Silence Is Concurrence

Moving Day!

2007-09-19T18:46:00.001-04:00

So, I decided to move my blog to Microsoft's spaces.live service. Why? Well, I guess the biggest reason is that I HATE this editor they give us. It just takes too long to edit a post and it's just too hard to get pictures formatted the way I want them. Besides, I have other services with the Evil Empire, so what's one more. MS also provides a cool editor (which I might be using to write this post, but I can't admit that) that's just SO much easier to use. And, their service is actually pretty nice. So, I can't really call them the Evil Empire. I'm not a Microsoft basher.

Now, all I have to do is move everything from here to there. Easier said than done, I suspect, but who knows - it might be FUN <G>.

Gemstones ROCK!

2006-12-31T11:58:00.000-05:00

A while back I mentioned that I was taking a class in gemstones. It's an earth sciences class, one of the GERs (general education requirements) required for my bachelor's degree. I've always liked rocks, so when I saw this class offered it seemed like a no-brainer. I knew I'd enjoy it, but I didn't know it would be one of the BEST classes I'd ever taken! I learned a lot, and I had FUN doing it.

I think that one of the biggest reasons I enjoyed the class so much is my professor. She had so much knowledge and enthusiasm to share with us you almost couldn't not "catch the fever". She went above and beyond the call of duty, always available to answer any questions, staying after class with a few of us interested in learning more, and sharing with all of us TONS of her own minerals, gemstones and jewelry. So, for all she has done, for all of her students and me personally, I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Dr. Lori Dickson. Lori renewed my own personal interest in minerals, cultured my new interest in gemstones, and gave me the opportunity to spend lots of my hard earned money on yet another collection to be persued, enjoyed and shared with family and friends, and with you, the anonymous readership of my humble blog. Thank you, Lori!

Now, on the the FUN stuff: GEMSTONES!

This is part my latest purchase: 200 carats of rare and not-so-rare faceted gems. Amethyst, citrine, ruby, smokey quartz, garnet, sapphire, aquamarine, topaz, chrome diopside, labradorite, spinel, etc. Most people never get the chance to take a close look at all the various types gemstones, and it really a shame. They all have a unique kind of beauty. These gems formed in the ground hundreds of millions of years ago, before life ever spawned on earth. They've been lying there all this time just waiting to be discovered. Would you ever think that such beauty could be lying around in the dirt in your back yard?

Here's the rest of my latest purchase: 500 carats of cabochon gemstones. Most of them I haven't identified yet, but the tiger's eye and labradorite are easy to spot.

There's the labradorite.

Moonstone?

Here's one of my best! A blue star saphire.

I'm still not sure what this stone is. The colorless streaks make it a mystery to me. Anyone with a suggestion feel free to leave a comment.

Opals!!! There's FIRE in them thare stones! These are actually opal triplets. They have a layer of opal sandwiched between layers of other material, usually other minerals or plastics. This makes them more durable and probably helps keep them from drying out. Does that surprise you? It surprised me. Read on...

Long ago, before my gemstone awakening, I thought opals were organic, like pearls. Now I know they're not. Well, they kinda are, but they're different. Pearls are formed in oysters and muscles from nacre (or Mother of Pearl) secreted by the host. They contain water, calcium carbonate and some organic material. Opal is hydrous silicon dioxide that forms in cavities in the ground. Unlike most gemstones, neither pearl nor opal are minerals. The presence of water and the lack of a crystalline structure make them mineraloids. It's the water along with the alignment of silicon spheres that gives opal it's distinctive optical properties, or play of colors.

There are many identifying characteristics of gemstones, one of which is it's density, or specific gravity. Above is my rig for measuring specific gravity. You weigh the stone 'dry' (the easy part) then weigh it under water, or 'wet' (the hard part). The difference between the two wieghts is the weight of the water the stone displaces. The ratio of the dry weight to the water's weight is the specific gravity.

I'm very proud of this rig. I think MacGuyver would be proud, too. It was fun making it. Wanna make your own? Here's how:

Parts list:

Digital scale with 0.002 grams (min) resolution - the more sensitive the better.
Extraneous wire coat hanger.
Bottle of good (or bad) beer (actually, only the bottle cap is required).
6" length of flush chain from toilet tank repair kit.
Razor blade.
Vice-like device to hold razor blade.
Cup, small jar or equivalent to hold water.
Small dead weight (live weights move around too much!).
String or dental floss.

Tool list:

Linesman pliers (or equivalent) sufficient to cut coat hanger.
Hammer.
Small cold chisel.
Needle nose pliers.
Electric drill.
0.060" drill bit.
Blocks of various height.
The obligatory tube sock.

