I got an AeroGarden from Bed Bath and Beyond on clearance about a month ago.  I got the classic version with the “gourmet herb” kit, and within about three weeks, I had a pretty good harvest.  I have pictures of the first couple of weeks, but don’t have them up yet to post.  The other day, I made mint tea, and put a bunch of dill in my scrambled eggs, and it was really good.  I’m impressed with the hydroponic system, and am amazed at the speed of growth.  The company hasn’t been doing that well however.  Their stock plummeted about a year ago, and hasn’t shown any sign of recovery.  I hope they will stay in business so I can get replacement parts (bulbs and pumps) in the future.

Anyway…my two bits are that it’s an awesome system…liked it so much, I got one for Mother’s day too!

If you watched my first test with the GoPro HD Hero, I placed it in my fishtank.  You might have noticed however, that the quality was fair before going into the tank, but terrible once underwater (the quality of the whole thing was a little sub-par because of the low lighting).  After surfing the internet a little, I found that everyone was having this issue.  The common assumption was that it was the domed glass lens on the waterproof housing that was messing with the light entering the GoPro itself.  The idea was to make a barrier of air between the domed lens, and the water to prevent this diffraction of light.

I did this very very (did I stress it enough?) quickly, and just wanted to get an idea of whether or not the theory would hold true…If you compare the two below, I think you might agree with me that it did make a pretty significant difference.

GoPro HD Hero test #1 in fishtank

GoPro HD Hero test #2 in fishtank w/modification

Here are some quick low-res pictures of what I did.

Again, it was a really thrown-together design, but it was only meant to be a test to see if the idea would work.  Basically I just found the thickest see-through plastic I could…that ended up being one of those clear CD’s they put at the top when you buy a stack of CD-R/RW’s for protection.  I just cut out a rectangle a little larger than the waterproof lens, and melted the corners up a little so I could wrap the rubber bands around it.  I then put some spacers underneath that (which you can see from the video, I didn’t cut big enough…I actually cut the corners off of my yoga mat for this…again…thrown together fast) and strapped the whole thing down with rubber bands. The fishing line was just what I used to drop it in the tank with.

Obviously it goes without saying, this would NOT hold up well for long underwater, especially at any great depths, but it’s a concept I hope to build from, and improve.  It will probably be a while before I go further with this project, but if anyone has any ideas, please feel free to leave comments.  I should mention, I owe the GoPro forums for a good amount of the information I got to do this.

cheers,

Justin

Edit: I wanted to mention, that all of the tests I have done were shot in the r3 mode which is 720p at 60fps

About a year ago I put a post here about building a HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer). What I didn’t put in that post is the homemade wooden computer case I built for it. I didn’t post it because I couldn’t find the cable for my camera to post the pictures…but I just found them today, and now have them to put online. I did such a sloppy job with it that I ended up throwing it out, but it gave me ideas to build upon for a new case, if I end up going for it again. I think next time I will find a shop to do it in though…I must have pissed my neighbors below something awful, trying to saw, and drill the case together

Here they are…click on the pictures to get a larger view…

It’s been a LONG time since I posted anything (months).  I’ve tried a couple ways of changing the layout of the page to make it easier to post, but keep returning to what I’ve got.

Anyway, so today I’m writing about the amazing tea called Kombucha.  This stuff is a fermented sweet tea that sits in a bath with a pancake-like “SCOBY” which stands for (if I remember correctly) Symbiotic Colony of Organisims Bacteria and Yeast.  It is supposely capable of curing everything from skin alements to cancer, but I just like the taste…which ends up being a sort of vinegary effervescent product.

To be honest I’ve sort of lost most of my desire to make the stuff after months of tinkering with it.  I just can’t seem to get much bubbly in the end product…mostly just an acidic sweet tea.  I actually still feel more energy and like the overall taste, but it’s not what I’ve found commercially in the store (which was my goal to immitate).  Anyway, the benefits I’ve found are on-par with the feelings I’ve had with herbal detox plans, I haven’t been sick for a number of months, and have overall more energy after drinking it.

