• Gaming Generations

    February 23, 2009 /

    A used game shop in La Crosse has really shined lately (the place is always packed when I head in there on Saturdays). Within the last year they have brought several arcade machines into the store, but only with the last week with the release of Street Fighter IV did they bring out something really special. Pictures available.A custom mame arcade machine that is so beautiful; 4 player, custom art, 40+ tv. On top of that, they also have custom made 360 arcade sticks for playing Street Fighter IV on their HD tvs. These are not the poorly made madcats arcade sticks. Did I mention they are holding fighter tournaments?…

    read more

  • HTPC Project

    February 6, 2009 /

    A writeup of choosing parts for my black box media computer. Based on my htpc project from last year. Component List 2009 IN WIN Black Steel IW-BT566T.300BL Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case Intel Celeron 430 Conroe-L 1.8GHz LGA 775 35W Single-Core Processor Model BX80557430 ECS GF7100PVT-M LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card Sound Blaster Digital I /o Module Patriot Xporter XT 4GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) Model PEF4GUSB eDATA DEC-200B Vista Certified Infrared…

    read more

  • Star Trek Communicator

    January 22, 2009 /

    Got the idea in my head after I finished watching all seven seasons of Star Trek Voyager for the second time that it may be possible to create a functional comm badge. It would function as a bluetooth headset of sorts for a cellphone. Their are plenty of micro sized bluetooth headsets, but they only work when close to your ear. I see three different ways to implement this idea: * First, take an existing micro headset pcb and add an amplifier. * Second, there could be a wire from an ear phone to the comm badge, the mic and controls would be in the comm badge. * Third, ditch…

    read more

  • Use a PC Headset With Any 2.5mm Headset Jack

    January 5, 2009 /

    Create an adapter that will connect two stereo 3.5mm phone connectors (one speakers, one microphone) to a single 2.5mm connector. I plan to use a durable and comfortable PC headset to replace the terrible selection of xbox live headsets. Forum Link Usage: cell phones, handsets, xbox live The finished adapter will look like a Y adapter, but it is not. The adapter will connect the two 3.5mm plugs that are standard on PC headsets into the standard 2.5mm jack found on most handsets for connecting headsets. Note: Be careful with compatibility. Several cell phones now support stereo speaker headsets (4 connector plug). This guide will create a mono speaker headset…

    read more

  • Piano Star

    December 29, 2008 /

    Woke up today with a great idea for a piano learning application. A program that would display songs in a format that is familiar to me, guitar hero. My plan was to make a scrolling music application written in C++ that would take xls files as input and display note names on each bar. I am not much with OpenGL/DirectX programming, so I would need help. It then dawned on me to search sourceforge for a similar application already in development and offer my help. I found one, Synthesia. Synthesia completely blows me away. Does everything I wanted and takes a huge step forward by using MIDI files, making it…

    read more

  • Pedometer Enthusiast

    November 11, 2008 /

    New widget added to the main page for tracking my personal exercise activity (below the right side menu bar). Hosted by Walker Tracker, one glance shows the last 14 days. This new plan was inspired by an old article. I am keeping a step goal and increasing it by 2000 each month, but the simple act of tracking how active you are makes you self aware of when you need to be more active. "It takes about six months to "lock in" a new behavior." I am using a freebee pedometer that came with a brita water filter. I am about three months in and promised myself a new pedometer…

    read more

  • Ghostbusters Costume

    November 3, 2008 /

    This was a joint project between myself and my brother, Dale. I am good with electronics and he has access to sticker industry machines. Although I spent two months working on this costume, there is no reason it couldn’t be done faster and with less effort. Having said that, this costume did win me a costume contest in two out of four catagories. Best Costume Most Original Costume http://www.westaby.net/ghostbusters.html

    read more