Assembly instructions:

Open bottle of beer being carefull as to not excessively mutilate the bottle cap.
Drink bottle of beer. DO NOT GUZZLE the beer! Take the time to enjoy it.
Wash bottle cap.
Using the electric drill and 0.060" drill bit, install three equally spaced holes in the peripherie of bottle cap. These holes will be used to suspend the bottle cap from the balance beam
Cut coat hanger as necessary to produce about 8 inches of straight 'balance beam".
Bend a "V" hook in the right end (for suspending the bottle cap).
Secure the razor blade in the vise-like device - This will be the fulcrum for the balance beam.
Arrange the scale, vise-like device and water container at the appropriate heights. Try to arrange the elements such that the fulcrum is closer to the scale than it is to the water container. The idea is to create an exaggerated weight measurement that will reduce any errors indroduced by air bubbles clinging to the stone and swaying movements of the underwater platform. Don't worry, the calibration process will ensure you get accurate results.
Using the cold chisel and hammer, make a "registration mark" within 1 inch from the left end. This will align the dead weight in a fixed location.
Using the cold chisel and hammer, make another registration mark at the appropriate distance from the first registration mark. This will be used to balance the beam on the razor blade "fulcrum". Make the mark on the bottom of the beam, so that when you orient the "V" hook in the upright position the registration mark will be able to engage the razor blade fulcrum.
Using the appropriate length of string or dental floss, secure the dead weight to the beam at the left registration mark such that it will rest on the scale when the beam is resting in a horizontal orientation.
Place the beam on the fulcrum engaging the fulcrum and bottom registration mark with the dead weight resting on the scale.
Using the needle nose pliers, assemble lengths of chain appropriate for suspending the bottle cap from the "V" hook into the container of water. HINT: You may want to use string or dental floss for suspending the bottle cap. I suspect the water's surface tension along the links of chain will be enough to influence your measurements. In my final design, I replaced the three lengths of chain that extend below the water line with dental floss and found the measurements to be more consistent.
Fill water container with water such that bottle cap is submerged.

Congratulations! Your specific gravity machine is complete. All that's left is the calibration process:

Remove the water container and any water left in the bottle cap.
Gently move the dead weight off the scale so that you can weigh a gemstone normally.
Using only the scale, weigh a gemstone that is typical for your collection. Record the weight.
Repeat this for a total of ten weights. They should all be within the limit of your scale's resolution. My scale has a resolution of 0.002 grams, so all weights are +/- 0.002 grams.
Average all weights. This will be the normal "dry" weight.
Replace the dead weight on the scale.
Turn on the scale and zero it.
Place the gemstone in the bottle cap. The scale should display it's NEGATIVE weight. because of the design of the beam, this weight will be exaggerated. Record it.
Remove the stone and allow the scale to return to zero.
Weigh the stone again. Record the weight. Do this a total of TEN TIMES.
Your recorded weights should all be very close to each other. Any reading(s) that seem way out of place should be re-done.
Average all ten readings.
Divide the average by the "dry" weight of the stone. This will be your rig's scale factor. Write it down and don't lose it. ALL WIGHT MEASUREMENTS WILL NEED TO BE DIVIDED BY THIS SCALE FACTOR.
If you want to get really picky, you should know that specific gravity is referenced on the weight of fresh water at 4 degrees centegrade. Like me, you will probably be using regular old tap water at room temperature. How much difference does it make? I did some research. The answer is, "not much." However, if you're like me, you'll want to minimize as much error as possible. You can compensate for the less-dense-ness of tap water. After you calculate the weight of the displayed water, simply multiply it by 1.00177. Near as I can tell, that's about the best we're gonna get. I'll leave the exact specific gravity formula for you to deduce. You have all the information you need.

So, that's about it. If you're smart - and if you've read this much you probably are - you'll weight all your gemstones dry first, then assemble the specific gravity rig and make all your wet measurements, then enter all your data into your spreadsheet. Did I mention that you'll need a spreadsheet to make all the calculations? Well, you don't actually need one, but it sure helps.

Have fun!

That's all for now. I'm sure I'll find a lot more to write about later. Happy new year!

My Minerals

2006-10-28T10:47:00.000-04:00

These are some of the best specimens in my mineral collection.

This is Aqua Aura. It's not natural, but it is pretty. They created it by treating natural quartz crystals with gold in a vaccuum furnace.

An Apache Tear from Arizona.

Azurite

Bismith crystals. Although they do occur in nature, this one was 'grown' as a byproduct of some metal refining operation.

These two are calcite.

Carnelian, goldstone and citrine.

Dalmation stone.

These two above are a fluorite crystal, cut and polished. It looks awesome in the sunlight.

These two are also fluorite. The octahedral shape is not the way it grows, but how it cleaves. Cleavage is characteristic some minerals. It means that they tend to break along flat planes. If a meneral breaks irregularly, like a piece of hematite, then it has no cleavage is is said to fracture.

This is a piece of Jet. It's as lite as a feather and takes a high polish. Jet has been used to make carvings for pendands and broaches. Jet forms from bituminous coal. Since it is organic in origin, it is technically NOT a mineral, so it's called a 'mineraloid'. Pearl, ivory, amber, opal and coral are other mineraloids.

This is a piece of labradorite. Notice the bluish-greenish iridescence. This optical property has a specific name: labradorescence.

Pyrite, or "fool's gold", grows in several forms. This cube is about 3/4".

Rutilated quartz.

A smokey quartz crystal.

This is Ulexite, also called "TV stone". It has a property similar to fiber optics. It channels light from one side to the other. You can read through it as though the printing was on the top of the stone.

Lastly, my enhydro, or "water stone". It actually has water in it. You can hear is sloshing around if you shake it next to your ear, and you can see it if you shine a light through it. The water in this stone has been trapped inside for hundreds of millions of years.

