Order Placed! - (Your latest online purchase.)

Ghot said:

Naw. I'm gonna stay with the awesome...

Logitech M100 Optical USB Mouse with Ambidextrous Design

Shop M100 Mouse. Features precise optical tracking, 3 buttons, scroll wheel, plug and play USB connection, full-size comfort shape, and multi-OS compatible

www.logitech.com

View attachment 38591

Click to expand...

It may be awesome for young people but not on your aging wrist. Get something a little better with programmable buttons for volume, next-previous page and dpi settings like maybe the G402 or G502. They are not very expensive.

badrobot said:

It may be awesome for young people but not on your aging wrist. Get something a little better with programmable buttons for volume, next-previous page and dpi settings like maybe the G402 or G502. They are not very expensive.

Click to expand...

If I could find a mouse like the M-100, but with higher dpi, I'd snag it.
Back in the day... this beast almost crippled me.



My hands are incredibly coordinated, my fingers... not so much.

Ghot said:

Back in the day... this beast almost crippled me.

View attachment 38593

My hands are incredibly coordinated, my fingers... not so much.

Click to expand...

Our first video game was made by my older brother who was an electronics enthusiast back then. The controller body is a casette tape case, the jostick is a potentiometer (for up-down control) and 2 momentary switches for the A& B button. It only plays the ping pong type of a game.

badrobot said:

Our first video game was made by my older brother who was an electronics enthusiast back then. The controller body is a casette tape case, the jostick is a potentiometer (for up-down control) and 2 momentary switches for the A& B button. It only plays the ping pong type of a game.

Click to expand...

Been there my friend. I too was a tinkerer.
If I couldn't find something I wanted in the store... I would make it.

Some things like my electric bike, that required an extension cord, were not so successful. LOL
Probably my greatest achievment was when the pulley on the dryer... drum, broke.
The dryer worked fine, but I couldn't get the pulley anywhere.
So I grabbed a piece of Lignum Vitae (iron wood), and spun a new pulley on the lathe.
That sucker is probably still going. It was 30 years ago.

I normally just use the thumb buttons on my mouse. I program it to control speaker volume instead of reaching out to my speaker or digging into corner of the screen for volume. It is not laziness, just making things easier.

badrobot said:

I normally just use the thumb buttons on my mouse. I program it to control speaker volume instead of reaching out to my speaker or digging into corner of the screen for volume. It is not laziness, just making things easier.

Click to expand...

I could probably deal with thumb buttons. Thumb, forefinger and middle finger are talented.
The rest seem to be just along for the ride.

Here was another quickie. CPU (orig. Pentium Pro), was running too hot.
But the heat sink was (due to extreme time), welded to the CPU.
Didn't want to risk damaging the CPU.
I happened to have some flat aluminum stock and some epoxy laying around, so...

Ghot said:

I could probably deal with thumb buttons. Thumb, forefinger and middle finger are talented.
The rest seem to be just along for the ride.

Here was another quickie. CPU (orig. Pentium Pro), was running too hot.
But the heat sink was (due to extreme time), welded to the CPU.
Didn't want to risk damaging the CPU.
I happened to have some flat aluminum stock and some epoxy laying around, so...

View attachment 38597

Click to expand...

What it needs is some more airflow as well. It will help it cool down quicker. Since you are into customisation right there, if you have a spare fan (or there cheap options anyway) add one or two in front for the heat sink (blowing towards the heat sink).

badrobot said:

What it needs is some airflow as well. It will help it cool down quicker. Since you are into customisation right there, if you have a spare fan (or there cheap options anyway) add one or two in front for the heat sink (blowing towards the heat sink).

Click to expand...

There were already fans in the right locations. that's why I bent the aluminum the way I did.
It helps guide the airflow.. Just that aluminum flat stock dropped the CPU temps by 25C.
I still have that computer and it still works.. I put XP on one of the drives, and Diablo II on the other drive.

I could get into the channel in Diablo II, and even create a game.
But due to the awesome video card... when in the game... I couldn't move. LOL

1.2 and 2.1 GB hard drives, 96KB of RAM, 4KB of Vram.
It is an HP Vectra VA

Ghot said:

There were already fans in the right locations. that's why I bent the aluminum the way I did.
It helps guide the airflow.. Just that aluminum flat stock dropped the CPU temps by 25C.

Click to expand...

Those are just passive air flow. You want a dedicated and direct air flow like modern cpu coolers.

badrobot said:

Those are just passive air flow. You want a dedicated and direct air flow like modern cpu coolers.

Click to expand...

Well, I have the fans, I even have small ones. But the aluminum bar did the trick.
I didn't need any more cooling. I got it down to 40C, which was awesome for those CPUs.

It was only a 200Mhz CPU. Tcase was 80C
It was just a "for fun" project. Thing was way too slow to actually use.
Neighbor gave it to me in 2004. They were tossing them out at work.
I was already rocking an AMD 2800+ CPU, with 2GB of RAM and a Voodoo 3 3000 vid card.

I still have that CPU... (motherboard died though).




This one is still together and still works...

Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard (1603 BIOS)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
CORSAIR XMS2 (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX

EVGA 01G-P3-1280-AR GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 <-- Ran this for most of the time.

WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW






Not in this pic... GTX 780 Ti, Voodoo3 3000, Voodoo5 5500, and my current RTX 2070...
Yes... I'm a pack rat.




The two Voodoo cards were too valuable... so right after they changed the damn AGP slot, I sold those.
I really liked the Voodoo 5 5500. It had dual GPUs. If nothing else, it "looked" awesome.



They had one with four GPUs (Voodoo 5 6000). But I couldn't afford that.

If you bought an MX Master 3, you'd never buy another mouse in your life! Just sayin!

Edwin said:

If you bought an MX Master 3, you'd never buy another mouse in your life! Just sayin!

Click to expand...

Don't want a wireless mouse or a mouse that requires software. Don't "need" any of that, really.

Well, after living where I am for 22 years, I decided I'd finally get a compass.
I can only guesstimate where East is, because there are hills with trees, all around me.


Yeah, I could make a compass. Or I could figure it all out via the stars. But what the heck.
I found a great compass... for cheap...


Global needle (works in N or S hemisphere), mineral oil filled chamber (dampens needle movement), and no tools required to set my declination. Also, it will fit in my pocket.











Now if I had money to burn, I'd probably get this. It doesn't function any better than the one I actually bought, but it sure "looks" better.

Ghot said:

Well, after living where I am for 22 years, I decided I'd finally get a compass.
I can only guesstimate where East is, because there are hills with trees, all around me.


Yeah, I could make a compass. Or I could figure it all out via the stars. But what the heck.
I found a great compass... for cheap...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IL6LFPE/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza?th=1

Global needle (works in N or S hemisphere), mineral oil filled chamber (dampens needle movement), and no tools required to set my declination. Also, it will fit in my pocket.

View attachment 39064









Now if I had money to burn, I'd probably get this. It doesn't function any better than the one I actually bought, but it sure "looks" better.

Grand Voyager Compass Black: Ideal Gift

The perfect symbolic gift: Black pocket compass with precision detailing. Half hunter style fob case with glazed window & deep engraving. Can be engraved with personal messages; comes in presentation box; ideal wedding gift.

www.dalvey.com

View attachment 39066

Click to expand...

I use the compass on my phone.

badrobot said:

I use the compass on my phone.

View attachment 39067

Click to expand...

Yeah... I don't have a smart phone. And my compass doesn't need a battery.
Best of all... there's no monthly charge either.



I checked out a LOT of compasses. Silva, SVBONY, Eyeskey, Brunton, SUUNTO... etc.
I wanted something small, that was actually a decent compass, and didn't cost a fortune.
Brunton had good compasses and they're made in the USA, in Wyoming.

SUUNTO compasses are made in Finland, btw.

Stanley London also had some nice stuff...



And those gorgeous Dalvey compasses are made in Alness, Scotland, UK



And if anyone wants to go really crazy, we got ya covered...

Well... just got my compass and my leather mouse pad.
The compass is great, but the 10" x 30" leather mouse (and keyboard), pad... is awesome.

Works perfectly for the mouse and the "heel" of my hand is ecstatic. Smooth as a baby's butt.
Impossible to "overshoot" a target with the mouse on this surface.
I highly recommend this leather (whatever size), for all your mousing needs.


6" x 6" up to 30" x 48"


Note: Surface is not as "quick" as say a nylon cloth surface would be.
The mouse will NOT move unless you move it, and will stop dead when you release it.
I imagine it will get a slight "glaze" from hand oils after a few months.

For those wanting a "faster" surface, I'm sure there's a leather treatment product that will give you that.

I just researched a bit. Leather company people recommend a tiny amount of leather conditioner, and then buff it till it shines. The buffing will work the conditioner into the leather and prevent it from leaving any residue on your mouse.


Personally, I "like" the bit of extra friction.

Well now that I got my compass, I can rest easy. Now I KNOW my street faces... NE by E¼E.

Ghot said:

Well now that I got my compass, I can rest easy. Now I KNOW my street faces... NE by E¼E.



View attachment 39449

Click to expand...

You can return the compass back to the store now.

badrobot said:

You can return the compass back to the store now.

Click to expand...

LOL

Maybe I'll have to hike somewhere and practice my orienteering.

When I was a kid in Boy Scouts, I learned how to navigate with a compass. But it was kind of silly.
On land you're supposed to find your direction, then pick a landmark.
But if something blocks your landmark you're supposed to use the compass.

I always thought... well when you come into the open again you can find your landmark,
so ya didn't really need the compass... on land anyhow.


I thought triangulation with a compass was kind of silly too.
To do it, you had to know three landmarks on the map and on the ground.
But once you knew that, and had your handy topographical map...
ya didn't really need a compass to triangulate your location. LOL

Needless to say, things like (well why do I need a compass then), didn't endear me to the scoutmasters.

I mean it's easier and faster with a compass. But it's not like your only recourse without a compass,
is to grab a tent pole and "do the honorable thing". LOL

I have a black desktop and other surfaces, a car with a black interior and I frequently had difficulty finding my iphone with it's black case, so... mountain green Caudabe Sheath case.
These are pretty good cases. This replaces their black synth case that I have dropped many times (doh).