From offline publishing on 01/08/2006

I have been using a Windows Media Center PC at home for about 9 months now. It is connected to our TV in the living room, and has completely changed the way we use media. Writing a plugin for Media Center has always interested me, and I think I actually have some time over the next month or so to do something about it. I have a couple of ideas in mind:

1. iTunes integration - HP recently came out with this for their PCs (HPTunes), but it is not available to non-HP systems.
2. Web browser integration
3. Timers for music/slideshows
4. Gmail integration
5. Audio equalizer
6. Edit recorded tv

I did a little research, and I think the web browser integration probably has the most interest. In addition, it doesn’t seem like there are any developers pursuing this arena.

From offline publishing on 01/07/2006

I am almost done building the oversized stepstool, just posted pictures on the woodworking page. The hard maple turned out to be a little bit of a challenge, but that always keeps me interested. The most frustrating part was the tendency of the wood to chip when using slightly dull blades on my planer. The hinges also took a little longer than expected because I really wasn’t sure how I was going to design that part. I also deviated from my design on the upper front legs because the implementation of the design in that respect looked ridiculous. Overall, I think it has turned out very nice and it has been fun to work on.

Next, I need to pick a few stain samples for my friend to compare to his bed.

From offline publishing on 12/17/2005

Well, I finished my design for the oversized stepstool and it was approved by my friend. I think I will need about 16 board feet of hard maple to finish the project, so I purchased a large 8/4 piece (13 feet long by 8 inches wide) from my local wood supplier.

From offline publishing on 12/11/2005

Since school is out for the winter holidays, I’ve decided to take on a small woodworking project. A friend of mine wants an oversized stepstool designed to match a bed he recently purchased. He had shopped around for other stools, but could not find one that was oversized enough or that matched the design and color of his bed.

The bed is made from Hevea Brasiliensis (rubber trees), but rubber wood is fairly difficult to find here in Phoenix. So, I have decided to make the bed from hard maple because it is widely available and rubber wood is in the maple family, so it’s close in grain and color. I’ve never worked with hard maple before, so this should be interesting.

This is the first time I will come up with the designs for the project myself. I normally use plans I can find on the internet, and have even modified plans significantly to meet my needs. So, I decided to try and use some CAD software to model the stepstool. That didn’t really work out. The design process was WAY too time consuming, and the CAD software required WAY more detail than I really need for the build process. Guess I’ll be using pencil and paper…