tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35254731601665282172024-02-20T08:42:12.657-08:00CCT Blog: Cars, Computers, & ThingsAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-41789128774318084612013-08-16T13:21:00.001-07:002013-08-16T17:38:52.330-07:00My Most Recent Photo Project: Setting Flowers On FireYou recall that super secret #photography project that I was going on about last weekend? Well, here's the result: a six image series that I've titled Fire Blossoms. These flowers were actually on fire--Photoshop was only used for cropping, some touch up work, and a bit of color manipulation on a few of the images.
The series could be seen as an exploration of one entity giving life to another Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-60131400425002548602011-09-18T14:15:00.000-07:002012-04-22T17:26:54.280-07:00Letting go...I teased you guys with images of my DDCT-02 pump top design when I created the Open Cooling Initiative page about a year ago and not much has happened with it since then. I've come to the realization that there's little point in me continuing to withhold the design as it's unlikely that I'm going to venture back into manufacturing cooling parts. It's time for me to let go.
You can click the Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-87574242900392594102011-06-01T14:37:00.000-07:002011-06-01T14:37:56.891-07:00Subwoofer Adaptation - Part 2You may recall the home entertainment Z-2300 subwoofer modification project that I discussed in my previous post. Well, I completed the investigation, modification, and have been using the setup for a few weeks now and have found it to work rather well--I'm no audiophile and I'm sure there are folks out there who would consider the use of this subwoofer heresy, but I'm happy with it. Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-32137474704206285112011-05-01T16:02:00.000-07:002011-05-01T16:03:32.360-07:00Upcoming ProjectsFirst up, I'd like to apologize to all of the [five] people who read this blog for not getting those CES galleries uploaded back in February... The downtime I was expecting never happened and, instead, I ended up with a house to deal with.
With that said, I have a small audio project coming up that I'll be posting to the blog as a how-to/DIY investigation. I'm doing another living room Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-19389265466398274812011-02-10T14:38:00.000-08:002011-02-10T14:38:29.757-08:00CES 2011 Wrap-upYeah, CES was last month... and I forgot to add the wrap-up video to the blog, despite having posted it to YouTube a while ago. Anyway, here's the video in case you missed it and I'll work on trickling photos onto the web during some downtime I should have within the next few weeks.
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-32322087305195960632011-01-05T20:50:00.000-08:002011-01-05T20:50:17.531-08:00CES 2011 BEGINS!!That's right, I'm in Las Vegas for CES for the third year running... This time, however, I'll actually be taking photos, shooting video, and uploading it for your guys!
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-30869579480892606942010-08-30T20:03:00.000-07:002010-09-13T10:45:04.958-07:00The EPA and you.Some of you may have read about the EPA's proposed new ratings system for automobile fuel efficiency and emissions:
Well, I decided that I'd add to things by coming up with my own ratings system that consumers would more easily be able to relate to the environment, as opposed to misinterpreting the EPA's letter grade as a judgment of the car as a whole. Then again, any car that'll save you -$Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-78590641782082443352010-08-27T16:12:00.000-07:002010-08-27T16:16:18.879-07:00Perfectly normal thought process...What's the first thing you think of when you're jarred awake by a sudden, deafening thunderclap shortly followed by rain, the noise from which can only be described as a roar, in the middle of a summer afternoon... and you notice that the air conditioner is running?
Well, if you answered "Hmm, if it's still 103°F outside, then the increase in humidity that'll result from this rain will even Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-67576443404083266852010-07-04T18:54:00.000-07:002010-07-04T18:54:40.135-07:00Phobos is soon to go...Well, that's that... Phobos has been listed on Craigslist. With any luck, someone will be interested in it and I won't have to drive too far. While the computer certainly doesn't represent my best work (I have a different set of aesthetic standards for things I toss under my desk that nobody gets to see), I'm still going to miss it.
