Make: Glowing Breadboard
Dec/090
All credit for this one goes to Solarbotics. See the Instructables tutorial here:
Outside of the super bright LEDs and resistors here are the buy links:
Transparent Breadboard $5.93
Breadboard Voltage Regulator $5.95
Race Report: Los Vegas Marathon 2009
Dec/090
Over the past month I’ve been pretty busy moving into my new place and on various vacations thus I haven’t posted much about any projects I’ve been working on. All settled now though so new posts to come!
This past weekend I ran the 2009 Los Vegas Marathon. It has been exactly one year since I ran my first marathon, the 2008 Los Vegas Marathon. Since then, I’ve run five others, improved a bit, and taken twenty minutes off of my marathon time. This year, I managed to survive my company’s holiday party, the early morning cold leading up to the race and post a pretty solid time.
- 6th marathon!
- 3:29:22, new PR marathon time! (1 second faster than SF 2009)
- 508th / 5852 place
- 72nd / 416 place, M25-29
For this race I didn’t eat anything during the run (no gel, gu, shot blocks, jelly beans etc.) which was a first. Instead I took the power drink (Cytomax) at every water station to get some sugar in me. I don’t think this would work for everybody but it seemed to work out pretty well for me. I felt very consistently paced throughout the entire race with no cramps or stomach aches.
Make: Arcade Controller, Wired
Nov/090
I finally found some time to wire the buttons for the arcade controller. The joysticks came with some nice ribbon cable harnesses and I made my own for all the buttons. Each ground is connected through one long chain harness. Notice I put some foundational pieces inside to strengthen the area around the joysticks.
Everything’s working and feeling great!
First game: Space Invaders. Second game: Smash TV
All that’s left is to put a nice back on it with some rubber feet so it doesn’t slide.
Make: Daft Punk Helmet, Halloween
Nov/090
Just some pics of the costume @ Halloween
Harder Better Faster Stronger
Make: Daft Punk Helmet, LED Matrix Preview
Nov/090
Here’s a quick picture of the LED matrix inside the helmet. Code, a quick how-to, pics, and a movie forthcoming!
Make: Daft Punk Helmet, Devastation
Nov/090
After puting on a clear coat late at night, I un-carefully picked up the helmet off its stand. Perhaps it was the one beer in me, cue slow motion, it fell of my balcony’s ledge. About a 12 foot fall. I’m surprised the helmet didn’t explode honestly. Here are the battle scars:
I ended up being able to somewhat repair it. Hard night though, hah. Unfortunately, in repainting the helmet, I didn’t have enough time to get a shiny chrome effect like in the picture.
Make: Daft Punk Helmet, Primed
Oct/091
Quick update on the helmet. I’ve pretty much finished the bondo application and rough sanding. This picture is after two coats of automotive prime. After this, I’ll be filling in some holes with spot putty, priming again, applying a gloss black, a chrome, and then a clear gloss. I’ve already cut and shaped an acrylic visor but it still needs some tinting. I’m trying to get some LEDs working for Halloween… we’ll see if I can come through.
A New Place to Sleep
Oct/094
Some photos of my new place! The lease is signed and I’m moving sometime mid-November.
Some perks:
- <10 minute drive to work, ~4 miles, totally bike/runable
- Huge dog-friendly backyard
- Loft bedroom, high ceilings, bright
- Plenty of outside workspace, no more sawdust in my living room
- Washer and dryer, yes.
- Blocks away from the lake balboa park, epic running
Race Report: Long Beach Marathon 2009
Oct/090
This was a hard one. I felt great going into the Long Beach Marathon and all through the first half marathon. I ran a 1:35:26 half marathon which is actually faster than my personal record half and a Boston Marathon qualifying pace. This was definitely too fast for me to be running early on in the race, probably 10 seconds faster per mile than I had planned.
I felt great all the way up to mile 16 then I got the worst cramp in my right leg. It was so harsh and surprising that I almost fell when it first happened. My whole leg just tensed up like it had been tased. It was all downhill from there. For the next 10 miles both of my legs were in various states of painful cramping. I wasn’t even horribly tired finishing the race, my legs just wouldn’t move.
Alas, outside of all the problems, it was a fun race with lots of energy from the crowd!
- 5th marathon!
- 1:35:26, best half marathon time
- 3:47:43
So lesson learned, even seconds faster than your planned pace is too fast. Take it nice and slow in the begining and go into the race with a plan. For cramping, a lot of people have suggested a high intake of salt (Gatorade) the week and nights before the race and also taking salt tablets every hour during the race. I’ll try this at my next race, Las Vegas Marathon, December 6th!
Make: Arcade Controller, Acrylic + Foundation
Oct/091
Just got some more pieces in from the laser cutter. The top is a thin black acrylic (still dusty in the pictures, needs a good windex). There are also two more pieces of wood solidifying the joystick inside.
