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Between blogging about digital TV (its all over) and playing Halo 2 (finished campaign on legendary) I've been working on a new dynamic weather userbar.



I've been wanting to pull weather data for awhile and was finally able to hook into the National Weather Service. The weather data provides some data feeds in XML that can be easily parsed and displayed. The one above is for current weather conditions. I've mostly been working on the programming, so the userbar could be a bit more interesting. Want to pull your own, check out Weather Dynamic Usersbars and select a weather station near you. Next up, I'd like to get forecasts working as well. [ View Article ]

Well, less than a day left and the old NTSC-M broadcast signal will almost be gone. I say almost because a few low power stations can still broadcast and I'm sure a few places will get by. But, by and large, it's all over for our old analog receivers.

Like I said in my last post, I'm ready for the conversion. Surprisingly, CBS is back on in my area on satellite, so my reason for getting things done is mostly gone. At least the children are happy. I also have to remember to rescan. That was something I wasn't aware that I would have to do. I also listen to TV on the radio in my car which I assume I'll lose. I guess I'll know tomorrow. [ View Article ]

Well, two days left and I'm good to go for the digital TV conversion.



I used my DTV coupon to get my oldest daughter a converter box a couple of weekends back and setting it went very smoothly. She picked up around 13 channels (mostly public TV) and things are working well. I still need to do some cable clean-up as she has some static which isn't from the signal. I was pleasantly surprised that the converter box includes a TV guide. That wasn't a feature I was aware of.

We had bought my youngest daughter a TV with a digital tuner for her birthday last year. However, the first time I tired to use the tuner, it wouldn't pick up any channels. Well, with the deadline looming, I headed to the attic and dug around in my old wire stash to find a pair of rabbit ears with a UHF antenna. A quick connect and bingo, digital channels for the viewing.  Unlike her sister's TV, the picture was clear and crisp. I also found I could change the TV layout to widescreen or crop to match the programming. Pretty cool.

In all, I'm pretty pleased with the results. Since I can't receive CBS on DISH due to an ongoing dispute, I can at least watch Big Brother this summer if I so desire. [ View Article ]

Okay, Safari 4 is out, showed up in my update today. I was a bit surprised as I thought I already had 4 installed, but it didn't take more than a quick peek at my existing Safari to realize it was the non-beta version. Like a kid opening a present, I quickly cut out of what I was doing and hit the Install button. A short time later, I was ready to load the latest experience. That was when disappointment set in. Right off the bat, the interface was different and, in my opinion, not for the better. Back to the old look for the tabs and, surprisingly, it looked out of place. I had really gotten used to the tabs at the top. They were both convenient and space savers. Another oddity is that text looks lighter than before -- I'm using Apple's text and not Windows. I also miss the old loading graphic. The new pop up "loading" message looks odd in Safari.

Not all is bad. It is still pretty fast and all the features from the beta are here. I noticed a little better performance with the "Top Sites" and history, but not enough to matter. If, like me, you liked the beta, you'll mostly enjoy Safari 4. I'm really hoping they bring back some of the old features in a preference option. I'm sure I'll learn to live with the changes in time. If not, IE8 is quietly waiting in the background. [ View Article ]

I'm still playing around with recreating old LEGO models. I spent time today modeling more road plates with the intention of creating a large town image. Unfortunately, after finishing the road plates, I side tracked on completing the old space crater plate that was, at the time, just a gray base plate. I've been missing the plate in my classic space models and, with the help of the wonderful 3947 LDraw part by Holly-Wood and the use of L3P I was able to update my larger models with a moon plate (yes what I call part 3947). Here are three updated images using the new part. I still think I can make these look better, but at the moment I'm as happy as a clam!

6970 Beta-1 Command Base


483 Alpha-1 Rocket Base


497 Galaxy Explorer
[ View Article ]

I have radiosity fever of late, converting or creating a number of new LEGO images utilizing POV-Ray 3.7 beta. Below are two new renders. The new model is 604 Shell Car that fit nicely with some of my old models. The old one, 600 Police Car, utilizes the setup from the first as well as fixes a few bugs in the original.

P.S. I have two more new car models rendering on my laptop right now. My next rendering needs to be something bigger. [ View Article ]

This is a "sort-of" recreation of the original cow image with the "Moo!" bubble.  Unlike the original, this is a true brick cow and I've tried to make it more "realsitic" then the original "flat" and shiny version.  I had added the bubble with Paint Shop Pro on the first version.  This time, I'm using CSG to do the same thing all in POV-Ray.  Enjoy!

[ View Article ]

I ran across some interesting Iterative Imaging Code that creates interesting fractal like graphics using POV-Ray. Basically, it creates the image and then uses that image to create the next one. Here is the original POV-Ray thread and code (not mine) for those interested in trying there hand at this. I'm not quite up to Jaime's standard yet, but I did spend hour or two making these backgrounds:

IIC v1 - Green Prisms


More Images: Subtle Snow and Green Swirls
[ View Article ]

Ran across this really interesting LEGO set and I just "had" to render it. I needed to model a few parts I didn't have in my library. I also threw it into the same background I used on one of my Fire Truck renders. I might change the scene a bit to better show the texture on the front slope. In all not bad for a first render.

[ View Article ]

Spent some time last weekend doing some additional renders using the latest 3.7 beta.  Fist off, some cows:




And the 602 Fire Truck with a better background and slightly different table surface.

[ View Article ]

• My Hobbies on GeoCities (slreid69)
• My GameSpot Profile (SafePit)
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• RADIX Construction, Inc.
• 360voice Dynamic Userbars

July  2009

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