The listing, along with plenty of photos, can be found here: Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-64227264107434712102010-06-28T21:39:00.000-07:002010-06-29T16:02:07.195-07:00Four cores on the cheap... all while consuming less than 100WA couple of months ago, the guys in the XtremeSystems World Community Grid forum reminded me of how wonderfully inexpensive old Intel server hardware has become... so, without further ado, I bring you a $200 quad-core system (just add a hard drive, E-ATX compatible case [optional], and video card [optional]).
Way back in 2006, the tech industry was clamoring for a cool and efficient alternative Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-15082522286823096612010-06-19T20:23:00.000-07:002010-06-19T20:25:50.046-07:00A few photos from Willow SpringsFor those of you who don't keep track of my Twitter account, I added a few of my photos from last weekend's trip to the Willow Springs International Raceway to TwitPic. The gallery of thumbnails can be viewed here (just click the thumbnails to view the whole image and enlarge).
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-39519800162526588162010-05-12T10:14:00.000-07:002010-05-12T10:14:17.510-07:00What's with all of this stuff?Some of you have likely noticed the mini-explosion of content on the blog over the past week or two and are wondering what's up... especially since it's likely that you've already seen the content elsewhere. Well, simply put, I'm taking some time to collect selections of my work that have been posted in various tech forums (like XtremeSystems) and centralize it on my blog as an archive. &Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-91993689128264185272010-05-05T18:36:00.000-07:002010-05-05T18:36:21.751-07:00[Forum Archive '09] Project: CES '09 LMM (Last Minute Mod)At the very end of 2008, I was approached by Super Talent Technology (a producer of DRAM and flash memory products for the PC and consumer electronics market) and was asked to put together a display system for their booth at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Not everything about the arrangement was particularly rosy, though, as I ended up shelling out somewhere inAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-36505307151969340182010-05-05T14:32:00.000-07:002010-05-05T14:32:59.643-07:00[PT Archive '09] A Quick Camera Mount TestThis is an external/internal camera mount test that I put together in 2009 for a couple suction mounts that I purcahsed. The amusing detail is that the video is composed of four separate trips around a local neighborhood block (well, local when I lived in Saratoga) that were painstakingly assembled in iMovie (would have been a lot easier in Premiere or Final Cut). There's really only one point inAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-15308598424552821652010-05-03T17:39:00.000-07:002010-05-03T17:40:00.268-07:00[Forum Archive '08] Fan Controller AnalysisSometimes a bit of investigation must be done before a question can be answered...this is one of those times. In late 2008, a controversy erupted in XtremeSystems over whether or not certain fan controllers utilized some form of PWM (a debate stemming from the acoustic behavior of certain fans when used with different controllers). Below are a few of my posts from the thread documenting my look Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-77080910336775895392010-05-03T16:40:00.000-07:002010-07-16T11:31:31.988-07:00[Forum Archive '08] Quick Pump Test: Laing D4 vs. Laing D5-BIn late 2008, I was contacted by an employee of Corsair Memory and we worked out a deal for PTS to take some excess inventory off their hands for a very attractive price. The excess inventory in question consisted of 300 Laing D4 pumps which had been purchased by accident sometime in either late 2004 or 2005 as well as 350+ steel Rev. 1 Swiftech RadBoxes. Naturally, I had to run a quick Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-10679620574025712732010-05-02T20:34:00.000-07:002010-05-03T16:40:38.146-07:00[Forum Archive '08] Quick Pump Test: Detroit Thermo D5 TopI managed to scrape together the funds for some fresh test equipment in 2008 and, for the first couple of test runs, rather than fire up the CPU test system, I ran PQ curves for a couple pumps and an aftermarket top. Total forum thread views: 1,474 (as of 5/02/2010). As a side note, all images have been re-sized via HTML, rather than my usual two image (preview & full image via