3D Printer for The Lab

I started looking at 3D printers for the lab. I definitely decided that the first one will have to be a cheaper one, sub $1000. Not because I don't want to spend a lot of money but because I would rather start off with a cheaper one and get my skills and design experience up before spending more money on a better model. Also, by getting a cheaper model first, I won't be as apprehensive to modify the printer by adjusting settings and parts. 

I have narrowed it down to this manufacturer. So now the question is, which one. I don't care for the finished look of the product. It doesn't have to look all fancy so don't think about looks, I'm more concerned with the capabilities, like print area/volume and print resolution. Like I said this will be the first one for testing and getting my feet wet. If anyone has any ideas or inputs please post a reply.

Time to start shopping for a new carrier

After almost ten years with sprint, I think its time for this long term relationship to end, especially after seeing this article. It really hit home that Sprint probably isn't going to make it after multiple years of not being profitable.

I want to make it clear that I was always rooting for them to make it  just based on the fact that Sprint was always the underdog. I had the HTC Evo with WiMax and I currently have the Note 2 but the services provided continue to deteriorate and comparing the service to the competitors is getting to be depressing regards to the level of service and network speeds available.

The Softbank buyout of Sprint brought me some hope and maybe it is still a work in progress but I feel like I'm in the middle of a bad relationship going worse and my services are suffering as a result. So that bring me to my next question/decision. If I do switch, which carriers should I consider??????

XBOne Pit stop followup

This is a perfect example of sometimes in life it is the simplest things that are to blame. Literally five minutes after my initial post I started trouble shooting my system. By the time I had posted XBOne Pit stop My system had went blank at least five times. Needless to say that I was getting very annoyed and upset. 

One of the reasons I waited so long before I started trouble shooting this issue is because one should always take a detailed approach to figuring out an issue that could be caused by several different possibilities. The time I took to write my blog actually gave me the clarity and time to think about what approach to take in figuring out what the issue was.

So I am sure all of you are awaiting the resolution to my issue!!!! It was simply a loose HDMI cable between my XBOne and my receiver. The first thing I did was to start checking all the connections between the XBOne and the TV. Maybe one of the times I disconnected it to carry it somewhere else and the cable got loose when reconnecting. Obviously it continued to get worse as time went by as the cable got looser and looser.  

I had recommendations to get my updates but that's one of the reasons I waited as well. I thought that the February/March updates would fix it but instead, it continued to get worse. 

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Part II

One week later I have burned through two and a half seasons of the Clone Wars. This was no easy feat as I have been working and performing other duties as needed over the last 7 days. I see the series definitely connecting a few dot that were not connected on the original and new trilogy. This in essence has served as a story filler for all the things that were left assumed to be known. 

Season 3 episode 15 has made a turn for the very interesting and I wonder if it has anything to do with the books? I haven't read a lot of the Star Wars books and I know that some of them are based on Luke and not necessarily the story line being followed by the Clone Wars. 

I think it is about time I start reading the books as they will complete the entire story. Maybe the clone wars is a synopsis of the books in their entirety. Once I finish watching the clone wars, I will then watch the old and new trilogies to get a fully understanding of how they all fit together. Then I will start reading the books. It's about time i start reading again anyway. This will be a good opportunity for me to catch up on my reading.


P.S.: Don't you love double post days!

XBOne Pit stop

The weak links in the XBOne are finally showing up. I started noticing occasional bank screen issues after the December update but they were few and far apart. currently I am noticing this is occurring at least once every 3-4 hours that I spend using the console. This is not while playing games as I mostly use my XBOne for multimedia purposes (Netflix, Vudu and watching  cable tv via TV/HDMI in) but I must confess that I haven't started any in depth diagnosis/troubleshooting yet. There is a possibility that the updates has increased the sensitivity of the HDCP (High definition Content Protection) triggers and as a result, because my Receiver is at least 5 years old, it might not be playing nice with the XBOne. 

I will try to spend some time exploring this theory but it would me rewiring my entire system and also reprogramming my harmony remote. Not something I look forward to doing but I think I must do it sooner or later to save my sanity. As I sit here typing this up, the screen has blanked out no less than 3 times. I hope its not a hardware issue as I cannot afford to replace anything right now. as far as the XBOne is concerned, if it is the culprit, I have no issues shipping it off to microsoft for it to be repaired. I will definitely keep you all updated on this one.

Handy man Moment

The bathroom Faucet started making a funny whistling noise from earlier this week so I, as usual, embarked on figuring it out. Maybe I'll take some pics to show that there are no screws nor openings to dismantle the faucet. I had to figure out how to open it up. No model number, brand name nor serial number so I took to trusty Google and started searching for anything remotely similar to the one that i had and bingo! 10 minutes later I had it figured out. The moral of today's post is two fold:

1. It takes a lot of patience to figure out most of the stuff that I do in my handy man posts and believe it or not so can you as long as you have the patience to learn as you go and triple check everything you do.

2. Google (the internet actually) is rapidly becoming that guy that every one knows who knows how to fix everything that saves you a ton of money. 

P.S. : Pictures are easy, here we go:

Lets see who can post how to open this bad boy up first. 

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Started Binge watching the clone wars last week when it was added to Netflix instant watch. each episode is approximately 20 minutes long so its mostly action and little fluff. I'm currently half way through season 2 and still enjoying it.

Obviously animated so not as serious as the movies but at the same time, it is slowly answering all thos small questions that were all over the place from the movies.