Anything Goes

Steve Jobs, The Book

2012-02-05T20:55:00.000-08:00

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson is a fascinating read. Jobs made technology beautiful and intuitive for everyone. He was an extreme perfectionist for Apple products, stores, and offices but yet, in the early days of Apple, he was a weird, barefoot hippie who believed you did not need to bathe if you ate nothing but fruit. He pushed his people to accomplish more than they thought they could. So Apple today is the greatest technology leader.

But Apple products are not for me. The Apple control freaks wish to control all aspects of the user experience but I like to know how a given technology works and use it as I please. So I have a modest Samsung Galaxy Ace SmartPhone with Android software. I can install any audio and video media files using a USB cable. No iTunes or App store for me. :-)

Shoe Storage/Totes

2010-12-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

Shoe and boots bring home plenty of street grit. Fortunately, empty 7kg Purina Max-Scoop pails are the perfect size for storing or carrying each pair of footware while capturing the dirt that falls from them. Here is an example:- Shoe Storage-Totes

Reuse is better than recycling.

Rice Cooker: The All-Purpose Pot

2010-10-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

Roger Ebert loves to cook everything in a Rice Cooker and loves to tell stories about it. His blog has a following of enthusiastic fans. There is even a book.. The Pot and How to Use It.

He calls The Pot the only one you will ever need. Well, I have to disagree a little because there is the problem of overflow or spatter.. at least for the many people who buy a Rice Cooker and don't read the instructions on every bag of rice. Unprocessed rice has a starchy residue which remains when the grains are separated from the plant. The rice must be washed away before cooking otherwise the starch floating atop the water will form bubbles which then spatter around the lid and out the steam hole. You can minimize this problem by putting rice and water in an old pot, then pouring away most of the water. Finally, dump the wet rice in a sieve before putting it in the cooker. So you need an old pot and a sieve in addition to the cooker.

There are too many Rice Cookers to choose from. Fortunately, you can create a short list by visiting Cooker Guide. Rice Cooker fans tend to favour the Zojirushi models. I found a Rival model with a steel steaming tray just like the Zojirushi 30 percent discounted at my neighborhood Kitchen Stuff. Although you can find small Cookers starting at $10, a larger unit with steaming tray is worth the extra dollars for multi-use operation.

My first cook-up had one measure of rice in the bowl plus the steamer tray had small red potatoes, carrots, frozen broccoli, and mushrooms. I discarded the poorly cooked rice but the steaming tray items were delicious. The potatoes and carrots were perfect but the other items were overcooked. Obviously, the non-root vegetables need to be added last.

Next times I was careful to prewash and added more rice to cover the bottom of the cooker. Basmatic rice has a subtle aroma when cooking that reminds me of popcorn. Brown rice has a chewy texture and interesting flavor. Both are delightful when a dab of faux-butter is mixed in while the rice is still warm from The Pot. Do not add butter and oils during rice cooking. The Pot is very hot and may damage the oils.

Some folks create recipies with exact measurements for all the items. Others just throw food in the pot and see what happens. Enjoy The Pot.

2010-07-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Buffy The Cat, LOL Again!

2010-02-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

Cats are susceptible to bladder stones and Buffy, who is lucky 13, has them. They show up on Xray and there is blood in the urine probably caused by these stones. Buffy terrorized the staff at the animal hospital and the Vet called for permission to sedate. She was too stubborn to pee and had to stay overnight for a complete test. Oh, my.

Buffy did not eat for a few days but she now is feeling good again and eating her special diet to reduce the size of the stones which hopefully will pass. Twice daily I pounce on her with a towel and give her a squirt of Clavamox from the Vet to reduce infection. All's well so far.

Cola Steak

2009-07-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Coke or similiar similiar soft drinks makes a good marinade for steak. This is an unusual idea and the simple recipe is not too much trouble for the lazy man. Here is an example:-

3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons Mrs Dash Grilling Blends
2 cans coke
Options:- garlic salt, lime

Add marinade and meat to a glass dish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Prepare in the morning, leave in the fridge, grill in the evening.

