A poem that has
Five then seven then five more
Syllables; Haiku
Invention 34001: Quick Release Glasses
I don’t mind being a glasses wearer but sometimes it’s a pain. For example, when I want to lie down on the couch and watch television. But when I do, the temple arm presses into the side of my head. It hurts.
To combat this I decided the thing to do is remove the temple from one side of the glasses. However, it would be inconvenient to take out the tiny screw holding it on every time I wanted to lie down. Then I would have to put it back in when I was finished so I wouldn’t look like an idiot – and so my glasses wouldn’t fall off.
My solution was to start designing a quick release mechanism for removing the temples. A small lever could be rotated so the arm could be pulled off. Then, it would easily be reattached by rotating the lever the other direction. Below are some quick sketches of my idea.
A Beautiful Spring Day
Abandoned
Where is my wife?
She only went to get a haircut.
Then she’d come back to get me
From the library where she dropped me off
With my kids for something to do.But it’s been well over an hour.
How much hair does it take
To complete a cutting?
The mystery is deep and
So must be my patience.Have I been abandoned?
Doomed to browse these shelves?
My only friend the DDS?
But still responsible for my children?
Oh wait, there she is.
How To Add Custom Windows System Sounds
It’s really easy to roll your own custom sound scheme in Windows. First, in the Control Panel, open up the sound window. From there click on the sounds tab. Under program events click on each even and click the Browse button under Sounds. Browse to where the .wav file you want to use for that event is located and select it.
Once you’ve customized all of the events you want, make sure to click the Save As button under Sound Scheme and give your scheme a unique name.
I’ve put together a few .wav files of sound clips that can work for some computer events. You can download them from GitHub. I use about 15 of them on my computer and always get a smile when I hear that files in my recycle bin have been exterminated.
On Emptying the Recycle Bin
Here are a few of my other favorites that I use:
Print completion or open/close program
Device failed to connect
Windows log on
Windows log off
Exit Windows
O Little Weed
O little weed
Yes simple weed
Martyr of my lawn,
How fast your greenery
Sprouts anew
Yet faster still your gone.
My mower does not keep you down
And pulling will not kill you,
But with this spray
You will turn brown
I see no need to bill you.
First Day of Spring 2018
Today is the official first day of spring 2018. I’m always excited when the seasons change. There’s a sense of newness and refreshment. The change from spring to summer promises more time outside, vacations and cold drinks. Going from summer into fall gives hope of escaping the heat, celebrations and enjoyment of the harvest time and the changing colors of nature. The transition to the cold depths of winter then warrants hunkering down and focusing on the cerebral projects that were put on hold during the warmer seasons.
But my favorite seasonal shift is spring when the ice starts to melt and new life seems to pop up everywhere. Trees leaf out and bulbs push their way through the soil. Birds sing louder and can be heard more often. Spring releases you from a sort of prison of the mind.
For me, along with the warming weather comes the desire to build something, anything. I usually get ahead of myself and start more projects than I can finish. But I’d rather start them and not finish than let my version of spring fever pass without acting on it.
It also never fails that spring makes me want to start growing a garden. It’s like some weird desire to help the natural world green up faster. Of course once that greening starts it’s like a reverse wild fire sending plants up everywhere, even where they’re not wanted. Then, for the rest of the season there’s a battle to keep the wanted plants from dying and the unwanted weeds from existing.
One of my favorite parts of spring is the vibrant glut of color. In contrast to the beautiful browns, oranges and earthy reds of fall, spring shines with emerald greens, blood reds and fiery yellows. I love finding patches of wildflowers growing in unlikely places. But I like wandering through garden centers and nurseries almost as much.
Every year I try to capture the joy of spring with its beauty, colors and promise. Sometimes that’s through writing and poetry. But another way that I find enjoyable is through photography. I’ve taken hundreds if not thousands of pictures of God’s creation but I always end up taking more. There’s always something unique to discover, even in the common plants and flowers that most people pass by every day.
IOT – The Internet of Toilets
I was thinking that it would be humorous to invent a wifi connected toilet lid so you can tell if it’s up or down from anywhere in the world. It seems like everyone is connecting even the most ridiculous things to the internet so why not this? Turns out, things like this have not only been talked about for years, they’re starting to come true.
Kohler has come out with the Numi SmartToilet, a toilet/bidet that opens and closes the lid for you among a host of other functions. Believe it or not, it’s even an MP3 player. This opens the lid on a whole new audio communication medium – the potcast.
Unfortunately, the Numi doesn’t appear to be internet connected. There’s really no reason for it to be internet connected but the lack of wifi makes it seem somehow unsophisticated. But the $6300 price tag makes up for it a little.
All that’s left is to create an IOT toilet with Alexa voice control. Then you can shop from your pot.
Dare to Sketch
I’ve always done my sketching and drawing in lined notebooks or on plain printer paper. I’ve never bought a sketch book. I must have been scared to make less-than-perfect drawings in something that costs more than, well, free.
If you draw on a sheet of paper you can just crumple it up and throw it away if you don’t like it. In a sketch book, you’re committed.
Fear of imperfection is a terrible thing. It’s hard to overcome. It can affect all areas of your life. And it can keep you from realizing your life’s full potential. Even if you’ve determined not to let fear rule you, it often creeps up stealthily. I see this fear in myself when I don’t want to commit imperfect code to GitHub. I even recognize fear when I keep interrupting myself while starting a good book. I’m afraid I might not be able to understand it or finish it or accomplish what it’s trying to teach.
[bctt tweet=”Fear of imperfection is a terrible thing. It’s hard to overcome. It can affect all areas of your life. And it can keep you from realizing your life’s full potential.” username=”Ryan_Random”]
A book I found recently at the library has started to change the way I think about sketch books. Dare to Sketch: A Guide to Drawing on the Go, by Felix Scheinberger is a great motivator for starting to sketch in an actual book. Scheinberger gives the reader permission to make mistakes with sketches and to not make the images perfect.
Sketching isn’t fine art. It’s a way to capture the world around you in a personal pictorial narrative. Scheinberger emphasizes the personal aspect of sketching. It’s for you and no one else. These are your own private drawings, almost like a journal, that documents your own private artistic journey.
Sketches may be personal and private but of course you can show them if you want to. Scheinberger puts plenty of his own sketches in the pages of his book. It’s encouraging to see just how imperfect they are. By seeing the author’s rough line work and often disproportionate shapes, it gives the reader confidence to start sketching even if they don’t think they’re very good.
So I went out and got a sketch book. I’m determined to use it as an exploration tool for my drawing art. It won’t be a “public” book so I can make terrible sketches and not worry about what other people think. Instead, the challenge will be in not judging myself too harshly.
The Game of Everest
I love it when my kids go from “I’m bored” to “I’m making a board game”. This is one my older son prototyped with cardboard. It’s called Everest and the premise is that you’re part of a mountain climbing party trying to reach the summit.
The cool thing about it is that it’s a cooperative game so you’re not trying to battle each other. Each player has health, hunger and warmth points that go up or down based on cards you draw when you land on certain parts of the board. Even if your character dies, you can win the game if someone else on your team makes it to the top.
It’s kind of like a monumental Chutes and Ladders type of game only instead of playfully being sent down a slide, you starve, get hypothermia and get buried by an avalanche.