link) approach, toAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-48496679963118269612010-04-29T19:03:00.000-07:002010-04-29T19:03:47.378-07:00[Forum Archive '07] More DDC Top & Pump Performance TestingIn March of 2007, I announced a minor revision to my DDCT-01 performance enhancing DDC pump top and with that revision, of course, came more testing. Total forum thread views: 11,926 (as of 4/29/2010). As a side note, all images have been re-sized via HTML, rather than my usual two image (preview & full image via link) approach, to speed along the archiving process. You can still right-click on Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-88162834258026053262010-04-29T17:59:00.000-07:002010-04-29T17:59:49.315-07:00[Forum Archive '07] Design Project: Liquid Nitrogen/Dry Ice CPU Cooling "Pot"From time to time, I start various R&D projects for myself with the intent being to keep my problem solving and information acquisition skills sharp. Sometimes these projects evolve into fully realized products set for production (like the DDC pump tops) but they mostly end up getting shelved for one reason or another, like the one shown here. For those not familiar with extreme overclocking and Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-17956958324817409702010-04-28T19:42:00.000-07:002010-04-28T19:42:37.991-07:00[Forum Archive '06] Early DDC Top & Pump Performance ComparisonSeptember 2006 saw the debut of my custom, performance enhancing DDC pump tops. Yes, the testing was, by my current standards, quite crude... but it was the best that I could do with the resources I had at the time. Please keep in mind that "DDC+" actually refers to the old orange-impellered 18W DDC-2. Total forum thread views: 60,346 (as of 4/28/2010). As a side note, all images have been Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-58760889443388034332010-04-28T15:46:00.000-07:002010-04-28T15:46:56.183-07:00[Forum Archive '06] Scrap Acrylic ShroudsHere's a little tidbit from early 2006... a pair of radiator fan shrouds that I made out of some scrap acrylic that I had sitting around the warehouse. Total forum thread views: 1,086 (as of 4/28/2010). As a side note, all images have been re-sized via HTML, rather than my usual two image (preview & full image via link) approach, to speed along the archiving process. You can still right-click on Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-27239652151967021382010-04-28T14:59:00.000-07:002010-04-28T14:59:23.992-07:00[Forum Archive '05] T3h uber l337 Water Cooled Cardboard Box!I bring you a little treat from 2005... T3h uber l337 Water Cooled Cardboard Box! The build was used as a display system in the front office of Petra's Tech Shop and went through several rebuild phases as time passed (with this, of course, being its first form). Total forum thread views: 6,685 (as of 4/28/2010). As a side note, all images have been re-sized via HTML, rather than my usual two Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-21714767916806178542010-04-21T13:36:00.000-07:002010-04-21T13:36:33.663-07:00[Forum Archive '04] Project "SuperCube" WorklogI bring you a little treat from 2004... project SuperCube. Total forum thread views: 21,542 (as of 4/21/2010) and was featured on the main [H]ard|OCP News page. As a side note, all images have been re-sized via HTML, rather than my usual two image (preview & full image via link) approach, to speed along the archiving process. You can still right-click on the images and view them at full-size in aAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-66497994704081265642010-04-16T20:20:00.000-07:002010-09-13T10:45:56.793-07:00PQA Update: CPU Waterblock Performance Evaluation SystemI know that PQA has been absent for a while... but for good reason: I've been working on putting my CPU waterblock test system back together! Below is a quick video tour of the system and here's the conversation in XS.
A quick photo of the test system...
Here's what's on that table covered in stuff:
- Omega FL-1504A-B flowmeter
- Sper Scientific 840081 manometer
- Extech EA15 data logging Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3525473160166528217.post-23782297090135767692010-03-20T13:52:00.000-07:002010-04-20T16:34:54.675-07:00PQA Ep. 5: Water Cooling Pump & Fan Vibration Isolation TipsIn this episode, I cover a few basic water cooling pump and fan vibration isolation and noise reduction tricks.
As usual, I uploaded the videos in 720p HD, so you may want to view the videos through YouTube directly rather than here on the blog.
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13590427952206094145noreply@blogger.com