If you know me well...

2006-10-15T12:38:00.000-04:00

... Then you know I LIKE ROCKS & MINERALS! I always have. They're just cool! Minerals are the best, with all their cool colors and cool crystal shapes (I know, I need to find another adjective). So, when I saw that the college was offering a course this fall on GEMSTONES, I was a bit...intrigued. It's a really cool - I mean neat course. I'm glad I signed up for it. AND, I'm glad I went to a local gem and mineral show this past weeked. I spent a few hours looking at lots of gems and minerals. It was really...fascinating (too Spock-ish?)! And cool! I even took PICTURES! Call me a geek if you must, I've heard it once or twice before...

Some of these came out a bit dingy. That's because I didn't use any flash. I might touch-up some of the worst ones, but on many you can't really even tell. It must have been a good day for light.

Amethyst

No shortage of quartz at the show. It comes in many pretty colors.

These two are natural copper. I'm not sure if this is how it formed or if lightening had something to do with it. Either way, it's pretty cool.

Fluorescence!

Fluorescence is one of THE coolest properties a mineral could have. Most minerals don't fluoresce, but those that do, DO!

These are, in my opinion, the best pictures from the show. There was a wooden light box setup with a UV (that's Ultraviolet for you rookies) light and these four minerals inside. I just wish they had a sign telling us what they were.

I had no idea if the pictures would come out ok, but figured it was worth a shot. I turned the flash off, set my camera for macro mode and snapped a few.

I wish I had also taken a few flash pictures of these. Fluorescence is odd in that the colors the minerals fluoresce are not necessarily anything like the mineral's colors in natural light. Diamonds, for example, fluoresce bluish, but rubies are still red.

Galena

No mineral show would be complete without a few geodes...

Look at the SIZE of that garnet!

Okay, it's not really a diamond diamond, it's a Herkimer diamond.

Mother Of Pearl (I think)

Pyrite is one of my favorite minerals. It grows in CUBES! It also grows in other shapes, but the cube is the coolest.

Did you know that the cubic crystal shape - also knows as isometric - is the most complex crystalline structures? It has more symmetry than you can imagine.

Petrified wood. They would make nice tabletops!

This Rhodochrosite specimen was awesome!

Stibnite. There were a lot of mineral specimens from China.

Okay, it's NOT a mineral, but it is cool.

It's a Ciccada!!!

2006-08-14T19:02:00.000-04:00

It didn't take long to find out. Falanya from Anchorage, Alaska wasted no time in identifying the critter. Seems they're rather common, too. Odd that I've never seen one before last year, considering that I've lived all my 46 years (as of next week!) in Connecticut. I've read that some types of ciccadas (or cicadas?) are on a 17 year cycle, others are not. Maybe that's why.

As it turns out, some people think these are amazing insects. Check this out!

Let's All Play...What The HELL Is It?

2006-08-09T19:13:00.000-04:00

I first saw one of these BUTT-UGLY bugs last year. I was sitting outside on my balcony when one came ZOOMing by and landed on the railing. I couldn't believe how big and UGLY it was! I ran inside for my camera but by the time I got back the bug was gone.

That was last year. Then, a week or so ago I came home from work at lunchtime and saw this guy on the ground, dead as a doornail! It was during the heatwave we had, so maybe it just succombed to the heat. Whatever did it in, one thing was for sure - this guy wasn't gonna fly away like the last one did! I brought it inside and took these pictures of it.

I can't tell if the eyes are the little redish dots toward the center of the head or the large bulbous things out on the corners.

You can see here it's over 2 inches long! It's back looks like armor plating! Here's a close-up.

One more of it's botom...

Kinda looks like it has a long stinger between it's legs. Please, say it ain't so...

I looked around a bit on the internet for an insect identifier, and I found a couple, but I couldn't itentify this thing.

Yes, it's HOT!

2006-08-02T12:30:00.000-04:00

The noon-time temperature on my balcony!

And it's gonna gt hotter before it gets cooler!

English As The Official Language...

2006-07-30T10:49:00.000-04:00

We all get those joke emails - sometimes they're the only things that get us through the day. This is one of my favorites:

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English, rather than German, will be the official language of the European Union.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.

The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

Speaking of english, we all know that's the language President Bush speaks, but does anyone really know what he's trying to say???

"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."
- George W. Bush

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
- George W. Bush

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared."
- George W. Bush

"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
- George W.Bush

"The future will be better tomorrow."
- George W. Bush

"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."
- George W. Bush

"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."
- George W. Bush

"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe."
- George W. Bush

"Public speaking is very easy."
- George W. Bush

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."
- George W. Bush

"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
- George W. Bush

"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
- George W. Bush

"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."
- George W. Bush

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
- George W. Bush

"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."
- George W. Bush

And something to be REALLY worried about:

What it takes to be a Cat..

2006-07-27T19:50:00.000-04:00

I've said it for years. A cat's daily activities can be reduced to a limited number of variations of five basic activities. Those five activities are: eat, sleep, shit, sniff and lick! That's pretty much all it takes. Having said that, here's another pic of Sassy, honing her skills, so to speak...

Just a Quickie...

2006-06-15T22:30:00.000-04:00

Bugs!

