I don't remember if I've mentioned my Coleman radiant heater before. I've wanted one since I first found out they exist. I got mine from Warren at the True North Gathering last fall, then he sold me the radiants early this year.
Its pretty badass, built mostly like a stove but with a manifold not unlike the exhaust manifold on a car which distributes the gas to just below the radiants.
Anyway enough yammerin' wheres the video?
BTW: I was denied a YouTube partnership, apparently I don't get enough traffic. Plan on seeing some new videos from me that aren't mostly about Coleman lanterns ;)
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Wow...
Now I've seen everything.
Of course every time I say that I remember that I've said it before and weird random crap keeps coming up so without further intro check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPRditi7AQk
Yeah "elevator photography since 1993" thats what I'm talking 'bout. Dude goes and rides in elevators. Whoda thunk anybody would care? Then again who would think I'd have 25,000+ views of me playing with lanterns and stoves. Theres something for everybody I guess.
Of course every time I say that I remember that I've said it before and weird random crap keeps coming up so without further intro check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPRditi7AQk
Yeah "elevator photography since 1993" thats what I'm talking 'bout. Dude goes and rides in elevators. Whoda thunk anybody would care? Then again who would think I'd have 25,000+ views of me playing with lanterns and stoves. Theres something for everybody I guess.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Monetizing
A month or so ago YouTube offered to monetize my videos. This is pretty awesome, in that ads will appear in my videos and I'll get a couple cents any time anybody clicks them. You may notice that ads appear here too. Again if somebody clicks an ad I get a couple cents. So far I've got just over $6, whoop-dee-doo.
It turns out YouTube is even less likely to make me rich, after a month I was getting pretty impatient for ads to show up and the money to start rolling in so I did some more digging. YouTube doesn't go out of their way to tell you this but apparently not only do you have to tell YouTube to monetize your video AND you have to have a Google Ad Sense account AND you have to agree to give YouTube some of the money since they host the video THEN you have to sign up as a YouTube partner. This last bit is in small print down at the end of a page...
*Sigh* I just want to make enough money I can quit my job and live a life of leisure making lantern videos, is that too much to ask? ;)
It turns out YouTube is even less likely to make me rich, after a month I was getting pretty impatient for ads to show up and the money to start rolling in so I did some more digging. YouTube doesn't go out of their way to tell you this but apparently not only do you have to tell YouTube to monetize your video AND you have to have a Google Ad Sense account AND you have to agree to give YouTube some of the money since they host the video THEN you have to sign up as a YouTube partner. This last bit is in small print down at the end of a page...
*Sigh* I just want to make enough money I can quit my job and live a life of leisure making lantern videos, is that too much to ask? ;)
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
On water
Water is important. You can live for weeks without food but not even days without water. If I'm going to be able to live at camp long term I'll need clean water. Even if I can find sufficient food if I can't find water I'm doomed.
Fortunately we've got a pond, even in the worst of droughts we've got water. I've seen the pond down several feet but never dry. Unfortunately we've also got beavers. Beavers are an issue because they carry giardia, a little parasite thats no fun at all.
An ideal way around this would be to sink a well, it'd be awesome to sink a well right next to the camp and have a pump inside but that would run into serious money so it ain't happening. Instead I'll need a filter.
At home we've got a Multi-pure filter, ours sits under the sink and is pretty terrific. I could rig up a similar system but I'd need so way to feed the filter which would be a pain. Enter the Berkey filter, its a canister filter, pour questionable water in the top get clean water out the tap at the bottom. I like the stainless steel construction and the replaceable filters and they're priced reasonably. There are other systems that use plastic buckets for "emergency water filtering" but I feel like the Berkey is a much more significant unit and if/when I make this great experiment thats probably what I'll get.
Fortunately we've got a pond, even in the worst of droughts we've got water. I've seen the pond down several feet but never dry. Unfortunately we've also got beavers. Beavers are an issue because they carry giardia, a little parasite thats no fun at all.
An ideal way around this would be to sink a well, it'd be awesome to sink a well right next to the camp and have a pump inside but that would run into serious money so it ain't happening. Instead I'll need a filter.
