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Start with a junkyard. You'd be surprised what you can find there. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Ok.
It's pretty easy. Back when I started the old gear had physical jumpers and dip switches, which was a bit frustrating without documentation to go by. These days things are plug-and-play.
And remember that we live in a world with internet nowadays. When you don't know how to do something, you can usually just do a little research online and find out. That's how I learned how to build computers, program, tie a tie, etc. Just don't fall into the trap of spending all your time watching how-to videos and never getting around to actually trying it yourself.
As for me, lately my main hobby has been writing stories. We didn't do much creative writing in school, and most of that was just poetry, so I never realized that writing stories would be something I enjoy. Didn't figure that out until several years ago. Now I've got a few fan-fics under my belt and am 155k words into my first novel (superhero story; about 90% done with the rough draft) and 40k words into another (medieval fantasy). It's pretty fun and very cheap.
Then there's my other hobby, which I've been neglecting for a while due to lack of funds and also due to getting kind of obsessed with the writing thing for a bit. But now that I've got a little spending money and am not so laser-focused, I'm finally building the custom alarm clock I meant to make a while back. I'm also thinking about building a device that can automatically feed my cat a fresh can of food every so often. I could also use an electronic peephole (I rent, so I'm not allowed to permanently modify my door, but I can hang a camera from one side and a screen on the other, hopefully with an inductive charging mechanism to power the camera). And recently I was playing around with speech recognition by way of Julius, so I'm going to look into using that to make my own digital assistant without having to route everything I say through Google's or Amazon's servers. Mostly I just want to be able to verbally tell it to set a timer or remind me to do something later, but I'm eventually going to build some home automation stuff that might be nice to link to it.
As for me, lately my main hobby has been writing stories. We didn't do much creative writing in school, and most of that was just poetry, so I never realized that writing stories would be something I enjoy. Didn't figure that out until several years ago. Now I've got a few fan-fics under my belt and am 155k words into my first novel (superhero story; about 90% done with the rough draft) and 40k words into another (medieval fantasy). It's pretty fun and very cheap.
Then there's my other hobby, which I've been neglecting for a while due to lack of funds and also due to getting kind of obsessed with the writing thing for a bit. But now that I've got a little spending money and am not so laser-focused, I'm finally building the custom alarm clock I meant to make a while back. I'm also thinking about building a device that can automatically feed my cat a fresh can of food every so often. I could also use an electronic peephole (I rent, so I'm not allowed to permanently modify my door, but I can hang a camera from one side and a screen on the other, hopefully with an inductive charging mechanism to power the camera). And recently I was playing around with speech recognition by way of Julius, so I'm going to look into using that to make my own digital assistant without having to route everything I say through Google's or Amazon's servers. Mostly I just want to be able to verbally tell it to set a timer or remind me to do something later, but I'm eventually going to build some home automation stuff that might be nice to link to it.
Wow that sounds cool pizza
I went to my local junkyard I couldn't find anything for a computer..i might stop by my parents shop to see if they have any unused junk for computers
I went to my local junkyard I couldn't find anything for a computer..i might stop by my parents shop to see if they have any unused junk for computers
Guitar, didgeridoo, and I've realized I enjoy being in school. I've earned a MBA in International Business and I'm back for a new graduate level course in communications media history. I may end up going for a second master's but have to play it by ear. I enjoy reading (currently taking a stab at Jaynes' The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind), and recently picked up golf again for the first time since high school. I can still hit the 7 iron. Sort of like darts, in a way.
I am going to get mein kampf next time I'm at the library.
My true passion comes in the form of hacking toys and musical instruments, as well as designing my own PCBs. I dabble in 3d printing, and design as well (usually just housing for my PCBs). A buddy and I started a business about a year ago that manufactures STEM products (mostly electronics educational kits) for developing countries; our main demographic being West-Africa. By trade I am a master electrician, and for the last decade or so worked fixing commercial equipment. As of this fall am going back to school for electrical engineering, and feel like a completely old fart being back. When I'm not tinkering with things or playing video games, my other downtime usually consists of table-top strategy games. I've been a huge 40k nerd since I was in high-school. I need to get some photos up and start giving Faille a run for her money.
