Proposal

I just finished my Electrotechnology Proposal and if you're curious, I've posted the final circuit diagram here - If you don't know how it works, ask and I'll do my best to explain it (its easy when you know the theory).


Total Cost: $151.61, assuming I don't blow something up!

Life's a little hectic at the moment... some of you might know why; but consequently some things are moving a little faster, and I might be picking up some benefits along the way (no promises). Though it generally doesn't mean things are any easier...

This week will be a busy one... I've got something written for every day except Thursday, which means that Thursday will be really busy, it always is.

And finally, my favorite video from YouTube: Kiwi!

Time for an Update

Yup, it's that time again... it's time for an update:

By reading Matt's and Luke's blog you'd already know that everybody who does English Texts and English Journeys (I do Journeys, but I'm told that they are essentially the same) had a SAC (School Assessed Coursework for those of you too far away from Victoria to know) this week. I did fine; I wrote on a Part 2 topic which everybody seems to think is a huge massive crime against nature cos we haven't done them before. My middle finger salutes those who tell me off. I'll print my mark in the next few weeks when it gets back from being corrected by two, maybe three teachers, then we'll see who did better...

Also, those who do Chemistry got to complete (or not complete, depending on your speed) a SAC this week based on the gravimetric analysis of fertilizer... boring... I'd rather be practising to mix Hydrogen Sulfide, for when the end of year comes around; and that's not for the exam! Nevertheless, our results were delivered the next day unlike the English (Lazy humanities teachers... always thought they were evil with their messy desks) and the marks were varied. Out of thirty, some of the lower marks were in the single figure range; from what I can gather the average was about 17; the majority of the 'smart' people scored between 23 and 28; the top mark was 30 and was by Chris Loh, but there might be others. I scored a 28.5, which was far better than what I could have hoped, but being that close I would have preferred a 30. Next SAC for Chemistry is probably in two to three weeks, and this time on Volumetric Analysis (of Fertilizer).

So yeah... busy... and I still need to start my Electrotech proposal. I'm going to be building an 'Asian Wonder' like the ones we used in the Tattoo only it won't be DMX controlled unless I get the time and enough money... I'd rather build a second one then upgrade the first... more light. So I need to write up my proposal with a budget, timeline and a detailed description of the product. I have ideas, but I'm still not 100% sure how I want to power it... Whether I have a transformer that plugs into the wall or have one built into the light (which raises I whole new level of safety because I'm not qualified). Meh... I'll work something out...

I feel like I'm missing a subject? Ah.. Math... boring...

Write something again next week perhaps.

Kafka Rules! (and so does Roger Waters!)

Luke was kind enough invite me to see Roger Waters live last night... it was awesome... The tickets were supposed to be a restricted view, but are seats were some of the better ones there; we were really close to the stage. It took quite a while for everyone to arrive; at 8pm (the supposed starting time) the place was only about three quarters full, but the show didn't start til 8:15 anyway.

The show included Pyrotechnics, Excellent lighting, Awesome sound (they're still ringing), A spaceman and a Flying Pig! The Pig was obviously a fan of Kafka's English lessons and displayed this prominently with the words: Kafka Rules!

I've never really listened to that sort of music, but I was still able to enjoy the show because it was just so fantastic... My download list now has quite a few Pink Floyd tracks.

Don't have a lot else to say at the moment; I'm very busy with homework because I received a lot more than I thought I would get for my first week... must be because of that term 4B thing and the teachers wanting to get back into it... or perhaps the start of the school year is always like this and I just never noticed.

Black Spur

School starts on Monday... Yay for me! (Heavily lined with sarcasm).

We did something different for Australia Day (26th of January) this year and head up to visit some friends in Buxton (Past Healesville) which meant driving though the Black Spur... and I was driving. The Black Spur is a narrow road, on the side of the mountain, which has incredibly tight turns and is uphill the whole way (depending on your direction, of course). Those yellow signs warning you of a bend in the road and post an advisory speed limit, which on most roads you can exceed with ease; but not on the Black Spur... When is says 25km/h it means 25km/h, and not a single kilometer over it.

I was heading up the road at a safe speed and taking the corners at the posted limit... even then you could feel the G forces pushing you to the side of the car... hard! At the irregular straight stretches I would speed up to get that extra power for going uphill (in my 1996 Ford Laser). But this wasn't fast enough for some.