At home we've got a Multi-pure filter, ours sits under the sink and is pretty terrific. I could rig up a similar system but I'd need so way to feed the filter which would be a pain. Enter the Berkey filter, its a canister filter, pour questionable water in the top get clean water out the tap at the bottom. I like the stainless steel construction and the replaceable filters and they're priced reasonably. There are other systems that use plastic buckets for "emergency water filtering" but I feel like the Berkey is a much more significant unit and if/when I make this great experiment thats probably what I'll get.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Crazy ideas
Do you ever get crazy ideas? I get 'em pretty frequently, some are dumb, some are just crazy, some are dumb and crazy...
Lately I've been thinking about how much I'd love to have a job that worked on my schedule in my location. The only thing I could really do that meets that is to be a writer. I've thought about that for years and years but of course its a difficult gig to break into.
A couple months ago I read "Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream" by William Powers. Powers is a kind of greenie weenie activist. Honestly he's kind of a dork and I didn't really like the book that much (want it? Just ask, I've got loads of books that need good homes) but it got me thinking about my own remote cabin off the grid. Our camp is actually quite a bit bigger than Powers' (its not actually his, he borrowed but you get the idea) cabin, we've got a 16x24' main camp and 10x12' bunkhouse but they're similar in that we've got no electricity or running water. I've also read "Into The Wild" by John Krakauer which is a very good book telling the story of Chris McCandless and his adventure and untimely death in Alaska. Together they've gotten me thinking about attempting a long term stay at camp, a sort of "Walden Pond" for the 21st century.
How long? I'm thinking 6 months, mid-April through mid-November. With me I'd bring rice and beans and some other basic staples with the idea of becoming basically self sufficient by July. Self sufficient means no added inputs in fuel or food, I'd survive on what I brought and what I could find/grow. In support of this future idea (and to attract wildlife) this spring I planted what is essentially a big garden of corn. This was an important first step since most of our fields haven't been planted in a decade or more and the sod was TOUGH to break through. It'll be a big help to have a section of garden already started. I'll still need to do a lot of wild gathering as it'll take time for the garden to produce a significant amount of food.
Since we're off grid theres no electricity and since we use propane for cooking and light I'll need to be stingy with it, I also won't be using it for showers, fortunately we've already got a solar shower I can use. I'll supplement with a jug of kerosene (I have a kerosene stove I haven't yet written about here) and another of white gas. Finally we've got loads of dead trees and live spruce trees are usually loaded with dead branches so I'll have to set up a fire pit and do a lot of my cooking (especially for rice and beans) over a wood fire.
Anyway crazy right? I've got a mortgage that needs keeping up with, I'd need considerable financial buffer to make this idea work but the idea sticks with me. Over the next couple years expect to see me working on the skills that will be required to make it work. I'll mark posts related to the idea as "homesteading" because thats really what I'm talking about...
Lately I've been thinking about how much I'd love to have a job that worked on my schedule in my location. The only thing I could really do that meets that is to be a writer. I've thought about that for years and years but of course its a difficult gig to break into.
A couple months ago I read "Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream" by William Powers. Powers is a kind of greenie weenie activist. Honestly he's kind of a dork and I didn't really like the book that much (want it? Just ask, I've got loads of books that need good homes) but it got me thinking about my own remote cabin off the grid. Our camp is actually quite a bit bigger than Powers' (its not actually his, he borrowed but you get the idea) cabin, we've got a 16x24' main camp and 10x12' bunkhouse but they're similar in that we've got no electricity or running water. I've also read "Into The Wild" by John Krakauer which is a very good book telling the story of Chris McCandless and his adventure and untimely death in Alaska. Together they've gotten me thinking about attempting a long term stay at camp, a sort of "Walden Pond" for the 21st century.
How long? I'm thinking 6 months, mid-April through mid-November. With me I'd bring rice and beans and some other basic staples with the idea of becoming basically self sufficient by July. Self sufficient means no added inputs in fuel or food, I'd survive on what I brought and what I could find/grow. In support of this future idea (and to attract wildlife) this spring I planted what is essentially a big garden of corn. This was an important first step since most of our fields haven't been planted in a decade or more and the sod was TOUGH to break through. It'll be a big help to have a section of garden already started. I'll still need to do a lot of wild gathering as it'll take time for the garden to produce a significant amount of food.
Since we're off grid theres no electricity and since we use propane for cooking and light I'll need to be stingy with it, I also won't be using it for showers, fortunately we've already got a solar shower I can use. I'll supplement with a jug of kerosene (I have a kerosene stove I haven't yet written about here) and another of white gas. Finally we've got loads of dead trees and live spruce trees are usually loaded with dead branches so I'll have to set up a fire pit and do a lot of my cooking (especially for rice and beans) over a wood fire.