2006-06-04T09:11:00.000-04:00

From time to time I find a cool bug creeping or crawling around. If I have my camera handy, I take picture. Here are the coolest bugs so far...

This guy was hanging out outside my door last summer.

I had to get a close-up.

I found this moth on the building at work. I call it a "snowy" moth. I think it's actually Ethmia delliella, but judging from the map it's a long way from home!

Oh ye of little faith... The conclusion

2006-05-30T18:02:00.000-04:00

First things first. Never again will I write part 1 of a post with a cliff-hanger. It takes a while to write all this crap, and I don't have a lot of spare time in this busy life I lead (oh, I'm goin to hell for that lie, that's for sure). I thought it would cool to do that, but there have been just too many people asking me, 'Well, how'd it turn out? Did it WORK???" (okay, maybe it was only two or three, but I really hate it when people ask me that). Hello!!! Does the title of the entry give you a clue? "Oh ye of little faith" Ya think I'd use that title if it didn't work? Noooooo. So here it is, the answer you've all been waiting for: Yes, it worked! MY TV WORKS!!! Notify the media...

Oh ye of little faith...

2006-05-08T20:44:00.000-04:00

Back in March I post an excrutiatingly long entry relating the trials and tribulations involved in finding replacement parts for my busted TV. To recap - briefly - my TV died late last year and I decided it would be fun to try to fix it on my own. I found a web site that had technical information, I found a few web sites with some of the parts I suspected I needed, and I had my brother who is very well versed in the art of making sick electronics well again. That might be the only thing he's good for, but that's not a matter for discussion in this forum. Just kidding, Bro. You know that.

Anyway, the main point of that entry, so long ago, was that I had a bitch of a time finding a 100µf 200v electrolytic capacitor. I wasn't sure if I actually needed it, but after reading about all the bad things that happen to electrolytics over time I decided that, as long as I had my hands in the guts of this thing, I might as well replace a few of what I considered to be the most likely caps to either be bad or almost be bad. In the end, finding that one capacitor was the single longest delay in getting my TV repaired. Of course, that excludes my proclivity for procrastination. To bo honest, I've had all the parts I could find, including the elusive 100µf 200v electrolytic capacitor, for at least a month now (maybe two), but I've honestly not missed my TV that much over the past 5 or 6 months. Except for the important shows, like 24, Battlestar Galactica and American Hotrod, there's really not much good stuff on these days. My time has been better spent doing stuff in my computer and shaving my head, but that's another blog entry altogether!

Anyway, when I got home from work today I just felt like getting my TV fixed. I guess it was just time to do it! It had nothing to do with the crap I've had to put up with from some of the guys at work. Honest, it didn't! Well, maybe a little. I sensed that my reputation as a fixer upper was tarnishing, and we can't have that, now can we? So, when I got home I wasted no time is collecting my tools and getting down to business. I decided I was gonna get this bad boy working again or die trying. Well, I was gonna give it a shot anyway. Had nothing to lose, right? Right!

First step, photo documentation: details of the task at hand...

The main board of my TV (they're so small these days), the replacement parts, and tools needed to get the job done!

Here's a better shot of the new parts, including the elusive 100µf 200v electrolytic capacitor (2nd from the left). I suspect that the main problems with the TV are the voltage regulator IC (on the left) and a dinky little 1K resistor (along the bottom).

From left to right, a big-ass electrolytic capacitor, the 1K resistor, and the regulator IC. You can see how the resistor is burnt. I'm a bit worried at this poing, because a 1Kohm resistor should have a red stripe on it. Brown-Black-Red is the color code for 1Kohm, but I don't see no red! Hmmm...

On the inside of the high voltage section we see the flyback transformer at the top-center. That's what makes the 29,000 volts that Aaron doesn't actually believe can be created from a 120 volt wall socket. Aaron, did you look up induction like I told you to? Nooooo... Anyway, in here are the other two capacitors I replaced, one of which is the elusive 100µf 200v electrolytic capacitor. Notice how we have a couple ceramic resistors showing signs of a heat?

The first part to be replaced was the 1K resistor. When I got the old one out I found out why I didn't see a red stripe - the outer coating came off as dust on my fingertips. Look at the difference between old and new. This baby was baked! Now there was no doubt in my mind that I was on the right track with the reglator and resistor. I was feelin' goooood about this. Next came the regulator IC and the caps. I got so into all this stuff I forgot to take more pictures. Not much more to see anyway.

So, after i got everything replaced, all I had left to do was re-install the board back into the TV and hook up all the wires I unhooked 6 months ago. Did yo catch that. I said, 'Blah blah blah... 6 months ago." All I gotta say is, thank GOD they made all the connector different (so uneducated foreigners and guys like me can't screw things up royally by plugging things in backwards). Anyway, after wrestling with the thing for a while, I got the back on the set with two screws in place. I figure if something goes BOOM when I throw the switch I don't want that back piece flying off and knocking me on my dumb ass. I want some razor sharp shards of that high quality American plastic slicing through my flesh. Yah, that'd be a cool story to tell the guys at work the next day. Truth be told, there probably wasn't much chance of anything like that happening. If I had installed a cap backwards it would have exploded, but as long as the back was in place I was probably safe. famous last words, right???

