There isn't much going on here, so I thought I'd post some links I've been saving.
Forget the other submarines on the market. This is definitely the one I want. But I'm going to have to move closer to a lake or an ocean first.
Pencil carvings: for those sculptors who want the extra challenge of using a microscope while they work.
Notebook art.
Apollo 11 "graffiti" from the astronauts themselves.
This is an interesting website. Use your mouse to draw a line on the screen, and the ball will bounce off it. Depending on the line, it will also play a musical note.
Musical Extravaganza
A Whole Lotta Music
M and K played their instruments for their recent Solo and Ensemble days, and did pretty well for themselves. This year, S&E was hosted by Pioneer High School, which means it was all hands on deck for parent and student volunteers. Between J, M, and me, we put in over 40 hours of volunteering over the two weekends, and that doesn't count the time we spent in preparation. I won't miss getting up at 4:45 am two Saturdays in a row.
K got Ones for his piano solo and violin solo.
M got Ones for his sax solo and sax/sax/clarinet trio.
M and his trio mates received flowers from the parents of one of the other players.
Mathcounts
K competed in the local Mathcounts competition last week. Not only did he get to miss a day of school, but his school's team did well and won fourth place.
Ann Arbor Public Schools Orchestra Night
This is K at Hill Auditorium after his school's orchestra played as part of Orchestra Night. All the orchestras did an outstanding job.
It's hard to get a good picture at Hill Auditorium, especially when everyone on stage is wearing a white shirt to reflect the light. K is sitting in third chair position near the front of the stage.
M and K played their instruments for their recent Solo and Ensemble days, and did pretty well for themselves. This year, S&E was hosted by Pioneer High School, which means it was all hands on deck for parent and student volunteers. Between J, M, and me, we put in over 40 hours of volunteering over the two weekends, and that doesn't count the time we spent in preparation. I won't miss getting up at 4:45 am two Saturdays in a row.
K got Ones for his piano solo and violin solo.
M got Ones for his sax solo and sax/sax/clarinet trio.
M and his trio mates received flowers from the parents of one of the other players.
Mathcounts
K competed in the local Mathcounts competition last week. Not only did he get to miss a day of school, but his school's team did well and won fourth place.
Ann Arbor Public Schools Orchestra Night
This is K at Hill Auditorium after his school's orchestra played as part of Orchestra Night. All the orchestras did an outstanding job.
It's hard to get a good picture at Hill Auditorium, especially when everyone on stage is wearing a white shirt to reflect the light. K is sitting in third chair position near the front of the stage.
Lots of Little Things
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Dremel Router Base Project
I got a new Dremel tool for Christmas and I'd like to use it for a project or two where I need to cut recesses in wood. I don't have a router base for it, which is necessary, so I looked around the internet and found some people making their own. The ones I found online are nicer than this, made of metal or plexiglas, but I think this one, made out of wood, will work fine. I made it from scrap wood and a few dollars' worth of nuts and bolts from ACE.
There are several commercial router bases available (here, here, here, and
here), including one that Dremel makes, so I may find myself eventually graduating to one of those offerings. The reviews I've read of the Dremel brand base are not good, but the others get good reviews.
Getting Out of the House
I went to the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago to see a band, Spiraling Suns. Two of the three band members are coworkers of mine in Dexter, and it was fun to see them playing. They're normally quiet and unassuming, but when they get going, they really belt it out.
Science Olympiad
The Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad event schedules are out, the culmination of quite a few hours of work. This year we'll have 38 schools in the tournament, like last year, and we expect well over 2,000 students in grades 2-5. The fun never stops!
Fun Links
These miniature cities take the "ship in a bottle" genre to a whole new level: test tubes.
Since my eyeballs are getting older, I'm craving one of these. I already have a magnifying lamp that I use all the time. But who couldn't use a little more magnification?
The batteries for my cordless drill keep conking out immediately after they're charged. I've had the drill and batteries for 18 years, and I think it's time for a new set. Maybe this set would work. Cordless drills are so much lighter than they used to be.
Stay warm, everyone!
---
Dremel Router Base Project
I got a new Dremel tool for Christmas and I'd like to use it for a project or two where I need to cut recesses in wood. I don't have a router base for it, which is necessary, so I looked around the internet and found some people making their own. The ones I found online are nicer than this, made of metal or plexiglas, but I think this one, made out of wood, will work fine. I made it from scrap wood and a few dollars' worth of nuts and bolts from ACE.
