photoBlog

See more at the movies
Did I mention I race rally cars? Red Rocket Rally

Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Morning Roast
by brian @ 11:02:14 - [perma-link]
I’m roasting some Sumatra Lintong Pak Joner coffee beans from Sweet Maria’s. This is the next to last pound of beans from the order I did last summer. 15 lbs of beans lasted me almost a year! I have another 450g of Espresso Monkey Blend to roast in a week or so, but I think it is time to order some more.
I’ve been roasting beans with this contraption for about a year and a half.

Monday, June 13, 2022
Meet the Heathers!
by brian @ 19:19:41 - [perma-link]
Like from the movie. I got 4 Emerald Eye Rasboras today. One of them wasn’t schooling with the other 3. I thought these 3 were just being snobby, but the 4th one died after about an hour, so maybe I was being judgemental. Anyway the name sticks, and I’ll have to go get another Veronica.
The fish store is getting more “nano” fish next week, so I’ll go back and get another tiny school. These ones are about 3/4 of an inch long and won’t get much bigger. I can have (relatively) lots of them in my 10 gallon tank!

Friday, June 10, 2022
Algae eater doing its thing
by brian @ 11:14:13 - [perma-link]
I got an algae eater fish (I forget the species) for my 3 gallon aquarium. A while back I moved the tank near my 10 gallon aquaponics setup, and the grow light let algae go wild. After a filter change and a little bit of cleanup, that fish keeps the small tank spotless.
Yesterday I decided to clean the mush neglected 10 gallon tank. I took an algae covered marble from that tank and put it in the 3 gallon. The algae eater took to it pretty quickly. Now the marble is clean! The algae eater also has a buddy, a Mexican dwarf crawfish (Cambarellus Photobombus, or something like that).
The 10 gallon got a good cleaning. I removed all the decorations and soaked them clean, then rinsed and dechlorinated before putting some of them back in. The gravel bottom got a good vacuuming, after I watched some informative YouTube videos (thanks Aquarium Co-op!), and I wiped down the glass. I think it looks great! I hope the little algae eater can keep this one clean, too!

Thursday, June 9, 2022
Is this on?
by brian @ 18:02:29 - [perma-link]
I decided to revive my photoblog, after bailing on Facebook. The backend needed a few changes, and I need a new way to submit posts, since the old way doesn’t work anymore. I guess it is working!

Chihuly
by brian @ 18:21:35 - [perma-link]
Testing multiple images. Looks like I have a bug in the thumbnail generator that does not rotate images properly. I'll have to look into that. But happy that this is working well enough for now.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Red Rocket Rides Again!
by brian @ 22:18:24 - [perma-link]
Dan, Sam and I worked long into the night, then Dan came by again today. The engine is in and runs. Brakes are (probably) still good from a few days ago. It has bumpers, wheels, HotBits suspension and its not leaking.
Tomorrow it gets lights, a windshield, seatbelt, rear windows (one plexi, one glass) mudflaps, and ... an alignment, and maybe i'll fix the speedo if i don't think of something else.
Look for us at the Global Rallycross this Friday and Saturday on ESPN3.com!

Saturday, February 12, 2011
Brewing with Bre and Jonathan
by brian @ 19:23:35 - [perma-link]
Our friends in Walnut Creek have made an accelerated foray into brewing beer. He's made 8 batches in just about 2 months. And they're pretty good.
Rebecca and I helped bottle and IPA and brew a batch of "Jamil's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter. In a few weeks it will be beer.

Saturday, October 30, 2010
Affi Loves...
by ccons @ 20:15:14 - [perma-link]
Lego!

Thursday, October 7, 2010
Bunk Beds in the RV
by brian @ 02:01:03 - [perma-link]
I made some supports so we can use the couches in the RV as bunk beds. There's now beds for 10. 11 is going to be cozy.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Blacklight Umbrella
by brian @ 21:20:38 - [perma-link]
I decided to do another project to take to Burningman this year. The dance floor was pretty cool, but it was way too heavy, and I wanted a programmable LED array. So I made it ultra-portable by building it on an umbrella frame.
The umbrella sports 64 UV LEDs so I'll have to incorporate neon colors into everything Rebecca and I wear. Each spine has 8 LEDs connected to an 8-bit shift register. All of the shift registers are connected to each other in series, and an arduino microcrontroller (the red board) shifts 64-bit values through them to update the light pattern. I've written a few different programs to try different effects. Some twinkle the lights at random, others shift patterns down or around the spines. I'll combine them into one program that rotates through all of the patterns periodically.
It took about 6 days to build. 64 LEDs, 64 resistors, 64 pairs of wires. The fabric cover took about a day. The extra frilly stuff on top is to slightly-more obscure the nest of wires and perf board. Ping-pong balls on the tips are for safety (I don't want to poke any eyes out) and sort of an homage to the greatest LED light-show ever, the Cubatron (it's rad). I'm using a li-ion mobile phone recharger pack as a power supply. It ran the umbrella for about 3 hours on a partial charge. They're $10 on closeout at radioshack, so I'll get a few more.