So, after getting everything all buttoned up, I cautiously plugged in my TV. It had real live electrons for the first time in 6 months. My heart skipped a beat when I saw a spark at the plug, but I immediately knew that these things do that. Certain sections of a TV are always on. That's why they come to life when you press the button on the remote - there are live circuits in there waiting for a signal. So, the plug is in the wall, no smoke, no boom, hmmm. I'm thinking, "This might actually work!" So I go have a seat in my easy chair, grab the remote and press the ON button and.....

Oh, sorry but I'm all out of time for tonight. Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion...

Tammy!

2006-05-07T10:36:00.000-04:00

I have a friend, and her name is Tammy. Now, I've known Tammy for about a year, and it wasn't long after we met that she shared something special about herself with me. You see, Tammy has a talent that I believe to be unique among all humankind. I've never known any other woman who can do this thing that Tammy does. You can search high and low, as I have, scour the Earth, as I have, but you won't find anyone with a talent quite like Tammy's. They say we all have a gift, and I thank God for giving Tammy her gift, and she is, in fact, God's gift to the rest of us.

As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words...

When it comes to Tammy, one picture is never enough...

Reflections on Pong & Computing.

2006-04-22T20:20:00.000-04:00

My last post contained a link to a 3D pong game, and I've been playing that game in an intentional effort to keep busy while avoiding some of the other (read that, "real") work I have to do around the house. After a total of about 45 minutes of pong-ing, in three or four sessions, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, I'm getting better at this cool game. My high score to date is posted to the right - respectable, but I'm sure I can do better. The bad news is, my old computer, while orders of magnitude more technologically advanced than even the most capable game machine available back when the original Pong was all the rage, it just can't hack the modern day version of this venerable classic. Ya see, this new version is uses Macromedia's Flash, which runs in your web browser, which runs run under the main OS (in my case, Windows 2000) and shares available CPU cycles with all the other processes running, like virus scanners, explorer and media player (as I type this, Sheryl Crow is serenading me with that sexy voice of hers, but that's another post). And let's not forget about Outlook fetching my email in the background. Now, I know Jadzia (yes, that's the name I chose for my old computer - I liked Terry Farrel's character AND HER back in the days of Star Trek Deep Space Nine) is old, and she's only a dual PII 266Mhz, and she has only 224MB of (old EDO) RAM, but c'mon! It's just a freak'n PONG game! I actually switched over to a machine I have from work - a laptop - to get decent pong-performance. Not that it was unbearable on Jadzia, but I did notice my racket was a bit sluggish and, as I'm sure anyone who has ever played Pong at my level will tell you, ya just don't want to have to deal with a sluggish racket. It really throws off your timing.

Hold that thought - Sheryl just started singing I Shall Believe - gotta pause...

Ahhhh...

Back to the business at hand, Pong. I shouldn't be surprised at Jadzia's performance. I've been window shopping for a new machine for a long, long time. Just not yet ready to plop down all that jack for something shiny and new when Jadzia, as old as she is, does nearly everything I ask her to do (if only I could find a woman who'll do the same!). I've never had a computer as long as I've had Jadzia - Dell shipped her October 23rd, 1997 - and I used it every single day! 1997! Hell, in dog years, Jadzia's DEAD! I guess I should stop complaining and just buy a new machine. I'll have to come up with a nice name for my new machine. Something like, ohhh, I don't know, maybe Sheryl

PONG! It'll NEVER Die!

2006-04-19T22:23:00.000-04:00

The first pong game I ever had was on my Atari game console when I was a teenager. It was cool then, but not so much these days. I simple game like that doesn't stand a chance competing against all the fancy bang-bang shoot-em-up games that are out there now, with all their slick, 3D graphics and hot, bosomy chicks. Or does it...

I just came across this on the web. A 3D pong game! I amost feel like a youngster again. Almost!

It has curves, but no chicks. D'ough!!!

Details, details...

2006-04-19T19:57:00.000-04:00

So, before leaving work today I shared my last blog entry with Aaron. You remember Aaron, that "smary" guy from my last entry? I just wanted to be sure he'd take my...observations in the spirit in which they were meant. He did, good-spirited guy that he is. He was also quick to point out the typo I eluded to above (I know, just throwing Aaron a bone. Here, read this) - VERY quick, in fact - and he also graciously offered advice of a grammatical nature, not all of which I agree with, but a bit of research should clear up any lingering doubts, if not quickly and definitively prove him wrong and me right. Of course, Aaron would probably say that I should say, "...prove MYSELF right", but I'll deal with that tomorrow, along with whatever additional comments he'll have regarding this post, my punctuation, my hair style (shut up, Joe) and whether or not my black shirt is actually black or some odd shade of navy blue that black shirts tend to morph into when they get old and faded. No matter how you slice it, I'm in for another fun morning, that's for sure! Maybe it'd be wise to call in sick! At any rate, he did get a good laugh out of it, so all is well.

So, after pondering Aaron's constructive criticism, I DID make a few insignificant...modifications to the last entry. Not all of Aaron's concerns have been corrected - I mean addressed...yah, that's what I mean, addressed. After all, were I to correct - I mean, address - all of his...points of interest (or should it be, "...were me to address..."?) the (admittedly fairly meaningless) point of reference for this entry would be forever lost and we can't have that, now can we? (Aaron, did I get the comma in the right place? Maybe I need another one after "lost" and before the "and"??)