There are several commercial router bases available (here, here, here, and
here), including one that Dremel makes, so I may find myself eventually graduating to one of those offerings. The reviews I've read of the Dremel brand base are not good, but the others get good reviews.
Getting Out of the House
I went to the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago to see a band, Spiraling Suns. Two of the three band members are coworkers of mine in Dexter, and it was fun to see them playing. They're normally quiet and unassuming, but when they get going, they really belt it out.
Science Olympiad
The Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad event schedules are out, the culmination of quite a few hours of work. This year we'll have 38 schools in the tournament, like last year, and we expect well over 2,000 students in grades 2-5. The fun never stops!
Fun Links
These miniature cities take the "ship in a bottle" genre to a whole new level: test tubes.
Since my eyeballs are getting older, I'm craving one of these. I already have a magnifying lamp that I use all the time. But who couldn't use a little more magnification?
The batteries for my cordless drill keep conking out immediately after they're charged. I've had the drill and batteries for 18 years, and I think it's time for a new set. Maybe this set would work. Cordless drills are so much lighter than they used to be.
Stay warm, everyone!
---
CodeMash 2016
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CodeMash 2016 - Kalahari Resort, Sandusky, OH
One of the sessions I attended.
About 15 coworkers and I went to Sandusky last week to attend CodeMash, a developer's conference in its 10th year. Several had been there before, but this was my first time. I attended talks about management, "soft" skills (that is, people skills), as well as some in-depth technical talks about web security, software patents, and other topics. I also helped set a (to-be-verified) world record and helped children with disabilities.
The elephant statue and I had a bonding moment. A Kalahari staffer took this picture.
Laser Pong - World Record!
A father/son team in Haslett, MI wrote an interactive Pong game - you remember Pong, right? In the original game, players used a joystick to move a paddle up and down on a screen. In this variation, made to allow for as many players as you can fit in a room, participants use laser pointers to send, well, laser light onto a screen. The program looks at the concentration of red dots and uses an algorithm to determine where the Pong paddle should be on the screen.
CodeMash sponsored a session to see if attendees could set a world record for people playing pong. Check out this link for some background, including the interesting way the current record-holders got their record.
If we wanted the paddle to go up, we'd all move our lasers up, and if we wanted it to stay put, we'd hold steady. Our thumbs got tired after a while, but eventually The Left Side of the Audience (my side) won, 11 - 10 over the sad losers on The Right Side of the Audience.
The Laser Pong game - the red blobs and dots are the laser pointers from the audience members. The area with the most laser dots in it determined where the game paddle traveled.
Independent counters and verifiers took pictures, videos, and careful counts of attendees and participants to submit to the Guiness Book of World Records. I'm proud to say this is the second World Record I've been a part of. Just stick with me and pretty soon you'll end up setting a record for something.
At the end of the laser pong game, my side (the left) had won, 11-10. Not only was I a part of the largest collaborative pong game ever, my team also won, which makes me a special kind of champion.
Katelyn's Krusade
CodeMash likes to give back to the community, and offered the people at Katelyn's Kloset the ability to bring a bunch of electronic toys to CodeMash to be altered. Many toys are difficult for a child with physical disabilities to use, so Katelyn's Krusade alters the toys so they can be more easily used, such as adding large buttons that can be pressed by children whose motor skills may not allow them to press the buttons that originally come with the toy.
This is the train toy I worked on - we did some soldering to attach a wire that extends out the back of the toy.
A fellow CodeMasher, Nuri, and I took apart a toy train, extended its power switch with a wire, and sealed it back up. The wired extension will allow the parents of the child to plug in a button, also with its own cord, and the child can operate the train with the button rather than having to work the tiny switch that is located on the bottom of the train. It was nice to meet and work with Nuri. Maybe we'll work on another project next year.
Fellow conference attendee Nuri and me with a train car, after adding the wire you see Nuri holding. This wire accepts a 1/8 audio jack tethered to a button. When the child presses the button, the train goes forward, backwards, and in circles.
Conference Wrap-Up
K would have driven there just to eat this bacon popcorn.
When I showed K the picture above, we had the following conversation:
K: Where was that?
Me: At the conference I just got home from.
K: And why didn't you take me there?
Coworkers from Thomson Reuters give CodeMash 2016 a unanimous thumbs up.
---
CodeMash 2016 - Kalahari Resort, Sandusky, OH
One of the sessions I attended.
