Need to name your school? Try this.
For Example:
The family and BFF family went to the fish fry at a VFW hall. Adorning the walls were WW2 era propaganda posters and ads, including this ad for Packard cars. The headline was “Through the London blitz and robot bombing and always on the job”. My first thought was of WW2 steampunk mecha like this. However, this didn’t appear to be the case…
My geek hero, Gary Gygax died today. He’s the guy who invented Dungeons & Dragons. I almost titled this post “HP:0″ or something about saving throw, but no. Better to say, “thanks Gary”. Thanks for Dungeons & Dragons, a game I played as a teen, and play now with my preteen kids.
I’ve been working in Inkscape for a few weeks, and I really like it. It’s a vector drawing application, for Mac, Windows, Linux. It’s kind of like Illustrator or Flash (but without animation). Inkscape is still beta, but it has been solid for me (has never crashed). Here is a character I’m working on in Inkscape, Virgil.
The male offspring and I invented a chess variant after a rousing game of “regular” chess.
Behold the splendor of Queen War:
Board Setup
Movement and Capture
Game over, man, game over!
There are two ways to win.
If you have the chance to play this game, please let us know how it went and if you enjoyed it!
I’ve just discovered Household Hacker, it “specializes in creating quality items with little to no money and just a bit of imagination.” Videos describe how to for example How to Charge an iPod using electrolytes and an onion:
You will need:
1. 1 White onion
2. 2 cups of Gatorade
3. Screwdriver
4. iPod and USB cable
Do you want to impress your wife/husband/significant other? Fix the vacuum. I’ve fixed my five year old vacuum a few times over the years and every time, my wife looks at me with that “my hero” look. It’s great. Maybe my real motivation was when she said, “let’s go to Target to buy a new vacuum.” Heck no, I’ll fix it!
This entry is called “How to fix your vacuum,” so I’d better get to the meat of the issue. I’m not going to cover electrical stuff, just simple stuff. First unplug your vacuum. Get out your screwdrivers.
So what’s the problem? The only real symptom is that the damn thing stops cleaning. If the motor won’t turn on, forget it, that’s beyond what I’m going to get into, take it to a repair shop. Usually my problem has been blockage. Something gets stuck somewhere in the vacuum that prevents it from pulling up any more dirt. My main troubleshooting technique is to follow the dirt. What is the path of dirt in your vacuum? Examine your vacuum, follow the tubes from where the dirt is sucked up all the way to the bag or container. Clean the easy stuff first. Empty and remove the bag or container. Look in the hole that feeds into the bag, is it clogged? Look in the hole next too the floor scrubber brush, clean it out. If there is a roller brush, is it stuck? There might be something stopping it from spinning. Look for string or rubber bands.
If you’ve gotten this far and haven’t found any obvious problems (i.e. globs of dirt or hairballs), next you are probably going to have to start taking this thing apart. Don’t void your warranty. Take all safety precautions. Look along the dirt path as before. What looks easy to take apart? There should be some screws that hold down parts of the tubes that come apart. As you take it apart, check each section for debris. Remember where each piece goes, and if there are different kinds of screws, where they came from. If it’s getting complex, it might be a good idea to draw a diagram of what you are taking apart. I use a screwdriver or an end of a coat hanger to poke into the tubes to clear debris. Be careful not to break anything. Hopefully you’ve found the debris, a nasty hairball, or a barbie head or something. Good. Put it back together, and if you were careful, there will be no screws left over. Test your work. It works? You are awesome! Proudly tell your wife/husband/S.O., “Honey, I fixed the vacuum, another crisis narrowly averted!”. Bask in the love and admiration.
More theories on why bees are disappearing from North America and Europe. 60% gone from the USA west coast, 70% from the east coast. This was first noticed last year. No one really knows yet what is causing CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder), but mobile phones are a suggested cause, also genetically modified crops, pesticides and more. Interesting fact sheet here, says that “Bees are very important to US agriculture because they pollinate about 1/3 of our crops“. According to this April 4th article in Truthout, “Research is only beginning and hard data is still lacking, but beekeepers suspect everything from a new virus or parasite to pesticides and genetically modified crops. Scientists have hastily established a CCD working group at Pennsylvania State University. Last week, the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture held hearings on the missing bees.“
Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - [New York Times]: In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable.
Comments(2)