Anyway crazy right? I've got a mortgage that needs keeping up with, I'd need considerable financial buffer to make this idea work but the idea sticks with me. Over the next couple years expect to see me working on the skills that will be required to make it work. I'll mark posts related to the idea as "homesteading" because thats really what I'm talking about...
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Have you seen?
If you're into cars at all you should be reading 365 days of A which follows Jonathan Klinger in his year of driving a 1930 Model A Tudor sedan as his primary transportation.
I'm totally jealous of his ability to go through with this. Based on his experience if I had a bigger garage I'd totally be buying a Model A. Unfortunately my commute is too long and too highway based to make a Model A practical but I'd like to have one anyway.
One thing that really surprised me was how inexpensive a Model A is, Jonathan got his for ~$14,000 which is a steal considering we're talking about an 80 year old car. I've checked on eBay and $14k buys a car all day long. I went further and it seems like you can buy a decent Model T for half that. The Model T is a stone age ride compared to the A though, much slower and with even fewer creature comforts, still a cool ride though.
This week my 190D has been in the shop getting the driver's window regulator (the bit that makes the window go up and down) repaired. It was missing the last couple teeth and wouldn't go all the way up. I've been driving the '78 240D in the interim which is why we have 3 vehicles. People look at me like I'm crazy when they hear I'm driving a '78 nearly 120 miles a day but the old gal really takes well to it. For the last few months its been driven mostly in town, a life which tends to build up carbon in the engine and leeches away power. Last night on the way home a piece of carbon let go in the engine and suddenly I had more power than before, I find that kind of "driving fix" to be extremely satisfying.
I'm totally jealous of his ability to go through with this. Based on his experience if I had a bigger garage I'd totally be buying a Model A. Unfortunately my commute is too long and too highway based to make a Model A practical but I'd like to have one anyway.
One thing that really surprised me was how inexpensive a Model A is, Jonathan got his for ~$14,000 which is a steal considering we're talking about an 80 year old car. I've checked on eBay and $14k buys a car all day long. I went further and it seems like you can buy a decent Model T for half that. The Model T is a stone age ride compared to the A though, much slower and with even fewer creature comforts, still a cool ride though.
This week my 190D has been in the shop getting the driver's window regulator (the bit that makes the window go up and down) repaired. It was missing the last couple teeth and wouldn't go all the way up. I've been driving the '78 240D in the interim which is why we have 3 vehicles. People look at me like I'm crazy when they hear I'm driving a '78 nearly 120 miles a day but the old gal really takes well to it. For the last few months its been driven mostly in town, a life which tends to build up carbon in the engine and leeches away power. Last night on the way home a piece of carbon let go in the engine and suddenly I had more power than before, I find that kind of "driving fix" to be extremely satisfying.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Linux the other white meat
I'm a bit of a computer nerd although these days life seems to get in the way.
Recently I scored a new computer for home and went back to the well for a new "flavor" of Linux.
In case you're not hip to the jargon a "distribution" is when somebody takes the basic Linux source (which is essentially free) and puts their own spin on it. They package it up with some apps they think are useful (a web browser, office tools, that sort of thing) and put it out under their name. Its still Linux but has its own distinct look and feel.
So since I've been back to the well I figured I could report my findings:
Debian
This is essentially the source from which all other Linux flows, many of the other distros can trace their line back to Debian. Of course being that its the source its for the hardcore user. No live cd here. The installer is challenging for the non-initiated, the configuration is challenging for the non-initiated, usage is kinda challenging for the non-initiated. I couldn't make Flash work, so no YouTube... In retrospect I just needed some more time but I've got too much other life that needs my attention.
Fedora
Fedora is a split from the RedHat line. RedHat generally costs money while Fedora is free. The installer is much simpler than Debian but I still couldn't get Flash to work...
See a trend? Really all I want is to surf the web and maybe write up some text documents, alter some pictures and maybe use my scanner and printer...
Mint
Of the 3 so far Mint is easily the most advanced. Pretty easy to use, Flash worked right out of the box. Its also one of the few that let me auto login which is handy. Sadly I hate the hoops it makes me jump through for multiple users. Why do many distros force long passwords?
