Archive for May, 2006
There’s something about a hot, holiday weekend that invites car trouble. I am always amazed by the impromptu picnics on the side of the highway by families that seem to have more people than their car can fit, plus all the fixings of coolers and lawn chairs. I often wonder if this was not their ultimate destination.
Luckily my car trouble (2005 Ford Escape) was nowhere near as inconvenient, but certainly a bother. It seemed that there was a leak inside the car, wetting the front passenger floor. It had gone unnoticed during the week as no one was riding shotgun, but during the weekend a variety of feet and cargo were being dampened.
A quick diagnostic determined that the fluid was water and that it was associated with the use of the air conditioning which was being employed because of the hot weather. Under the dashboard on the passenger side, the unidentifiable, black plastic components were cold and wet. It seemed as if the condensation that normally drains outside and leaves that big puddle in your driveway was not draining properly. I would have to investigate the next day.
In my teenage years, prior to the Internet, I used to work on cars a great deal. Sure things were easier then, but we also had the use of Chilton Auto Manuals
which became the bible for owning an old clunker. The manual I had for my 1972 Plymouth Fury was well used and well greased. Diagrams, how-tos, etc. was all you needed after a good set of tools and some Goop. I can still remember the rack in the auto parts store that was like a reference library until they got smart and shrink-wrapped the books to prevent browsing.
Well it seems that the Internet has its own form of shrink-wrapping. Search for computer problems, health problems, marital problems, etc, and you get scores of potential answers. Search for auto repair specifics and it is hard to come up with anything. One would think that the manuals, diagrams, FAQs, problems/fixes, would be well suited for the Internet, but it seems that is not the case.
I was however, able to find a few clues to guide me to my repair. After I had taken it upon myself to remove the fan blower (and drain the water from it), I also checked the vents for any blockage — all seemed in order and after about an hour I had everything back together, but nothing fixed. I tried the A/C again and when on high with the fan on full blow, water poured from a crack in the ducts below the passenger dashboard. There was no way I was going to be able to drive this car with the A/C without some type of bucket.
After returning inside, I again attempted to search for a solution. One site I found seemed to describe my problem and noted there was an answer but I would need to sign up and pay for the result. I wasn’t desperate enough to take the chance.
Finally I found what seemed to fit the bill:
Question
My car seems to be leaking water onto the floor board of my car. It only happens when I am running my a/c. It is coming from somewhere under the dashboard.
Answer
Look under the vehicle near the bottom of the firewall for a rubber hose about the size of your thumb about 3″ long sticking out towards the engine and pointing towards the ground. This is the CONDENSATION DRAIN for the evaporator case to expell any water to the ground that builds up in the evap housing.Take a plastic soda straw or something SOFT, NOT a screw driver or hard object and poke it up into this drain tube and water will run out up your arm. This hose is clogged and the water is backing up and spilling into the vehicle.
I went out to look for this hose. Although the Ford Escape is an SUV, it is certainly on the smaller side and does not have a great deal of road clearance. I barely squeezed under the vehicle and after having flashbacks from my youth, I was unable to locate it. I did have my drinking straw at the ready, however. I no longer had the trust car ramps that served me so well years ago. All I could find was a small hydraulic jack. As I approached the car, and looking at the small but significant incline where it was parked, I decided not to be memorialized on this weekend by being crushed by a multi-ton vehicle.
My last attempt was to look for the elusive condensation drain hose from above. Peering down, I did see a small, black hose that had a drop of water inside. I was only able to reach it using the straw, and when I stuck it in, about a quart of water poured from the hose and down the hill. I had found my leak source and unplugged it.
Perhaps this fix is only temporary as there is something causing a blockage, but knowing that this can be easily fixed with a tool available from any fast food rest stop, I am not so worried.
By the way, it appears that Chilton Auto Manuals are available on line (for a fee) here.
May 30th, 2006
As an architect, Mr. Brady (of the Brady Bunch) was always in his den drawing sketches. Now, along with getting a groovy perm, you can create your own sketches with Google SketchUp (Free and Pro versions are available). Now I’m not really sure why Google went and acquired this platform, but if you had more money than you knew what to do with, you might be purchase things you don’t really need.
