I tried to put Linux on it at one point but it was really flaky, even though I tried three different distro’s. I never even got it to boot reliably.

So I found a good use for it, one that doesn’t require handling.

I use it as an audio bridge for the sound system.

I have an older Logitech Z-680 surround sound system hooked up to the DVD player in the living room, it sounds great and I love to listen to it. I wanted to be able to play music from my laptop over it, because it can convert stereo into something that sounds like surround sound. My only way to do this was to run a cable from my laptop to the control box’s analog input. That was cumbersome, so this is what I did:

I took the Thinkpad and got it on the wireless network with a 20 dollar Trendnet wireless PCMCIA card from Newegg. After I got it going (no hang-ups there), I downloaded and installed Winamp 5.5 and UltraVNC. I use Winamp as my music library and UltraVNC allows me to remotely control the Thinkpad’s desktop from another PC. Both programs are free. The newest version of VNC (1.0.5) gave me some problems on Vista, so I used 1.0.2 and it works fine. This is what it looks like from my tablet laptop:

The window in the center is the Thinkpad’s desktop, which is running Winamp at full screen. I set up an icon with the VNC username and password on my desktop so all I have to do is click the icon and I get a connection.

Here’s the setup:

The cable going into the left of the laptop is the USB connector for the external hard drive. On the right top is the green audio connector that goes from the headphone jack to the surround sound control pod. You can see the wireless card sticking out on the right, too. On the far right of the picture is an external 100 gig hard drive and the Z-680 control pod. All this except for the pod goes behind the gas fireplace and next to the subwoofer.

This is what it looks like from the couch:

Only the control pod is visible. It’s remote controlled, so I can switch between digital and analog inputs and control volume, though I usually use Winamp’s volume for that.

Here’s a (blurry)  picture of me using it on the tablet, no wires attached:

So far, so good. It’s turned out to be even cooler than I thought, because created a share on the external drive and I now I back up files to it across the network.

Yesterday I fixed a laptop for dad that had I promised to fix a while ago but just got around to doing. It still worked but dad had to prop up the power cord on something to keep upward pressure on the socket. I took the thing apart and immediately found the damage.

The top circle is the plastic socket, the bottom circle is the mount on the laptop body. The socket had grooves in it to hold it flush to the laptop body, but the flanges on the body had snapped off, leaving nothing for the grooves to slide over. Additionally, the socket connector itself was damaged.

 
Plug — Socket ——Connector — Wires

The center (hot) rod of the socket was attached to power on the back of the socket with a rivet-like flair over the power wire’s washer connector, but the flair had broken off leaving the red power wire with nothing to hold it against the back of the center socket rod. That’s why holding up the plug worked… It leveraged the little hinge under the failed center rod connecter, pushing the center rod and connector out against the red power wire. Sorry, it’s hard to explain without a better picture. The whole back of the plug was covered with another plastic cap as well.

I ended up scrapping the back cap and soldering the red power connector directly to the socket’s center rod. I then insulated the red (hot) and green (ground) wires from each other and created a cap to strengthen and protect the back of the socket with a blob of waterweld.

I went ahead and used the rest of the Waterweld to cement the socket into the laptop body. Dad’s pretty happy with it, so I’m happy too. There’s only one problem with Waterweld. When you mix it (it’s like putty) it warms up and smells like urine… and the smell is a bit hard to scrub off. Oh well.

Music: mp3.amazon.com 
This site is great. All music tracks are 89-99 cents, most albums are around 9 dollars. All tracks are encoded at the very high quality of 320kbps. Most important: NO DRM. If you buy from iTunes, you’re getting stuck with files chained to Apple’s software. Amazon’s files have no such restriction. I’ve found that buying a track or album off of Amazon is a satisfying experience. It’s easy to find the files, purchase is one-click, you can preview anything you buy, the file quality is always good, and you don’t have to worry about cooties or getting sued.
(more…)

But Live Writer is pretty nifty. I’m still experimenting with it, sticking some plugins into the program, etc. My biggest need right now is for flash implementation, since sermons.albanygospelchapel.com used imbedded flash audio in every post. My work-around is a plugin called “Text Template” that allows me to dump in saved snippets of html and javascript.

