Coming home from Schools

Just a quick one today as everyone was busy, I had to take some time off to get the girls back home. And looking at my schedule for the day, I think I have some time to do this and still have some time left to go back on track. Its a slim one but I think I can make it.

All I have to do is to drive a little bit faster... Its these rare times like this that makes me happy to be able to do something for my kids but a bit tensed because I am supposed to be working..... sigh.

First one to get was Kaelynn
and she was very happy to
see me.

Because of the time gap between her school and
Kristine's I took her to the Clownhouse, with just
enough time for her to eat her's and do a take-away
for Kristine. But I am not eating since I am watching
for the time. Everything must fall into place.

Then it was off to get Kristine. And just
in time too. I had to make sure she is
wearing the face mask these few days
as the air quality was not that good.

And so, she had her lunch in the car while I
drove them back to the house.

Erm, Kaelynn was still hungry despite
walloping her Kiddy Meal, so Kristine
gave some of her fries to her.

OK, so I made her give some of her fries to Kaelynn...

Bored Engineers

So, what do you do when you're bored? Read a book? watch TV? Yadda yadda yadda. Yep, when you're bored, you do boring stuff to reinforce the boredom.

But not me. No, Sir. I could never remember the time I was bored (maybe because I am getting old) because there were a lot of things to play with. Whoever made the idiom, "Idle hands are the Devil's tools" must have seen a bored Engineer up close.

Back in the younger days, when I was bored in the company, I would go over to the washing machine and began to take it apart. I would examine the whole system, made it more efficient and have everything put back by Lunchtime.

Yeah, right.

I mean, which crazy company would buy a washing machine and put it next to a bored Engineer in the office? Its a recipe for disaster and besides that, I made that up. The only true part was the bored Engineer and Lunch. You got to have lunch right? Sure you can forego the Engineer but you must have lunch. It is very important to have lunch. If you do not have lunch, you will go sick and then be absent from work. Which is a bad thing because then, an Engineer who always eats his lunch (and would never get sick) would, in your absence, tinker with the stuff on your table/cubicle/locker/shelves, sorting everything in their alphabetical order or in the most efficient location. And when you return, you'd think you have moved to a mental asylum but its just an upgraded make-over made-over.

And do you know what is worse than a bored Engineer? A drunk and bored Engineer. Have you ever seen a drunk Engineer take things apart? A good Engineer would take things apart and then reconfigure/re-build it to be more efficient. But a drunk Engineer would just take things apart. Full-stop. The excitement is like watching pink paint dry in a girl's changing room on a Sunday midnight.

So, do drunk engineers a favour. Don't let them blog.

PIC12F629 SMD

Finally, my package from Microchip has arrived. The reason why I decided to get from them and not my usual Pasar road shop was because I need these chips in SMD (Surface Mount Device) format which is not easy to obtain. And looking for them in Pasar road is not easy. The guys were honest about it and even told me to go direct with Microchip. Which is not a problem for me because a few years ago, Microchip has started selling to non-industrial customers which is great news for me.

So, why am I going into SMDs all of a sudden?

Pros
1. Compared to its normal counterpart, the ship in quesstion is very small. This means saving space on the circuit board and is now possible to put the whole thing into a small model/toy/cramped space.
2. Smaller size means less power consumption.
3. Its also slightly cheaper


Cons
1. Once it is soldered, you cannot remove the chip as often as you wish, even though the chip is programmable. (Then again, you might have to redesign your board to accommodate In-circuit-serial-programming, ICSP)- You will destroy the copper tracks in the circuit board or the chip itself. Usually, its both.

2. Its small so your soldering skills must be up to par or else you would be doing silly things like shorting things out, create an improper solder joint or as usual, flub everything, thereby ruining your R&D money.

3. You also need a special SMD adaptor to fit into your chip programmer, which also costs money.

And so, this came from Thailand, which, took less
than a week. If I were to order this from other
places, it would have taken weeks.

One good thing about these companies is that
they pack things very well...

All precautions have been taken and so were the
anti-static bags

You might want to laugh at this but this is how
ICs are packed and delivered. But because of
its SMD size, your first impression would be,
"Is that it? Is that all my RMxxx.xx"

Anyway, this is a small comparison between the
SMD (bottom) and its usual DIP brethren (top).
See the difference in size? This is the SOIC
version, which is still OK to solder.

Soon, I will get to try them out. That is, once I am not too busy in a few month's time.

