Upstairs Bookcases Finished

N & I needed more space for books, and though the upstairs hall was wide enough to allow a row of bookcases. Are there ever enough bookshelves?

We brainstormed for ideas at IKEA, but the height was a problem. The wall was too short for most half-height media shelves (which are shallow enough) and the hall was too narrow for most half-height bookshelves (which are short enough). Because our rental walls are so dark, we also wanted white to brighten the hall a bit. N scoured the internet for solutions. We found $1200 units, $20 units, and no middle ground. We weren’t happy about it, but settled on four $20 units from Walmart. I wanted to save the $26 shipping cost, so arranged for (free) in-store pickup. I hope I never have to choose to use Walmart again, but if I do, I’m not sure whether the free in-store pickup is worth having to deal with a Walmart store.

Hallway bookcases facing bedroom

Hallway bookcases facing office

To get around the baseboard trim, make it easier to clean, and for easier browsing of the bottom shelf, we built bases to lift the units up about 3.5 inches. These cost around $15 in wood, nails, and paint. Another $20 went into hardware to secure the shelves to the bases, wall, and each other. The total project cost was around $120 and took about 9 hours over 3 days (excluding the delay from ordering 1 bookcase to check it out before committing to the other 3). This would be a Saturday project except for waiting for paint to dry between coats on the custom bases.

Close-up of custom base

Close-up of bookcases over trim

ShopBot CNC at the TechShop

I took the ShopBot CAD/CAM and SBU at the TechShop on Sunday. Here are too few pictures of the fun.

I really wanted to build a box with tabs and slots, but was rightly convinced to scale back my expectations by the instructor, Matt Santelli, president of Exhibiments. (Incidentally, his company makes the tap handles for Fullsteam. He was great!) So, I just cut out some names.

Obviously, it’s incredibly cool to cut through stuff using computers and servos to move a 1/4″ piece of sharpened metal spinning at 12000 RPM. If this is not cool to you, please step away from the blog.

But for me, beyond the obvious coolness of CNC tools and equipment, the really interesting thing is called the toolchain, or “how do I get from concept to automating stuff?” At one end of the chain is you/your idea and at the other is the CNC mill/router.

Many CNC tools use a programming language called G-code for automation. The TechShop’s ShopBot PRS Alpha 96 does, too. But raw G-code reads like assembly.

G21 G00 Z1
M03
G04 P2500
N50 G00 G90 G53 X14.326 Y22.226
N60 G43
N70 G01 Z.1 F.3
N80 X14.67 Z.082
N90 X13.083 Z-.001
N100 X14.67 Z-.084


So, we use some other tool(s) to create the G-code that runs the machines. This is the toolchain. There are a bunch of options, and almost none of them are free.

We used ShopBot’s PartWorks ($795 bundled with others) for class, which is a rebranded version of Vectric’s VCarve ($599).

Either program will import a variety of vector graphics formats. So, without any additional research, money, or effort, I can create ShopBot/G-code designs by using something like Inkscape to create drawings at home (though it lacks many CAD features). Then, import those drawings to PartWorks and generate toolpaths at the TechShop. And finally, cut on the ShopBot.

Need I say that I want to find alternatives for generating G-code?

Remarks on Internet Freedom

I wonder if Lieberman, McConnell, and King noticed the Secretary of State’s comments about internet censorship.

On their own, new technologies do not take sides in the struggle for freedom and progress, but the United States does. We stand for a single internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas. And we recognize that the world’s information infrastructure will become what we and others make of it. Now, this challenge may be new, but our responsibility to help ensure the free exchange of ideas goes back to the birth of our republic. The words of the First Amendment to our Constitution are carved in 50 tons of Tennessee marble on the front of this building. And every generation of Americans has worked to protect the values etched in that stone.

… Some countries have erected electronic barriers that prevent their people from accessing portions of the world’s networks. They’ve expunged words, names, and phrases from search engine results. They have violated the privacy of citizens who engage in non-violent political speech. These actions contravene the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which tells us that all people have the right “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” With the spread of these restrictive practices, a new information curtain is descending across much of the world. And beyond this partition, viral videos and blog posts are becoming the samizdat of our day.

As in the dictatorships of the past, governments are targeting independent thinkers who use these tools. In the demonstrations that followed Iran’s presidential elections, grainy cell phone footage of a young woman’s bloody murder provided a digital indictment of the government’s brutality. We’ve seen reports that when Iranians living overseas posted online criticism of their nation’s leaders, their family members in Iran were singled out for retribution. And despite an intense campaign of government intimidation, brave citizen journalists in Iran continue using technology to show the world and their fellow citizens what is happening inside their country. In speaking out on behalf of their own human rights, the Iranian people have inspired the world. And their courage is redefining how technology is used to spread truth and expose injustice.

Now, all societies recognize that free expression has its limits. We do not tolerate those who incite others to violence, such as the agents of al-Qaida who are, at this moment, using the internet to promote the mass murder of innocent people across the world. And hate speech that targets individuals on the basis of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation is reprehensible. It is an unfortunate fact that these issues are both growing challenges that the international community must confront together. And we must also grapple with the issue of anonymous speech. Those who use the internet to recruit terrorists or distribute stolen intellectual property cannot divorce their online actions from their real world identities. But these challenges must not become an excuse for governments to systematically violate the rights and privacy of those who use the internet for peaceful political purposes.

via Remarks on Internet Freedom – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Wikileaks and the Long Haul « Clay Shirky

Clay Shirky’s post about Wikileaks and the U.S. response is a must-read.

