1KBM.net

Ozzy makes a book he never read better

Ozz — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 08:28:31 +0000

I got given a book at a neighbours garage sale. It caught my attention because it had a chapter called “How to make a microphone out of a cat”. Turns out it was a metaphor or something, and the book when into storage. Recently I came across some instructions on how to hollow out a book, and these are the results.

You need: Hard cover book, PVA glue, ruler, pencil, Stanley knife, scalpel thingy, paint brush, something to mix glue and water in (I used a V shot), beer

Section off any pages you don’t want glued. Even if you don’t want any free pages, still section off one page. You’ll need it later.

Turns out I don't own anything that resembles a clip. Plenty of magnets though.

Mix the glue and water roughly 60-40. Liberally apply to side of book.

Sereiously don't be shy. I still have half a shot of the mix after completion. Go nuts.

Close book and seperate pages. Place something heavy on top to keep pages together as the glue dries.

Wandered off for dinner and when i came back it was dry, so probably less than an hour to wait.

Mark out a border around the first glued page.

*roughly.

Start cutting down the lines. Use a ruler as a guide. The more time you take, the neater it will be. Try and lean the blade inwards a little. Might want to put some music or something. This will take a while. I think I got through 2 movies.

I lost patiences and started hacking away with the stanley knife. Looks rough as hell.

Be careful.

Sharp knives are sharp.

Once you’re done cutting, start glueing the new inside wall. Again, go nuts. (I forgot to take a photo. You can figure it out. Its just like the outside.) Once you’re done, glue down the page you saved earlier.

Told you you'd need a page.

Close the book and put weight on it again. Because there’s no air inside, its going to take a lot longer to dry. I left it overnight.

I got a bit of seperation so I added an extra coat to the outside, and put some extra weight on.

Slice open the title page. If you’re doing this during June in the southern hemisphere like I did, it might still be tacky.

I put another coat of glue on to flatten down some of the rough cuts.

Open the book. Let it dry. You’re done.

Inconspicuous.

Blink if you want.

Ozz — Sun, 30 May 2010 10:36:20 +0000

Angel – first draft

Love – a story of borrowing intellectual property somehow.

Ozz — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:37:00 +0000

Comic original here.
Kara’s blag here.

Desk mod – Untweeted

Ozz — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:17:11 +0000

This was a series of Twitpic photos I took whilst bettering my desk. Moved to here because honestly I need to scrape content where I can.

Issue: second monitor is in a bitch of a spot. Need to look up to view which is awkward, as well at makes the top of the screen dark.

Step I: Prop monitor shelf with near every non-Pratchett book I own.

Step II: Remove cupboard.

Step III: Mark lines. Apparently the saw has a laser guide. Apparently its shit. I'm saddened by this.

Step IV: Pry off the backing I completely forgot about. Remove nails.

Step V: Go outside, where sawdust becomes nature's problem.

Step VI: Saw planks. If you're non-conformist like me, disregard the guide lines you drew.

Step VII: Rebuild desk. Flipped shelf upside down as the other side was covered in holes and groved from the cupboard.

Completed: AU$70 desk is now a fair amount more ergonomic.

Ozzy looks for a spark.

Ozz — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:43:39 +0000

So if I may start from the beginning, I own a laptop. It crashed a lot, required frequent restoring, and overheated like crazy. A few weeks back, it died. No more startup, battery’s shot, wont restore. Power issues aside, probably the hard drive that was the issue. Doesn’t matter. I decided I was going to blow it up. Inspired by The Ruku to do something that isn’t Dragon Age, and Kara to actually update this thing, I decided if it was going to actually happen, it was gonna happen right, dammit.

And so, a schematic for a spark box was drawn:

'We can figure out the finer details as we go.'

And then, armed with an eighth grade knowledge of electronics and no desire to research anything, a real schematic was drawn:

I'm not sure how "live wires" is actually symbolised. It probably isn't. With good reason.

The concept itself is simple; The toggle switch is flipped to ‘arm’ with a LED to indicate power on as a safety measure, then the button is pressed to generate a spark between two external wires. I haven’t figured out what’ll be on the end of that spark, but thats later. First, a trip to the local Jaycar for components. Battery, wire, LEDs, switches, soldering iron, tools.

Gas soldering irons are shit, just BTW.

I figured I’d be lazy about it all and buy a cheap plastic box. I was already half guessing about the electrical side of all this; no reason to pretend I know anything about wood or metal crafting. holes were drilled:

I went with the "drill small and make the hole gradually bigger til it fits" method.

Then switches and the first of a few LEDs were placed in the box.

Easy.

It was at this point I gave up taking photos at every step; one because I am really shit at soldering. Also, I forgot. So after many burns, cutting, beer, this happened:

Mmm, sciencish.

There was much exitement in the air as I held the button in my hand. Laughing not so much maniacly as giggling creeply, I flipped on the switch. The little red light lit up. My finger pressed down on the button and…

…nothing. Well not nothing. The world’s tiniest puff of smoke. Yes, I’m prepared to make this call. Not even a spark. I have box with a light on it.

...

Since doing this I’ve done what any normal person does in the name of science: I broke something to see how it works. RIP BBQ lighter, because its pretty much what I was trying to achieve, but on a much grander scale.

Another trip to Jaycar ensues.

Ozzy plays with iPhone camera and ftp apps.

Ozz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:44:41 +0000

Image that will likely change.