HDTV UHF Antenna (DIY)

2009-06-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

HDTV Digital Television from antenna provides a superior picture compared to the same channels on cable. And the price is right... free, no monthly fees. The DIY people will be happy to know they can easily make a small and simple indoor antenna for less than $20 that performs as well, or even better than store-boughts. See Fractal HDTV Antenna

SanDisk Sansa MP3 Player Repair

2009-05-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

The Sandisk Sansa e260 MP3 Player is a sturdy device with a “liquid metal” exterior frame and an inner aluminum frame for the lithium-ion battery. However, mine did not work after falling on the floor. You may suffer the same mishap since the unit is rectangular and slippery with no protrusions to maintain a grip. Fortunately, this unit can be repaired by anyone handy with a small screwdriver. This project page describes the procedure.

Amazing Shepherd's Pie

2009-03-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

The lazy man likes to scan the meals found in charming cook books but considers the planning and effort required to be too scientific. The instinctive way of preparing meals is much more appealing.

Consider, for example, Shepherd's Pie which is traditionally a convenient and tasty dish made from leftover meat and potatoes. There are many different recipies to be found on the WWW. Since there is so much variation, perhaps a recipe is not needed.

I tried a President's Choice frozen entree. It was a salty combination of potato powder and ground beef with a pseudo-sweet taste which I suppose was high-fructose corn syrup (HFC) . I could not eat this factory food.

Karina's Kitchen has Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie which might be more tasty than the typical frugal recipe. However, it is too complicated for the lazy guy so I gathered these ingredients instead.

minced turkey
sweet potatoes (yams)
red onions
red and green peppers
Lipton Spring Vegetable Cup-a-Soup
black pepper
mild curry powder
paprika (left over from a deviled egg experiment)

Method: Brown the turkey in an oven casserole dish. Boil the yams. The yams cook faster than potatoes.. they need no butter or milk for mashing. Make a base of turkey and chopped vegetables. Make cup-a-soup with pepper and curry, pour it evenly over the base. Finally, add the mashed yams. Cook in the oven.

This dish is tasty and nutritious while being relatively low in salt and fat. The sweet potatoes add more color and flavour than bland white potatoes.

Quantum of Entertainment

2008-12-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

The latest Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, is entertaining as an action film but affirms my impression that each new Bond is duller than the previous. Daniel Craig seems to be channeling Jackie Chan with overlong and frantic action sequences leaving him too tired for acting.

Sean Connery played this role with the right mix of charisma, action, and humour. He is the one true Bond.

Goa'uld LostAndFound Department

2008-10-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

An annoying disruption of workflow occurs when important items disappear from your desk or work area at the office. Usually a colleague has "borrowed" the item and not bothered to return it or leave a note. A typical employee would issue a polite email with a plea for the return of the item. Perhaps a more dramatic message would discourage such disrespect of your property.

The Goa'uld are the haughty overlords and self-proclaimed gods of the Stargate SG1 universe. The Goa'uld does not say please, he/she gives orders. The Goa'uld is never pleased. Do not "borrow" anything from the the Goa'uld workspace.

In this Sound file, someone has borrowed the Goa'uld pencil and he is not amused. He orders his minions to find the foolish culprit..

The original Stargate series with Richard Dean Anderson was the best. How is the Goa'uld voice created? Actress Jacqueline Samuda explains the audio technique of "flanging". I created the Goa'uld message using Audacity and SoX

DIY HiFi Speaker Cables

2008-05-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

When buying a Home Theater system, your saleman might suggest to shell out ever more money for gold-plated monster speaker cables. This sounds like a reasonable idea since anyone can imagine that skinny wires between the amplifier and speaker might degrade the sound. Moreover, there is no certification for audio amplifier wiring as there is for say, electrical wiring. So, when in doubt, more is better, as any audiophile knows.

But how does one know that these fancy cables will actually provide a significant benefit relative to the cost? Suppose there is a limitation imposed within the amplifier that moots any improvement provided by external wiring?

When purchasing Focal 714v speakers at my friendly neighborhood stereo store, I noticed the salesman was using cables large enough to boost car batteries. On the other hand, my home stereo was using lamp cord. So I disassembled my JVC RX-660vbk to inspect the signal path and remove six years of cat dander. I was dismayed to find the speaker signal path was one foot of 24awg ribbon cable, two speaker switches, and a relay. Moreover, it was a single sided circuit board with several segments of 20awg wire jumpers between the relay and the power transistors. If the amp was run at it's rated power of 400w, the ribbon cable would probably melt.