Peppermint
I don't think Peppermint is a offshoot of Mint but its similar. The idea with Peppermint is that its for "cloud computing" meaning very little for apps on the OS itself. I'm fine with that. Flash works, right out of the box but I can't have multiple users at all...
Why multiple users? Ever try to share a computer with somebody? What if you both use Gmail or Facebook? You're forever logging out and logging back in and around Christmas accidentally seeing what the other person is buying you... Multiple users is another must for me.
Mepis
This is where I started with Linux some 5 years ago. I'd gotten frustrated with viruses on my Windows computer and grabbed Mepis. That was v3, they're on v8.5 now (skipped some numbers in the middle though) and I'm actually less happy with it... Hardest distro to get the right nVidia driver (I think my Quadro 1400 card is actually too GOOD, very little support for it on Linux). I did manage to make Flash work but another common frustration for me is the lack of jack sense. That means that the computer doesn't know I have speakers and plays through the PC speaker too. I HATE that and its a relatively new behavior I saw in Mint, Peppermint and Mepis. Its most difficult to enable in Mepis though.
Anyway I'm going to stick with Mepis a couple weeks and see what happens. Biggest frustration I'm having right now is that I can't get Hulu to play. Thats actually true with ALL of the distros. The video starts but the audio plays and then starts again and again and again so I have multiple instances of the audio playing at once... Have yet to figure out the issue other than it doesn't seem to happen on newer computers. I should explain though that this is not a low powered machine, dual 3.2Ghz processors, 4GB of RAM, it kicks the crap out of much newer consumer level machines...
Recently I scored a new computer for home and went back to the well for a new "flavor" of Linux.
In case you're not hip to the jargon a "distribution" is when somebody takes the basic Linux source (which is essentially free) and puts their own spin on it. They package it up with some apps they think are useful (a web browser, office tools, that sort of thing) and put it out under their name. Its still Linux but has its own distinct look and feel.
So since I've been back to the well I figured I could report my findings:
Debian
This is essentially the source from which all other Linux flows, many of the other distros can trace their line back to Debian. Of course being that its the source its for the hardcore user. No live cd here. The installer is challenging for the non-initiated, the configuration is challenging for the non-initiated, usage is kinda challenging for the non-initiated. I couldn't make Flash work, so no YouTube... In retrospect I just needed some more time but I've got too much other life that needs my attention.
Fedora
Fedora is a split from the RedHat line. RedHat generally costs money while Fedora is free. The installer is much simpler than Debian but I still couldn't get Flash to work...
See a trend? Really all I want is to surf the web and maybe write up some text documents, alter some pictures and maybe use my scanner and printer...
Mint
Of the 3 so far Mint is easily the most advanced. Pretty easy to use, Flash worked right out of the box. Its also one of the few that let me auto login which is handy. Sadly I hate the hoops it makes me jump through for multiple users. Why do many distros force long passwords?
Peppermint
I don't think Peppermint is a offshoot of Mint but its similar. The idea with Peppermint is that its for "cloud computing" meaning very little for apps on the OS itself. I'm fine with that. Flash works, right out of the box but I can't have multiple users at all...
Why multiple users? Ever try to share a computer with somebody? What if you both use Gmail or Facebook? You're forever logging out and logging back in and around Christmas accidentally seeing what the other person is buying you... Multiple users is another must for me.
Mepis
This is where I started with Linux some 5 years ago. I'd gotten frustrated with viruses on my Windows computer and grabbed Mepis. That was v3, they're on v8.5 now (skipped some numbers in the middle though) and I'm actually less happy with it... Hardest distro to get the right nVidia driver (I think my Quadro 1400 card is actually too GOOD, very little support for it on Linux). I did manage to make Flash work but another common frustration for me is the lack of jack sense. That means that the computer doesn't know I have speakers and plays through the PC speaker too. I HATE that and its a relatively new behavior I saw in Mint, Peppermint and Mepis. Its most difficult to enable in Mepis though.
Anyway I'm going to stick with Mepis a couple weeks and see what happens. Biggest frustration I'm having right now is that I can't get Hulu to play. Thats actually true with ALL of the distros. The video starts but the audio plays and then starts again and again and again so I have multiple instances of the audio playing at once... Have yet to figure out the issue other than it doesn't seem to happen on newer computers. I should explain though that this is not a low powered machine, dual 3.2Ghz processors, 4GB of RAM, it kicks the crap out of much newer consumer level machines...
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