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Wednesday, June 15, 2022
	Morning Roast by brian @ 11:02:14 - [perma-link] I’m roasting some Sumatra Lintong Pak Joner coffee beans from Sweet Maria’s. This is the next to last pound of beans from the order I did last summer. 15 lbs of beans lasted me almost a year! I have another 450g of Espresso Monkey Blend to roast in a week or so, but I think it is time to order some more. I’ve been roasting beans with this contraption for about a year and a half.

Monday, June 13, 2022
	Meet the Heathers! by brian @ 19:19:41 - [perma-link] Like from the movie. I got 4 Emerald Eye Rasboras today. One of them wasn’t schooling with the other 3. I thought these 3 were just being snobby, but the 4th one died after about an hour, so maybe I was being judgemental. Anyway the name sticks, and I’ll have to go get another Veronica. The fish store is getting more “nano” fish next week, so I’ll go back and get another tiny school. These ones are about 3/4 of an inch long and won’t get much bigger. I can have (relatively) lots of them in my 10 gallon tank!

Friday, June 10, 2022
	Algae eater doing its thing by brian @ 11:14:13 - [perma-link] I got an algae eater fish (I forget the species) for my 3 gallon aquarium. A while back I moved the tank near my 10 gallon aquaponics setup, and the grow light let algae go wild. After a filter change and a little bit of cleanup, that fish keeps the small tank spotless. Yesterday I decided to clean the mush neglected 10 gallon tank. I took an algae covered marble from that tank and put it in the 3 gallon. The algae eater took to it pretty quickly. Now the marble is clean! The algae eater also has a buddy, a Mexican dwarf crawfish (Cambarellus Photobombus, or something like that). The 10 gallon got a good cleaning. I removed all the decorations and soaked them clean, then rinsed and dechlorinated before putting some of them back in. The gravel bottom got a good vacuuming, after I watched some informative YouTube videos (thanks Aquarium Co-op!), and I wiped down the glass. I think it looks great! I hope the little algae eater can keep this one clean, too!


Thursday, June 9, 2022
	Is this on? by brian @ 18:02:29 - [perma-link] I decided to revive my photoblog, after bailing on Facebook. The backend needed a few changes, and I need a new way to submit posts, since the old way doesn’t work anymore. I guess it is working!
	Chihuly by brian @ 18:21:35 - [perma-link] Testing multiple images. Looks like I have a bug in the thumbnail generator that does not rotate images properly. I'll have to look into that. But happy that this is working well enough for now.


Tuesday, April 12, 2011
	The Red Rocket Rides Again! by brian @ 22:18:24 - [perma-link] Dan, Sam and I worked long into the night, then Dan came by again today. The engine is in and runs. Brakes are (probably) still good from a few days ago. It has bumpers, wheels, HotBits suspension and its not leaking. Tomorrow it gets lights, a windshield, seatbelt, rear windows (one plexi, one glass) mudflaps, and ... an alignment, and maybe i'll fix the speedo if i don't think of something else. Look for us at the Global Rallycross this Friday and Saturday on ESPN3.com!

Saturday, February 12, 2011
	Brewing with Bre and Jonathan by brian @ 19:23:35 - [perma-link] Our friends in Walnut Creek have made an accelerated foray into brewing beer. He's made 8 batches in just about 2 months. And they're pretty good. Rebecca and I helped bottle and IPA and brew a batch of "Jamil's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter. In a few weeks it will be beer.


Saturday, October 30, 2010
	Affi Loves... by ccons @ 20:15:14 - [perma-link] Lego!

Thursday, October 7, 2010
	Bunk Beds in the RV by brian @ 02:01:03 - [perma-link] I made some supports so we can use the couches in the RV as bunk beds. There's now beds for 10. 11 is going to be cozy.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
	Blacklight Umbrella by brian @ 21:20:38 - [perma-link] I decided to do another project to take to Burningman this year. The dance floor was pretty cool, but it was way too heavy, and I wanted a programmable LED array. So I made it ultra-portable by building it on an umbrella frame. The umbrella sports 64 UV LEDs so I'll have to incorporate neon colors into everything Rebecca and I wear. Each spine has 8 LEDs connected to an 8-bit shift register. All of the shift registers are connected to each other in series, and an arduino microcrontroller (the red board) shifts 64-bit values through them to update the light pattern. I've written a few different programs to try different effects. Some twinkle the lights at random, others shift patterns down or around the spines. I'll combine them into one program that rotates through all of the patterns periodically. It took about 6 days to build. 64 LEDs, 64 resistors, 64 pairs of wires. The fabric cover took about a day. The extra frilly stuff on top is to slightly-more obscure the nest of wires and perf board. Ping-pong balls on the tips are for safety (I don't want to poke any eyes out) and sort of an homage to the greatest LED light-show ever, the Cubatron (it's rad). I'm using a li-ion mobile phone recharger pack as a power supply. It ran the umbrella for about 3 hours on a partial charge. They're $10 on closeout at radioshack, so I'll get a few more.

previous