It struck me the other day that I never got the top shelf for my IKEA computer desk. If I recall correctly, I bought the IKEA Jerker desk in the year 2000. A year later, in August, as the new catalogue was coming out, I was regretting my decision not to get the top shelf (and more swivelling shelves) because the model had been redesigned. For the better I think, but it nevertheless meant that I couldn’t find accessories anymore.
A month later, in September 2001, I had put out an ad and bought two more swivelling shelves in addition to the one I already had. But I wasn’t looking for the top shelf at the time. There was no reason as I felt I had plenty of desk real estate at the time.
Today, I feel the desk is cluttered with devices. Subwoofer, UPS, gamepad, USB hub … and I would of course like to move to a dual monitor setup eventually. The Jerker seems perfect for a dual 22 inch display setup. So I will have to do some digging around again. Someone is bound to have a Jerker that they want to get rid of. If I can’t find the shelf I might as well buy an entire desk and strip it down for parts. One caveat though is that the Jerker v2 (which I also have) is 120 cm wide (v1 is 110 cm) so unfortunately I wont be able to scavenge any v2 desks for parts. Another complication is that the shelf is practically impossible to send in the mail and that the v1 seems to exist in at least one other colour except for the birch / silver that I have.
Addendum: I just realized that there is a site dedicated to second-hand IKEA furniture (Billyandfriends). Too bad no one seems to use it. Perhaps the official second-hand IKEA site that is launching later this week will change all that. I would have really liked to have attended one of their flea markets on Saturday but I just can’t be bothered.
Filed under Interior Design by Björn Hallberg 4 days, 23 hours ago | 26 views
Unfortunately this setup has been falling behind and will need an upgrade. It is unfortunate because I can’t yet move current generation hardware from Workstation 1 (WS1) as I usually do. I’m quite pleased with the Q6600 setup I’ve got here and the only two upgrade paths would be an Intel I5 750 (Quad) or an AMD 1055T (Hexa). Both impressive certainly, but not a night and day difference from my current setup. Especially with drastically different architectures coming Q1 next year that will include, among other things, hardware accelerated AES encryption.
Also, moving this hardware would require buying a new graphic card for WS2. Buying new budget components for the WS2 on the other hand would not only be cheaper, but would also allow for buying a 785G main board with integrated graphics. No impressive graphic solution to be sure, but essentially free. Not to mention that such a setup would be A LOT more power efficient, and have higher per core clock speed, compared to my old 65nm quad core. I mean, still after several years there is absolutely no reason for the casual desktop user to go beyond two physical cores. Unless you’re gaming or encoding video or some such it’s just a waste of energy. Certainly nothing to aspire to on a budget system.
- 785G main board with integrated ATI 4200, mATX most likely.
- AMD Athlon II X2 250 (with the boxed fan for the time being).
- 2 or 4 GB DDR3. 1333 MHz or older 1066 MHz if available. Memory frequency seems to matter very little (X-bit labs) so on a budget system there is no point in going all out.
- Samsung F3 1TB. Cheap and fast.
- Possibly new PSU. I know I replaced the original PSU on WS2 because it fried. Can’t imagine the replacement was very high quality.
It’s the smartest upgrade I’ve been able to come up with thus far. WS2 also requires a new monitor, Dell 2209WA most likely, so I might replace my 19” Mitsubishi CRT with the 19” Philips CRT from that setup. For the short term that will solve the problem of my ageing monitor, and it will allow me to get first hand experience from a TFT screen in a setup without any gaming inclinations. I still don’t know if I will have to forego TFTs altogether and hold out for some future tech.
On a side note though, if you were to buy a new TFT today, the market is as difficult as it was six months ago. The 16:10 e-IPS Dell 2209WA is still the best choice. 1680 x 1050 is still the ideal resolution. Going for 1920 x 1080, especially on a 21-23 inch display (as Dell moronically did on their two replacement monitors, the U2311H and U2211H) is useless. Meanwhile, 1920 x 1200 monitors are increasingly scarce. Right now I’m a little concerned that the 2209WA will be discontinued though. I can certainly see the writing on the wall.
Filed under PC by Björn Hallberg 2 weeks, 5 days ago | 42 views
I’ve been experimenting with different recipes and methods of making fruit curds. Mostly lemon curd of course.
Generally there are two or three problems that you run into when making a fruit curd. The first being how to heat the mixture sufficiently, with as little risk as possible and the second is achieving the right consistency. The third is getting the correct flavour which is especially crucial when it comes to acidic mixtures like lemon or lime curds. I’ve found for instance that many recipes have far too much lemon juice in them. For the future I will try using half a lemon worth for a standard one egg batch. It’s better to add more zest in my opinion. Also, unless you have a good reason, don’t bother with separating the eggs and using just the yolks.
I’ve tried a number of ways of making curds and in the end I stumbled upon the microwave method. It seems infallible when used in intervals of 30 – 60 seconds. I also found this nifty video that explains the method in detail. I really can’t recommend using the "double boiler" method, i.e. steam heating a bowl, as it is SLOW and BORING. A microwave is twice as fast at least and twice as exact. I’d sooner recommend using a saucepan directly, just like the pros. It can easily fail but at least it’s fast.
