Category: Personal Projects

Bob Baddeley Memorial Fountain

At the lab a model of the campus additions was placed on display in each of the buildings so that people could get an idea of how the campus was going to change. One day I made a little addition to the model. It stayed up for at least 4 months and moved from building to building.

The addition was the “Bob Baddeley Memorial Fountain,” and it was placed right in the middle of the display. It was made out of green cellophane taped to a piece of colored cardboard that was taped onto the piece of paper labeling it the memorial fountain, which was then taped to the display. I managed to get the scale believable, and the fountain just blended in with the rest of the display. At first I was sure it would disappear and I would get in trouble. After a few days, the display disappeared from my building. Later I got a message from a friend in another building asking me if I knew about it, because the display had been moved to his building and he had recognized the name. I knew about the display moving to two other buildings after that, and I never heard from anyone about it. I walked by it a few months later and it was still there.

I have been asked why it’s the Memorial fountain, as I’m not dead. My answer is two-fold: if I had been discovered by the wrong people, I might have been dead, and this way I can say it was a joke ahead of its time. I was also asked why I used my real name. In retrospect, I should have picked a more clever name, like a famous scientist or a random person. Oh well,

Audio Switch

I have a set of speakers that I embedded into my coffee table. This actually made a lot of sense because it moved the speakers to the center of the room and away from the apartment walls and increased the stereo effect, as well as saving room in the cramped apartment. The speakers serve both my computer and my Playstation2. The speakers only have a single 1/8” plug, though, so I built a switch using a tin of mints (the mints were horrible anyway) that accepts the speaker plug and the plugs for the computer and the Playstation2. It’s a cute little thing and does exactly what I needed.

Steadicam

My digital camera needed some accessories, and the steadicam seemed like a perfect addition. Built out of simple parts from a hardware store (and a pie plate from ShopKo), this steadicam makes sure that while I’m taking video the camera stays level and steady.

The pictures should be pretty self-explanatory as far as building it. We were making two at once, so there’s twice as many parts as you’ll need. The parts can be acquired at most hardware stores. The purpose of the pie plate is to create a wide surface so that the steadicam can be set down and used like a tripod without tipping over. It works surprisingly well. One thing that is different from the pictures is that we discovered that the plastic screws were too wobbly, so we went with metal screws instead. The plastic wing nuts are still fine, though.

Composite to S-Video

With the projector in my apartment, I have a VGA cable and an S-Video cable running as inputs. However, my Playstation2 cable only has composite video output. It turns out that composite can be hacked into s-video fairly easily. By running the composite video signal to both the brightness and color parts of the s-video you get a usable video feed. It’s not great quality, but it’s better than nothing. I also managed to find a Playstation2 cable that had s-video out, so it’s no longer an issue, but for a while I needed a solution.

Staples Easy Button Hacking

For a project at work I needed a solid button that would be easy to press. It turned out that the Staples Easy Button was a perfect match for what I needed; heavy, easy to locate without looking for it, a great size, and it was just a single button. I opened it up and removed the speakers and disconnected the majority of the inner workings, rewiring some bits so that I could run a wire out of it and into the serial port of a computer. Then I could use the button as an input device. It worked perfectly.

Here is a step-by-step gallery that shows how to dismantle the button, remove the speakers (you could leave them in, but what’s the point? Why not take out the free speaker for use somewhere else?), tap into the switch, and re-assemble.

We start by removing screws. Keep removing screws until you can pry the speaker out. Cut the red wires and remove the speaker. Reassemble the button most of the way. Remove the resistor on top. Also cut the black and white wire coming from the battery case. Cut the traces to the chip (the black mound). Solder wires at the points shown on the images: there’s one point where the resistor used to be, and one point that’s just a bare hole. Then solder the other ends of those wires to the black and white battery wires. Now reassemble completely. You can now tie or solder wires to the pads where the batteries go and use the button for whatever application you have.

Coconut Shrimp

These will turn out fantastic. They’re best served warm or right off the frying pan.

This isn’t a recipe so much as a process.

  • Remove the shells from the thawed, uncooked shrimp. Traditionally, the tail part is left on, but it’s annoying at eating time, so you can take the whole shell off if you want.
  • Rinse off the shrimp an remove most of the excess water, but leave them damp.
  • Heat a frying pan to medium heat and put about two tablespoons of butter in. Have lots more butter available.
  • Prepare a shallow bowl with flour in it.
  • Beat two eggs into a second shallow bowl and put that next to the flour bowl.
  • Put coconut flakes into a third shallow bowl and put that next to the egg bowl.
  • Put a paper towel between the coconut bowl and the frying pan.
  • Put a paper towel after the frying pan.