Still, I don't know how those little things get by me. I must proof read my entries three or four times before declaring them 'good-to-go'. Must be a glitch in my internet connection. Yah, that's it, gremlins! I hear the 'net is chock full of them pesky critters. I really wish blogspot would do something about that. Maybe I should lodge a complaint...

To be honest, I'm feeling a teentsy bit guilty about sharing Aaron's quirks with the world. He's actually a nice guy, even if he was a psych major (probably minored in english, too), and some might think he really doesn't deserve it. They may be right...Oh, well. I'm sure the guilt will pass.

It always does.

Gee, I'm feeling better already!

Intelligent People...

2006-04-17T20:44:00.000-04:00

...They can be...surprising. Take, for instance, one of my co-workers, Aaron. Aaron is a smary guy, there's no doubt about it. We work in IT with a lot of other smart people. The other day I mentioned to Aaron that my brother and I recently bought some circular slide rules. You, know, the kind you might have seen in an (old) movie with...well, smart people. Today we might call those people "geeks" or "nerds", but let's not get sidetracked (besides, I'm sure we're all much more enlightened these days, right?). So, I'm telling Aaron about how surprised - more like astonished - I was when I finally figured out (okay, I read it), after all these years, the basic principal behind slide rules, whether they be of the circular or straight variety. It was a bit of a "revelation" for me. I think it was just about the time I used the word "logarithm" when I noticed the blank, almost lethargic look on Aaron's face. He had absolutely NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER! How can that be? Well, that's when I found out that, in college, Aaron was a psychology major!!! He's the kind of guy who's more interested in why people like me (and my brother - I'm not taking this hit alone!) are fascinated by such things as slide rules. He's even more interested in what makes some people invent such things. What could go so wrong with a human mind to make it dream up something like that? That's what interests Aaron. Go figure....

Anyway...
On the chance that there are others out there like my brother and I, let me share a little about my two new toys...

There they are. They're smaller than I expected, but they're still pretty cool. They're also getting hard to find these days. I was surprised when my brother found a place that still sold them. One thing that really surprised me was how well they are made. I think they'll last forever, especially since I'll hardly ever use them.
So, how DO they work? Well, I'm certainly not any kind of slide rule expert, but the basic answer is pretty simple. First, think of having two rulers with the scales adjacent to each other. It doesn't matter whether the rulers measure inches, centimeters or ladybugs, as long as the scales are the same they give you a mechanism for adding two numbers. If you want to add 3 and 2, place the edge (zero) of one ruler under the 3 on the other ruler and read the answer over the 2 on the first. If you don't get 5 you did it wrong. Like I said, simple!
Second, logarithms. As you may recall from the day you fell asleep in 9th grade math class, when you add the logs of two numbers and then take the inverse log of the sum, the result is the same as if you had multiplied the original numbers. You can also divide numbers by subtracting their logs, just be sure to keep the numbers straight. Remember, multiplication is commutative, but division isn't. Now, take the imaginary rulers we used for addition and make a slight change. Instead of having normal linear scales, make them logarithmic. Now, when you add two numbers you'll actually being adding their logs, thereby multiplying instead of merely adding! Pretty cool, eh?

Okay, so maybe you're not as astonished as I was, but you have to admit it's pretty cool. I'm sure Aaron won't but you can. It's alright, I won't tell...

If you're more of a geek than I, here's a site I found with what just might be a better explaination than mine.

Oh, I left out my nephew. He certainly didn't miss this chance to bust his uncle's and old man's balls about this. We have these things called calculators... Smart-ass! Twenty-something years old and he thinks he knows everything. Slide rules got us to the MOON, kid, and the batteries never died. Kids these days have NO respect...

Fun with 3D !!!

2006-03-24T19:17:00.000-05:00

I've always liked taking pictures, and recently I tried my hand at 3D images. You might have seen some on the web. Most are anaglyphs, the kind where you need a pair of those funny red and blue glasses to see. Those are cool, but I prefer the cross-eye pictures. They're easy to make and don't require any special software. Anyone can make 3D images.

Here are the basic steps:

