Goofy things I do

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cranky
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by cranky »

rad14701 wrote:
cranky wrote:I guess 8 years is about the limit for one of these things so I am going to have to break down and buy a new computer I'm not very happy about it though because I don't want windows 10
You can still order new PC's and laptops with Windows 7... I just received a text saying that a Windows 7 Professional Dell laptop has shipped... I order them all the time... Windows 7 or Windows 10... If anyone has Windows 8 or 8.1 they're better off upgrading to Windows 10... If you have Windows 7, keep it rather than upgrading... I use a utility that permanently disables OS upgrade offers on Windows 7 computers and removes all the Windows 10 nag crap...
I was kind of hoping for some of your input Rad. Do you mind me asking where you order them from? I've been looking at some referbed i5 computers at Fry's that look pretty reasonable. I don't like the lack of privacy on the W-10 computers I would really like to build my own but don't think I have the skill and it seems a lot cheaper to just buy one. I should have bought new desktops when I bought the lap tops a few years ago when windows 8 came out. I regret not doing so.
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by rad14701 »

cranky wrote:Do you mind me asking where you order them from?
I order directly from Dell... Last I knew, HP still offered them, too, but I don't deal with them anymore due to warranty support issues...

Goto http://www.dell.com and do a search for "Windows 7 laptops" or "Windows 7 desktops"...
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Re: Goofy things I do

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rad14701 wrote:
cranky wrote:Do you mind me asking where you order them from?
I order directly from Dell... Last I knew, HP still offered them, too, but I don't deal with them anymore due to warranty support issues...
Thank you Rad
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

rad14701 wrote: I use a utility that permanently disables OS upgrade offers on Windows 7 computers and removes all the Windows 10 nag crap...
Ya, you can either edit the registry or use some kind of utility, or set the admin policy.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3080351

On the side of the box it said "requires windows 7 or better", so I installed linux.

The day Microsoft makes a product that doesn't suck, that's the day that they start making vacuum cleaners.

Sorry, well not really. :wink:
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Re: Goofy things I do

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Thanks for that RedwoodHillBilly, that has really been annoying me on my laptop. As a general rule I haven't had any problems with windows, I like 7, I liked Vista and before that I liked XP. Before that it was windows whatever the hell was available in 95 or 96 and I can't remember much about that one ( damn, Was that really 20 years ago? :wtf: ). Everybody likes to hate windows and have always hated every other one I only upgrade my computer when I absolutely have to. I had the Vista one for 8 years, the XP for, I think 8 or 10 before that. I saw the issues with 8 before they came out with it and just don't want to deal with 10. My son actually thinks I still run XP on everything because I have somehow managed to make the Vista and 7 computers look and pretty much behave like XP so the new ones are likely to be a major shock to me. I want to run Ubuntu or another linux but don't want to have to learn a new system. I had an Apple computer 8 or 9 years ago as well and absolutely hated that thing.
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

No prob. If you need a cheap laptop that comes with Win7 pro, look at this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I bought this one for the wife. I liked it, so I bought one for myself. I also bought 2 8GB memory modules, gave the 4GB that came with mine to the wife and installed both 8GB in mine. So, I have a machine with 16GB of ram and 500Gb of disk and a happy wife. I use this as a disposable laptop for when I'm consulting.
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cranky
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Re: Goofy things I do

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RedwoodHillBilly wrote:No prob. If you need a cheap laptop that comes with Win7 pro, look at this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I bought this one for the wife. I liked it, so I bought one for myself. I also bought 2 8GB memory modules, gave the 4GB that came with mine to the wife and installed both 8GB in mine. So, I have a machine with 16GB of ram and 500Gb of disk and a happy wife. I use this as a disposable laptop for when I'm consulting.
Thank you but I did upgrade the laptops just after win 8 came out. I got a really good deal on those the wife got a 17 inch HP (?) with win 7, i5 processor, 750 gig hard drive and I maxed out the RAM because she was doing something that required a good processor and a lot of RAM. I got a 16" that isn't as good but is still good and I really like . I regret not upgrading the desktops at that time but the budget didn't allow it. So now I get to search around and try to find desktops that will last another 8 years. I hadn't thought about Newegg and will look there and see what I can find.
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by frodo »

Hey Cranky, check out this goofy shit

steam punk style lamps
lamp 2 002.JPG
lamp 2 004.JPG
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Re: Goofy things I do

