HDR shots
I’ve decided to break out my camera again and start learning some HDR techniques. Here are some samples so far:
NickBainas.com
Ruining the Web, one blog post at a time!
Lloyd Update:
Lloyd is really starting to come around, he’s gone thru some major changes in a short amount of time. I’ve picked up a set of 2005 E46 leatherette seats with heat and power. 2 quick brackets and they bolt right in!
New (to me) 1984 BMW 318i
So I picked up a slightly used 1984 BMW 318i. The body is actually in ok condition, there is some rust here and there, but it will do just fine as a to and from work vehicle. I decided to clean it up a little so it wasnt such a bag of shit to look at.
Seat Update v2
Well a while back I replaced the stock seats with some Procar Sportsman seats, but they sat incredibly high and were meant for someone of a MUCH larger stature than myself. I then replaced those with some Recaro Speed replicas, and they were a great fit, but were obviously not of the same quality of an actual Recaro seat. The cloth quickly faded, they kept loosening themselves, long story short, you get what you pay for. I just recently (yesterday) came across a new version of the Procar Sportsman seat, called the Sportsman Pro. It has the same look, but dimensionally, its much smaller, more in line with the sizing of the Recaro. I bought one to test out, quickly modified the stock rail to accept the new seat and viola, here it is! Its much more comfortable, and a lot better looking than the Recaro in my opinion.
Office Updates
Our little home office has become a little cramped, so my Fiance and I decided we would paint the office and build a new desk so we could actually use the desk as a workspace. We have now finished the painting, but are working on building a desk built into the wall. This will reduce the footprint of the desk, as well as opening up a lot of usable space under the desk for file storage and such. Here is a before picture as well as a current picture while we get the desk build sorted out.
Old set up:
Temporary New set up:
Computer Benchmarking
I hadnt run a computer benchmark in a very long time, but I was recently able to finally get my quad core Q6600 Intel P4 beyond the 3.0ghz barrier to a stable 3.4ghz so decided I should give it a benchmark test to see just how much better 3.4ghz really is, and if it is worth the voltage increase and then the temperature increase that comes with voltage!
Stock Intel Q6600 runs at 2.4ghz, bumping the FSB to 333 nets an overclock of 25% bringing it to 3.0ghz. Temps run cool, idle at 25-28C and 100% load, small FFT prime95 temps are 51C. Thats a solid OC with low temps.
Bumping the FSB to 378 brings the clockspeed to 3.4ghz, but in order to do so, i was required to increase the NB voltage to 1.359, the FSB voltage to 1.36 and the CPU voltage to 1.48 from a stock voltage of 1.325. This netted temps that were 32C idle and 70C 100% load! 70C is way too high for my liking, and in all honesty, those temps would never be seen in regular usage of this machine, but you just never know.
3DMark Vantage score after OC:
One step closer….
The Mead (Honey Wine) is one step closer. I’ve got it settling in some glass bottles to get some clarity, then I’ll transfer it again to another set of bottles. I gave a little taste test and damn, its fantastic. A little stronger than I figured it would end up, but it still tastes great and has a load of flavour.
HTPC build
I found some great deals on PC hardware and decided to build an HTPC (Home Theatre PC). Specs are:
Intel Core i3 540 3.06 Ghz
MSI H55-E33
(3Dmark06 score 1764 lol)
OCZ DDR3 1333 Ram – 4GB
500GB Seagate HD
Apex 387 HTPC case
Rii mini wireless Keyboard
I’m actually writing this post usimg the Rii mini keyboard. It pretty much takes my typing down to about 15-20 wpm, but it feels pretty natural, doesnt have any lag or distance issues, has a backlight and a laser pointer.
This case seems decent so far, 275w power supply, which is more than enough to run the hardware i’ve got. If I ever run a video card, i’d have to run a different case as this case uses a small power supply instead of the standard size. There is room for 2 HDs and 1 optical drive, as you will see later, the wiring cleans up nicely and can easily be tucked out of the way.
When I first cracked the case open, it didnt look promising. They layout of the case was different than what I am used to, but after a little re-routing I figured out how I was going to run and tuck all the cables.
Zap straps are the secret weapon in getting your wires tight and bundled.
Made it even cleaner
I’ve though it might even look good with a side window cut out of it. Here is a photoshop of what that may look like:
Cold Air Intake ver 1.1
Ok, the ABS sewer pipe Cold Air Intake was absolutely hideous. But it served as a perfect prototype, if you will, in the construction of version 1.1 of my Cold Air Intake which is made of 3″ metal exhaust pipe and silicone elbows. I think this is a much cleaner design, fit is 10x better, its easier to remove and replace parts if necessary and since there is more silicone than metal, heat soak should not be an issue.