I have been using drawing programs on the PC ever since there was a mouse — from basic shapes to sophisticated CAD programs, and I must say that SketchUp is a great compromise of the two and very easy to use. In no time, you will be able to create complex structures in three dimension. I was able to reproduce my house only a few hours after installing the program and running through the included tutorials.
You basically start with 2-D objects and push/pull them into 3-D objects. To help make you the perfect drawer, the tools “snap” to the X, Y, or Z axis, or to existing objects endpoints or midpoints. Going through the tutorials, you begin to see just how complex a drawing you can create using basic line, rectangles, circles, and arcs. The dimensioning tool allows you to annotate your drawing with actual scale dimensions like those on blueprints.
The 3-D rendering is really cool and quick. With the orbit tool, you can easily spin your drawing to look all around it. You can “paint” the surfaces with materials including colors, roofing, siding, brick, and many others. You can also switch to wire frame or X-ray views to speed up the performance as you draw or to look inside your structure.
A sampler of over 50 components is included to add to your sketches. These include human forms, buildings, trees and shrubbery, vehicles, doors, and windows. Many more are available from online libraries, and I believe the intention is that you might upload your own components to share with others.
There is also an interesting option to integrate your drawing into Google Earth, the global mapping application comprised of satellite images of the world. After creating my house, I was able to place it in its exact position on the “Earth”. Perhaps this is why Google made this purchase. I can foresee the three dimensional recreation of structures of the world enhancing the satellite photography.
If you are considering renovating your home, or just interesting in architectural drawing, SketchUp is a great tool to easily draft some options for yourself to bring to a real architect or builder.
Google SketchUp (free) is available here.
May 26th, 2006
If you haven’t already uploaded a picture of yourself to see which celebrity you resemble, give it a try at MyHeritage.com. Currently in beta, MyHeritage seems that it will become a genealogy/family tree site, but for now, its face recognition utility can be a lot of fun.
It’s quite simple. Upload a basic head-shot of a person and run it. Your picture is scanned, facial features identified, and then compared to a database of celebrity photographs. You are then presented with an interesting set of results which you can share with your family and friends. I’m not sure how this will all play out with family trees, but for now, it is a fun novelty.
My uploaded and recognized photo:
My results:
Your mileage may vary. Enjoy!
MyHeritage is available here.
May 23rd, 2006
I never knew that a deviated septum was a real condition. I always thought this was just a made up excuse for someone to have a nose job. Well it appears that along with being a deviant, I find myself with this nasal condition.
The septum is the structure of the nose, between the nostrils, that forms the air passages to the airway and sinuses. I have had chronic sinus problems for a few years, never knowing where one cold ended and another began. It also contributes to another condition called sleep apnea, where one’s airway is blocked during sleep causing one to stop breathing and gasp out for breath. It sounds quite dreadful, but mostly for the person you are sharing your bed with. For the afflicted, you just don’t sleep very well and tend not to be well rested. Although, there are a number of long-term consequences.
I am hoping that the remedy of my nasal issues will alleviate the sleeping problem and contribute to better health all around.
The doctor visit was easy. First he sticks cotton balls with some anesthetic on it to numb your nasal passage. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I couldn’t feel my teeth — nor did I remember I had cotton shoved up my nose. After removing the cotton, he slid a thin fiber optic tube up my nostrils one at a time to have a look around. It was actually difficult to get the tube in due to some swelling and I could feel it poking around the back of my throat.
My course of action is to use Nasonex for a few weeks, get a CAT scan to check for any other nastiness, and lose some pounds. (It seems if you can somehow lose weight in your soft palate, it helps with the apnea.)
At some point, I will be having a surgery to fix the deviated septum and some other trimming to fix the sleep apnea problem.
The procedure:
To repair the septum, the surgeon works through the nostrils, making an incision to separate the mucosa from the underlying cartilage and bone. The doctor cuts off or straightens the bent cartilage and then replaces the mucosa over the cartilage and bone.
The whole thing should take about an hour and is done on an out-patient basis.
I guess I just need to decide if I should have the doctor give me the perfect nose while he’s at it.
May 22nd, 2006
The Internet is a great place to propagate funny stories. The Darwin Awards is a website that collects stories that are entertaining, but in a tragic way.
“We salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who remove themselves from it. Of necessity, this honor is generally bestowed posthumously.”