I would not be surprised to see similiar designs in other "mass-market" audio equipment. The connections are on back of a cabinet, the controls are on the front. Good designers ensure that connections in signal path are robust. Audiophiles invest significant dollars to get this quality. Mass marketers cut corners hoping that customers won't notice subtle differences.

Instead of expensive cables, I suggest to buy measured lengths of 12awg speaker wire from Home Depot or anywhere. Strip one half-inch of insulation from each end. Optionally, dab solder on the last one-quarter inch of bare wire to prevent separation of the strands. Gold plating to prevent corrosion of the wires might be needed on your yacht but not in the benign environment of your home. Just in case, disconnect and reconnect the wires every six months to make a new metal to metal contact.

P.S. 12awg wire can handle 40amps, 24awg can take maybe 3amps. It certainly should not be used in audio speaker circuits.

D.I.Y. Feline Snack Machine

2008-02-24T20:50:00.000-08:00

A kitty adapted to living indoors tends to become relatively lazy and fat which presents a food management challenge for the caring owner. I have found that Buffy the Cat is content to eat less overall if food is provided in small amounts throughout the day. So I provide a morning meal, an evening meal, two others provided by a timer. One occurs around 3pm when I am not an home. Another occurs at 4am while I am sleeping. This routine is satisfactory for Buffy the Cat. The details for constructing a timer kibble dispenser are provided here

Wind Chime 1.0

2008-02-19T19:04:00.000-08:00

Make magazine suggests turning the platters from dead hard disk drives into wind chimes. A quick test with two platters tied to a coat hanger with dental floss verifies the idea.

They make a pleasant sound when touched lightly together. And on sunny days, the platters rotate slowly from gentle convection air currents near the window causing a sunbeam to move across the wall for the amusement of Brownie the Cat.

Kitty Activates Air Filter

2008-02-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

Having two kitty-kats hanging around is a great pleasure. The downside is cat dander and litter dust everywhere. Fortunately, this can be managed with the use of good quality air cleaner such as the Honeywell model 50100 which has a two-stage HEPA filter.

I installed the 50100 in the laundry room where the litter boxes are located. It sucks in plenty of dust. But since it runs 24-7, it contributes to my electricity bill. Also, they have to shovel in more coal down at the power plant. Well, there is no need to run this filter while cats are sleeping, so filter automation is the next step.

Photos with explanation can be viewed on the Feline Motion Sensor.page.

Magazine for McGuyvers

2008-02-02T20:45:00.000-08:00

Make magazine is a wonderful resource for McGuyver wanna-bees and budding artists. If you cannot find a copy at your local bookstore, you can visit the website:- Here.

Issue 12 has has CandyFab - a 3D freeform sugar printer, infrared photography with a cheap digital camera, and ladies shoes with video player and alarm in the heel. But there are many more cool projects.

Toronto Beauty

2007-12-30T21:42:00.000-08:00

A beautiful Hindu temple opened this year in Toronto. A Toronto Star article describes how the pieces were carved by artisans in India and shipped to Toronto for assembly. It sounds wonderful. The temple is open daily for visitors but one should check the web site first.

300 [2006]

2007-12-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

Watched the Spartan 300 recently. Apparently, those warriors followed a 'Spartan' diet and spent much time at the gym doing crunches for the Abs and bench presses for the pecs to build 'bods that your average Bowflex buyer could only dream of... just kidding.

There is a detailed review over at IMDB. This movie presents a black-and-white world... Greeks good, Persians bad. Of course, there is plenty of violence but it seems abstract rather than horrific.

The Spartans valued loyalty, courage, and a never,never quit attitude. I suppose that counts for something.

2007-11-24T14:23:00.000-08:00

Please add your voice.. sign the petition which seeks to prevent the "embrace and extend" of the XML standard.

Excellent Lisp Book

2007-09-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

Peter Seibel has written an excellent book also available online.. Common Lisp tutorial

Quality Keyboards, Efficient Typing

2007-05-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

Most people who learned to type on old-school computers with clicky keyboards realize that those discrete keyboard switches were more ergonomic than the cheap rubber membrane keyboards commonly used today. There is a vast selection of keyboards now available but there is little difference in feel between the pricey "ergonomic" ones and the bottom feeders.

Finding a good mechanical keyboard requires searching. I have already found and purchased a pleasing unit. And I describe a few choices here.