About 15 coworkers and I went to Sandusky last week to attend CodeMash, a developer's conference in its 10th year. Several had been there before, but this was my first time. I attended talks about management, "soft" skills (that is, people skills), as well as some in-depth technical talks about web security, software patents, and other topics. I also helped set a (to-be-verified) world record and helped children with disabilities.
The elephant statue and I had a bonding moment. A Kalahari staffer took this picture.
Laser Pong - World Record!
A father/son team in Haslett, MI wrote an interactive Pong game - you remember Pong, right? In the original game, players used a joystick to move a paddle up and down on a screen. In this variation, made to allow for as many players as you can fit in a room, participants use laser pointers to send, well, laser light onto a screen. The program looks at the concentration of red dots and uses an algorithm to determine where the Pong paddle should be on the screen.
CodeMash sponsored a session to see if attendees could set a world record for people playing pong. Check out this link for some background, including the interesting way the current record-holders got their record.
If we wanted the paddle to go up, we'd all move our lasers up, and if we wanted it to stay put, we'd hold steady. Our thumbs got tired after a while, but eventually The Left Side of the Audience (my side) won, 11 - 10 over the sad losers on The Right Side of the Audience.
The Laser Pong game - the red blobs and dots are the laser pointers from the audience members. The area with the most laser dots in it determined where the game paddle traveled.
Independent counters and verifiers took pictures, videos, and careful counts of attendees and participants to submit to the Guiness Book of World Records. I'm proud to say this is the second World Record I've been a part of. Just stick with me and pretty soon you'll end up setting a record for something.
At the end of the laser pong game, my side (the left) had won, 11-10. Not only was I a part of the largest collaborative pong game ever, my team also won, which makes me a special kind of champion.
Katelyn's Krusade
CodeMash likes to give back to the community, and offered the people at Katelyn's Kloset the ability to bring a bunch of electronic toys to CodeMash to be altered. Many toys are difficult for a child with physical disabilities to use, so Katelyn's Krusade alters the toys so they can be more easily used, such as adding large buttons that can be pressed by children whose motor skills may not allow them to press the buttons that originally come with the toy.
This is the train toy I worked on - we did some soldering to attach a wire that extends out the back of the toy.
A fellow CodeMasher, Nuri, and I took apart a toy train, extended its power switch with a wire, and sealed it back up. The wired extension will allow the parents of the child to plug in a button, also with its own cord, and the child can operate the train with the button rather than having to work the tiny switch that is located on the bottom of the train. It was nice to meet and work with Nuri. Maybe we'll work on another project next year.
Fellow conference attendee Nuri and me with a train car, after adding the wire you see Nuri holding. This wire accepts a 1/8 audio jack tethered to a button. When the child presses the button, the train goes forward, backwards, and in circles.
Conference Wrap-Up
K would have driven there just to eat this bacon popcorn.
When I showed K the picture above, we had the following conversation:
K: Where was that?
Me: At the conference I just got home from.
K: And why didn't you take me there?
Coworkers from Thomson Reuters give CodeMash 2016 a unanimous thumbs up.
---
Organ Lessons
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Grandma and the boys at the organ; M is playing the foot pedals and K is playing the Great manual.
Today, we all went to Jackson to meet with a master organ player (my mom) to learn how organs work, and what it takes to play one.
We first got to look at some old and new organ pipes, some made of wood and some of metal. Do you know the difference between a string pipe, principal pipe, and reed pipe? We do now! (Here's an article about organ pipes and how they work.)
The top keyboard is the Swell manual, and the bottom keyboard is the Great manual. There are stops for each, and there are options to allow the Swell settings to be applied to the Great manual.
K plays a Christmas-y tune on the Great manual.
Each of us got to play a song or two on the organ as mom showed us different ways of setting the stops, using the pedals, and our favorite, the Sforzando setting. Sforzando is another of way of saying "really loud".
We also got to go behind the scenes to see the air compressor and pipes. The organ at the church is tuned three times a year, and was renovated about 20 years ago during a larger renovation of the church and sanctuary.
M is playing sforzando in this picture - the little red light just to the right and above the Swell manual indicates "Sforzando". I suggest using this setting when you're playing your favorite song.
M and K are pretty impressed with the whole setup.
Thanks for the organ lessons, mom! We have a new appreciation for what a complex instrument it really is.
---
Grandma and the boys at the organ; M is playing the foot pedals and K is playing the Great manual.
