts about Google AdSense.  You can see that post here: http://ellipz.com/?p=23

Well, a few days ago, I decided to spend some time fixing this.  I decided that instead of posting ads after every blog post on WordPress, I would place Google AdSense ads on the right panel of my WordPress Blog.

To make this change, I signed into my AdSense account and created a new ad that was in the form of a 160×600 skyscraper ad which happens to fit perfectly in the Kubrick right hand pane.

I deleted all links to AdSense in my blog posts. Since I was having such trouble with these, there was no point in keeping these around and they would guarantee that my new ad would not operate correctly due to Google’s limit of 3 ads per page.

Then I went to “Presentation:Theme Editor” and select “Sidebar”.  You then get to see the html and PHP code used to display the right pane in the Wordpress Kubrick theme. At the end just before the “</div>”, I added the code generated by Google’s AdSense. Something like this:

</ul> <!– this was already in the template –>
<br> <!– I added this for better spacing –>
<script type=”text/javascript”><!–
google_ad_client = “pub-yournumber here”;
/* 160×600, created 8/30/08 */
google_ad_slot = “yourothernumberhere”;
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
//–>
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js“>
</script>
 </div><!– this was already in the template. The last line in fact –>

I then saved the changes.

The ads started to appear immediately.  In addition, when I enter my archives or my subject categories, the ads change to match the content!

Perfect!

Seagate 1.5 Terabyte Hard Drive

August 31st, 2008

In July, Seagate announced new 1.5 TB hard Drives and 500 MB 2.5 inch notebook drives.
According to the press release, they were to ship in August of 2008.  The Press release is here:

ee25-drive_w_everest-thumb.jpg
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=null&vgnextoid=19549a9dafc0b110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD

Has anyone seen these available yet?
Has any publication done an in depth test?
How does the performance compare to the 1 TB drives?
What is the best price currently available?

If you have any information, let us know!

The Five Disfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni Book Review

August 31st, 2008

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni is a quick and easy read around the story of a troubled Silicon Valley firm and its new CEO who had retired from a traditional manufacturing company. The new CEO takes control of an executive group that failed to act as a team. The book covers Lencioni’s “five dysfunctions” (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results), and includes a questionnaire for evaluating your own teams and specifics to help them understand and overcome these common shortcomings. The book is written as a parable that is easy to read and understand.  This is really great stuff.  This should be required reading for every team in every corporation.
Very highly recommended!

Recording XBox 360 games with Pinnacle Dazzle Video Creator Platinum ( Dazzle DVC 170 ) on a HiDef TV

August 24th, 2008

My son likes to create movies and place them on YouTube for friends and family to see.  He does a lot of stop motion which leads to some amazing effects.  He also likes to record movies of his exploits on Halo 3 (III) for others to see.  Some of these videos are getting a good amount of traffic.  The problem is in the way he is recording his XBox 360 and Halo, he uses our hard disk based camcorder on a tripod focused on the TV. This leads to all types of problems such as reflections, physically tripping over the tripod during a recording, screen distortion and problems with sound.

So, from a previous project, we had a Pinnacle Dazzle Video Creator Platinum package lying around.  In addition to software, this package contains a Dazzle DVC 170.  This USB based device contains hardware that can encode MPEG1, MPEG2 and MPEG4.  This makes it ideal for minimal or poor performing hardware such as a laptop which is what my son wanted to use to record Halo III.  He did his research on YouTube.  There are many movies uploaded that give instructions as to how to accomplish this with the Pinnacle Dazzle Video Creator Platinum package or the Dazzle DVC 170 or almost any other device.  However, they all leave out an important step.  If you follow any of the videos, it won’t work!

Step 1: Install the Pinnacle Dazzle Video Creator Platinum software and make sure it works with the Dazzle DVC 170.  Sometimes this is easy, other times, this is a very difficult task.  See my previous articles under video editing and computer hardware. http://ellipz.com/?cat=5

Step 2: Buy 3 RCA type Y cables.  One male end, 2 female ends.

Step 3: Plug the male ends of the RCA y-connectors to the Dazzle DVC 170.

Step 4: Plug the Yellow, Red and White RCA connectors  from the XBox 360 to the color matched female RCA y-connectors on the Dazzle DVC 170.

Step 5: Plug a second triple RCA connector into the other end of the color matched RCA Y Connectors.

Step 6: Plug the other end of the triple RCA connector into the TV.

Step 7: The tricky part no one ever mentions: On the XBox 360 video cable, there is a switch that switches from HDTV to TV.  You must switch this to TV!

Other things…

My HDTV - a 70″ Sony rear LCD projector due to socket configuration on the back required me to use another TV input for the Cables, a non-hdtv input.  So, whenever my son want to record, in addition to setting the switch on the XBox 360 video cable, needs to switch position of the cables on the back of the TV.  A pain, but it works.  This also means that normally, my son uses input 7 on the TV to play video games in hdtv but needs to switch to input 1 after he makes the change to sdtv.  You may need to do the same.

Finally, you may need to set the aspect ratio you want by setting it in the display menu on the xbox 360 and making sure it matches what was set in the pinnacle studio software.

Let me know if you need a diagram.  I’d be happy to provide one if you need help.



Click here to subscribe!