Carelessness

When you install a security system such
as this, make sure you remove the plastic
sheet. Or install one with a design where
other people cannot see the fingerprints
easily. Yes, the code is so easy now......

Lighting the Laser Rifle

As fas as I can understand, the prop has six LEDs (unknown colour and wattage) located on both sides of the rifle. What the user (as fas as I know, and added some artistic liberties) needs are:

1) LEDs sequence from Left to Right (of Right to Left) when powering up. Done
2) LEDs go to "zero" voltage when the Laser Rifle is being fired. Done
3) LEDs "recharge" back to full voltage after it is fired. Done
4) Rifle does "something" after 8 seconds of non-discharge. Artistic Liberties

On paper, lighting up the LEDs look very simple until you start to realise the tremendous amount of electronic components to achieve this. And of course, the wiring concerned. It would be a mess in there, even if you designed a proper printed circuit board. Not only that, this circuit would also shorten the battery's lifespan considerably. Oh, and did I mention the long development time?

So, in today's fast-paced World, the only solution would be to use the current technology available; the microprocessor. The advantages over "old school" electronics and method are:

1) The only difficult part is to build the circuit in the first place, say, using a prototype breadboard.
2) The longest development time would be to program the microprocessor chip. Since I hate programming, I used an alternative software which really cut down on my development time further. This prototype in the video took me about less than five hours. Then because I was bored, I used up another six hours to make the program more interesting, such as putting a screensaver sequence in there.
3) Component count is 30 since it is converting 12 volts DC to 5 volts DC:
1x microprocessor
12x LEDs
12x current limiting resistors for the LEDs
2x push-button switches
2x resistors for the switches
1x 5 volt Voltage regulator

4) But if I used 3 volts DC (i.e. 2x AA battries), the component count is reduced to 17:
1x microprocessor
12x LEDs
2x push-button switches
2x resistors for the switches
This is because the output of the microprocessor can sink 25mA, which is ideal for a LED.

5) Because its a microprocessor, you can program and reprogram the LEDs sequence to your heart's desire. You can even program a few chips to demonstrate to your customer the different solutions too.

But the disadvantages is also worth considering:
1) You need to buy a microprocessor programmer
2) You need to learn its programming language
3) If not, you need to spend more to get a "layman" programming software

Lasagna!

This is my second time at doing Lasagna since my time at the University. When I was small, I always wondered why Garfield loved Lasagna. Heck, I don't even know what it was; some layered cake or something. It was not until I researched the recipe for it did I realise what Lasagna is. And damn, its high in milk, cheese and more cheese. Which is wonderful. Until now because at that time, I don't even have gout or knew what it was.

Anyway, Wife & Mom decided to make Lasagna for dinner and with me being the only one who knew what it was, I was in charge. So, my Wife did the meat cooking stuff while I directed the direction flow of the sauce. Heh.

For a can of tomato, this is expensive. I told her
we could use some tomato paste, ketchup and
some mixed herbs and it would not make any
difference. One thing we did not add were the
onions as Mom does not like them. Me? If I
could, I would put in the whole sack.

When I came back from University, I gave Mom a
Lasagna dish. It became a dust collector instead.
Now, when we want it, its missing. So, we make do
with some other porcelain dish.

I put in three layers and was tempted to mix
some milk with those cheese stuff until I
realise I don't know what I am doing. So, its
layers of tomato meat then carbonara, then
the lasagna sheet and so on until you get three
layers.

And so, with the two lasagna ready, its time to
pop them into the oven. For cheese, which Mom
said she bought a lot, I found out they were just
sliced cheese and not those parmesan and other
exotic cheese. Oh well.

Well, yes, Wife did suggested that we spray water
on top of the cheese every now and then to keep
it moist. The bottom right is dry and I do not know
who ate it afterwards.

I think I should have added more layers for this one
since its very deep. But we ran out of sauce. So, the
next time, I think I am going to do one my way. This
looked like a boil I used to have on my nose when I
was about 17 years old. I squeezed it, and it popped
off, leaving a lot of pus coming out. Then when I
touched it, the nose felt sponge squishy as if it was
empty inside.

Yum-yum! Unfortunately, its not very filling though
as there were only enough for a helping per person.

Well, I do admit, its very dry. Should have added
more water to the tomato sauce and the white
carbonara and then let them drown in it. Oh yeah,
next time, no more shallow dishes.

Biker girls

One thing I forgot to mention is that the girls now have three bikes to themselves. Or should I say, all three were Kristine's. Since her latest bike were given to her by her favourite Aunt, she neglected her second bike, which is as well because not only did it suffer from a broken front wheel (but repaired) but now, its faced with slipping chains. This happened after my dad took the bike back to the same shop and the assistant broke the chain as he stretched them too taut. Despite having a replace chain, it still keep slipping.

