Building project... Projected to last a bit longer

Since we moved into our small house it has become increasingly apparent that it has insufficient storage capacity for a family. A bachelor, even a couple, could probably get by, but we have always struggled.

Buying two garden sheds really helped, but we have been using the smallest bedroom for storage as well. Now that Lije is getting more active we have decided to reclaim the small bedroom and give the boys a room each. That means we lose a storage space.

To make up for this we decided to build a walk-in-cupboard in the larger bedroom. So early in the week Dad began stock piling materials, then on Thursday Grandpa Tom and Grandma Mary came round to help. Dad and GT between them put in the frame, studs and noggins, and added the first sheet of plasterboard.

Since then Dad finished adding the boards and has been attempting to plaster between the joints and to the edges (see pictures).

Not bad for a first try but some sanding will probably be needed in places.

Once the plastering is done then it's time for lining paper and paint, then add the door.

We will probably disguise the door (like in a stately home) by continuing the skirting board and having only a keyhole for the lock but no door handle.

That way it will still look for the most part like a normal room, and the door will be invisible except when in use.

Phew. Many thanks to GT and GM for their help. We couldn't even consider it without your help. Xxx.

Uke Tuner

Dad often gets fidgety - physically as you saw in previous time lapse vid - but also creatively. It get's quite frustrating always teaching other people how to be creative and how to build interactive media, but rarely getting a chance to do it yourself anymore.

When M got a Ukulele, but found that most of the online Ukulele tuning devices were not quite what was needed, Dad finally got inspiration (and because of holidays finally had the time) to produce something interactive - Uke Tuner

You can download Uke Tuner 0.92 (Beta) here free >

If you have any feedback or suggestions, please feel free to leave comments or email me direct.

Dad says "The problem with the online tuning system M was using, was that it only gave audio samples of a Ukulele string being plucked. However it is much easier to tune an instrument to a continuous tone. In Uke Tuner I gave the option, plucked note, or continuous tone, so the user can choose their preferred method. Then of course I went overboard on graphics and interactivity."

Dad is pretty pleased with the result, and M likes it too - after all it was made with her feedback, and what we have here is not the first design option. Hopefully others will like it too.

For the more technically minded, graphics were produced in Fireworks then exported as PNG 32 to preserve alpha channels or SWF, for use in Flash. Audio was recorded from a Yamaha PSR-240 keyboard via a line-in cable from the keyboard's headphone socket. Sound was recorded and processed with Audacity then exported as WAV 32-bit for use in Flash. Interactivity was produced in Flash, with ActionScript 2. Flash Audio settings were set to export sound at 22Khz stereo and 128kbps. Playback speed is 30 fps to make it animate more smoothly. The application was compiled with MDM Flash Studio because it has a faster projector engine than the Flash Standalone Player, extends the ActionScript classes available in Flash with some additional functionality, and allows the creator to tweak the display options (such as turning off the blue bar at the top).

Enjoy.

Dangerous Lije

Lije is definately learning to be devious with his dangerous. Working silently now, he gets up to his antics, knowing to make any noise is to be caught and therefore have his fun spoiled.

During daytime hours a silent child is a mischevious one, and therefore he is easier to catch. At night however, when he has been put to bed a couple of times, and lies still and tired, you don't think anything of silence.

Then you get up and take a wander down the landing to check on the sleeping babe, and what do you find? Not a gently snoring tot dreaming blissfully that is for sure. No, instead you find that just before finally nodding of, the child has climbed once more out of bed, pulled up part of the bedroom carpet, and then fallen asleep, not on but under his bed, in the most uncomfortable looking position trapped between the open door and a bed leg.

Of course by now he is so fast asleep that returning the carpet to position, dragging him by the foot out from under the bed (because pulling him the other way was impossible), and then hauling him into bed causes no more than a small stir, and he is straight back to sleep.

If only I could remain asleep through such traumas (no doubt M will say I do).

Bradgate Park Panorama

The pictures for this panorama were taken back in December, but I only recently found my CD for IBM Hotmedia, a Java based panorama display applet.

Apart from being a favourite spot for family days out, Bradgate Park is significant in English history - read more here >

Enjoy!

(NOTE: Have decided to switch to Quicktime for the panorama's rather than hotmedia, so our Mac friends can also view...)

The guitar that shrank in the wash!

M has been a closet Ukulele fan since she heard the late Iz playing a non-cheesy "Over the Rainbow" on the said instrument. The hankering to recreate his wonderful music was not sated by attempts on the guitar; only the "real thing" has the real sound.

I have to admit I didn't put up much of a fight, it seemed a good price for a first Uke from Nevada Music. The goods arrived today (only the 2nd day after ordering). Looks nice doesn't it?

If like me your only memory of Ukulele music is your own awful strumming as a child (you know, when the Uke felt as big as a real guitar to you) or archive footage of George Formby, you might like to take a gander at how it is really done.

And if you fancy learning yourself, there are some really helpful resources on the internet. Such as:

And also - Pineapple Pete's Uke School >

Just don't try to play it while window cleaning - that's my advice.

Dad revamps website...

Dad's website (http://www.digitalarena.co.uk/) which had been left lingering in design misery for nearly a year - or was it more than a year - has now been revamped with a typographic twist. Gone is the former confusion of styles, and in is bright colours and crisp lines.

There is still some fine tuning to do, but the bulk of the process was made easy by using Dreamweaver's templates function. This allows you to protect certain areas of the page, while automatically updating the rest. In effect, you can change the design and layout around the content. Now though I need to tweak some of the content to better match the around.

Feel free to take a gander and leave comments. You never know I might even change the site in response (or leave it another year).

Who says desk-jobs aren't active?

I tried out some time-lapse photography today (just for the fun of it). I had no idea how much fidgeting I do at the computer.

If you want to try this and your camera can take pictures at an interval, I recommend MakeAVI as an easy and free program to convert all your photos into a video file.