That brings us to texture and consistency. Using a microwave cuts down on need to use a strainer afterwards. The eggs just don’t clot in the same unappealing way. So unless you’ve used extremely chunky zest or forgot to remove the pulp from the fruit juice you’re probably good to go. Finally, getting the right thickness is just a matter of experimentation. I’d reckon I run a normal batch of curd five or six minutes or so in the microwave (60 + 60 + 45 + … seconds). You can keep going until you’re happy but also keep in mind that the mixture will thicken somewhat as it cools. It might be a good idea to put the bowl in some cold water to speed up the process and get a better idea of the final result. If you’re not happy you SHOULD be able to start the heating cycle again.
Suggested curds: Lemon, orange, lime, raspberry, kiwi, passion fruit, pineapple, mango, blackberry … the possibilities are endless.
Filed under Food by Björn Hallberg 2 weeks, 5 days ago | 42 views
The application formerly known as Nokia Sports Tracker is back under new management (twitter). I uploaded a sample data interval earlier today (publically available here) and everything seems to be working well enough. Uploading went without a hitch and was fast enough on 3G. The result was immediately available on the website.
As for features it seems that the dev team will bring back the old "live" tracking again in the future. As well as a number of other perks like grouping tracks together and music logging. Version 3.5 of the client also includes a number of new and exotic activities to choose from. Hopefully the software will continue to be free and without nags or ads.
I just wish they hadn’t made the website using FLASH! Cpu usage is 33% on a QUAD core … effectively several times worse than playing 1080p videos on youtube. Come on people!
Filed under Software by Björn Hallberg 3 weeks ago | 46 views
The elusive raspberry thief is at it again. I was bribing him (her?) with almonds for a week but he seems to be back on the raspberry diet again.
Edit: I took some new photos in less gloomy weather. Still through a window but at shutter speeds of 1/250 (f7.1) to 1/160 (f8) which is quite acceptable using the Sigma 150-500 OS. A larger image can be found in the Garden album.
Filed under Garden by Björn Hallberg 3 weeks, 4 days ago | 44 views
RTS games, as illustrated by choices made by Gas Powered Games.
Where would Starcraft 2 fit in all of this? Is it just semi-retarded or is it too generous a description? At any rate the game lacks any sort of strategy, not that it was present in the first game either. I don’t really remember. No real unit diversity, no base planning or layout, no proper base defence structures. Even the nice little things from the single player campaign, like resource caches, seem to be unavailable, at least in skirmish mode. Just amass the biggest heap of units, bring healers and swamp your enemy. Real sophisticated. Your base just seems like a parenthesis, kind of like in Demigod. Replay value seems real low on this one.
Filed under Games by Björn Hallberg 4 weeks, 1 day ago | 53 views
The cotoneaster just had to go. Regrowth was spotty at best and it would have taken years for the hedge to reform. Not only was it a real bother to get the veritable mountain of entangled branches to the city dump, and uprooting the stumps by hand, but being such a hopeless tree hugger and melancholic the whole thing sort of irked me … a lot.
So, here is a first sort of final sketch of the proposed fence.
Building a virtual model, even of something as trivial as a fence, turned out to be extremely advantageous. In the end it will not only prevent a ton of wasted materials by more accurately anticipating demand, but it has also helped me to foresee about a dozen or so serious design flaws and conflicts. Enough hopefully so that the things I weren’t able to foresee can be patched up and glossed over. All in all not the simplest design, but the best I could come up with given the constraints of the walls and landscape. The basic requirements were that the fence would be double sided, have at least two different heights, leave no area exposed to wood rot and if possible extend down to cover the uglier parts of the retaining wall. The biggest hurdle remains to install and space the fence post brackets on that wall though. It’s a fair bit of concrete to drill through and because of the different levels, the posts that in turn decide the levels would have to be spot on for optimum aesthetics.
Filed under Garden by Björn Hallberg 1 month, 1 week ago | 64 views
Overall a very disappointing sale. All I got was a Gardena bypass pruning lopper 780 BL with gear transmission. I actually returned my old lopper, citing quality issues. It was a real piece of crap to be sure. The gear transmission on this one seems to be leaps and bounds better. It is also far sturdier. Sure, it’s no Fiskars, but at 50% off it was a steal.
Now, all that is left is to wait for the plant clearance sale that usually happens in August or September.
Filed under Garden by Björn Hallberg 1 month, 1 week ago | 90 views
So, I picked up a Nokia 5230 at a sale. I was curious about the Symbian system, and we needed a new phone anyway. After much consideration I concluded that even a bare bones smart phone would be better than any old dumb phone that you could get for the same price. As for myself I’ll keep using my old Sony Ericsson T310 until there is an affordable Android alternative with all the hardware kinks worked out.
Impressions of the 5230: Great value. One sixth or so of the price of an Iphone 3GS. No powerhouse or multimedia wonder though. And applications can be dodgy.
Caveats when compared to most smart phones, like its bigger brother the 5800 include the lack of WLAN, stereo speakers, front facing camera, autofocus and a decent camera. Also, Nokia should have kept the stylus from the 5800.
Continue reading ‘Nokia 5230′
Filed under Gear by Björn Hallberg 1 month, 3 weeks ago | 28 views
Upgrade went well. It’s nice to see that the platform is still under such intense development. Knock on wood.
One of the changes in 3.0 is the custom menu. Unfortunately you have to code it into your template for this to work. Just like with widgets. Incidentally I stripped the widget snippets from all my templates and I’m starting to regret it now.
Filed under Site by Björn Hallberg 2 months, 1 week ago | 75 views
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