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I saw that base over on the good deals thread and wondered what you were going to do with it. I like lamps, I have several old Stiffels, which are expensive unless you know what you are looking for and one comes up at a local auction. I have one stand lamp that drove me crazy trying to get it to work until I realized there was a hidden switch connected to the center pole and to turn it on or off you push down on the pole, it's sort of an early version of a touch lamp :lol:

Today I spent a considerable amount of my day researching and shopping for new computers for my wife and I. That wasn't much fun but we now have a couple of nice computers on the way that should last for 8 more years.
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by jedneck »

How's this for goofy. Got bored and priced a stainless 4" ccvm and think damn tax time is right around the corner. Then think you dumbass you drink whiskey, why?
welcome aboard some of us are ornery old coots but if you do a lot of
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cranky
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Re: Goofy things I do

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jedneck wrote:How's this for goofy. Got bored and priced a stainless 4" ccvm and think damn tax time is right around the corner. Then think you dumbass you drink whiskey, why?
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Actually Jed it doesn't hurt to expand what you make, I make vodka for the wife and am enjoying the cinnamon stuff I've been making her but I only need to run vodka once or twice a year to keep her happy but a dedicated vodka column paid for itself in one run. I try to never get money back on my taxes, I don't like to loan the government money interest free. My wife is very good at figuring taxes and usually gets things within about $25. I did however get a pretty nice bonus from my work and hope to use some of that to buy an old pickup, something I can actually fix when it breaks and hopefully capable of hauling a thousand pounds of apples :lol:
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by frodo »

For everyone who will have to pay the Obamacare tax - PLEASE CUT YOUR WITHHOLDING SO YOU ARE NOT OWED A TAX REFUND!. Go a little short, but not more than 10%, on withholding so they owe you. Congress refused to give the IRS the power to collect the Obamacare tax for not having health insurance from anything but the tax refunds they owe you. If there's no refund to collect some or you don't voluntarily send them the $600 plus tax they can go pound sand.
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Re: Goofy things I do

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cranky wrote:I saw that base over on the good deals thread and wondered what you were going to do with it. I like lamps, I have several old Stiffels, which are expensive unless you know what you are looking for and one comes up at a local auction. I have one stand lamp that drove me crazy trying to get it to work until I realized there was a hidden switch connected to the center pole and to turn it on or off you push down on the pole, it's sort of an early version of a touch lamp :lol:

Today I spent a considerable amount of my day researching and shopping for new computers for my wife and I. That wasn't much fun but we now have a couple of nice computers on the way that should last for 8 more years.
the first touch lamp i was around freaked me out, i thought it had a short

i wanted to fix it, girlfriend said it wasnt broke
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by cranky »

frodo wrote: the first touch lamp i was around freaked me out, i thought it had a short

i wanted to fix it, girlfriend said it wasnt broke
:lol: :lol: :lol: Thats funny right there :clap:
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by frodo »

lamp 003.JPG
lamp 007.JPG
another i made, the lamp was scavaged from a garage being tore down,

it is 12'' diameter, porcelain, my guess is over 60 years old

i rewired it, and rewired a light socket to make it the light switch

excuse the messy shop, I am a pig, happy being a pig !!!!!!!!!
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Re: Goofy things I do

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frodo wrote: excuse the messy shop, I am a pig, happy being a pig !!!!!!!!!
Doesn't look messy to me, looks a lot like my garage after I cleaned it :crazy: Actually after several weeks (months) of cleaning I have made it through the west tunnel all the way to the door. I am now working my to the east tunnel. The east tunnel isn't as messy as the west was I had already started in the south end of it but am at the point of needing to run 10 gallons of apple to clear off the work bench so I can replace it with shelves. I will try to get that done soon, then I can build closed in insulated shelves for all my fermenters :D
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by raketemensch »

frodo wrote:Image
That totally looks like a wizard's hat.
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by frodo »

Image



he he he
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Re: Goofy things I do

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The new computers arrived today so I had to do something I seldom ever do...clean my desk :crazy:
Right now I am working on transferring all my important files to disks to move them to the new computer.
While doing that I decided to show you guys my mouse. It's what I think of as steam punk and was made from pieces from a 1920's movie projector and a harbor freight compass and sun dial.
This is the kind of goofy stuff I did before getting into stilling :ebiggrin:
SP#2 - C.JPG
SP#8 - C.JPG
SP#10 - C.JPG
SP#12 - C.JPG
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Why be normal ?
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by yakattack »

That is amazing! It's totally something I would do.
HDNB wrote: The trick here is to learn what leads to a stalled mash....and quit doing that.
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Brutal »