You should have an assembly line that looks like the following:

  • Shrimp
  • Flour bowl
  • Egg bowl
  • Coconut bowl
  • Paper towel
  • Frying pan
  • Paper towel

Put about 15 shrimp through the assembly line. First dip them in the flour bowl, then dip them in the egg batter and let the excess drip off, then roll them in the coconut, and place them on the first paper towel if you don’t have room in the pan. Put the shrimp in the pan for about 2 minutes on each side. Watch the butter and add more as necessary to make sure there’s enough that it doesn’t start burning. Also watch the coconut flakes that fall off. They have a tendency to burn after a while, and then they stick to the new batches of shrimp and look bad, so occasionally you may have to just wipe the pan clean and start over with new butter. After the shrimp are lightly brown, take them out of the pan and put them on the far paper towel so they can dry off a little (that is, so the excess butter can soak into the towel).

Serve immediately.

 

Coconut Shrimp are SO EASY! Cake frosting is not.

In preparation for the new year party I attended, I decided to make coconut shrimp. I found many recipes, and all were very different. You’d think there’d be some consistency between recipes when making a specific dish, but this was not the case. I decided on one for which I had all the ingredients (I have moments of intelligence sometimes). The process was very simple. First, I thawed and shelled the shrimp, leaving the tail on. Next, I prepared an assembly line that included first a bowl of flour, then a bowl with two beaten eggs, then a bowl of coconut flakes, then a frying pan with a couple tablespoons of butter on medium heat. The shrimp went through the flour first, which stuck because the shrimp were damp. Then they were dipped in the egg, which stuck because the flour was dry. After letting the excess egg drip off, the shrimp were dipped into the coconut and rolled around to make sure everything was coated. Then they went into the frying pan. After a couple minutes, I flipped them over so the other side would be cooked, and when they were finished I put them on a paper towel to dry off. Every second batch I washed out the pan because the coconut that fell off would start to burn. I also had to keep adding butter to the pan.

In the end, though, I had made about 50-60 coconut shrimp, and they were still warm when I got to the party. Very tasty. I’m definitely saving that ‘recipe.’

All was not well in Bob’s kitchen last night, though. I made a sheet cake from scratch and was happy with the results, but I needed a frosting, and didn’t have any good recipes that also included ingredients in my kitchen. This is a frequent problem because I have a hard time maintaining a stock of perishable exotic ingredients and whenever I try I end up with many losses.

Anyway, I tried to make a frosting, but the first recipe flopped. Essentially butter and confectioner’s sugar, it never solidified (I’m also short a mixer, so mixing by hand is a bit limited in its success). That went down the drain and I tried another recipe, this time involving shortening. Still no luck, but it didn’t go down the drain yet. I found a third recipe that included the same ingredients plus one or two others, so I morphed the second attempt into the third, with still no luck. By this time I was convinced that the lack of a mixture was a significant factor. It was getting down to the wire and I still didn’t have a frosting, so I gave up and went to the local Safeway, where I bought some frosting. It was sad, but unavoidable. With the frosting and the sprinkles, the cake looked great, and I was happy to discover later that night that it tasted even better than it looked.

Carrot Cake

350* until toothpick is clean, about 40 minutes

  • Main cake:
    • 3 cups grated carrots (about 6)
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 2 cups white sugar
    • 2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 4 eggs
    • 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
    • 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
    • 3/4 cup chopped pecans
  • Frosting
    • 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
    • 1 (8 ounce) package Neufchatel cheese
    • 1/2 cup butter, softened
    • 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 1 cup chopped pecans

The vegetable oil may seem like a lot, but don’t worry about it.

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.
  2. In a large bowl, combine grated carrots, flour, white sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in eggs, oil, 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, pineapple and 3/4 cup chopped pecans. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
  4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, Neufchatel cheese, 1/2 cup butter or margarine and 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla. Beat until smooth. Spread on cooled cake. Then sprinkle 1 cup chopped pecans on top.

 

Another Painful Cooking Experience

Today’s lesson is about cankersores. These are stress-induced sores on the inside of the mouth that are very painful. They are not bacterial or viral. After a few days, they will go away on their own. Since I have been under a lot of stress lately with the end of the fiscal year approaching at work and many pools of money rapidly drying up, these cankersores are no surprise.

Another important thing to note is that one should not compose a meal using highly acidic tomatoes when there are sores inside the mouth. ouch.