A red car was right on my tail the whole time, and I didn't want to speed up for him because the road was just too dangerous... Tough shit, he can wait behind me (because the whole road is just too bloody dangerous to overtake anything, have I told you that yet?). Red car makes the move to pass, accelerates but a silver car in the other lane comes from around the corner ahead.

At the rate of speed that we were both travelling there was no way he could have make it ahead of me... James brakes, red car makes it though... by a mere meter. If I hadn't braked there would have easily been a head-on collision at 120km/h (60km/h + 60 km/h = 120km/h) with the two cars, the driver and passengers of both the red and silver cars would be dead, the people in the car immediately tail-gating the silver one would be a serious condition, as well as the people in the car tail-gating that one (you should have seen them slam their brakes on), the collision would have extended onto our lane and I would be either in the hospital or the morgue today and my the rest of family would be in hospital too... and we would inconvenienced hundred's of people heading out for Australia day, as both lanes would have been blocked for hours.

But that didn't happen... Yay for me! (Without the sarcasm this time).

It reminds us all to be a little more careful when driving on the roads and be aware of the conditions...

Or not... the Porsche Boxster behind originally behind the red car passed me seconds after the above incident. Some people don't learn from other's mistakes and have to make them themselves...

Lazy, Busy or a combination of the two

The title really explains it for you why there hasn't been anything here recently. I've been into the city, driving and I went go-carting today... just to name a few...

I promise something interesting before I go back to school on the 29th (only put the date in cos some people keep asking me, now its here for you to remember). Perhaps it'll be a screenshot of BackTrack 2 Beta, which I've been thoroughly enjoying in my spare time or something as dull as the description of my latest belly button lint (Hey, could be worse, could've come from somewhere a little further South) or perhaps, it will be something that I actually said I'd do - UltraVNC (I have an opening sentence typed, I promise).

In the meantime here's something that might amuse some, or not...

Oh, and by the way, I updated my links to other people. Not much annoys me more than contact info that changes - an email address, mobile phone number or website should remain the same. Admittedly, sometimes it ain't possible; but me having to deal with 2 new websites, 3 changed mobile phone numbers and 3 different email in two weeks is a bit ridiculous.

Neon Sign Transformer

I've been searching eBay for quite a few months now looking for a Neon Sign Transformer for use with a tesla coil. Most of the NST's have been located in the United States and the total cost of purchase and shipment would be about AU$200; which is out of my price range.

There was an auction this week based in Montrose for four NST's and the minimum bid was $150. Fortunately the guy was able to sell me one for $50, and he delivered to my door (because he was going to St. Kilda anyway). Yes, I am aware that it says 'FART' on the front of it and I believe it was created by Mr Berry.

So now I'm looking for Capacitors and Copper piping...

And anyone who buys an iPhone is an iWanker!

My Holidays/Christmas

Had a nice relaxing time over in South Australia, apart from their television ad's. Almost every day was over 30 degrees so I spent a lot of time at the beach. I went fishing three times and caught three large squid which is a pretty good haul this time of year. Also went spearfishing but the water was unusually quiet and only managed to spear a small skate (like a stingray, but no barb with poison).

For Christmas I got my new phone (which I've had for several months anyway), a skim board (and it's evil, I have cuts all over me) and many other things you expect to get for Christmas (underwear for example). New Years Eve was a quiet one, but we had heaps of fun covering ourselves with the stuff inside glowsticks and making our hands glow.

Also my sister came and visited from America. It had been about five years since I had seen her last so it was good to catch up again. We had heaps of fun at the beach.

When we got back, our cable modem had finally died. It was about five or six years old so it was time for a new one anyway. Optus told us that it was dropping 20-30% of packets which would be seriously affecting internet performance (yup, we didn't have any internet at all). So we had a Motorola Surfboard 5101 installed by Optus. The guy that came over also tuned our connection for maximum performance and the overall results are very noticable; I now feel like we have Cable Internet again.

My to-do list is building up again but I'll do my best to get it all done, I am on holidays after all. I think the next review will be on UltraVNC - a program thats used to view a screen or use a computer across a network (or internet if you can be bothered setting it up).