The key, though, is that democracies have a process for creating such restrictions, and as a citizen it sickens me to see the US trying to take shortcuts. The leaders of Myanmar and Belarus, or Thailand and Russia, can now rightly say to us “You went after Wikileaks’ domain name, their hosting provider, and even denied your citizens the ability to register protest through donations, all without a warrant and all targeting overseas entities, simply because you decided you don’t like the site. If that’s the way governments get to behave, we can live with that.”

via Wikileaks and the Long Haul « Clay Shirky.

“…it is the responsibility of the Executive to ensure national security through the protection of its information. However, in areas of national defense and international affairs, the President of United States possesses great constitutional independence that is virtually unchecked by the Legislative and Judicial branch. “In absence of governmental checks and balances”, per Justice Stewart, “the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in [these two areas] may lie in an enlightened citizenry – in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government.”

via New York Times Co. v. United States – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Modeling Theater Sets with POV-Ray

I got a lot of compliments about the computer model I built for Harvey’s set and a few people asked me how I did it. My way is a bit computer geek intense, so I don’t recommend you do it my way unless you’re a math graphing geek like me. If you’re used to creating maps for games like Unreal, you should check out other CAD and 3d modeling tools, like Blender… But anyway, here’s how I did it.

Harvey

Foothills Community Players presents Harvey by Mary Chase

I’ve been helping the Foothills Community Players with their production of Harvey. You know, that old Jimmy Stewart movie? Well, Harvey was a play first.

I helped design and build the set. The stage at The Capitol Theater presented some significant technical challenges for the two set play. With no flyspace and very limited room in the wings, basically we were left with both sets having to remain on stage the entire show. Because the space is usually a music venue, the lighting options are limited to full stage lighting, so we couldn’t split the stage into sides with a set on each. Building a turntable would have been an excellent solution for the narrow and deep stage, but seemed beyond our budget and time constraints. The set designer, Kevin Grigsby, solved these problems by incorporating two wagons into the design. Unfortunately, once we had exact measurements of the stage and noted a standpipe and curtain rigging inside the proscenium wall, we realized the two wagons solution would not fit. The design was revised to include additional hinged flats on one wagon.

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Lessig Speaks About Meaningful Reform

So good. So spot on.

Ideas are Worthless without Execution

Dear Peoples of teh Internets,

Having big ideas isn’t worth squat. There are plenty of big ideas out there. Getting things done with big ideas is worth something. If you can’t get something done, stop wasting my time by trying to convince me to do it.

Sincerely,
Already-Too-Much-To-Do-For-My-Own-Ideas

N is for Ninja Burger

From the Geek Alphabet comes the letter N, for Ninja Burger.

Back in 2000, I collaborated with some friends at 9th Level Games on the first role-playing game adaptation of Ninja Burger. I did mostly flavor text and brainstorming how to have the players act stupid and make fools of themselves. That was the genius of 9th Level–it was all about getting the players to abandon inhibitions by building it into the games. Not that you can get too academic about the Beer-n-Pretzels games, but they really were built like elaborate icebreakers. Once you’ve shouted, “All Hail King Torg!” next to someone, you’re going to be able to interact with them. Plus, it’s just darn good fun.

Eventually the license went sour between 9LG and the IP owners of NB. That was after my time. There was a 2nd edition RPG and a card game from SJG. Now, I may be biased, but none of them captured the spirit of Ninja Burger like the original game. As any ninja will tell you, ninja are perfect and stupid gaijin game designers are not.

• Ninja Burger reviewed
• Interview with 9th Level Games
• Wizard needs food. Badly.

BBH Interviewed

http://indiemusicstop.blogspot.com/2007/09/interview-bernie-bernie-headflap.html

(Moses)- This was quite a while ago, but here’s the story as I remember Alan telling it to me:
<…snip…>

“I wish”, says Bernie McCabe, “that there was some kind of bodily signal, some kind of clear biological signal, not like a yawn, something that people did to politely tell someone else that they were getting bored.”

“Like what?” says Alan.

“I don’t know”, says his dad. “Maybe some kind of flap on the top of your head that slowly lifted up as you were getting bored. Then this guy would’ve seen the flap going up, realized what was going on, and said, “Oh, but you’ve probably got to go – I don’t mean to keep you.”

This story apparently inspired Alan to suggest his band be named Bernie Bernie Headflap. I got outvoted three to one. 🙂

… and …

(Kit)- As a guitar player, my top three influences are Jimi Hendrix, Motorhead and the good parts of old Rush (think “Cygnus X-1”, not “Closer to the Heart”). Of course, BBH is a completely different animal, and to approach my duties in this band from the perspective of screamy blues, proto-thrash or Canadian geek rock would sound forced and awkward. Did you ever hear a metal band try to cover a Pixies song? I have. F*cking horrible. Often trying to wear your influences on your sleeve and jam them all into one creative outlet sounds like just that. Music is as much knowing what and when not to play as going out there and shredding all over the damn place. For BBH, I look to Matt Hicks, Paul Chell, Joey Santiago and Johnny Marr for inspiration. Solid but (usually) subtle playing.

Uh, wow! It’s pretty unbelievable to be mentioned next to those guitarists. Thanks, Kit!

There are those last few members with whom I’ve lost touch and can’t track down… it would be interesting to read their opinions about BBH’s affects on their lives.

Well, if I’d seen the interview in time, I would have been auditioning for a drummer gig!