Today, we all went to Jackson to meet with a master organ player (my mom) to learn how organs work, and what it takes to play one.
We first got to look at some old and new organ pipes, some made of wood and some of metal. Do you know the difference between a string pipe, principal pipe, and reed pipe? We do now! (Here's an article about organ pipes and how they work.)
The top keyboard is the Swell manual, and the bottom keyboard is the Great manual. There are stops for each, and there are options to allow the Swell settings to be applied to the Great manual.
K plays a Christmas-y tune on the Great manual.
Each of us got to play a song or two on the organ as mom showed us different ways of setting the stops, using the pedals, and our favorite, the Sforzando setting. Sforzando is another of way of saying "really loud".
We also got to go behind the scenes to see the air compressor and pipes. The organ at the church is tuned three times a year, and was renovated about 20 years ago during a larger renovation of the church and sanctuary.
M is playing sforzando in this picture - the little red light just to the right and above the Swell manual indicates "Sforzando". I suggest using this setting when you're playing your favorite song.
M and K are pretty impressed with the whole setup.
Thanks for the organ lessons, mom! We have a new appreciation for what a complex instrument it really is.
---
Christmas Wrap-Up
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Reflective City by Matthias Adolfsson
It's time for a Christmas wrap-up.
We had two very Merry Christmas get-togethers this year - one at our house with my side of the family, and one at J's parents' house for hers. We're lucky (as always) to have our families and always enjoy seeing as many of them as possible over the holidays.
On New Year's Eve, the Spartan football team will play Alabama for a chance to be in the national championship game. Go Spartans!
All of us Ann Arborites, plus Laurie, went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was well done, I could follow along even though I can only remember the basics of the original movies (and that's all you need to know, by the way: the basics).
Links
Some very nice inlays by Larry Robinson.
If your metal lathe and mill is collecting dust on your workbench, here's a gyroscope project for you.
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Reflective City by Matthias Adolfsson
It's time for a Christmas wrap-up.
We had two very Merry Christmas get-togethers this year - one at our house with my side of the family, and one at J's parents' house for hers. We're lucky (as always) to have our families and always enjoy seeing as many of them as possible over the holidays.
On New Year's Eve, the Spartan football team will play Alabama for a chance to be in the national championship game. Go Spartans!
All of us Ann Arborites, plus Laurie, went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was well done, I could follow along even though I can only remember the basics of the original movies (and that's all you need to know, by the way: the basics).
Links
Some very nice inlays by Larry Robinson.
If your metal lathe and mill is collecting dust on your workbench, here's a gyroscope project for you.
---
The Malaise Weeks
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It's the middle weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, also known as The Malaise Weeks. (Not really, I just made that up.)
Let's un-malaise it with some fun stuff.
I love this - 75 hours of illustration in a 2-minute video.
Nancy sent me a link to this puzzle, saying she didn't want to solve it herself. I almost finished it, but have some errors, and I think I've spent enough time on it for a while. I was hoping it would work with the errors in it, but it doesn't. I am being a little cryptic in my description of it in case you want to try to solve it yourself. If you finish it, and don't know what to do with the results, let me know. Dad, get started...
Some of you know I'm a fan of Edward Tufte for his information-related graphics. Here's more of the same.
A rubber-band powered locomotive, made from laser-cut pieces. Cool!
It's always been a dream of mine to play the subcontrabass flute. It may be too late for me to put one on this year's Christmas List.
Christmas Vacation for the kids (and me!) start soon. Nothing busts the malaise more than a little time off work and school...
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It's the middle weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, also known as The Malaise Weeks. (Not really, I just made that up.)
Let's un-malaise it with some fun stuff.
I love this - 75 hours of illustration in a 2-minute video.
Nancy sent me a link to this puzzle, saying she didn't want to solve it herself. I almost finished it, but have some errors, and I think I've spent enough time on it for a while. I was hoping it would work with the errors in it, but it doesn't. I am being a little cryptic in my description of it in case you want to try to solve it yourself. If you finish it, and don't know what to do with the results, let me know. Dad, get started...
Some of you know I'm a fan of Edward Tufte for his information-related graphics. Here's more of the same.
A rubber-band powered locomotive, made from laser-cut pieces. Cool!
It's always been a dream of mine to play the subcontrabass flute. It may be too late for me to put one on this year's Christmas List.
Christmas Vacation for the kids (and me!) start soon. Nothing busts the malaise more than a little time off work and school...
---
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