See the bold keyboard at DasKeyboard. The inventor of ''Das Keyboard'' must think that the letters on a keyboard are like training wheels on a bike. Just as those training wheels slow you down, so too will looking at a keyboard. So the keys are unlabelled. I can type normally on this unit provided I don't think about typing. It has an excellent feel with switches made by Cherry Corp. Canadians order it from Tek Gear

Those who don't care for the minimalist, all black, ''Das Keyboard'' might love the ''Tactile Pro 2'' originally for the Mac, but also for the PC. This board is all white with extra lettering on the keys. See it at Matias. The first production run is already sold out so you must wait with $150USD in hand.

The original Tactile Pro keyboard won a Macworld Editors' Choice Award for "Best Old-School Keyboard", and rave reviews from keyboard connoisseurs. The new Tactile Pro 2.0 builds on the best features of the original, and adds a few more.

Other Keyboards

Google "cherry keyboard mechanical" or "alps keyboard" will lead to a selection of sturdy keyboards.

I Don't Like 'Like'

2006-10-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight I stopped at Timmy's for a snack while reading the daily paper. Three young ladies were at the table next to me. Usually, I can tune out the buzz in a public place but soon I noticed 'like....like....like....'

It was like.. distracting. This gal had like.. a one hundred word vocabulary that was totally challenged to effectively express the unbroken stream of approvals, similes, and metaphors. Strange how those with the least to say talk the most.

It was like.. verbal diarrhea
It was like.. mental constipation
It was like.. please shut up and read a book

The Urban Dictionary has some amusing definitions.

Projects Moved to A Wiki

2006-10-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

A Blog is not the ideal place to showcase projects since a Blog is a sequence of posts while a good project will be improved and read more than once. In other words, a project should stay put rather than be buried in the stack of Blog posts.

I've moved all my projects to BobMc.Net where I explain such projects as "hacking the Honda Civic Stereo". I am using DokuWiki to organize this site.

A Really Lucky Bamboo

2006-10-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Brownie the cat chewed all the leaves from the Lucky Bamboo plants however they grew back and flourished. Now they live on a narrow bookshelf where there is no room for climbing cats.

I flush and refill the vase whenever the water level drops to 30 percent. And add a few drops of miracle grow.

More about Dracena

Hacking the Honda Civic Stereo - Part 3

2006-07-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

Part 1 explained how to replace the noname factory speakers with better quality Pioneer units while making the modifications to the Honda invisible. This produced a pleasant improvement to sound quality and inspired further enhancements.

The Steve Lucas debut album has an electic mix of Jazz-Fusion styling backed by his sophisticated riffs on six-string electric bass. I wanted to hear the real thing in the car. Fusion not to your liking? Well visit Featuring Bass and find some other samples. You might enjoy Gordon McGhie which has some extra punch

The plastic and metal panels found in the modern automobile are designed to save cost and provide safety. They are not rigid enough for music. Also, there are holes everywhere that cancel out the sound pressure created by speakers in the doors and trunk. So when listening to any music with bass instruments, you also hear rattling panels and strange resonances.

These rattling acoustics can be fixed by using a powered subwoofer in a tuned enclosure. In addition, this fixes a problem with the bass boost control of the factory radio. Without a sub, you also boost the midrange when boosting the bass because it has a simple rising response curve. But the powered sub has it's own boost so the door speakers can be driven from a flat amplifier that causes no panel rattling. Now you have more flexibility in creating good sound.

You have many options when shopping for a car subwoofer. It seems to me that Rockford Fosgate is the "WooferMeister" so I tried a P210S4. Smaller, cheaper units are available but I prefer to buy a little extra rather than not enough which would be a total waste.

Enclosure choice is not so easy. Stereo stores usually sell these small, square boxes which are intended for cheap, generic speakers. They will not provide the best performance for a particular unit. Just as your car needs tuned suspension components, your woofer needs a particular box designed for it's personality.

The two most common enclosure types are sealed and vented. The vented ones are more efficient and are commonly used in home theatre systems to save cost. But a vented unit is more difficult to design so that it does not become a "boom box".

Fosgate sells these nifty vented enclosures with woofers. But they double the cost of your purchase and sealed enclosures are not offered. Moreover, vented enclosures are larger than the sealed versions for Fosgate woofers. Enclosure specifications are provided with Fosgate woofers so I opted to design my own.