So, when I came home, my Dad gave me the enviable task of solving the problem. Not that I'd complain but its been years (OK, decades) since I attempted to repair a bike. But now, older and wiser, in theory, it should not be a problem. Yes, I know you can see where I am heading on this one but this time, you're wrong. The chain problem was easily tackled by making them a bit taut but not too taut. Only thing was the nuts and the trainer wheels were nowhere to be seen until this morning when I asked Dad about it.

This is and was the first bike that
was given to Kristine. Now that
she has grown up, she cannot use
it anymore and so, we let Kaelynn
have it. Unfortunately, she is also
getting to be a little too big for it too

If I had to show you, the wheel part is where every
piece were out of alingment. Its the plastic hub of
the wheel where everything looked and worked
as if they're bent. I cannot tighten it because this
will crack the wheel hub. So, I'll leave it as it is.

After putting it all together again,
and also readjusting the seat, the
bike is now ready for Kaelynn.

Biker chics

Happy New Year!

On the Eve of the New Year, Wife wanted to watch some fireworks. So, instead of some bed DIY, I decided to go to a very nice secluded spot, the very same spot I went to when I took a photo of the KLCC. Going out in Penang is not a good idea right now, especially the incident that took place on Christmas Eve.

Although tonight has a full-moon, the whole sky in
KL is hazy and brightly lit (Light pollution).

By the time we reached the hill at 20 minutes to 12,
the whole place is already packed. And after talking
with a few person, everyone thought no one knew
about this place. Ha ha ha ha. In the middle were
some young guys having a picnic. I could smell some
burgers but thankfully, its not MacDonalds.

Since Kaelynn was sleeping, I took Kristine with me
to have a better look. Its not easy balancing her on
my left shoulder and trying to take some decent pics
(without a tripod, then again, my tripod's broken) at
the same time. So, this is one of the better ones.

We are lucky in this position because not only were
there fireworks at KLCC, Mid-Valley also had their
own fireworks too.

Because we parked further away, those who are
not familiar and did not anticipate the sudden
crowd, got stuck. I think even the Police Car that
came in earlier, got stuck too. So, we just get into
the car and cruised home. I wanted to stop at
MacDonalds as a treat for the girls but Mommy
said no. Oh well, which is OK as they girls fell
asleep the moment their heads touched the pillows

So, Happy New Year! May 2010 brings you and your family good luck and great things.

Biker girl

I wanted to take pictures of Kristine and her new bicycle (from her Fav Aunt) but never go to it until this evening. She was riding the bike, sporting a nice safety (read cheap polystyrene) helmet as well.

And so, here she is. In the background was her
first bike (or tricycle) which is now Kaelynn's

Somehow, I felt that she has not
mastered the art of balancing.

Yes, the bike was really leaning and
it was not the photo. However, as I
looked closer, the metal for the left
training is weakening and could snap
off any moment. This was caused by
her leaning on it and all of us bending
it back repeatedly.

Da girls, them are a-growin!

Well, its qutie some time now and when I took a real look at them, I realised that they have grown a lot. Kristine for example, have become quite think and well, tall. But on her last outing with her classmates, she still looked tiny. And as for Kaelynn, Wife claimed she is about 3 inches shorter than her sis despite being two years younger.

If you looked at this picture, you'd think
Kaelynn is the eldest.

You know, the same Kaelynn whom I suspect
of breaking the toy golf golf club.

And my Wife told me, they said Kaelynn is
growing up to be more beautiful than her
elder sister. To me, both are beautiful.

Making my Bengmobile Hornier

Sometimes, in Life, when you least expect it, wonderful surprises do happen. I do experience a few but never to do with money (ahem). For example, while I was in Pasar Road today, (Yes, today's trip is an "Official" one which I need to scout for some 30meter VGA cable prices), I spotted a Stebel horn.

At first, I did a double-take because one, its a Stebel and two, it might or might not be a fake. But once I opened it, well, whether its a fake or not, I could not tell since I am no expert in this horny business. For those who did not know, Stebel Horns are loud, as in VERY LOUD. And days ago, I was searching all over the Internet for this horn, which is the Nautilus model. Anyway, they girl tested it for me and in hindsight, I walked 10-15 feet away from the horn. I did not expect much until she said in a loud voice, "Horn Test!". And with that, she plugged the Nautilus into the 12 volt battery.

And the Nautilus is loud. Imagine standing next to a horn when it goes off. Now, imagine the same sound when you're standing 10-15 feet away. I was so happy that I did not ask for a discount and happily paid for it, with my ear still ringing. Still, there are some things I need to modify in the car as this horn cannot be used always as a main horn. Its best kept for "special occassions" such as slow drivers, those who open car doors without looking, and also, casual jaywalkers. Ha ha ha ha!