Transformers Red Alert

I am not sure why I bought this at all. Must be because a friend of mine urged me to go into lighting up Transformers. 'Many people will come to you fo rhelp', 'You'd be famous', 'bla-bla-bla...'. Yeah, I was suckered by the sweet talk. Maybe I am such a masochist as I have not been in this situation since well, years ago.

Anyway, this was the cheapest toy I could find. I need something that is 'current' and not too old since toys like Transformers evolve very fast. Long ago, when they took up the license from Takara, the toys were very 'stiff' but you can still transform it. Nowadays, most of them can be realistically posed and still transform, which is quite nice.

But its bad news for me, as we shall soon see...

This time, the Red Alert toy
is a Lamborghini Gallardo, or
something close to it.

Because, if you take this pic and refer them to other
actual real Lamborghini cars, you would notice that
it takes bits and pieces from them. That is how I felt
when I decided to look it up when I got bored....

Anyway, looking at the back
of the blister card, you can
now see how it transforms
into a robot and its ability
to pose dramatically.

So, how to light it up? Well, the first thing is that
the roof needs flashing lights and unfortunately,
there is not enough space for a battery... I have
seen some doing it by sacrificing a MIC toy or
pendant. This would achieve the goal of flashing
lights but, at the sacrifice that they are not
flashing in the correct sequence.

And oh, how I hate ball joints. This makes the whole
wiring job even more difficult since if at all, it can
transform, it would limit the flexibility of posing. I
was very tempted to drill out the rear lights and
light it up. But now, I have my reservations.

So, what do you think? Yep, correct. Toss it to the 'to-do' bin until I have the time, which is very unlikely at the moment.

Kenner's Batman Animated Batmobile

When Tim Burton's Batman Movie came out in 1989, it was a huge success. Not only did the movie capture the darker mood of the Dark Knight, the designs from the movie were breathtaking. From the sets to the props to the costumes, it really set the tone of the movie. And the most important 'prop' was the Batmobile, which makes Batman, well, Batman. It was designed by the late Anton Furst who gave it a very aggressive look yet retains the curves of a sleek looking car. It is easily one of the most popular Batmobile along with the 1966 Batmobile.

Fast forward three years later, The Batman Animated series came to our TV screens. And it was a huge success. The series not only boasted the voice talents of Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker of Star Wars fame) but also the way each character was drawn. But what attracted me most was the Batmobile. It was as if, the logical continuation of the Anton Furst Batmobile, but in a more, well, I don't know how to say this in artsy fartsy words, but its very.. erm.. let's just say, a brutally chunky art of deco-ish and mysterious shape which makes the Batmobile.

When I saw one of the episodes, I loved that car and so, began my search if such thing exists over here. I mean, at that time, I was busy working and so, did not bother much about these stuff. And so, when it came to Malaysia, it just sat on the shelves without me knowing the historical importance.

But finally, after my last trip to Amcorp Mall, I
got it. Its a little beaten up, though but I got it!

The canopy for the Batmobile is actually a flip
up, and not a sliding one, which, I have to assume
is the correct way of opening in the series.

From the front, this is how the Batmobile looks like.
Although it looks simplistic, as if it was designed as
a battering ram. But it you look again at the top pic,
and from that angle, its perfect. My plans here is to
put lights at the front as just like in the series, the
lights are the ones, IMHO, that brings attention to
the otherwise dark vehicle.

This is the rear of the Batmobile. In the toy, the
clunky thing in the middle is what was termed
as an escape jet. If I have to do this correctly, I
would need to putty up everything here and
throw away the jet's fins/wings.

When I say its a little beaten up, I would expect
some scratches and scruff but this is a bit too much.
Its as if some kid smacked it against a wall. The reality
could be much worse since my imaginations are working
overtime but lets leave it at that.

So, I quickly opened it up and luckily, where the
damage was, the plastic pillar is holding it up fine.
But putting in the lights behind the pillar is going
to be a problem since I want them to spot-shine
on the path in the front of the Batmobile.

But as usual, work beckons and this, will be stuffed in the 'to-do' list. Maybe when I retire, that is...

The wonderful Scones of the Missus

Today, the Home Minister has issued the official food ration of the week: Scones.

Anyone who is not eating the said Scones would be given more Scones to eat throughout Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Any snacks in between these meals will be Scones. You can also choose the type of Scones available, which is either Scones or Scones. However, if you're not really into Scones, then, as a last resort, you can have some Scones instead, which tastes better than the Scones. Sometimes, if you think the Scones tasted a bit dry, just add some Scones to it.