Unfortunately, I don't have fancy-schmancy table saws and other tools for cabinet making so "creative carpentry" was needed. I purchased three 10" x 24" black, multipurpose shelves and one 12" x 36". I cut the 12x36 in half to get two 12x18. I cut one 10x24 in half to get two 10x12. The 10 inch pieces became the sides of a box, the 18 inch became the front and back. It just happened to work out with two cuts.

I made the cuts with a handsaw guided by a straight wood scrap. The 24" inch cut in half was slightly larger than the 12" inch so I trimmed them with the jig saw and a rasp to make them equal and just a hair less than 12". Remember, creative carpentry.

The high-density particle board shelves are held together with wood screws but this is only for a start. Bracing material must be added and screws inserted through the particle board so that the sides are pulled together. This bracing can consist of strips of pine or even old hockey stick handles. These braces are hidden inside. Later, thermal glue or silicone rubber will be added around all seams for airtight operation.

Note that the top and bottom boards extend over the sides. This is better for three reasons.

There is something to hold onto when carrying a 50lb box.
It looks better than trying to perfectly align two boards at right angles
It leaves a space for attaching the power amplifier

The Jansen JPA260 power amp can drive 180watts RMS when bridged into the woofer (and set to 11 like Spinal Tap. It also has bridged inputs for connecting to the existing Honda rear speaker wires. A switched low pass filter, a variable boost, and input level complete the requirements. The case of this amp is also the heat sink which gets very warm to the touch. It cools better when installed as shown since air naturally rises up over the case.

The final prototype is placed on the floor and fits snugly behind the passenger seat. The woofer is facing the seat but this is ok for low frequency operation. Note that the box is partially blocking the sliding console cover. Later a small storage box will be placed under the woofer to adjust the height as a pedestal.

The enclosure must have at least 0.65 cubic feet for the Fosgate woofer. My simple box is .85 which is within specification. Anyone with good tools can make a slightly smaller box.

Blogs Vs Email

2006-05-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

What are the pros and cons of Blogs and Emails?

Everyone knows how to use email so we tend to do that automatically even when email may not be the best tool for the job.

Email is good for notifying everybody but often there is a broadcast which includes people who may not need or want to know. Knowlege workers face a deluge of email. Business documents must be sorted into folders. Each recipient must duplicate the time and effort of the others.

Email is mature technology with plenty of features and options but the easiest choice is often not the best choice. Email was once the only option but with the growth of the WWW, there are a variety of services which can complement or replace email depending upon what needs to be done.

A Web log, or Blog for short, provides new and interesting possibilities. A Blog is a journal with the most recent entry, or post, at the top of the page. There are now millions of Blogs on the WWW. Most are banal experiments but many contain interesting and valuable material. So how Blogs help the over-emailed knowlege worker.

The first step is better teamwork. Get together and brainstorm when information is best emailed or put in managed documents. Look for items that require notification and those that can be read when it is convenient. Here are suggestions for items that can be Blogged:-

minutes of meetings for a project
list of persons not at work today
progess reports for a project
reports of visits to customer sites by a service person
what I learned this week
ideas: how can we be more efficient?
write about anything that happens in a sequence

Unlike Email, a Blog does not pester anyone. A person who is interested in the content of a Blog can read it at his convenience. Moreover, if he wishes to be notified of an update, he can subscribe using RSS, known as real simple syndication, which gives automatic notification. If he grows bored with the Blog, deleting the RSS link will terminate the nuisance.

Conclusion: Some combination of Email, Wikis, Blogs, and other services can reduce the information overload of knowlege workers. Managing information flow results in less work than using Email alone.

Possible Credit Card Risk With PayPal

2006-05-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

I had my first encounter with PayPal today but not by choice. I was attempting to purchase a magazine online and was redirected to PayPal which captured my credit card and mailed a receipt. But the download of the magazine did not work. Here's where it all falls apart.

None of the published email addresses for the vendor worked so I intended to file a complaint with PayPal. But this is only possible if one has a PayPal account. My attempt to create an account was rejected because my credit card was already attached to an account.

After several useless emails, I phoned PayPal for help. The support lady told me that I was supposed to click "Save My Info" in the email receipt so that the transaction info would be pasted into the account application. She resent the receipt.

My computer has remote images in email disabled for security. Links to remote images are a favourite of spammers for bypassing spam filters. PayPal hides information in remote images so I did not see any links in the email receipt.

