So I’ve gone from lapping the back of the chisels to honing the besel and micro besel. Lapping the back is basically making sure the back is as flat as it can be. It is done by sanding it with finer grits until you have close to a mirror like finish. I’ve got a Veritas [...]
Posts from ‘November, 2006’
Boys in Running Club
Mitchell and Xander are both in a club at school. It’s short name is Running Club. The purpose is to generate enthusiasm for exercise and movement and a bit for some form of competition. The kids do laps around the school earning miles (4 laps equals a mile). They also can earn miles outside of [...]
Snow Day
Ok, it’s more of an ice day than a snow day.? All the school districts in Western Washington have closed so the boys are home.? This is a first for us. Looking outside it seems that everyone might be overreacting at least in our area.? Looking at the news, there are certainly some bad places [...]
MPAA wants to regulate your Home Theater
Check out this post on how the MPAA wants to regulate all Home Theaters. It’s another example of how greed in corporations has gotten totally out of hand. “Just because you buy a DVD to watch at home doesn’t give you the right to invite friends over to watch it too. That’s a violation of [...]
More on UPB and Automation
As I’ve gotten most of the switches and outlets installed, I have found that they are very reliable.? I do not get any false positives (false ONs) which are the bane of my automation existence.? I do occasionally get false negatives (False OFFs) but repeats usually fix that and those are much more acceptable. I [...]
Book Review – Dzur by Steven Brust
I have read several of Steven Brust’s stories about Vlad Taltos.? They are all great stories so I had some preconceptions going in. The premise of this is that there is a world where there are “humans” and “easterners”.? The “humans” are broken into different groups all based on various dragons.? These are both ethnic [...]
New Automation work goes on
I’ve been working as time permits in putting more switches and outlets in and programming them.? The technology is UPB which uses the existing power line to communicate to each other and perhaps to a host system. All but 2 switches have gone in fine.? Programming has been somewhat frustrating but not because programming is [...]
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a long standing American Holiday.? I think Abraham Lincoln declared it a national holiday and since it’s been around that long it must be an actual tradition.? I find it a mixed time though heavily weighted in the positive side.? Thanksgiving gives us a time to be with our family.? Even when our [...]
Weird iPod Problem
I had a weird iPod problem.? For almost a week, my iPod would not go to the next podcast.? It wouldn’t do it if the previous podcast was finished.? It wouldn’t do it if you pressed the next button.? It just wouldn’t do it. It turns out the fix for it was to reinstall iTunes.? [...]
Xander’s Birthday Party
Xander’s Birthday Party was yesterday.? We have a big party for our boys every other year and this was the year for a big party.? Xander picked a place called Pump It Up which is a place that has a bunch of blow up bounce toys for the kids to play in addition for a [...]
UPB – Home Automation
So, as I mentioned in my previous post I’ve been working on upgrading my current home automation components which are X-10 to UPB.? It has gone well. The most awkward element is learning how to implement the “Network” and it’s components using the tools that are needed on UPB Networks.? The tool that is out [...]
Home Automation
We’ve been using X-10 for a long long time now.? It’s worked ok for a bit but as of late, it’s been unrealiable.? In fact, it’s gotten painfully so.? We’ve had at least 2 or 3 lights that would come one randomly due to noise of the line.? One of them was so bad that [...]
Advanced Learning or Advanced Curriculum (more on Gifted Children)
So one of the other issues that I think about when thinking of education and children is learning versus curriculum.? With my thoughts on gifted children, it’s even more on my brain. Let me define some of my thinking first. Learning is all about how children learn in the classroom and how they can be [...]
Book Review: High Stakes by Erin McCarthy
This was kind of an interesting twist on the many romantic vampire books that I’ve read and reviewed. The story centers on Ethan, a vampire, who is also the current President of the Vampire Nation and running for re-election.? His campaign manager has urged him to find a woman to marry in order to give [...]
More on Gifted Children
So how are gifted children defined?? In our school district, they are defined by meeting several criteria from a list which indicate that they are advanced in several areas (i.e. reading, math, interest in learning, approach to investigation, …). Before going into each topic though can’t I ask the question, isn’t a child gifted if [...]