Razor Dune Buggy w/ 500w motor, 36v battery

Our Razor Dune Buggy is finished now.  Here is a quick video showing it off with the new parts:

 

List of changed components from the original configuration:

Here is a list of parts I ordered from ElectricScooterParts.com: Continue reading

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sparkygeek.com

sparkygeek3   I created a new website at sparkygeek.com to serve as a landing page for my professional contacts.  The graphic is of a pocket protector with a lightening bolt behind it.  Pretty geeky huh?

 

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BBQ Grill Burners and Heat Plates

For $40, I was able to have 3 new burners and 3 new stainless steel heat plates shipped to my door.  The reason I thought this was so great is last time I bought new burners, I paid $60 for 3 of them.  Love the free market and the Internet!

Charmglow 720-0036-HD-05 or 720-0036-HD

Pipe Burners are 16-13/16″ x 1″

Heat Plates are 17-1/4″ x 6-15/16″

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Bryson and Aiden at a Petting Zoo

The boys got to hang out with some friendly animals today.  Aiden was pretty funny, he wasn’t too sure how to hold or touch them.  Bryson took right to it.

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Playhouse Expansion

Six months after we’ve moved in I’m finally getting to the task of setting up the playhouse we brought with us from the old house.  Side note:  Bryson told me this weekend he remembers going to someone’s house and taking it apart and bringing it home, then adding more to it — so it has sentimental value now!  I wanted to connect the two playhouses together with some sort of bridge.  I finally decided on a simple rigid bridge is what I wanted.

10370366_10154582886150608_304957754483865219_n Continue reading

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Time Average in Ladder Logic (ControlLogix AOI)

I’ve needed a time-average function several times, so I figure other people have also.  Here is a handy AOI which makes it easy to use in a ControlLogix ladder program.  (AB has the Moving Average MAVE instruction in function block and structured text environments but not ladder)  I use this instruction when I’m trying to control something from a signal that jumps around too much.  The instruction takes samples from the input at the interval you set it to, and outputs the average of all the samples.  I’ve included the import file and screenshots of the ladder code.

AOI:  TimeAve.L5X.zip

Screenshot from 2014-08-29 14:21:54 Continue reading

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Politics Explained

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Left wing, right wing, libertarian on marriage, health care, money, taxation, and war.

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Convert PDF to PNG using Linux

If you use the defaults for Imagemagick, the output of a PDF file with text converted to PNG is unreadable.  The secret is to use the density option:

$ convert -density 300 xxxxx.pdf yyyyy.png

If the original PDF has a transparent background, use the alpha option:

$ convert -density 300 xxxxx.pdf -alpha off yyyyy.png

[update 2018]
can also use

$ pdftoppm input.pdf outputname -png
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Famous Presidential Lies

Famous Presidential Lies

LBJ:
We were attacked (in the Gulf of Tonkin)

Nixon:
I am not a crook

GHW Bush:
Read my lips – No New Taxes

Clinton:
I did not have sex with that woman… Miss Lewinski

GW Bush:
Iraq has weapons of mass destruction

Obama:
I will have the most transparent administration in history.
The stimulus will fund shovel-ready jobs.
I am focused like a laser on creating jobs.
The IRS is not targeting anyone.
It was a spontaneous riot about a movie.
I will put an end to the type of politics that “breeds division, conflict and cynicism”.
You didn’t build that!
I will restore trust in Government.
The Cambridge cops acted stupidly.
The public will have 5 days to look at every bill that lands on my desk
It’s not my red line – it is the world’s red line.
Whistle blowers will be protected in my administration.
We got back every dime we used to rescue the banks and auto companies, with interest.
I am not spying on American citizens.
Obama Care will be good for America.
You can keep your family doctor.
Premiums will be lowered by $2500.
If you like it, you can keep your current healthcare plan.
It’s just like shopping at Amazon.
I knew nothing about “Fast and Furious” gunrunning to Mexican drug cartels.
I knew nothing about IRS targeting conservative groups.
I knew nothing about what happened in Benghazi.
If elected I promise not to renew the Patriot Act.
If elected I will end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan within the 1st 9 months of my term.
I will close Guantanamo within the first 6 months of my term.
I will bridge the gap between black and white and between America and other countries.
And the biggest one of all:
“I, Barrack Hussein Obama, pledge to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.”

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Boot from ISO using GRUB2

Goal is to install new OS from an ISO image without creating a boot CD.

Step 1:  Format hard disk to be used with a boot partition.  (set boot flag)

Step 2:  Mount partition, create new directory named ‘boot’ (in this case the partition automatically mounted as /media/brian/boot, so new directory is /media/brian/boot/boot).  Copy the ISO file(s) you want to use to a  subdirectory named grml.  (or anywhere else) Continue reading

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