After disabling security, I see the PayPal logo but it only has a link to the main PayPal page. I still cannot create an account.

Now my emails are ignored so I phone PayPal again. This time the support guy says my visa account has another name. If that is true, how could I use it for purchase? Don't they check that the person name matches the card number? I ask if my card is compromised, he says no. But I later call visa and cancel the card anyway.

The first problem here is the email receipt is comprised of two pieces of information. One part is just text from the email server, the other is a link to a remote graphic on the web server. I suspect that the email programmer changed his part but the webserver guy did not update the other part to match. So the customer bears the confusion.

The other problem is customer support. They know how the system is supposed to work but are not aware of it's quirks and bugs. Successful problem resolution depends upon which support persons one happens to contact.

Finally, enter into Google "security remote images email" and see 49 million links. Many of these warn against allowing remote links in emails. Given this common wisdom, it is quite surprising and disturbing that PayPal, who is supposed to provide ultimate security, sends email with remote images.

Rambo Storms Quiet Condo

2006-04-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

A peaceful Saturday evening was disrupted by the sudden appearance of six patrol cars, two ambulances, two fire trucks, two special forces vans, air support on standby, and two TV station crews smelling a story. The news report at Pulse24 understates the amount of manpower deployed for a hostage situation.

After negotiation, a man was arrested and charged with forcible confinement

New Options For AirMiles

2006-04-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

Which would you prefer, a 3.8 hour flight on an an Air Canada A320, or a 4.3 hour flight on a lumbering A340? They have the same cruising speed but the A340 has 120 more passengers to lift while the cruise control is tweaked to save fuel. When travelling between Toronto and Calgary, I think the extra $20 is worth the faster trip on the smaller jet.

Of course, you could always try Westjet if you don't mind helping...

CALGARY, Alberta. April 1, 2006. WestJet announced today that it will be launching a new program where guests can assist the airline in realizing fuel efficiencies. Help Westjet

Hacking the Honda Civic Stereo - Part 2

2006-03-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

Assuming you wish to install better speakers as explained in Part one, Part 2 explains how to remove the factory speakers. The photo shows one rear speaker being removed as follows. Use a blunt screwdriver to pop the speaker grill from inside the trunk. Next enter the backseat with a Phillips screwdriver to remove one retaining screw. Finally, pry gently to lift the speaker.
I don't have an image for the front door speakers. First remove a Phillips screw from inside the door handle. Then pry gently around the lower part of the door to pop the friction fit plastic pins. Next, lift slightly to free the door covering from the plastic lip along the glass. Be careful with the wiring harness which attaches to the door handle switch assembly. The switch cover has a retaining screw. Perhaps you can adjust the door cover to allow access to the speaker without removing the switches. Good Luck!

Nifty gift from Trish

2006-02-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

Trish gave me this nifty temperature station for Xmas. It shows time, inside temperature, and outside temperature from a remote radio link which can be 80ft away. Inside it is a cozy 23 degrees, while at the open window across the room it is only zero. It is a shocking disparity which makes me feel 23 times better. Buffy the cat thinks so, too.

Slobs and Righteous People

2006-01-31T22:23:00.000-08:00

The front page of the Toronto Star today had photos of a big todo that occured downtown. There was an SUV-driving, baseball-bat-carrying slob who tossed his lunch unto the street, and a righteous female bicycle courier who dumped it back in his lap. Then a melee ensued which was captured by a nearby photograher. In the background of the first photo, there is a wise elderly couple who just chuckle and walk on.

When I checked CityNoise, there were already 150,000 page views. This is a heavily commented blog site and there were plenty of the hangin is too good for 'em type comments. Sometimes the stories of real life are better than anything you could invent. There was a similiar story in July of the Dog Poop Girl

On one side we have the Slobs who have no problem with anything except their own comfort, on the other we have the Righteous People who are easily offended by any disrespect shown anywhere on earth. Let the battles begin! :-)

"Slob ---------- | ----------- Righteous"

As you might have guessed, I find myself slightly on the Righteous side of the Slob-O-Meter. Which one are you?

Hacking the Honda Civic Stereo - Part 1

2006-01-28T22:42:00.000-08:00

It seems I am only one who hears the high-frequency distortion in the speakers of the 2006 Honda Civic. I hear this echo or rattle in female voices and cymbals.. it is very annoying. Yet no product review has mentioned this problem. Anyway, I have solved the problem with enhanced speakers. You can too if you are handy with simple tools.