On the left is the cheap RM20.00 alarm horn which
I did not expect much from it. And on the right is
the RM78.00 Nautilus. Is this the real deal? I am
not sure but the sound is convincing enough.

Not only that, its bulky and heavy too. I am not sure
how this horn works but seems like the metal tube
holds a motor to blow some reed (sound) where
the shaped red horns amplify them.

Apart from the the metal lug, there are not other
point to mount it. Oh, the instruction also says not
to mount it this way but upside down.

Lighting the PKD Part II

It seems that getting a nice file is almost impossible to find in most hardware stores. Either I have a nice quality file but too wide a width or I get a crap file which is just the right size. When I mean crap file, they're just a set of uneven criss crossed lines on a metal bar. But the time I searched the fifth hardware shop, it was no go until the one next to my office offered the so-called jeweler's set which I took it. I could not ask for a jeweler's discount since he did not charge me a jeweler's price. Heh.

Anyway, with some free time tonight, I got started on both the PKD bottom covers. One is metal and the other is light plastic. Tonight's exercise is to get all the holes sorted out and to glue the switch to the metal cover. Oh, and also its going to be my first time to try a JB Weld.

RM8.50 for a set of rusting Made in China
files. But they're quite OK.

So, if I wrap some paper tape onto the handles,
I won't have to get tetanus shots from the Doc.
You'd be surprised at how I can cut myself, even
with an innocent looking file......

As the JB Weld instruction says, clean the surface
from any oil, crap, grime, etc. So I just filed away
the surface of the switch and scraped a bit on the
PKD cover. Strange that this metal scores easily.

Since I did not have anything resembling a spatula
handy, I used the next best thing. No ear wax were
used in this recipe.

And so, I am going to leave it for 24 hours even
though the instructions say 15 hours.

Finally, after locating the right drill bit, I made the
four holes from the "plastic". Strange they *ahem*
gave way so easily. Here is me testing the fit for
the switch and the 3mm LEDs. For the plastic, I
will have to use a different kind of glue, most
probably, another epoxy since I am not
confident enough to use hot-melts here.

Another Wireless Mouse

OK, so the mouse I got from eBay was bad. I am not sure what the problem was, because it keeps "disconnecting" from the Notebook. Everytime it comes out from Hibernation, I have to either take the battery out and put it back again repeatedly or, unplug the USB transceiver. Whats more, the second mouse, which I ordered from the same supplier, and was sent a day before the red mouse, got lost in the post. And after telling them about and they should be sending over a replacement, I am not too excited about it anymore. Its a very bad mouse.

And so, its embarrassing if I gave one to my Dad, which I have been planning to. But not anymore. So, it was while we're looking for some school shoes for Kaelynn's next year, I came across this mouse from the computer shop next door, across Section14's Digital Mall. I am still in the mood for stubby transceivers. The best mouse (so far) was the AVF from Jusco (RM89.00) but it had a big transceiver, almost like thumbdrive. Which is not a good thing given that the USB ports on my Dad's Notebook were located at the sides.

Presenting the red (crap) mouse and the AVF mouse

Presenting the blue mouse (RM65.00)

No, its not locally made

This mouse has an on/off switch which the salesperson
told me, is only required when the PC is on standby. Ha.
Anyhoo, I plugged it into my Dad's Notebook and its a
joy to use. Now, I have to wait and see how long the
battery will last eventhough on the box is says 3 months.

So, now the blue one is for my Dad while I, will,
regretfully, continue using my AVF mouse. As
for the red, it will be going to a special place with
a more deserving task, my model kit scratch
building bin.

Lighting the PKD Part I

When Kal told me to take my time, I literally took my time on this. Heh. Nah, its just that I was quite busy with getting my car up and running and also, with my other projects.

Anyway, let's have a look at this project. What Kal needed was to light up the bottom console of the PKD. He has given me two versions of the bottom cover; one made of metal and the other, a plastic cast copy of the metal.

OK, the parts are here and looking back at
the huge cables I used, its going to be a bit
of a problem to fit everything in there.

The first problem of the day is the placement of
the slide switch. I suspect that the rectangle at
the side wall where the switch is going to be, is
actually the ACTUAL panel of the original switch

As there is no room inside, I have to cut the
both flanges off the switch as there is no room
for even 0.25 millimetre. Its a tight fit.

And just to make the switch move smoothly,
I might need to file the rectangular hole just
a bit more, well, rectangular. The red area is
just how the hole should be as its a bit too
small on the left. Shame I don't have a file
today and so, I must remember to buy one
tomorrow.

