It would play back 720p HD video just fine with the original processor, but couldn’t quite commercial flag new recordings in real-time while also watching a live feed. [This wasn't a big issue, as I very rarely watch new recordings live.]

Even though it works working perfectly fine as a MythTV box with the original processor, I had been keeping an eye open on Ebay for a replacement X2 (dual core) processor for the AM2 socket.

I was limited to CPU’s that produced 45W or less of power, which basically means the “e” line ( 4450e, 5050e, 4850e, BE-2400, 3250e). These types of processors had been selling for $50-60, but then I lucked out and found an an AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 2.3 GHz Processor which I was able to get cheaper than average ($32 w/ shipping!).

I decided that $32 (plus some thermal paste I already owned) was cheap enough to upgrade the CPU even though I didn’t really need the extra horsepower right now. The upgrade procedure was very painless. After removing four spring mounted screws that held the heat-sync and fan on top of the original processor, I lifted the ZIF socket lever, pulled out the old CPU, put in the new CPU, spread some new thermal paste on the heat-sync, and reversed my steps to put the fan and heat-sync back on. Total time: 5 minutes. When I powered the computer back on everything was recognized and working right off the bat, and I had plenty of extra CPU power for running simultaneous transcode and commercial flagging jobs.

The new CPU (Athlon X2 BE-2400) had the same sizes of L1 and L2 cache as the old one, (Athlon 2650e), but the memory throughput was higher (18GB/sec vs. 12GB/sec on the L1 and 3.5GB/sec vs. 2.4GB/sec on the L2). It was also able to access the 2GB of main memory at DDR 924 (462MHz – 2625 MB/sec) instead of DDR803 (401MHz – 2065MB/sec).

Power impact: The BE-2400 CPU takes more power (of course!) raising the idle power usage of the computer from 25 watts to 30 watts, and also significantly raises the maximum power usage (from 40 watts to 65 watts) when the CPU is running full tilt on both cores.

I don’t mind raising the maximum ceiling 15 watts, as I rarely run the CPU at maximum, and with the faster/dual cpu’s, it should finish jobs more quickly (possibly more efficiently overall). I have decided that a continuous 5 watt penalty (when sitting idle) isn’t a bad price to pay for having (around 3X) extra horsepower around should I need it. Being able to finish ripping a CD or DVD quickly, or commercial flag two recordings at once, although not a requirement, is a nice advantage.

So, I moved on to my backup replacement sphere (number 3 for those of you keeping track at home). I had already figured out that sharpie ink will NOT stick to glass when sprayed with water from a tile-saw, so I continued to use masking tape to mark where my cut should be on sphere number 3. I also placed packing tape on the non-cut side of the masking tape, as I was impressed with how well it had contained the breakage from sphere 2. (I plan on using packing tape to cover a large portion of the inside of the sphere (except the viewport) as a poor-man’s tempered glass substitute. )

I was able to cut this (third) sphere almost completely successfully. The only issue was when I was making the last cut to complete the circle. When the blade got very close to completing the circle, the small amount of glass shattered (breaking off the circle of glass) and started a 3″ crack, which looked very much like the first crack on my first sphere.

The technique I found worked best is to push the glass sphere towards the blade (as opposed to rotating it in place over the blade). When you get to the end of the cut, you have to pull the sphere back out, then turn it a bit (and rotate) to adjust for the next straight cut. Because I don’t have a work table, my tile-saw is sitting on my back porch, and I have to crouch down to cut the sphere. I typically make around 4-5 cuts (approximately 1/3 of the way around the circle) and then take a 10 minute break to make sure I don’t get impatient or tired and rush things. The whole procedure (with breaks) took around 45 minutes.

After rinsing out the glass shards and dust (I did mention that you should wear full goggles, gloves, and a face mask when cutting glass, right?) I dried the sphere and then immediately used one and a half tubes of epoxy putty to make a bead of epoxy around the edge. This will hopefully serve three purposes. First, it covers up any sharp edges on the glass. Second, it will hopefully provide some strength to the open rim. And finally, it allows me to mount two small (but strong) magnets on either side of the sphere, (one for each shoulder). I’m counting on gravity and a bit of friction to do most of the sphere holding work, but the magnets will hopefully keep things aligned and steady.

Eventually, I will probably try and cut my fourth sphere, learning from the 3 inch crack in this one. My plan is to cut about a half of the sphere, then cover my cuts with packing tape. After that, I will make one cut at a time (connecting to the last cut) and cover the gap with packing tape. The goal is for the packing tape to support the two pieces of glass (sphere, and cut-out circle) well enough so that when I make the final cut, the blade will grind through to complete the circle without cracking the glass. However, for now the slightly cracked sphere is my working version. I figure if I break it while mounting it to the cowboy collar I’ll have one sphere left, and if I don’t, I’ll have a backup sphere for the costume.

Depending upon the acoustics of the sphere, I may also need a microphone outside with an earphone wire running inside to hear people talking to me.

I spent a much larger amount of money on an LED strobe light kit, which will hopefully drive flashing lights from Mysterio’s cape clasps or sphere.

After searching the Internet for more glass spheres, I finally called the Pottery Barn main telephone number and was told the item (SKU number 702 1991) had been discontinued and it was not available for order over the Internet or phone. But she did mention that one of their stores still had some stock, and it turned out to be in Atlanta!