-Also, Whistler the stuff you posted up is awesome.
-Also, Whistler the stuff you posted up is awesome.
I am a carpenter with some welding skills, love building just about anything . Right now in my free time if im not fishing im making tables and cabinet thingies to hide trash cans. Ordered a 3d printer few days ago so maybe that'll be my new thing.
welding buddy ^_^
I just bought a nearly complete all-mash beer brewing setup from a guy off of Craigslist for super cheap. I just need a few new bits and pieces and a couple of kegs to get rolling.
I had a great idea last week. I'm going to build a little flashlight that I can mount on the side of my glasses. I already have a normal flashlight, a crank flashlight, a head-mounted flashlight, and my cellphone's flashlight, but most of the time when I actually want a flashlight, the situation is too brief to be worth the effort of reaching over to grab one. It would be a lot more convenient if I could just tap a button on the side of my glasses and immediately have light. There are off the shelf models I could buy, but now that I have a 3d printer (spent all Friday assembling it!) I'd rather make my own -- this way I can have a housing that's specifically designed to fit snugly to my particular glasses.
I still haven't decided on exactly which switch I want to use, or if I'd rather build my own switch. I already picked out the LED though, and a package of 20 showed up today. Works great, even brighter than I expected. Well, when fully powered. These little guys actually need a heat sink if you give them more than 30% of their nominal current draw. This flashlight won't be coming close to that, unless I decide to go with a AAA instead of button cell batteries (and then I'd have to add circuitry to step up the voltage). I don't want to deal with the hassle. It's mostly intended for brief excursions to Under The Desk, Into The Closet, and other such close-quarters locales, so running them at 5%-10% capacity will be plenty bright and simplifies things a lot. I could have gotten away with a weaker LED in terms of raw brightness, but most of the weaker ones shine in a much tighter cone. These ones are like 120 degrees. Besides, they're cheap and I have other uses for the extras that will better utilize their potential. At least one is going to be incorporated into my alarm clock so that I can have the option of silent optical alarms, for example. And eventually I'm going to play around with robotics, so these could make useful headlights and such.
Meanwhile, I've also discovered a cool financial video game called thinkorswim, so I've been playing with that for the last couple days. I'm still in their version of the training sector, learning how to work the controls and reading all the tutorials, but I'm making pretty good progress. I even made a couple hundred fake simulated dollars today (they would have been real simulated dollars, but there were technical difficulties so I didn't actually get credit and had to pretend instead). It won't be long before I'm leveled up enough to switch from simulated money to real money. Then I can start pwning all their little trader noobs!
I still haven't decided on exactly which switch I want to use, or if I'd rather build my own switch. I already picked out the LED though, and a package of 20 showed up today. Works great, even brighter than I expected. Well, when fully powered. These little guys actually need a heat sink if you give them more than 30% of their nominal current draw. This flashlight won't be coming close to that, unless I decide to go with a AAA instead of button cell batteries (and then I'd have to add circuitry to step up the voltage). I don't want to deal with the hassle. It's mostly intended for brief excursions to Under The Desk, Into The Closet, and other such close-quarters locales, so running them at 5%-10% capacity will be plenty bright and simplifies things a lot. I could have gotten away with a weaker LED in terms of raw brightness, but most of the weaker ones shine in a much tighter cone. These ones are like 120 degrees. Besides, they're cheap and I have other uses for the extras that will better utilize their potential. At least one is going to be incorporated into my alarm clock so that I can have the option of silent optical alarms, for example. And eventually I'm going to play around with robotics, so these could make useful headlights and such.
