Blended Living

• The weather lately seems almost too nice
• especially for this time of year
• when the humidity and temperature in F usually add up to well over 170
• but this summer its rarely hit that horrible dis-comfort index as
• long as you are not on a crowded subway platform that is
• seems along with other technical hurdles the MTA can’t seem to figure out a way to
• cool off the platforms and with the construction at 96th street its only gotten worse
• I think it was well over 100F the other day down there
• and with the moisture dripping all over the place it only seems to be some
• medieval torture center in the making rather than
• the nice new more convenient subway station it will become before the
• next Olympics hopefully
• resurrected many hobbies of late
• and the anticipation phase of any endeavor causes more excitement and
• misleading thoughts than any other
• such as buying way too many things on Ebay
• but as the weather turns in the coming weeks and more activities go indoors
• I hope my recent failing nearsighted eyesight holds up to the miniature
• electronics hobby I seem to enjoy so much
• that’s a picture of a PCB, or prototype circuit board
• it allows one to solder on small parts and wire them underneath
• its like a multi-dimensional puzzle with some dimensions being
• the physical layout on top, the wiring underneath, and a consideration for power requirement  so that
• the parts do what you want them to do
• whether that’s a bright LED array, or a DC power supply, or a plant grow light
• or a myriad of other tiny gadgets
• not sure how I wondered over into acrylics from woodworking
• but found some Ebay sellers for scrap pieces thick enough and cheap enough
• to experiment with a couple blended projects
• like maybe a stool with a clear top and lit from below with LEDs
• or a corner or side table lit up, having wooden legs, and a clear acrylic top
• next thought about a light box, actually of both types
• one for art projects like drawing and etching onto acrylic
• and the other type which is a bright light to simulate the sun during the winter months
• haven’t spec’d that out yet, so don’t know if my current parts inventory has bulbs that simulate daylight enough to work
• while thinking about it, there is another light box the kind used in photography and the LEDs do lend themselves well to enhancing lighting for digital photo projects
• and red light for darkrooms, if that ever strays into my hobby stronghold
• amassing some new tools like better soldering station, and better pliers and cutters
• unfortunately my dremel like tool hit a snag as the seller let me know they may be out of stock
• so may have to go back to the buying matrix decision board and start over
• which is fun in of itself sometimes
• but I can see how this buying thing can be such an addiction and should stop
• and have been slowing as I crunch the data and the buying matrix function
• returns some ‘no sale’ responses
• however purchases made already have a steady stream of deliveries
• and my delivery chain (UPS, USPS, FEDEX and doormen) must start to wonder what I’m up to
• the lastest wandering off into new hobbyland has me reading about
• wiring my own speaker crossovers and
• winding magnet wire for inductors and what kind of
• capacitors create the best high pass filters
• which would be a great hobby to combine electronics, woodworking and possibly some acrylics stuff
• but I wonder what I’m gonna do with the rest of the 200 tweeters I bought for 10 bucks?
• (no not kidding – it was too good a deal to pass up)
• and with free shipping!  but it might have strained my guy’s back
• they are tiny tweeters but 200 add up
• so now I’m searching for tone generators and speaker building sites
• wondering if there is freeware for tuning speakers
• and if pimping speakers with LED lights goes too far.

Blended Living, Gadget addictions, ebay, hobbies

Not entirely sure why I stopped in the Radio Shack and purchased this, but lately been in a more spontaneous mood – and I guess I wanted to test this device out for quality.  I know that the math adds up.  $40 for the device and first year of service, and $20 more per year for unlimited domestic phone usage.

It’s a little device that plugs into the USB port on your XP or Vista computer and on the other end you plug in a standard phone.  Takes about 5 minutes to load the software and register, and you choose a new phone number and then can make unlimited calls.

So far it works really well.  In my opinion its not quite rock solid like an old landline, but its very good voice quality, and there is some latency, but not too long.  If it didn’t work out for me I was thinking of sending this off to a relative so that they can keep in touch with their parents in another state for cheap.

On the packaging it states that you can use this in other countries, and your callers will appear to call you in whichever area code you choose when you register.  The Magic Jack is available at many Radio Shacks or you can order online.  I’ll review more later on after using it for about a month.

Gadget cheap, magic Jack, phone, review