I think I remember some of the earliest stories that were distributed by email. Probably the most famous story being the guy who mounted a JATO rocket engine to his car and launched himself into the side of a mountain.
If you enjoy those police chase shows, you will probably enjoy reading about the things that people do that unexpectedly end their lives.
Being a male, I can recall the many foolish things that I had done as a teenager:
In eighth grade, my friends and I were at “the lake” engaging in a basic activity of lighting a fire in a large drainage pipe. We were using dried reeds that we lit with a BIC lighter. As we took turns feeding the fire with handfuls of reeds, someone (probably me) tossed the seemingly empty lighter into the pipe. Our unbeknownst game of Russian Roulette ended when, on one of my turns, a giant fire ball shot out of the pipe into my face. I saw the flame and ducked. I opened my eyes to find the faces of my friends first with concern and then with laughter. I was not burned, but my hair and eyebrows were quite singed! The smell was terrible. I could not see what a mess I was, and as we walked back home, I can remember my friends reassuring me that I looked fine – as they continued to giggle. The worst injury I received was what looked like a terrible haircut.
I wasn’t trying to perform these stunts, but being young and male provides a lack of fear or forethought. Not until college did I purposely attempt stunts, with limited success such as: being tumble dried in a dorm clothes dryer; rolling down the stairs in a garbage can; and the incredibly stupid climbing from one balcony to another.
If we live to reflect upon our past mistakes, we should learn from them, and even teach others. Now, as the father of two young boys, I cringe as I read these stories knowing that half of their genetic code and all of their gender will be working against them. I hope the Darwin Awards will be around in years to come so that when they become teenagers I can force them to read about what NOT to do. Knowing my luck it will just give them ideas.
The Darwin Awards can be found here.
May 19th, 2006
It seems that ever since there have been computers, there have been computer games. I can still remember the text-based adventure game ZORK. (”You are standing in an open field….”) Things have come a long way. Nowadays, I divide computer games into two categories: 1) Complicated games that take hours to master, forever to finish, and consume days of your life; and 2) simple games that take minutes to master, a short time to complete, and consume days of your life.
The standard Windows games of Solitaire, Minesweeper, and FreeCell fall into this second category and still seem popular today. In a pinch for a quick gaming fix, I will resort to playing these and they certainly do pass the time. It seems a masterful feat to find a game simple in concept yet very fun to play (and play and play and play). PopCap Games is a place to find such games.
Bejeweled is perhaps the most popular game from PopCap. It is available as a Palm handhelp version, and Palm owner I know has it installed. With over 30 games available, there is something for everyone. They fall into four categories: Puzzle, Arcade, Word, and Card games.
My Favorites
Dynomite! is a prehistoric egg-blasting games where you shoot eggs at similar colors to match three or more to remove them as they advance down at you. It is simple, comical, and very addictive. Part action and strategy, it reminds me of Tetris.
Zuma is similar as a ball-blasting game to match similar colors as a trail of balls winds through complicated layouts.
Candy Train reminds me of one of those leaky pipe games. Keep the train on track by rotating the tracks to form a continuous path to the destination picking up bonuses along the way.
Bookworm is a letter game perfect for Scrabble and Boggle players searching for words is world of letters. Special tiles, bonuses, and hazards keep this interesting.
TyperShark is a great way to improve your typing skills by touch-typing in order to keep your diver from being devoured by sharks.
Most of the games are available for free online play and many are available for download and purchase if you really fall in love with them. I’m sure you will get addicted to at least one of these games.
Play games from PopCap here.
Other free online games available at MIStupid.com.
May 18th, 2006
I’m not going to use the word “Oops”, but Britney Spears is now the hot topic for child safety. I have to admit that having your baby sit on your lap while driving is bad, but now she is being criticized for her baby’s car seat orientation. As a parent, I realize that you already have two too many people criticizing your parenting: your mother and your mother in-law.
Sure, parenting has changed over the past thousand years, but I don’t remember ANY child safety seats when I was a toddler. If you sat in the front seat (gasp), you didn’t wear a seat belt because nobody did. Your mother was trained that when she slammed on the brakes, it was her duty to forego the honking of the horn and immediately extend her right arm across all of the occupants of the front seat, thus producing the necessary restraint and preventing the projection of children through the windshield. As we got older and more fidgety, we spent our time in the back seat making complaints like, “he’s touching me!” In this case, no safety was required for we had the large, front bench-style seat to protect us. In fact, to get the best view, we often stood behind the seat adding to the fun.