So far live writing is working out well, and it’s a HUGE improvement over the built in editor that comes with the
Wordpress suit.

“He [God] has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to recover the sight of the blind; To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

He tells the Jews that the passage refers to Him. “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (more…)

He came, out from God, a gift from the Father’s heart. Descending from the throne high and lifted up, He laid aside the garments of His majesty. The train of that robe of light filled the heavenly sanctuary with its radiance. Stepping down from the infinities of uncreated light, He passed through the creature realms of wondering angels, taking nothing of them. Still downward He came to one of the billions of His galaxies which He Himself had made. There His destination hung, a speck of sunlit stardust, so insignificant among gigantic suns and island universes that only He could find it, for in the eternal purposes of love and grace He had placed it there as a paradise for His creature man. (more…)

They shall be satisfied with the fatness of Your house; and You shall make them drink of the river of Your pleasures.

For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we shall see light.

O continue Your loving-kindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.”

Ps. 36:7-10 (more…)

• I know that it forgives when I would not (even myself)
• I know it can cleanse
• I know it can heal
• I know I am in desperate need of it every moment of every day
• I know that it knows me and loves me anyway
• I know I will never understand it

(more…)

]]> http://blog.whatisman.com/2008/03/12/the-love-of-god-how-rich-and-pure-how-measureless-and-strong/feed/ http://blog.whatisman.com/2008/03/11/vfc-listener-request/ http://blog.whatisman.com/2008/03/11/vfc-listener-request/#comments Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:47:15 +0000 Thomas http://blog.whatisman.com/2008/03/11/vfc-listener-request/ Dr. Steve Price – The Church of Sardis
2008 Southeastern Worker’s Conference

Dr. Steve Price uses his medical knowledge to dramatic effect as he speaks on the “dead church” of Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6 and applies it to the local assembly.


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Quotes and Excerpts

25m:07s He’s saying, ‘You have an external veneer that you are alive, just like that gangrenous extremity. But if we were to merely make the slightest of spiritual incisions, what we would find is a whole slew of necrotic spiritual tissue.

26m:24s Friends, my fellow brothers and sisters, this can easily be a malady of your own personal life, your own fatherhood, your own motherhood, and your own place and service in the local assembly, and anything else you touch. And yet you can fool yourself. This is kind of the beginning, in the letters, where we really fool ourselves, really blinded… to our true condition. What amazed me about that patient with the diabetic extremity is that she thought everything was ok! She just thought that she would come in, maybe have me look at, and that she would be gone. Actually, what happened was that we had to amputate her extremity. It was that serious. (more…)

]]> http://blog.whatisman.com/2008/03/11/vfc-listener-request/feed/ http://blog.whatisman.com/2008/03/10/vfc-message-of-the-week/ http://blog.whatisman.com/2008/03/10/vfc-message-of-the-week/#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:05:19 +0000 Thomas http://blog.whatisman.com/2008/03/10/vfc-message-of-the-week/ David Dunlap – Consider the Cross
Week of Meetings 01 – 1995 (MP3 labeled “The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit”)

David Dunlap highlights the work of the Holy Spirit in the Lord’s supper and the importance of the cross to the Godhead and to the believer.


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Quotes and Excerpts

10m:54s More important than anything else the Lord Jesus Christ would reveal to Paul was the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want this to anchor your heart, and anchor your soul. I want this to be the centerpiece of your Christian life and walk. I want the cross to be remembered in the Lord’s supper when we come together week by week. I want the cross to be that ‘radius oracle of the faith, at the forefront of Christian doctrine and teaching.’ (more…)

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