Cranky, I have to admit, I have been ignoring this thread. Dropped back by while in a bar um.. right now.. and I completely love that mouse. Love it love it. I probably wouldn't use it for gaming but I'd just love to look at it and use it sometimes. Can't help notice the braided cable. Are the guts from a Razer product?
Steam injection rig http://tinyurl.com/kxmz8hy
All grain corn mash with steam injection and enzymes http://tinyurl.com/mp6zdt5
Inner tube condenser http://tinyurl.com/zkp3ps6
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Re: Goofy things I do

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Thanks guys, I'm glad you like it. It wouldn't be good for gaming but I do like the way it feels. It weighs right at 2pounds 8 oz so it is quite heavy. I'm pretty sure I took pictures while building it but I cant seem to find them and due to a few issues it can be a little difficult to put back together if I open it up but I just took a few more pictures to show a few things.

This first one is the bottom, you can see how I attached the cheap lazer mouse with a couple of countersunk screws. I got the original donor mouse from Big Lots and destroyed one while making things fit but they were cheap so I bought 2
SP#17 - C.JPG
The original part that made the housing started out as the part of the projector that the light shined through so there was already a hole and the 2 pieces hinged together. The top half is actually bronze while the bottom half is brass. I used a die grinder to route out a place for the circuit board and somehow got it all figured out. The cloth wrapped cord is a trick I learned on instructables, it is actually a boot lace that I cut the aglets off of and desoldered the wires from the board, threaded the cord cover over the wires and then resoldered the wires back on the board. I moved a couple other pieces too like the LED which I moved to the stack on the side where I added the red glass marble, so the marble actually lights up red.
SP#18 - C.JPG
Thu buttons were some curved pieces that were inside the projector. I did have to fabricate the brackets for those but I used some chunks of brass from the projector for that. Through careful measuring with a caliper I managed to locate the exact spot to drill the holes under the the buttons to line up with the micro switches on the board. I inserted a couple of rivets that stick through just enough to let you push down on the button and click the microswitch. Originally I was going to solder some old typewriter keys to the top of the curved pieces but I like the feel of the curved ones and typewriter keys are so valuable that whenever I get them I always sell them and they are only worth a lot as a full set :crazy:
SP#19 - C.JPG
The last picture is the roller where the film went in or came out of the projection piece with a few additions to look cool :ebiggrin:
SP#20 - C.JPG
You can't see it but the USB connector is fit into a piece of smashed copper that I made front and back plates and soldered together, it is actually oval shaped.
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Brutal »

Brutal likes it. It does make me a little sad that an antique film projector had to die though. Wonder how much that mouse would bring on eBay?
Steam injection rig http://tinyurl.com/kxmz8hy
All grain corn mash with steam injection and enzymes http://tinyurl.com/mp6zdt5
Inner tube condenser http://tinyurl.com/zkp3ps6
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Re: Goofy things I do

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Brutal wrote:Brutal likes it. It does make me a little sad that an antique film projector had to die though. Wonder how much that mouse would bring on eBay?
Thanks Brutal, it is sad but that particular projector was missing some parts and sadly there just wasn't any value for it except for parts. I got literally an overflowing shopping cart of antique projectors for $5 at an auction one day. The wife was pissed until I sold one of them for $150. Several of them were incomplete and only rare ones are worth money. Here is a picture of some of the stuff that was there.
steampunk mouse 001 - C.JPG
If you look in the background there is a partial projector that looks pretty steampunk already. The lens is from the one that the mouse came from and is worth $50-100 by itself and the other thing in the background is a rare arc lamp that feeds 2 carbon rods together with a clockwork mechanism to give a welding type arc which is then sent through a lens to form a spotlight. This particular lamp has an even rarer microscope base that was used for projecting an image directly through a microscope onto a screen. There are 2 problems with the arc lamp which is there is a repair that devalues it and finding someone who wants one and is willing to pay for a repaired one.
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by frodo »

you are an artist , no bout adout it
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Re: Goofy things I do

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frodo wrote:you are an artist , no bout adout it
Thank you Frodo :ebiggrin:
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Re: Goofy things I do

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I finally got around to doing another run of apple and took a picture of my flute with the new LED backlighting I added a while back and thought I would share
Lights - C.JPG
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Oldvine Zin »

With that kind of lighting I expect to to see a stripper pole next to the column - lol
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by cranky »

Oldvine Zin wrote:With that kind of lighting I expect to to see a stripper pole next to the column - lol
My wife does too, after all she calls it bubblicious because I watch it like it is a stripper. Wait until I get the new condenser on it, it should really be a sight to behold then.
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