Now we have infant car seats, toddler car seats, small children seats, etc. The Latch System is now as standard a feature as cupholders. Hospitals won’t even let you take your baby out of the hospital without one. They don’t seem to care if you are driving them home on a motorcycle, just as long as they are strapped into a “baby bucket.” Now I understand why infants should face rearwards as they don’t have the neck strength and slamming on their breaks would injure their them. Before airbags, we could place them in the front seat so you could at least see their face. It’s ironic that now the airbags used to protect adult passengers can be deadly to our precious cargo.
As a first-time parent, you need to constantly see your baby to make sure they are simply breathing. Sometimes you visit them in the middle of the night and wake them just to check. I knew things were different with our second child when bringing him home, my wife and I were both in the front seat; baby in back (rear facing of course). I stated that I couldn’t see him and she said, “He’s fine.”
Now they have mirrors that you can mount so that you can look in your rear-view mirror and see another mirror that allows you to see the baby while you are driving. Lining these up requires a degree in optics however. I also learned that I can also use this double mirror setup to see back out through my windshield. If they ever move the steering wheel into the trunk, I will be ready.
Back to Britney. As a busy, 24 year old mother, she has a lot going on, plus a new baby on the way. It’s easy to criticize - I could even raise a few more “questions”:
- Is that baby wearing sunscreen?
- When was the last time he was fed or changed?
- Were those clothes washed in Dreft?
In my humble parenting opinion, when the kid is over 20 pounds and can hold his head up, he is too big for an infant car seat and can graduate to the front-facing car seat. But hey! How about a hat?
I’m sure glad that I’m not followed around by photographers so that the world can scrutinize my parenting methods — I have a wife for that. 
May 17th, 2006
The concept of being read aloud to starts when we are children. Then, the responsibility of adulthood forces us to read to ourselves. However, there are times when reading a book is simply not appropriate. It is hard to walk through city streets or jog through the neighborhood whilst reading. It is also unsafe, and evidently illegal, to read while driving.
The concept of recording someone reading books is probably as old as recording technology. Books on Tape is actually a popular brand for this service, but who still uses cassette tapes? They are also available on CDs, but even abridged versions of most popular novels are over eight hours long, and that’s a lot of CDs to be shuffling around.
The MP3 format has proven to be a great format for spoken word recordings. Since the frequency range is much narrower than music, voice recordings are very compression friendly, allowing to pack a long program is a small space. Not that it is a problem anymore with things like 60 Gigabyte iPods.
Another benefit of the digital format for audio books is that you can immediately download and transfer to your portable audio device for your listening pleasure. Immediate gratification always seems to be a big bonus.
Where do you get these audio books? There are many services out there, but personally, I use Audible. I have been a member for years and have an account in which I pay a monthly fee which allows me to download any two books per month.
Browse their offerings by category, search, view best seller lists, read user reviews, and listen to excerpts. Add the selection to your shopping cart, purchase, and you are ready to download in varying level of fidelity. They provide the software to transfer the audio to your favorite MP3 device. I used to listen to these on my Treo 600 smart phone until I got an iPod. The file format is not a simple MP3. A form of digital rights management (DRM) is imposed so that you cannot share these files with others. In fact, you seem to only be able to listen to the programs on your computer and one other device.
I find that novels are suited best for listening. Any instructional or informational type texts tend to need review and often include important graphics. An audio recording is not the best for reference material as it is also hard to navigate to a specific “page” as desired.
Another challenge I have with reading, is that it does require a dedication to that as one task. Although some might argue that is important, that type of focus is hard to find in our busy schedules. Reading before bed only aids me in falling asleep quickly. If your day has a long drive, commute, workout, or other chunks of time that could be filled by listening to books, you should try it.
Audio programming is available from Audible.
May 16th, 2006
It appears I have just won $1,000,000!
Evidently, an email address I never used was attached to lottery numbers I never picked in a lottery I never played. Interestingly, this Australian lottery is run out of the Netherlands and pays out US dollars in nice round numbers. This truly is my lucky day.
