Silver Case

Yesterday enjoyed a long lunch of Mom’s favorite seasonal fish sashimi…

Unlike the normal preperation for fugu, paper thin translucent slices, this was cut into thicker chunks.  Since it’s a relatively bland fish, thicker slices help, giving more texture when there’s not as much flavor.

Woei bought me a new and unique bicycle helmet for Christmas.

There was a small problem, though.  The helmet underneath is a typical skateboarder-style shelled helmet.  Like every helmet of that variety I”ve ever tried, it didn’t fit comfortably.  The length is too short, so it pinches onto my forehead.

So can you guess how I sorted out that problem?

That’s right…a slice of 120 grit emery cloth from my workshop.  Ten minutes of sanding and the helmet is fitting great.

One interesting thing…My spatial awareness behind my head is horrible.  I would reach around and press fingernail marks into the helmet where I needed to sand.  It was always inches away from where I visualized it should be.

Casino Security networks are a favorite of Discovery Channel cable TV technology programs. They make Big Sister look like Deputy Barney Fife from Mayberry.

Last night at 3:00AM an armed man ripped off a craps table at the Bellagio for $1.5mn. Understandably the guards let the guy out of the casino without molesting him. (Ironic when you think of all those CCTV footages you see on cable of Kwik-E-Marts clerks engaging in Close Quarters Combat with their robbers)

What is not understandable is the Bellagio security cameras. This is the best they can do??? I would have thought they’d have something more like a Predator UAV camera than a 1998 Logitech WebCam….

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Or maybe I should have asked, “what does it take to be a professional coroner?”

Cops and coroners were hysteric boobs. They are learning well from Big Sister and TSA.

I’m not much of a gaming fan, but I have to say this description of Pac Man Ghost logic is pretty interesting. The simplicity is surprising, moreover, considering some of the rules seem retarded or at least counter-intuitive.  Yet they still make for great behavior.

Don’t have your old Atari console anymore?  It’s the age of the internet. Fully functioning Pacman available online.

I could use Mike Cozart’s railroad models if I ever want to a make a harsh James Ellroy-themed railroad layout.  ”Hey look, there’s Pete Bondurant shaking down a pimp at the Pele Room!”

“Famed publicist” Ronnie Chasen was murdered recently. the Daily Mail lead notes

The coroner said the nature of the famed publicist’s injuries were consistent with being targeted by a professional gunman.

Whoa, that sounds pretty heavy-duty. Professional Assassins? Why do they figure that?

Former LA detective Gill Carillo told ABC News: ‘Normally they turn the gun sideways and this is something that was done with some skill.

So shooting a gun normally, not like something out of a LA Street Gang movie, and being able to hit something incredibly tiny, like a human torso, from an incredible 15 feet away, sets the standard for a professional hitman???

Sounds like the coroner is prone to hyperbole. Wonder how many Satanic Ritual Abuse cases he’s uncovered as well.

Huh? My post disappeared!

emergency re-write!

Anyway, all I was going to say was that I finally got the gearing of my sewing machine transmission geared down from a 85mm output pulley to a 50mm. Now the speed is much more manageable.

The only snafu was that my belt was too long after the change. I bought a replacement, but it was too short. Finally on monday I found the Mama Bear belt that fit just nice.

Hah the only issue this caused? The gearing is so low that it’s hard to turn the handwheel without letting out a bit of clutch.

So now I can get back to my hats.

Luke’s school hosted author of Born to Run, Christopher McDougall, for a talk this late afternoon. He’s a great public speaker and the hour flew by.

Probably the biggest surprise of the night came from an audience member question. A very average-looking forty-something white guy, with a bit of a paunch, mentioned that last year he had done a 150 mile race across the Atacama Desert in Chile, and with about sixty miles left, his shoe disintegrated, so he had to run the rest of the race barefooted. He said that everything McDougall was saying about barefoot running was exactly his experience as well.   

There were about 100 people in the audience. If you lined us all up and said, “which one of these people has run a 150 mile race through the Atacama Desert last year?” Maybe he’d be the 50th person you’d guess at. Quite impressive.

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hahahahah best line of that last link I included:

The Medics were very pleasant, organized and friendly. However, I wonder if I would have recovered better and more effectively for the remainder of the race if they had given me an IV drip that night, instead of a can of Coke, especially as I have only one kidney.

I bought (this) new MacBookPro a few weeks ago. That freed me up to get my older MacBookPro serviced (under warranty).

The old MBP I’ve owned since the end of 2007. It’s been reliable. However many months ago a DVD refused to eject from the SuperDrive despite my best efforts. I also noticed that the whole case was working itself loose. Like the screws were unscrewing themselves from the case.

I picked my computer up from service today. I was surprised that they had cleaned up the computer after replacing the ‘SuperDrive’. But the technician explained.. they didn’t replace the superdrive, they replaced the entire top-piece of the laptop (where the keyboard/mousepad/hands rest). It had warped, which was blocking the drive from ejecting.

I said, “how the hell did it warp?” He claimed it was from the weight of my hands(?). My guess is relentless heat cycling for years. Also illustrates why Apple was so keen to switch to the Aluminum unibody construction, so crap like this doesn’t happen.

via boing boing

My Juki walking-foot sewing machine runs too fast for me to control accurately. So today I bought a replacement motor pulley to gear it down. The original pulley was 85mm. This pulley is 50mm diameter. That should cut the linear feed speed to 58% of whatever it is now. I think that should be just nice.

I attempted to install the pull tonight, but alas now the V-belt is too long. Oops. I’ll have to replace that, too.

Rats Luke has a flu on a Public Holiday. Now his playdate and an afternoon birthday party are cancelled for him.

Instead he’s trying out his new computer downstairs (an old macbook).

…so we figured it’s time to get the old macbook.  (shame the battery died — need to get a replacement under warranty)

You can reach him at lukexslater @ gmail.

Tidied up the workshop today
Originally uploaded by karavshin.

Ever since OOCL Kaohsiung discharged two tons of tooling in my shop, it’s been a total mess, and getting increasingly filthy. So Emily and Matilda came in today to clean the place up while I worked on the seatstays, the last major component of Ling’s Bike.

…especially when I pointed out that the little girl spotted trouble and had sense to flee before everyone else.

He watched it over-and-over and insisted everyone else watch it, too.

uhhhhhhhhhhh think he was a bit nervous…. or got a bit bored…..

This is my favorite channel on Youtube.