Twitter Updates for 2008-03-31
- Gah! My eyes… they are burning. #
Rethinking the Desk
After finding these on Monoprice.com for about $14 a piece, I’m rethinking the desk design a little.
If I mount the LCD’s to the wall, then I don’t need the shelf. But I really like the shelf… it makes me think of a cockpit or something.
I’m also thinking of modding my computer cabinet. The idea is to use bulkhead couplings on the side panel for all the cable connections that would come out of the back… this way I can reduce the amount of extra cable I have use and I can change out connections a little easier. L-com has some slick hardware (1, 2) to make the job simple. I’ve already designed a plate to mount the fittings to.
The three holes in the center are for DVI cables and the other four are for USB or RJ45s as needed. I need to add provisions for speaker connections and maybe a DB9 or two just in case.
Meanwhile, it’s sleeting outside. Virginia weather… you’ve got to love it.
Desk
With the new arrival of a couple of 22″ Smasung LCD’s for my home office, I’ve finally decided to move forward on building the desk to replace the dining table that has served as my desk for the last ten years. Don’t get me wrong, the dining table has served me well, but it is a table, after all.
Here’s the concept:
The sketch is actually two views of the same thing, the top section is a front elevation, and the bottom is the overhead view.
Basically the finished desk will be two levels. The darker brown is the work surface/keyboard area, and the angular portion is a raised shelf for the monitors to sit on. There’s space underneath for peripherals and other storage. The slots at the back of the desk go through the monitor shelf and the desk underneath to allow for cable management. The dashed lines are the shelf support structure. To the left you see two cutouts. The one in the middle is to account for the trim work that’s in my office nook, and the one on the corner is to allow cables to go up to the wall mounted tv.
To keep cost down I’ll make this out of MDF with an acrylic laminate of some sort, probably black. I’m considering making the work surface double thick. All the edges will be rounded over after the laminate is glued down.
I talked to my brother the other night, and he’s going to rig up a power management system to mount on the underside of the desk so I can turn the monitors and other peripherals on and off with one switch.
I think it’ll be a pretty nice piece of furniture once it’s done.
Habari
Habari is a relatively new blogging engine being developed by a pretty talented group (Chris Davis and Michael Heilemann among others). I just installed version .4.1 on another of my domains to dicker around with… and to say I’m impressed is the understatement of the day.
The Media Silo concept alone is worth the move.
One of the most appealing things to me is the Habari approach to the admin panel. Michael has produced a couple screencasts (1, 2) that cover WP 2.3’s implementation, and his commentary should be required listening for anyone involved with interface design. He just gets it.
The funny thing is, I’ve been lurking on the WP Dev mailing list and it actually seems like they (WP Devs) have been listening, but as is too often the case, they’re not listening to the whole story. They’ve gone off half cocked and redesigned the WP back end—even bringing in Happy Cog, who’d probably be wise to not advertise the fact—and many people really aren’t digging it (myself included).
I’ve been thinking of jumping ship anyway because I don’t agree with a lot of what Automattic is doing, and the opportunity to get involved at the ground level of what appears to be a kickass project is something that appeals to me greatly right now.
Redbelt
My apologies to any visitors coming here via my feed to Houseblogs.net expecting to find something home improvement or house related. Somehow I originally categorized this post in the wrong category which caused it to show up in my houseblog feed.
How did I not hear about this earlier? David Mamet writes and directs a movie about MMA? As an MMA/Mamet fanboy this is like losing your virginity on Christmas day while eating a super huge lime-flavored snow cone.
Having Tim Allen so high up on the cast list has me a bit nervous, but I have a feeling Chiwetel Ejiofor will make up for him.
Man, I suddenly feel like watching Glengarry Glen Ross.
When I Was Little
Ze has a fun post up where folks are commenting with their own childhood photos.
This is me, not sure how old… probably 6-9 months.
The shirt is long gone, but I still own that expression.
ScanSnap S510
If you’re not a paperless convert already, this little machine will turn you into a Born Again Scanner in about ten minutes. Seriously.
It’s just too easy. Drop a sheet of paper into the scanner and push a button. Depending on the settings, you can either OCR the whole document or just the first page; right away, or whenever you feel like it.
I’ve set up a Documents folder on my NAS, currently the directory structure is like so:
- Bills
- House Stuff
- Insurance
- Manuals
- Misc
- Paychecks
- Staging
I’m sure it will grow as I scan more items.
Other reviewers have talked about how fun this thing makes organizing. And they’re all right. It is fun… and you’re actually accomplishing something. As soon as I scan something, the physical copy gets dropped into a file box. There’s no need to organize the file box because you’ll probably never have to dig through it again. I’ll date the file boxes so I know what they contain and when they can be destroyed, but again, the goal is to touch a piece of paper once and then never again.
The price might seem excessive (approx $350 after rebate from Newegg right now), but as I said before, the thing just plain works. I can see putting one of these on my desk at work right now.
Broccoli Trés Bon
MMMmmm. Broccoli. Bacon.
Here’s something I’ve been doing lately.
Broccoli Trés Bon
- 1 1lb-bag of Frozen Broccoli Florets
- 3 Slices of Bacon
- 1/4 cup of Seasoned Bread Crumbs
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with aluminum foil. I don’t ever pay attention to which side is facing the food. Frankly, I don’t think it really matters.
- Arrange the bacon on the covered baking sheet.
- Arrange the broccoli florets over the bacon.
- Roast for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, sprinkle the broccoli with the bread crumbs. Using a spatula turn the broccoli and roast for another 5 to 10 minutes. Don’t worry about the bacon at this point. I generally push it off to the side so that it gets super crispy by the time I take it out of the oven.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a serving dish. Break up the bacon and garnish over the broccoli.
A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese is good as well.
I don’t think this will work as well with fresh broccoli. The water from frozen broccoli allows the florets to steam a little before the actually begin to roast.
This is great as side dish, or all by itself when I don’t feel like standing over a stove to cook something more involved.
Did I mention “mmmm”?
