I acquired a large, odd shaped, glass jar that I thought would make a cool aquarium. Due to the strange shape, a traditional aquarium hood/light combo would not work on this aquarium. I decided that a cheap aluminum 8.5″ clamp light would work well but I needed a way to hang it over the tank so I designed and build this simple wooden stand. This lamp stand can be completed easily and cheaply. Read on…
Recently I used up all the lines in my check register for my checking account. You usually get a new one when you order new checks but I won’t need to order checks for a while and I didn’t have an extra register laying. I went to several stores trying to buy a new register but I could not find any. Then it dawned on me that I could easily make one from a spreadsheet. This is how I did it and I’ve also included the file for download. Read on…
I got a new laptop the other day and installed Debian Squeeze (“testing” as of this writing) with Gnome 2.26 as a second OS. As I began typing, the cursor would occasionally jump to random spots causing havoc to my typing. I hate touchpads in general so I use a USB mouse for all my mousing needs. There are software solutions to this problem but I could not get any of these to work so I came up with a quick and dirty fix. Read on…
Updated: 12 July 2010 (Software method)
Updated: 7 Nov. 2011
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In this project I am going to show you how to make a joule thief and put it in a jar. This joule thief is a simple circuit that will take an old “dead” AA or AAA battery and up the voltage enough to power an LED. I use these as decorations and to completely drain batteries that are too “dead” to work in other devices. Note: The only unique idea here is to stick one of these circuits into a plastic jar. The circuit is not mine. Read on…
I was bored one day and did not want to pay $7 on a fishing lure that looks just like every other lure out there so, I decided to make my own. All you need is some wire, some beads, a clevis, a hook, a spinner blade, and some creativity. It is not hard to make a variety of different colored, shaped, and sized lures. I can attest that these lures actually catch fish! Read on…
Once upon a time I had a 2.5 gallon nano reef tank and I wanted to add a refugium to it to grow macro algae. Being such a small tank it did not make sense to set up a smaller tank to act as a refugium like some people do for larger reef tanks. So, I came up with the idea of adding a refugium to the small power filter that provided water movement to the tank. Read on…
Several years ago I needed to replace the ballast for the compact fluorescent bulb on a 13 gallon Nano Cube aquarium. Looking around for replacement ballasts I discovered that they were quite expensive. I had the idea to try to use the ballast from one of those screw-in fluorescent bulbs. Well, It worked and since then, I have used this same process to power other compact and normal fluorescent bulbs. Read on…