Choose a good scene/subject. Try something that will have a nice 3D effect, a scene with depth to it. I've had good luck with both close and far scenes, but a far away scene might be easier at first. Leaves on a tree, a path through the forest, any kind of scienic view.
There should be nothing moving in the scene. This is because you'll need to take two separate pictures, one after the other. Anything that moves in between will be blurry in the final image.
You'll take a left picture and a right picture. Take them in that order, always. Get into the habit of taking them in this order so you don't get confused when you edit them into a single image.
When you take the pictures, make sure the camera is level at all times. This is important. Take the first picture, then move the camera to the right a few inches, then take the second. Keep the camera pointing in the exact same direction for both pictures - don't point it directly at anything in particular. The idea is to duplicate what your eyes would see, and your eyes will point - converge - on a single point in the scene, but if you point the camera you may have an odd effect at the edges of your images.
Copy the images to your computer and open the first one - the LEFT image - in an image editor. Do any kind of cropping you want, keeping in mind that you'll need to do the same cropping on the right image. You might want to edit both images together to keep them consistent. What you want to end up with is two images that are the same size (in pizels) and look nearly identical.
If you plan to only view these image on your computer, you'll probably want to resize them each to be less than half the width of your monitor. Remember, you'll be viewing both these image at the same time by crossing your eyes, so then need to both fit on your screen. If you plan to print them it might be best to leave them as large as you can. Larger images produce better quality prints.
Save these new images, being sure to keep track of left and right.
You can go a bit further and create a composite image that includes both of these individual images. I personally think it's easier to view the final 3D scene using a composite. Otherwise you'll need to open both images and position them on your screen. That gets old, real fast. IMHO, a composite is the way to go. To make it, you'll need to create a blank image and paste the left & right images into it, side by side, but here's the trick: You need to put the left image on the right and the right image on the left! Remember, when you cross your eyes to view it, you want each eye, right and left, to see the image that was taken from the correct perspective.
Line up the two images carefully and save your composite image. You're done!
When viewing a cross-eye image it's brobably easier to sit back a bit from the screen, especially if you have a large or wide-screen monitor.

Here's one I just made. Close-ups are a PITA, but I think it came out OK.

A Kodak Moment

2006-03-24T18:06:00.000-05:00

Without a doubt, all my friends know who Sassy is. She's SassyFrassy, Sasquach, my Pretty Kitty. Yes, I'm a man and a I love my kitty! And I make no excuses for it.

Today, on my day off, I caught Sas napping on my bed in just the right place. I had to snap a pic. I woke her up, but luckily she was still a bit groggy (I'm the same way when I first wake up) and didn't seem to mind the flash.

What's in a name???

2006-03-24T17:54:00.000-05:00

What IS in a name? Sometimes it's not quite what you want, as was the case with this blog. The Czar's Page came from my nickname at work, and at first I thought it appropriate but now I'm not so sure. I get enough of work at work, so I've decided to change the title of this blog to something more...me! The new name also has it's origins from work, but I'm gonna use it anyway. I think it's especially appropriate in this forum, one where no one can disagree with me 0 just the way I like it. So, from now on, this blog shall be know as Silence Is Concurrence. Now I only have to do two things: 1) Figure out how to actually change the name and 2) make sure I spell Concurrence right!

You can find it on the web...

2006-03-04T15:15:00.000-05:00

No matter what you want, it's out there somewhere, right? Well, phooey I say, PHOOEY! Try to find a 100µf 200v electrolytic capacitor with radial leads! Go ahead, try it. I dare you. Let me explain...

Late last year my TV broke. Just in time for all those wonderful holiday specials. I missed out on Nick & Jessica, the present-day Donnie & Marie. YES! I mean, awe, what a shame, I was so looking forward to it. Anyway, being the tinkerer that I am, I decided to try to fix it. I mean, I didn’t want to toss it and buy a new one. The set’s only 9 years old. My last TV was my first TV! A Zenith 19 incher and I had it for about 20 years. This one, with all it’s cutting edge technology, should last at least that long, right? Besides, how hard could it be? I can read a schematic and solder with the best of ‘em, ahem, and I figured it’d be fun. I also doesn't hurt that my brother knows a lot about this stuff.

Well, after some careful spelunking in the backside of my ailing boob tube, I decided to just take the whole main board out and give it a good look see. Surely there must be something obviously wrong, right? When the power supply in one of my PC’s crapped out a few years ago it went with a bang, not whimper, that’s for sure, and the pieces of that capacitor were hard to miss, literally falling into my lap. Hmmm. I think I found the problem. Anyway, I knew I heard a click when the set died, but there was no smoke. That’s a good thing, usually, but in reality it just makes it harder to find the problem. I’d much rather see remnants of something sticking up from the board than just…pretty normal looking components.

So, I went to that Website From Heaven, Google: “Magnavox repair 25ts52”.

Lo and behold, a veritable cornucopia of TV repair info. There’s tons of stuff out there on the most common problems with TVs and such, and it wasn’t long before I came across a posting that described my problem to a tee. To a TEE. According to these guys, I probably have a bad voltage regulator IC and a fried 1K ohm resistor. Well, I can’t tell if the IC is bad, not without the proper test equipment and a practical, safe working area. Now, I’m doing most of this in my cramped living room – not the best place to be troubleshooting anything that has the ability to ZAP you with 29,000 volts. That’s TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND VOLTS! Trust me, that’s what’s in there. And No, I didn’t find that out by sticking my tongue inside! I bought the service manual! It was only 24 bucks, online!

So, anyway, I have the board out and am looking for a fried IC and resistor. I can’t tell if the IC is good or bad, but that resistor…well, let’s just say it’s seen better days - you can even see scorch marks an the circuit board. But that's not uncommon, my Bro tells me. Actually, Bro didn't see any cracks so he's not that concerned about it., but clearly it's taken a lot of heat, so I decide to put it out of it's misery and eliminate the chance that it is causing a problem. So, having found this overheated resistor, I figure there’s a good chance those helpful guys from the web have me at least pointed in the right direction.