It is no surprise that these no-name Honda speakers sound like rattling plastic.. they are almost all plastic and have only tiny magnets. They work fairly well despite their cheap design. However, almost is not good enough for me. They degrade the quality of an otherwise fine car. In comparison, even the dirt-cheap replacement speakers found at Wal-Mart have a robust metal frame and magnet.

There is an additional problem with these no-name speakers in that they don't match standard designs. Instead of evenly-spaced screw holes, there is only one mounting screw and two plastic locking tabs. The mounting holes in the front doors and rear deck are horseshoe shaped. I found no aftermarket speaker that fits. But I was not discouraged, instead I converted these sorry speakers into very good quality Pioneer units. Read on!

The photo shows the replacement Pioneer speaker, the plastic mounting ring of the Honda speaker, and the cone assembly which has been cut away from the mounting ring. Compare the shape of the mounting ring to that of the standard Pioneer speaker. Note the ring has plastic locking tabs which do not match the evenly-spaced mounting holes of standard speakers. Fortunately, the plastic ring can be hacked to hold the Pioneer speaker such that no modification to your 2006 Honda Civic LX is necessary.

Tools Needed for modification of Honda Speaker:

small side-cutting pliers
screwdrivers
drill for screw guide holes
utility knife
glue gun or silicon sealant
needle-nose pliers
soldering iron

Hacking Steps

Remove the foam tape from the speaker front. Do not remove the magnet side foam
With the sharp utility knife, cut the cone away from the ring
On the magnet side, use the side-cutting pliers to snip all the plastic struts holding the cone in place.
Cut the flex material which aligns the cone around the magnet
Solder the Pioneer speaker wires to the Honda speaker jack
Cut the jack from the honda speaker cone and discard the cone. Save the magnet for your fridge.
On the cone side of the ring, cut away the ring surrond material to yield a flat surface.
On the Pioneer speaker, score the ears of one screw tab with the side cutters, then wiggle them gently with the needle nose so they break off at the score marks
Position the Pioneer speaker in the Honda ring such that the tab just cut aligns with the big screw hole in the ring
Now the Pioneer speaker should be evenly centered in the Honda ring.
Carefully drill a 1/8' guide hole for each of 3 small wood screws
Screw the Pioneer tabs to the Honda ring
Seal the unused mounting holes with silicon seal or thermal glue
There should be no way for air to leak though the speaker frame or support ring

The previous photos used the Pioneer TS-650M which is an older model bought on sale at Best Buy. I installed these in the front door. For the rear deck I used TS-A1671R also purchased at a discount at Future Shop. Here you see it installed in the plastic mounting ring with the jack from the factory Honda speaker soldered and taped. Speakers other than Pioneer may also fit if they have the extension tabs for 6.75" mounting.

Cheap 1-way or 2-way speakers have a compromised design since a single structure cannot work equally well for bass, mid-range, and treble. On the other hand the TS-A167R is coaxial 3-way so that one part does not interfere with the other. This results in clean, full-spectrum response.

This completes Part-1. Coming soon, Part-2 will explain how to remove the factory speakers from the 2006 Honda Civic.

World's Most Determined Bird

2006-01-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

Imagine you must shuffle around the same spot for four months with a big egg between your feet. There is no food. On a nice day the temperature is -50. On a bad day, it is -80 with hurricane force winds. After losing 50 percent body weight, there is another 60 mile trek. This is life for the male Emperor Penguin. The movie is called 'March Of The Penguins' but the 60 mile trek to the mating site is actually the easy part. Many birds are dedicated parents but none are so extreme as the Penguin. Penguins with their comical walk are most like humans so they arouse your interest and empathy.

Honda Civic LX (2006)

2005-11-14T21:14:00.000-08:00

The 2006 Honda Civic LX is much improved with increased go-power and a stiffer chassis to provide a sportier feel without taking away from the comfort you expect in a sedan. The fit and finish are excellent. Even though it is said to be a compact car, there is plenty of room for 4 people. There is no hump in the back seat to take away legroom. The LX version adds an immobolizer key to deter thieves, alloy wheels for a sporty look, and cruise control to save gas on long drives.

