You are probably wondering what in the hell the contraption pictured above is. It is an antenna I built out of a Pringles Potato Chip can and attach to my Apple Airport to increase my singal strenth.
Why did I do this? Well first off, desktop is far away from my Airport and my single was pretty spotty. There were a lot of time I was unable to get onto the net and that was truly frustrating. The other reason why I built this was because I thought it was cool and I had three weeks off from school with nothing to do. Yes I am a geek, deal with it...
Anyway the antenna is pretty easy to make, you just need to get a few parts from an electronics supply store (like Radio Shack, but better) and some copper wire. I got the plans from an issue of Mac Addict, and I plan on writing in to them to tell how my experiment went.
There are a few issues with doing the antenna with a Mac and the article didn't cover them. There are also different types of antennas you can build, but I don't know what the difference is. All these things stem from a realm of science called "Wave Theory" which sounds cool but I could not care less about it. You can look up all sorts of info on this "cantenna" on google. The hardest part was soldering the copper wire inside the can. I have never soldered before and I am not very good at it.
Anyway, the results of this experiment are that my wireless internet connection is much more consistent since I set this thing up than it was before. My signal is better but not perfect, I will continue to try to find news ways of increasing my range. All in all it was fun.
The Antenna is mounted on a lazer level that I found in Target that had a tri-pod. It looks cool when you turn the beam on and point it in the direct you want your signal to go...I like to pretend it is my own little spy satellite thingy...
Now that my vacation is over and I am back at school, I will hopfully have cooler projects to show but I am pretty proud of this one. It actually worked!
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
The Day from Hell...
So today I was going to hold my first Edgeworks opinion poll. The photo above we will call, Item A, is what you will be using to cast your votes. So here it is...Mark with facial hair or Mark without facial, let me know what you think? You can share your opinion by leaving a comment on the blog.
Which brings me to my other request, I love the fact that people read my blog and I love it even more when they comment. However, I would really really love it if you would sign your name to your post so I know who the hell you are. I know I allow anonymous blogs but that is more for those people who don't have a google account, so they can comment and not have to register.
On to the day from Hell...
I wake up today with the intention of exploring the low country with my buddy, Griggs. I slept late and felt like I probably shouldn't get out of bed, but I did and I went for a run. I am on a crusade to lose my gut. Anyway, I shower up, jump in the car and start doing my errands. I get down the end of my street and my car starts sputtering. I am hoping it is just one of those random fluke things. But as I get further down the road, my check engine light comes on, my rpms are all over the places and my car is starting to buck.
I try and find a place to take my car and everyone I go to is all filled up or they don't have loaners or whatever. I hate the remoteness of Bluffton, SC. Back home in RI, this would not be a problem.
I finally find a place to take, Thank you Mr. Goodyear. They hook it up to a machine, 15 minutes later they come back with a bunch of parts wrapped in a rag. The show the parts (which by the way I still have) Essentially it is a stripped spark plug with the top snapped off, and some electrical rubbery stuff that is all melted. Apparently the part of the spark plug that broke off has fallen into one of my engine cyclinders and has potentially cause serious damage as well as made certain parts of my engine's anatomy melt.
Mr. Goodyear then tells me this is above and beyond him and I will need to take my car to the dealership, which is about an hour away...and my car is not driveable. This is yet another episode of WTF, starring ME!
I then have to co-ordinate a towing from Mr. Goodyear to far-off dealship and then somehow get my ass home. Did I mention I was a good 10 miles from home. So I try and rent a car. The car place next door to Mr. Goodyear is ALL OUT OF CARS! At this point I have already grabbed my ankles and started to bite down...As an aside this is nothing new. I have often gone to specialty retailers, like car rental places, pizza places, etc etc and have been told on several occassions that they are out of the only thing they sell. Case in point, I have been to Pizza Hut several times in my life and have been told that they are all out of DOUGH! of that they can't make me a medium pizza, they only have larges! You see the pattern of abuse here...
So, I call another car rental place at a local airport, which by the way is the size of a pinto. They are about 10 miles from my location and I ask if they can drop the car off to me...OF COURSE NOT! They only deliver cars within a 5 mile radius...so I now have a car ready that is 10 miles away and no way to get there. My day is oh so sunny...
Luckily a local friend was home who was able to pick me up and take me to the airport to get the damned car...a freaking Monte Carlo!
All in all it was a shitty day, and a long day of waiting for bad news. So to top it all off, I of course put up two hideous pictures of mug to see what the rest of the world things of me with or without facial hair...
I am reminded of Radiohead "You do it to yourself, you do..."
Which brings me to my other request, I love the fact that people read my blog and I love it even more when they comment. However, I would really really love it if you would sign your name to your post so I know who the hell you are. I know I allow anonymous blogs but that is more for those people who don't have a google account, so they can comment and not have to register.
On to the day from Hell...
I wake up today with the intention of exploring the low country with my buddy, Griggs. I slept late and felt like I probably shouldn't get out of bed, but I did and I went for a run. I am on a crusade to lose my gut. Anyway, I shower up, jump in the car and start doing my errands. I get down the end of my street and my car starts sputtering. I am hoping it is just one of those random fluke things. But as I get further down the road, my check engine light comes on, my rpms are all over the places and my car is starting to buck.
I try and find a place to take my car and everyone I go to is all filled up or they don't have loaners or whatever. I hate the remoteness of Bluffton, SC. Back home in RI, this would not be a problem.