I got my scoby and recipe from getkombucha.com which also sells kits to making the stuff.  I actually found my own lead-free porcelain brewing container from a local heal foods store though, so I saved a lot by building my own kit.  You’ll see in my pictures, I also bought a heating pad designed for germinating seedlings, with a thermostat to keep in just above 80degrees F.  It’s been over 100F lately though, so I’m thinking my results might be more consistent in the winter.

My favorite so far has been to add ginger while bottling, although Craisins has been a good second (dried cranberries).

Anyway, if you’ve never tried the stuff, I suggest Dave’s G.T line of Kombucha in the store.  You’ll find quickly though that it’s rediculously expensive, which is why I’ve been trying to brew it myself.

*NOTE: In that last picture of the SCOBY mother culture, the black thing isn’t mold…it’s actually a tea leaf that accidentally got in the brew.

Last week I decided to make my own shaving soap and aftershave.  The aftershave was easy to make, but the soap was….quite an adventure.  Why did I do this you ask…’cause I get bored and it’s better than trying to make rockets or something along those lines that usually end in disaster.

I made the aftershave because I wanted to be able to tailor the scent to my liking, and make it mild, not really bold like some of them out there.  In addition I wanted to know what was in it unlike some of them out there that have all sorts of chemicals probably used in the taxidermy business.  For my first try I ended up using a recipe I found off of the internet, and it turned out pretty good.  I like the scent, and it works well after the shave.  I use a DE razor so it’s rough on the skin unlike those mach 5 (or whatever number they’re on) razors that have slick strips and rubber pads on them.  I’ll have to admit I nick myself all the time too so it’s good to have something afterwards that will heal and cleans the skin from infection.  Here’s the link to the recipe…I used the cedarwood/juniper one at the bottom: AFTERSHAVE LINK

The aftershave done I decided to make some soap.  I did this for similar reasons and was hoping to turn out a product that would have cost me top dollar commercially.  I could also alter the scent and its intensity if I wanted (I went with a vanilla/sandalwood-cedarwood mixture…turned out alright).

So back to the story…the soap was where it really got exciting.  The aftershave was just pour and shake, but the soap uses lye (Sodium Hydroxide) and it’s some nasty stuff.  After mixed with water, the solution turns boiling hot.  The lye itself (aside from temperature) will severly burn your skin, is bad to inhale, and can cause blindness if it comes into contact with the eye.

So there I was at 10pm in my apartment with big scrubbung gloves, sunglasses, and my cooking pots trying to make soap.  One detail I overlooked is the part where you mix it to produce “trace.”  The little detail was that with a high speed mixer, it would take about a minute to work…hand stired…an hour or more.  It definitely took more than an hour, and I had soap all over the kitchen by the time it was done.  It was still a fun experience, but I think I’ll do things a little differently next time.    Here is the recipe I used: SOAP INSTRUCTIONS

I poured the soap into some cheap cups I found at Walmart.  In hindsight I think I should have poured it all in a pipe and cut it into pieces later…the cups are too full to whip up a lather very easily.

I cant decide if I like the lather or not.  I’m used to creams by now that whip up with my brush into really thick coats…this isn’t worse, just different I guess.  With the oils in the soap, and clay, it provides a really soothing slick finish, and I think that more than makes up for the thin-ness of the lather.  All-in-all I’m pretty happy with the end product of the soap and aftershave.  In the long run I’m going to save a lot of money this route, and can with time, perfect the scent and characteristics of each…which is right up my ally…more fun to play with things than just buy them sometimes

Above is the stained walnut stand I made for my shaving kit.  I bent a walnut dowel over steam for the twig effect, put a border inlay on the base, and stained it all with a walnut/colored stain.  My badger brush hangs over my homemade soap.  The blue bottle contains the aftershave I made, and the far right is my Gillette DE razor.  It’s a 1957 Gillette adjustable 195 (because new at the time it cost $1.95) or more commonly known now as the Fat Boy because of it’s short fat design.  It is the old butterfly model and can be adjusted for aggressiveness of shave.