However, there are a few quibbles. The instrument cluster takes some getting used to. Everything except the tachometer is digital. The speedometer, fuel, and engine temperature indicators are above and behind the tachometer. The radio knobs and push buttons are identical to the air flow controls so I find myself setting the air conditioner instead of changing the radio station. The entire dash is curved instead of mostly flat like you see in many cars. The stereo controls are found by pressing a push button many times so you need to make necessary adjustments before starting your journey, not while driving.

The rationale for this design is to save on the number of parts in the car. There are no sliders or levers which would require intricate assembly. Even the gas pedal is "drive by wire". This makes it less costly to add cruise control.

Motor Trend magazine says it will be hard for competitors to match the Honda Civic. I agree.

even more fries with that?

2005-09-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

Morgan Spurlock successfully managed to "shock and awe" in his Super-Size Me documentary. He extrapolated the general trend in modern life to eat too much crap while not getting near enough exercise to it's worst case conclusion that even the doctors did not expect. He force-fed himself at the arches every day but there were side trips to schools where kids were having fries, sausages, and candy for lunch boxed by some cheap food processing company. So it's not just MacDonalds who wish to maintain the status quo but the entire processed food industry and their well paid lobbyists.
My Conclusion: Have an occasional happy meal for variety but eat natural food every day.

shaving cream art

2005-08-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

The valve of the a new shaving cream can came off with the cover. When I pressed the cover back on, shaving gel squirted over the bathroom mirror!

Black blogs are popular

2005-08-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

I click 'next blog' on blogger and wonder "why do so many blogs have a black background'. Nearly half of them are black. Some have a pink background, others are just white with pale circles.

Since plain white seems bland and business-like, perhaps the blogger wants to be 'un-bland' or cool. On the other hand, perhaps they feel dreadful and black reflects that mood.

I like the blogs with photos. I recently saw one of a person's trip to Iceland. (Sorry, forgot the link). The girl is an artist and that talent shows in her photos.

Now, if only we could get rid of these stupid adverts that clutter the blogsphere!

The cow... the cow!

2005-08-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

As I was lying beneath a tree

A robin sent his love to me

And as I wiped it from my eye

I thanked the Lord that cows can't fly.

-- who wrote this?

The rumor of Blackie's demise is true!

2005-07-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

Blackie died today. He was a Black Moor, a fantail type fish with a chunky body and a flowing tail. These are hardy fish but prone to swim-bladder problems. He would swim upside down when he got tired of trying to swim with his buddies. There was nothing to do but put him to sleep in a small container of tank water with sodium bicarbonate (found in Alka-Seltzer or Eno).

Don't flush your fish down the toilet. That is cruel because they die slowly under mean conditions. Also don't buy fish from crowded tanks. That would encourage the keeping of these poor creatures under stress. The rule is one gallon of water per inch of fish.

If you park like an idiot.. watch out!

2005-07-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

Soon frustrated drivers will be carrying these nifty park-like-an-idiot stickers. Note that the sign is not for you to make a proud announcement, rather it is for that other idiot who can't park neatly between the lines or the cars that are already parked. These folks must suffer from some combination of arrogance and stupidy. Now it is time to take back the parking lot!

Bob's Your Uncle

2005-07-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

The expression "Bob's your uncle" always implies simplicity of execution and success or satisfaction with the result. Practice the KISS principle (Keep It Simple) so you can soon say- "Bob's Your Uncle". The following links give lengthy explanations. Apparently, thieves and pickpockets were once called "bobs". The reference does not say but I think London policeman are now called "bobbies" because they used to catch "bobs".

Jean and Karla Swap

2005-07-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

Another sign of our times

Sign of our times

2005-07-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Interesting sign seen on Yonge Street

every Blog must have a cat

2005-06-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Overcome by the rigors of blogging, Buffy snoozes atop the computer

blogging for a sogging

2005-06-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

Recently there was a wee bit of rain in Calgary with unexpected consequences... overflow in Calgary

Everyone must have a blog!

2005-06-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

Blogs are hot. Soon, everyone on the planet will have one. But this is perhaps not a good thing. For example:- Today I went for a walk. It was stinkin hot. I found a rotten apple in the fridge under the moldy bread. Buffy the cat barfed on my CD player. See... who would want to read this banal drivel?

Hopefully, this is my worst post. I'll try to do better in future.