I finally find a place to take, Thank you Mr. Goodyear. They hook it up to a machine, 15 minutes later they come back with a bunch of parts wrapped in a rag. The show the parts (which by the way I still have) Essentially it is a stripped spark plug with the top snapped off, and some electrical rubbery stuff that is all melted. Apparently the part of the spark plug that broke off has fallen into one of my engine cyclinders and has potentially cause serious damage as well as made certain parts of my engine's anatomy melt.
Mr. Goodyear then tells me this is above and beyond him and I will need to take my car to the dealership, which is about an hour away...and my car is not driveable. This is yet another episode of WTF, starring ME!
I then have to co-ordinate a towing from Mr. Goodyear to far-off dealship and then somehow get my ass home. Did I mention I was a good 10 miles from home. So I try and rent a car. The car place next door to Mr. Goodyear is ALL OUT OF CARS! At this point I have already grabbed my ankles and started to bite down...As an aside this is nothing new. I have often gone to specialty retailers, like car rental places, pizza places, etc etc and have been told on several occassions that they are out of the only thing they sell. Case in point, I have been to Pizza Hut several times in my life and have been told that they are all out of DOUGH! of that they can't make me a medium pizza, they only have larges! You see the pattern of abuse here...
So, I call another car rental place at a local airport, which by the way is the size of a pinto. They are about 10 miles from my location and I ask if they can drop the car off to me...OF COURSE NOT! They only deliver cars within a 5 mile radius...so I now have a car ready that is 10 miles away and no way to get there. My day is oh so sunny...
Luckily a local friend was home who was able to pick me up and take me to the airport to get the damned car...a freaking Monte Carlo!
All in all it was a shitty day, and a long day of waiting for bad news. So to top it all off, I of course put up two hideous pictures of mug to see what the rest of the world things of me with or without facial hair...
I am reminded of Radiohead "You do it to yourself, you do..."
Saturday, June 11, 2005
P.O'ed
I finally went out this weekend after being on vacation for a full two weeks. I didn't plan on going out but after getting to the restaurant where I ate dinner I just decided to stay there for a little while longer.
It was apparently karoke night there which I always find entertaining. I am sitting at the bar and there is a rather attractive girl on the otherside and I was checking her out. I thought (apparently I was wrong)that she was doing the same. What was I thinking!? Anyway I asked her if I could buy her a drink and talk...well I got her the drink but the talk just did not happen. Actually she didn't speak at all! It was totally one sided conversation. That really pisses me off and shame on me for buying this broad a drink. This type of crap has happened to me before and I should have learned my lesson but apparently I am a complete moron.
Why the hell do girls do that? "Sure by me a drink, I will be completely rude to you and then go on my way" I don't think I am a sketchy guy and I am way too nice to people, but what the hell!
My faith in the opposite sex has not been renewed at ALL! I am Jill's worn-out doormat...
It was apparently karoke night there which I always find entertaining. I am sitting at the bar and there is a rather attractive girl on the otherside and I was checking her out. I thought (apparently I was wrong)that she was doing the same. What was I thinking!? Anyway I asked her if I could buy her a drink and talk...well I got her the drink but the talk just did not happen. Actually she didn't speak at all! It was totally one sided conversation. That really pisses me off and shame on me for buying this broad a drink. This type of crap has happened to me before and I should have learned my lesson but apparently I am a complete moron.
Why the hell do girls do that? "Sure by me a drink, I will be completely rude to you and then go on my way" I don't think I am a sketchy guy and I am way too nice to people, but what the hell!
My faith in the opposite sex has not been renewed at ALL! I am Jill's worn-out doormat...
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
New features...
I have installed a counter on my blog to see how many people do in fact visit this site. I hope my ego will be well rewarded...
Monday, June 06, 2005
Zatoichi "The Blind Swordsman"
Zatoichi Movie Poster. UK edition
I saw the coolest movie last night and I am still in awe. The movie is called Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman. For those of you who don't know, Zatoichi is a Japanese legend about a blind samurai with incredible sword skills. Now I know what you're thinking, its a samurai movie with a lot of violence and not much story. OH HOW WRONG YOU ARE! This movie was great, it had action, drama, well developed characters, comedy, and dancing. Yeah that's right, dancing...actually tap dancing. Now tap dancing and samurais wouldn't be two things that I would necessarily blend but it was awesome. Think of tap dancing as in "Bring in the Noise, Bring in the Funk" and you have some idea of what it was like.
This movie was amazing. It is Japanese but I bought the DVD and you can choose to have the English dub. I prefer the dubbing only because I can't read subtitles fast enough and watch the scene at the same time. The fight scenes in this movie were awesome and they weren't like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon which I am really thankful for. All that high wire flying around is pretty stupid looking I think, this had none of that but was 10 times more amazing. It was also one of the funniest movies I have seen a while. Very clever wit and slapstick throughout the film. More movies need to be like this. It was alos like a movie comic book or more precisely a movie real-life samurai manga. The blood splatter was computer generated and you don't notice at first. It was just so damn cool.
YOU ALL NEED TO GO SEE IT!
Friday, June 03, 2005
Lance
I have received comments and emails from some people wishing to see some of my work from school. I usually get the question "What the hell do you do there?". What is more remarkable is that yes I have readers, and yes some of them are people I have never met in person. They have no idea what I look like or even what my real personitly is and frankly, I like the anonymity.
Here is my final from color theory. This is an exercise in "pointilism". If you don't know what that is look it up, I don't feel like explaining things today.
Here is my final from color theory. This is an exercise in "pointilism". If you don't know what that is look it up, I don't feel like explaining things today.
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