SeedProjX

This isn't really a project, but included because it's awesome. Car broke down? Never fear, bicycle man is here! When the complications of motor vehicle get you halted then you can always turn to a more reliable for of bipedal power. Walmart saves the day? Kent 700 tech bike is $130, Allen cargo trailer, clearance, $17, and AutoZone heavy duty plastic car ramps were $40, I think. A super cheap and reliable on demand car lift system.

After hanging with my buddy Chris for the 4th of July, I was reinspired to look into how to do an extremely portable band system. He likes recording him and his buddies making music and fiddles with things like using his tablet for drums when he's on vacation or at someone's house. A real prohibitive factor for making music is the instruments require a lot of space and are a massive headache to consider when traveling. And an absolute no-go when flying. As a first pass into a portable music system I consider using what I already have, with the exception of one item which would make this a really cool project: the short scale fold up guitar! First what I already have: I conceive the SmartPhone to be the recorder since I will likely want to make fire hot music recordings go viral instantly. There is an app (Piano Extreme: OTG Keyboard) which allows you turn your OTG keyboard hooked up to your phone as a musical keyboard (assigning notes to each character but...

Introducing the Smartphone Desktop CPU. This really isn't much of a project because it is plug and play, but the implications are decently profound. I haven't really heard of this technology being used, in education or anywhere else, but it must have been considered by the makers of Android because the interoperability is native. Simply plug the mini USB hub into the phone's mini USB port (OTG) and plug peripherals into standard USB ports of hub. Plug in mini USB power supply and oila! That's it. You have a CPU. This briefing was typed using the Smartphone CPU operating in the messaging app for blog entry. This tech could be ground breaking in education where school's struggle to find funding to go 1:1. For under $10 they have a 1:1 solution that never requires them to upgrade their tech, except that the classic android mini USB drive is going away. Still, that's connection tech, not processing tech. For Apple devices similar adapters can be purchased or schoo...

Plastic origami (plastic folder source) worked well to make specimen holder. 2 widths possible by either folding down on bottom to furthest stop or by placing bottom together in slit cut. Slide holder is filled with water and specimen is hand advanced with the slightest of nudges over the length of the specimen holder. Cuts are made on the other side of the glass slide, which holds the specimen holder in place and also acts to create a smooth cutting surface for better quality cut (using standard razor blade). The glass slide has a semi-ovular cut from the bottom using a steel wheel glass cutter (see video). This cut allows the specimen to advance beyond the glass so that the specimen can be cut. Cross sectional cuts of stem are picked up with needle nose forceps and placed on a slide. Extra water was absorbed with Kim wipes separating slides. Clear tape is used as cover slip to secure specimen to slide and then specimen are examined using Carson handheld microscope. ...

Coming up with a bungee system to secure the kayak to the 2 wheeler is proving more difficult than at first glance. The key is having the right "forward" and "rear" tension so that the kayak is not pulled too forward. That it can stand upright however is some indication of being "good enough". Also noteworthy, a piece of 6 ft 1/2 in PVC fits in the screw together oars which I put together as kayak paddles. Now I don't have to unscrew the handle of the broom I've been using. This is a "dumb stick" used to attach a kayak to a bike. Easy construction from PVC; the tricky thing is making sure the hole for the seat stem is cut at an angle so that it's somewhat perpendicular to the seat. The bolt is to prevent the pull cord from coming off the end. And I cut a piece of wire hanger and bent to act as an additional catch so that all of the tension of the pull cord is not on one spot (which would lead to early failure of the tow system). H...

Bringing new understanding to the term "flexible" 10 ft 1/2 in diameter PVC pipe can be bent to wedge between the ground (in this case also supported by the fencing) and the shed (which is slatted so that the upward tension is resisted and keeps the PVC pipe "secure"). An old shower curtain is the weather proofing at the access. Large plastic clothes hangers are what keep the tarp affixed to the PVC. Old fence post is used for the weather proofing at side opposite access. Nylon twine secures PVC or fencing at grommets or between slats. On 66" piece of 2" diameter PVC is friction fit between the shed and the fence to keep the weather proofing fence slats stabilized, as well as the arced PVC. The arced PVC also holds the tarp on the shed side, pinning it to the shed surface. Everything still needs to be stabilized to a far greater degree. Holes will be drilled in PVC for securing features, as well as nails for fence slats, and PVC joining (ie. T joiners...

Here presented are the samples pressed on Oct 13 from an earlier Overton Park Old Forest trip. 11x14 (maple and fern) and 4x6 (misc) frames obtained from Dollar Tree shown here. Gloss coated frame insert is turned over to the white background (so no special cut was necessary). Careful examination detects the image on the other side of what's seen here as a white backing. These initial plant press framings are not the most beautiful, but I am proud of them. They represent an edging forward for me from indecision, procrastination, and perfectionism to iteration, process, and reflective assessment. I have to figure out what kinds of plants I want to put together, what else I might want to put with the plant and what will be my process of permanence (spray adhesive, backing material, labeling).