If you are like me, you get many of these phishing scams each week. The bait is this too-good-to-be-true offer of found money that starts a cycle of events that leaves you without some of your own money. This is very similar to an offline scam where someone approaches you on the street with a winning lottery ticket, but due to some “mix-up”, they are unable to redeem it so they will sell it to you at a lower price. The bottom line in both scams is that there is no winning ticket and you just gave a stranger your money because you were a little blinded by greed.
Here is the email I received:
Australian Lottery.
NSW Lotteries Corporation,
2 Figtree Drive,
Homebush Bay NSW 2127
Dear Sir/Madam,
CONGRATULATIONS: YOU WON $1,000,000.00.
We are pleased to inform you of the result of Australian Lottery, which was
held on the 12th, May 2006. Your e-mail address attached to prize winning
number: 3 7 9 16 27 28, and supplementary number: 37 43 drew a prize of
$1,000,000.00 (One Million USDollars).
This lucky draw came first in the 2nd Category of the Sweepstake. You will
receive the sum of $1,000,000.00 (One Million USDollars) from our authorized bank in Netherlands.
Because of some mix-up with our sweepstake numbers and prizes, plus the time limited placed on the payment of your prize: $1,000,000.00, we advice that you keep all information about this prize confidential until your funds:
$1,000,000.00 have been transferred to you by the authorized bank in The Netherlands. You must adhere to this instruction, strictly, to avoid any delay with the release of your funds to your person. This program has been abused severally in past, so we are doing our best to forestall further occurrence of past mix-ups.
This sweepstake was conducted under the watchful eyes of 12,000 spectators.
Your e-mail address attached to prize winning number: 3 7 9 16 27 28 was
selected and; it came first through an e-ballot draw from over 250,000 e-mail
addresses (personal and corporate e-mail addresses).
This program is sponsored by NSW Lotteries to compensate faithful internet
suffers around the globe.
Congratulations for becoming one of the few lucky winners.
With your permission, your e-mail will also be included in the next sweepstake
of $5Million.
You must claim your prize: $1,000,000.00 not later than 10-days from the moment you receive this e-mail. In order to avoid unnecessary delays with your claim from our authorized bank; please contact them immediately, and quote your winning and personal information now.
Here is their contact information:
Bank: Laagste Heypotheekofferte Bank NL.
Contact person: Mr. Walter Hawkins.
Director: Public Finance, Global Markets, Interest Rate and Currency.
Direct-line: Tel: 0031 644 893 611.
Fax: 0031 847 134 206 .
E-mail address: bankdelaagste@netscape.net
Furnish them with the following:
(i). your name(s),
(ii) Your telephone and fax numbers
(iii) Your contact address
(iv) Your winning information (including amount won).
Congratulations.
Yours to serve,
Valentino Von Kahn (Mrs.).
Coordinator: Australian Lottery.
There are so many flaws in this attempt:
- It was sent to an inactive email address
- I never participated in this lottery
- Why does the bank have a @netscape.net email address?
- Why is the Australian lottery run out of the Netherlands?
I am also instantly suspicious whenever the words “congratulations” and “mix-up” are used together. I truly feel badly for people that fall for these scams. Considering it only takes one out of millions to for scammers to “find” money, and there is no cost at sending these emails, it is no wonder this activity continues. Don’t be a victim.
May 15th, 2006
It seems that web domain names have lessened the desire for “vanity” phone numbers. You know, those phone numbers that spell out words that are easy to remember but take twice as long to dial because you have to decode them first. Your existing phone number might already have some interesting mnemonics that you can discover using PhoneSpell.
PhoneSpell.org is a free website that allows you to do many things with phone numbers. The most basic is to enter 3 to 10 digits for phone numbers. PhoneSpell will then search through its database of common words and return a variety of results that may prove to be interesting or useless.
Don’t get too excited. Some phone numbers just don’t produce good results. Some don’t produce any. Keep in mind that there are no letters for the number 1 key.
Other features of PhoneSpell:
- Enter a full phone number to see what words and phrases it spell
- Enter the start of a phone number to see what words start with those digits
- Enter some letters to see (and even dial) the corresponding phone number
PhoneSpell has been around for many years, but I always return whenever I get a new phone number to check if I have struck gold are not. If you would like to give me a call, just dial 720-box-a-crap and leave a message.
PhoneSpell is available free here.
May 12th, 2006
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