When it comes to Scones, these specially handcrafted
wonderful works of Art are the best. Yes, sir. The Best.

And when I mean the Best, I mean THE Best. Just
look at the scrumptious texture, which can only be
from the result from hours of of loving hands.

And the aroma, oh, the aroma. Never have
my senses been bombarded with such delight.
One sniff and you're spellbound. You think of
nothing but Scones. In facfnes. I Scones. I Sco
ones. Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones

Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones.
Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones.
Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones.
Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones. Scones.

OK, you can untie me now....

10072011 Trip to Amcorp Mall

Another trip to Amcorp Mall today, just to see how things are getting on. The shop is setting up quite nicely and they are receiving a lot of items. Now, when I mention items, I do not mean 'current' one you se on the shelves but, items from years ago or even from your childhood days. Yes, these are the items I am talking about. Miss it and there goes your second chance forever.....

The shop had a surprise guest today. For those of
you know knows, you're OK by me.

Still don't know him? OK, here's your second chance...

The first thing you must do, when you have reached
the shop, is to go over the counter. Oh, greeting
the sellers might help but you must know your
priorities.

I have no idea why but its there. The whole complete
collection. Saves you time buying those stupid mags
every month, which might or might not arrive.

And so, here are some nice ones from the counter.
Some of these are not sold here.

This is a very old kit and surprisingly, it
got sold as well.

I am sure the new owner will be very happy with it.

This was one of those 'toys' which you always see
from collectors in the Internet. Expensive but nice.
However, the fad for me has passed and this is now
nothing more than just a piece of metal. Also, the
price of a Hotwheels normal toy is now Rm7.50.

Ah, the very rare Transformers Headmaster, HiQ.
When it was being sold here long ago, it was very
expensive and also, it disappeared very fast too.

This, I think was just right after the Transformers
Headmaster series. For the Powermaster, you need
to plug in these sidekicks for the main robot to, well,
transform. Not a good idea if one of them died during
battle or someone needs to go to the toilet to pee...

OK, further on at the back of the counters, there are
more figures. However, you must know your stuff
here because some of them looked as if they have
been repainted...

As I have mentioned, if you know your stuff, the
Hologram Armour on the left is the real deal. No,
not Deadpool, but next to him. But when these
came out, they were selling for RM39.90, which
is a load of crap.

Was Judge Anderson feeling up Wolverine?

Or was it Richard Reeds feeling up Havok? I am
guessing The Hulk is having a fun time feeling...

If you ask me which is the
star attraction, my reply
would be, "Boneless Spidey"
here. He's a great hit with
the kids (and GF's too)

Finally, I got ol' Joe Dredd and this
is the Re-Action figure and not the
Legendary Heroes version. This is
the version I am looking for.

At the end of the trip, this is my haul. The rare Kenner
Batman Animated Batmobile, Re-Action Judge Dredd,
an old Daikin mascot and a Red Alert Transformer.

The play before the snooze

Just a normal weekend here. The girls were playing about and so I left them alone while I was busy helping with some documentation...

Kaelynn was with me, trying to read a book

Then she left and in that silence, I thought
nothing of it until I looked at the bed...

Yep, their batteries have gone flat, in less that a minute,
just like those rechargables.

MIC Quality

Let's face it. Whether we like it or not, we're buying MIC (Made in China) stuff. And just like getting a Proton car a decade ago, the quality depends on your luck. I have no doubt that China can mass produce items. With Billions of people there, churning out thousands of items an hour is not a problem. But for me, like many other consumers, the main problem is the quality of the product. Unless it manufacturing for a reputable company, quality assurance does not exist.

Take for example, this electronic housing. I did not
get it from my usual supplier because they did not
have the stock. So, I went next door and bought one.
When I wanted to use it months later, I was horrified
to see this: The plastic walls have burst out or rather,
cracked.

All over the edges have this problem. Apparently,
this was from the white waterproof seal which caused
it. The theory here is either the seals were too hard
and expanded, or, the walls of the casing was too
thin, or, the quality of the plastic.

After looking at all the edges, I strongly believe
that its all three.

And so, like all MIC products, you cannot get it 'repaired' or even do a swap since they're so cheap, its not worth the effort. But here, in this case, I am not even going to bother, not because it has lapsed for a few months but it reinforces my trust to the only shop which sells quality products. They really do a check for all MIC products, and even have an 'agent' there in China to make sure they're getting the 'right' items.

What are they doing?

If you're asking, "Are they planking?". The answer is, 'No'
because I have absolutely no idea what they're doing
either.