Now, the other possible culprit I read about, the capacitor that started this entire diatribe, also looked OK, but caps are funny things. They're not simple to test and there are many things that can go wrong with them. Did you know that an electrolytic capacitor can simply dry out over time? It has an electrolyte inside – hence the name – that just leaks through the seals little by little until one day, when you least expect it (do we ever really expect is?) it just stops doing what it’s designed to do. I guess you could say it becomes an incapacitated capacitor! Hmm. Who’da thunk it? Anyway, as it turns out nine years is a fairly good life for one of these bad boys, so I figure I’ll replace it, too, while I have the set apart. They only cost a buck or two. So, now it’s back to Google for parts.

I found a place that seemed to have all the parts I needed. It was great! I entered the model of my TV and up came a list of what are probably the most common repair parts for that model. They listed the regulator IC, the resistor, the picture tubes, flyback transformer – that’s the thing that makes the 29,000 volts I mentioned – and even a booklet of some kind (I ordered it, but with my luck it’s probably just a few pages of soldering tips), but no 100µf 200v electrolytic capacitor! Hmmmm. Well, everything else I wanted was listed as in-stock, ready to ship the next day, so I ordered what I needed and decided to look elsewhere for the cap. Shouldn’t be a problem. Right? Caps are not exactly specialty items, right? Famous last words…

Holy crap. I’m having such a hard time finding that thing. I found one place that does carry them, but they cost $3.10 . Sounds a bit steep for just a cap, but what the heck. I’ll get two! So I’m ready to checkout on the web site and I see that for orders under 1 lb they charge a flat $10 shipping fee! Even if I only wanted one, that’s ten bucks for a three dollar part! Being someone who doesn’t like being taken for a ride, I said – or rather, exclaimed – out loud, “Screw that!” As God is my witness, Sassy even heard me. I think I scared her, too. Sorry, Sass.

So, now I’m looking for another supplier for the cap, but I just can’t find any. I’ve found sites that say they carry it, bit when I go to look at it specifically there’s no picture and no description, just some manufacturer’s part number and a price. That doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, ya know? I mean, if I’m gonna order something and wait for it to come in, delaying the overall repair operation, I want to be sure I’m getting what I want. So I keep looking. All this and I’m actually not even sure I need it. I just figure it’s either dead or close to it, so I might as well replace it. Well, I’m to the point where I think I’ll just take the old one out and make a simple test. I found out how on the web, but even if it looks okay that doesn’t mean it’s really okay, ya know? But, unless it fails the test, I’ll just use forego it’s replacement. That’s all I can do, at least for now.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, yes I did check Radio Shack. The Shack desn’t seem to stock any caps above 50 volts. Must be afraid that someone will hurt themselves or something.

Anyway, remember I said all the other parts were in-stock, ready to ship? Well the next day I get a confirmation email that only one item was shipped, the rest are back-ordered. Luckily, it was the most unusual part, the regulator IC. The resistor I probably have in a drawer somewhere. If need be I can get it at Radio Shack. The booklet I’m sure I can do without, but I sure wish I had that cap. At least now I can get on with the repair. I’ll start with checking that old cap.

I’ll keep you posted.

A Lost Treasure

2006-03-02T00:22:00.000-05:00

This past summer I bought a new MP3 player. Yah, me about 10 gazillion others. Anyway, after figuring out how to use the thing a had to reorganize my music collection. In doing so I came across some good old songs from my youth. One of my favorites is BE by Neil Diamond. This song, more than any other I can think of, is sheer poetry. The man is a musical genius! I know reading the lyrics is not nearly as good as hearing the song, but this is the best I can do.

Lost

On a painted sky

Where the clouds are hung

For the poet's eye

You may find him

If you may find him

There

On a distant shore

By the wings of dreams

Through an open door

You may know him

If you may

As a page that aches for a word

Which speaks on a theme that is timeless

And the one God will make for your day

Sing

As a song in search of a voice that is silent

And the sun

God will make for your way

And we dance

To a whispered voice

Overheard by the soul,

Undertook by the heart

And you may know it

If you may know it

While the sand would become the stone

Which begat the spark

Turned to living bone

Holy, holy

Sanctus, sanctus

As a page that aches for a word

Which speaks on a theme that is timeless

While the one God will make for your day

Sing

As a song in search of a voice that is silent

And the one God will make for your way

This is what I call FUNNY!!!

2006-03-01T21:54:00.000-05:00

So, one hydrogen atom says to the other, "I don't know what to do! I've lost my electron!!!"

"Are you SURE???" asks the second.

"Yes, I'm POSITIVE!"

Get it???

I'm The Czar...

2006-03-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's me, The Czar. Let me explain...

One day at work a co-worker and I were discussing something technical we had to do. The exact details are lost in the ether that is my mind, but I'm sure it involved making some kind of decision, the kind usually made by some higher authority than I/we. "We need a Tsar," proclaimed Steve. "I'll decide!" said I. And so I did. And that's how the Czar came to be. "So let it be written, so let it be done."

Now I know all you Ten Commandments fans out there are saying, "Hey, that's Yul Brynner's line." I know that! But I like it, and I can use it 'cause....I'm the Czar!

Some of you may have also picked on the two different spellings I've used for the word. Steve likes to spell it TEE-ESS-AYY-ARR. My way is better. You know why??? All together now...I'm the Czar!!!