Test fit with the 3mm LEDs. So, after filing
it next week, I will get the chance to use
the JB Weld stuff.

The next piece, is the plastic piece which I would
have to get the correct drill bit as the one I have
is 1/8 or something which is a 0.0175 too big if I
compared it with a 3mm (0.3) drill bit. This is to
make sure the 3mm LEDs don't slip out of the hole.
But I'm also worried about doing the rectangular
hole since I am crap at modelling and also I might
not have the correct tools. I only have a cutter to
and a soon to be flat file to help me on this.

Test fit of the 12volt battery into the metal bottom
cover. I have to use the thin wires and since this is
metal, isolate all electrical joints, especially the LED
legs. Its a bit tight and so, the connectors to the green
LEDs might be a problem unless I can get a miniature
version or a different connector.

And so, this is how much the battery and the holder
jut out from the bottom cover, which I think is 5mm

Still, once I get it all done, there is a slight problem with connecting the green LEDs since they're on the PKD main body. I am not sure if the LEDs were connected parallel or in series. I think I would need to talk to Kal about getting him to pass me both versions of the PKD so I can work on it until its complete.

Line down! Line down!

By around half-past two I have seetled the problem of the "blue screen" on the Notebook, which I suspect was due to the halfway downloading of the Windows update stuff. And so, since it was a Saturday afternoon, I decided to go back home.

And halfway, I got a call from the customer who asked me to come over because their phone lines were out. I told them I would be coming before four (since I was already halfway home and wanted to have something to eat anyway). I hated going to that area after office hours since it was all jammed up. But luckily, it was not. The streets were clear of cars and there were no obstruction.

Turns out that not only was their ISDN line
out, so were their analogue lines, fax and
Internet connections. I asked them to call
Maxis again since all the lines were from
them and I have checked everything and
not to take the usual,
"But the lines are fine from our office" crap.

After that, I was deciding whether to visit Miniature Hobbies to have a look at some plastic models but I decided not to push my luck. Moreover, it rained heavily minutes after I got back.

Toshiba Satellite L150

And so, after much hoo-haa, we finally got a Notebook. Well, we had to get one before end of January anyway. I mean, I can't lend them mine since I could be using mine for other things. And yes, its a Toshiba.

I have been telling my Boss to get a Toshiba. Nothing else but a Toshiba. We have tried Dell and after it worked for more than 4 months, it crapped on us. There is a very good reason I chose Toshiba, which my Boss now came to realise despite me telling him repeatedly. Its not because of sentimental reasons since we came from there but a more pratical and solid reason.

Anyway, I offered to pick it up but no, Boss wanted to go there all the way and pick it up himself. I know time is running out but there is really no need to rush. Moreover, the person he knew was out of the office and I have a feeling, things will go nuts. Which I was right. Because on the Christmas eve, he came back with the Notebook, tried to install Windows OS himself and failed. Instead, he worked himself to a right temper, thinking my friend screwed him since HIS friend was not there. And one simple call cleared everyhting up:

His friend was out and told my friend to take care of my Boss. My friend expected me to be there but my Boss went instead. Since my Boss called and did not get through to my friend, (he defended that he called) and my friend said no one called him, my Boss got the staff counter to pickup the CD from the table of my friend. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, its the WRONG CD.

Anyway, there is nothing to be done now, and I am not in the mood to screw my Boss since he was so emotional and started to think bad things about my friend. But he knows that he should have listened to me since I know how the "system" works in there. And I hate it when he goes into a temper, thinking all sorts of nonsense which is only fueled further by his Ego.

Since the Notebook we bought has no OS in it, we
cannot just slot in the Windows XP CD.

For this is what you would get. And yes, we Law
abiding citizens are using Ori discs. With so much
hologram patterns on the disc, I am not surprised
if there were wording to the effect, "Thank you for
buying this overpriced piece of software, fool."

[Update 25122009 20:20]
My friend came in the evening during Christmas and passed me the correct DVD. Hows that for service?

And so, on Boxing Day, I slipped in the DVD and within minutes, the Notebook as up and running. So, for the rest of the day, I had to install the usual drivers, anti-virus, firewalls, etc. My Boss was surprised how I got it up and running when he couldn't. So, I told him my friend passed the DVD to me on Christmas evening."Why didn't you tell me?", "Because you were busy talking (crap)."

Thanks, TY.

Finally, the Notebook is ready to use but there are
some software which I need to show them how to
install and recover. I think I will tell my Boss on
Monday morning to hold all calls while I teach
the technical team.

But I did notice one thing which, for the past two months, I have been quite calm about things and reminisce on the days ever since I started work in this line. Oh, and also, I am quite forward and assertive now, when speaking strongly to my Boss about certain matters regarding the technical team which long ago, sounded like a peep.