So off I drove to the “World’s Largest” Pottery Barn in the Lenox Mall. Thirty minutes later, I was impatiently waiting in an earth-toned wood-grained display of decorative junk behind a woman who was buying a 12″ candle that looked like it was a piece of an oak tree limb, with bark, and a pair of six foot tall skis that looked like they were carved by a ten year old and then left out in the snow all winter (they are meant to be decorative…). I felt better about spending $120 on three large glass silver spheres knowing that I was going to be grinding the bottom off of them and using them for something cooler them a squirrel fun-house mirror in my garden. But maybe she was actually going to use the skis….

After driving home with my replacement sphere, and the backup to my replacement sphere, and my backup to my backup sphere, I resolved to cut the hole larger so the cowboy collar would fit without compression. I am also not going to use the tile saw to clean up the edge after I make the hole, and I will reinforce the rim (and cover jagged edges) with epoxy putty before fitting anything that will apply expansion force into the sphere opening. But I’ve got a backup for my backup for my replacement sphere, so I feel much more confident about getting one of them to work without cracks! Spare no expense! I feel like a defense contractor!

Interesting note: Reading the shipping labels on the outside of the sphere boxes, they were part of a 250 package shipment. I wonder if that was the only shipment that PotteryBarn ordered…if so, I own approximately 1.6% of all Pottery Barn “Silver Sphere Object Large”.

I also tried out the globe on my head, to test the visibility. Different parts of the sphere have different amounts of mirror coating on them, and in portions I was able to see out relatively well. (Well, it was relatively bad, but good enough for a costume.) Other parts of the sphere were mirrored enough so that I could only see a reflection of my face. Hopefully I will be able to position the sphere to take advantage of the high visibility areas. I may also be able to scrape or buff portions of the mirrored finish off to make a visible region line up with where I need it. [From the outside of the sphere, I couldn't tell a difference in the coating, so it may not affect the visual appearance.]

The other option is a camera wired to a heads up display, but at that point I may as well go with a “headless horseman” style costume with my head below the sphere.

My next step is to purchase a set of football shoulder pads or other similar body mounting system, and figure out a good way to allow me to attach/remove the sphere and any protective system. I’m planning on reinforcing the bottom of the sphere using epoxy putty, and I will possibly add bolts or magnets to it to allow mounting.

Here is a picture of the piece I cut out of the sphere, as well as a close up of the edge after I smoothed it out with the diamond tile saw.

The simplistic motor mount I made for my electric bicycle (which consisted mostly of me bolting a motor to my wire basket and holding the basket away from the axle with a piece of PVC pipe) had been working well for five months. Until, that is, I ran over a particularly large pothole and the chain fell off. I took the hint that the PVC pipe and wire basket were not exactly up to my exacting quality standards and decided it was time to make something better.

I decided that the main problem was that my wire basket was not rigid enough, so my construction material of choice remained 3/4″ schedule 40 PVC pipe. This time I used TWO upright supports, one on either side of the axle and some C shaped metal shelf brackets bolted to my motor mount. (I also used PVC elbows and pipe to join the top of the supports.) This picture gives a good view of how the whole thing fits together. I am still using a hose clamp connecting it to my wire basket for left-to-right stability, but this produces much less stress on the basket, and a little left-to-right wiggle is unlikely to allow the chain to come off the gears.

I basically cut wedges in the bottom of each upright so that I could bolt them to the outside of the axle, and then notches so that the C shaped pieces of metal would fit into the pipes (for greater support that the simple wood-screws that hold the metal into the notches).

The main stresses on the system is vertical tension on the two PVC support pipes when the motor is powered as it tries to pull itself towards the axle along the chain. The motor also pulls the whole mounting system back towards the basket of the bike due to the direction of rotation. I added a torque brace that connects the chain side upright to the front fork of the bike using more PVC pipe and a hose clamp. Although probably not strictly required, it does stiffen up the whole assembly.

The picture at the top of the page shows the whole assembly spray painted (black) with the vacuform motor cover installed. The mounting system is relatively light, only adding 1.4 lbs to my bike, but the motor itself clocks in at 4.6 lbs. At least it’s not adding rolling weight (with the exception of the extra sprocket and chain), so this is equivalent to around a 3lb hub motor. This new motor mount added $7.33 to the cost of my electric bike, but I still have 6 feet of 3/4″ schedule 40 PVC pipe for the next project. You can read more about my inexpensive solar charged ebike by clicking here.

One of my new year’s resolutions is to build a high quality Mysterio costume. In my opinion, the hardest part of a Mysterio costume is the silver sphere that serves as Mysterio’s helmet. Others have used a glass bowl, or tinfoil, but I was not happy with their results, and decided that I wouldn’t commit to making the costume unless I could get the sphere just right.

It’s amazing what you can buy for $48 on eBay! The image to the left is showing off my Mysterio sphere (44″ circumference, 14″ diameter) on top of a Christmas tree. The sphere is even mirrored inside, perfect for Mysterio’s helmet! It was originally an outdoor lawn ornament (reflecting ball) sold by Pottery Barn.

The only problem is that the hole in the bottom of the sphere is only about 1.5″, too small for my head! My options are clear: 1) Make a “headless horseman” type costume, where my head is actually under the costume’s “head”. 2) Find a way to cut the 1/3″ thick glass sphere! I’m trying really hard to get option two (cut the sphere!) working, as I want the costume to be in proper proportions, and besides, having my head inside of a mirrored glass sphere will be cool! (Visibility may be a problem, imagine wearing mirrored sunglasses at night.)