Meanwhile, I've also discovered a cool financial video game called thinkorswim, so I've been playing with that for the last couple days. I'm still in their version of the training sector, learning how to work the controls and reading all the tutorials, but I'm making pretty good progress. I even made a couple hundred fake simulated dollars today (they would have been real simulated dollars, but there were technical difficulties so I didn't actually get credit and had to pretend instead). It won't be long before I'm leveled up enough to switch from simulated money to real money. Then I can start pwning all their little trader noobs!
What kind of printer? Please to be posting pics of your prints!
It's a Prusa i3 variant from JGAURORA. I'm not a fan of the way the belt attaches to the bed; I don't know if it's the standard Prusa i3 way or one of their changes, but it's pretty easy for the belt to slide off to the side if anything bumps it. So fixing that will probably be the second modification I make to it. The first thing I changed was taping a chunk of plastic to the bracket for the x-axis so that it hits the z-stop a half centimeter earlier, since the mount point for the z-stop was so low that I otherwise had to fully compress the springs on the bed to get any clearance. Long term I'm going to upgrade to a self leveling system. I probably won't get around to that for a while though.
I haven't printed any of my own models yet, just one of the test models it shipped with (a whistle). A prototype housing for my flashlight will probably be the first thing I try exporting, slicing, and printing. I'll take pictures when I do.
I haven't printed any of my own models yet, just one of the test models it shipped with (a whistle). A prototype housing for my flashlight will probably be the first thing I try exporting, slicing, and printing. I'll take pictures when I do.
This is all very interesting to see what other VO players are into in their "real lives". Whistler, seeing that you are in to smelting, I wonder if I was ever your or your child's blacksmithing instructor at Camp Augusta? Was back there for a wedding last weekend and got to tinker a bit.
As for myself, well there's this bus I got last week: https://youtu.be/nqX_T4aapGU
Cheers,
NB
As for myself, well there's this bus I got last week: https://youtu.be/nqX_T4aapGU
Cheers,
NB
What do you like to do neon black.
And not to sound weird but I've always thought you were cool in game so it would be cool to know your hobbies.
I'm also a fan of blubludmun if you remember him.
And not to sound weird but I've always thought you were cool in game so it would be cool to know your hobbies.
I'm also a fan of blubludmun if you remember him.
Hey Neon
I only did blacksmithing once, taught by a tall blond guy I've never seen before or since. I've been leaning toward the jewelry smithing and lampwork. My daughter is pretty sure she was there at the same time as you one summer - I asked her as soon as you posted a pic from the fire circle awhile back and we ran through the bios.
I only did blacksmithing once, taught by a tall blond guy I've never seen before or since. I've been leaning toward the jewelry smithing and lampwork. My daughter is pretty sure she was there at the same time as you one summer - I asked her as soon as you posted a pic from the fire circle awhile back and we ran through the bios.
@Whistler: sometimes the world seems very small
@GamingFOReel: I like to read, play music, do nothing, play videogames, eat, sleep, bang - normal things. I'm really quite lazy and frugal but I seem to keep myself busy enough to maintain a comfortable reality, inside and out.
I live off grid on 600+ acres atm and am helping some friends turn a piece of land into a farming co-op of sorts. The bus is one of many locations on this 600 acres that we are prepping for long term homesteading. I've studied premaculture and traveled abroad extensively working on farms, going to school, and teaching English and working odd jobs here and there to keep afloat. Now I'm at a place where I get to design/try/fail with some like-minded folks and see where it goes.
@GamingFOReel: I like to read, play music, do nothing, play videogames, eat, sleep, bang - normal things. I'm really quite lazy and frugal but I seem to keep myself busy enough to maintain a comfortable reality, inside and out.
I live off grid on 600+ acres atm and am helping some friends turn a piece of land into a farming co-op of sorts. The bus is one of many locations on this 600 acres that we are prepping for long term homesteading. I've studied premaculture and traveled abroad extensively working on farms, going to school, and teaching English and working odd jobs here and there to keep afloat. Now I'm at a place where I get to design/try/fail with some like-minded folks and see where it goes.