The Ubuntu 16.04 installer has the option to install full disk encryption using LVM if you are erasing everything on the hard drive. However, if you want to dual boot (use some of the hard drive for Windows, and the rest for Linux) the automated installer won’t allow you to automagically use full disk encryption.
You can still make it work, but have to do a lot of manual work using a terminal from the Live CD environment. Here is a log of what I had to do to get it working for me.
This is the workbench I build from twenty-two 2×4’s and three sheets of plywood. Because my current garage has tall ceilings, it has a lofted storage shelf. And it also has a shelf for tool and box storage below.
I used two sheets of 3/4″ builder grade plywood for the lower and upper storage shelves and a 1/2″ sheet of sanded ply for the main workbench. The dimensions were carefully chosen so that all of the excess can be used for reinforcing sheathing.
I wanted an indoor herb and lettuce garden, so that I wouldn’t have to buy a whole bag of lettuce, basil, chives, etc whenever I needed just a few pieces for a sandwich or recipe. So I bought two windowsill growing boxes, a bag of potting soil, and a few seed packets and got to gardening.
Of course, plants won’t grow this well indoors without a grow light, so I bought a LED one on Ebay, and had to build a stand for it out of 2×2 lumber and 1/2″ PVC pipe.
The light isn’t quite that purple in real life, but it definitely affects the color balance nearby.
Things to know if you are building your own:
A single 10′ section of PVC and an 8′ section of 2×2 is plenty for one stand.
A 7/8″ spade bit drills a perfect hole for a 1/2″ ID PVC pipe to fit into.
A 3/4″ to 1/2″ T adapter will slide easily over the top of an 1/2″ PVC pipe upright while holding a PVC pipe crossbar.
A 9/64″ drill bit works for making a pilot hole in PVC for an M4 screw, but the screw is tight.
It takes a lot less white spray paint to cover PVC than black spray paint.
A video of the build can be viewed here:
Our old family car, a 1998 VW Passat (B5) is still running great, but having lots of problems with trim pieces and misc non-drivetrain parts. For example, if you lock the car and then unlock it, it would take 10-15 pulls on the passenger door handle (inside or outside) before the door would unlatch.
The low beam in one of my headlights burnt out, and since it’s a 4×6 sealed beam unit, I have to replace the whole thing. I decided to replace both the driver and passenger side at the same time so that they match, and upgrade to LED units by GENSSI (4×6 G3) that also add the ability to have always on daytime running lights (DRL). (As opposed to always driving around with my low beams on.)
The (1995-1997) Chevy S-10 only has two headlight units and the factory sealed beam headlights (H6545) use a weird plug shape that is not the standard H4 (the ground plug is twisted about 45 degrees). They are rated at 65 watts on the high beam and 45 watts on the low beam, but for nighttime driving I have never been happy with their light output.
The GENSSI (4×6 G3) that I am replacing them with has a measured power consumption for one unit at 14.4 volts on my bench power supply of 1.8 A for high beam, 1.03 A for low beam, and 0.08A (8ma) for the DRL. This works out to 26 watts, 15 watts, and 1.1 watt for a single unit. The eBay auction page claimed 25, 20 and 1.1 watts for high/low/DRL, so the measured figures mostly match the online specifications, giving me hope that the specified lumen ratings may also be somewhat correct (Claimed at 2150/1800/57 lumens).
These units cost me $40 each, compared to the $15 replacement cost for a direct drop in Wagner H6546. However, the cost didn’t stop there, as I needed to pay an extra $30 for two adapters from the OEM socket to the H4 plug on the LED headlights. I could have just cut off the OEM connector and wired in a H4 socket for less money, but I decided to pay for the adapters to make the installation plug and play as well as retain backwards compatibility. Supposedly LED lights should last practically forever, but if I ever need to replace them in a hurry I want the ability to go back to the OEM 4×6 units which can be picked up at most auto-part stores.
The difference between the LED’s and the original headlights is quite apparent, as the LED’s are a “cooler” color temperature (white, not yellow) and brighter, which is why I am changing out both headlight units even though only one burnt out.
Here you can see a comparison of the new LED on the left and the original halogen on the right, shining on a garage door in the day and at night.
I paid an $80 premium for the LED lights as opposed to the cheap OEM halogen replacements. For that $80 I get a cooler color temperature (for a more modern look), more light (better nighttime visibility), minor energy savings, and the ability to wire in true daytime running lights if I decide to make the effort (not yet connected).
I took apart one of those kids shoes that flashes to see what the battery/circuit/sensor looked like. Here it is:
A small coin cell (under the round sticker), a circuit board, and a spring sensor are embedded in a square block of resin. It has three output channels (labeled R,G,B, although in this particular shoe all three were connected to red LED’s). One LED (shown) was pointing out the back of the sole, and the other two were on top of the shoe. It took me about 5 minutes with a razer knife to dig this out of the sole of the shoe, and another 5 minutes to cut out the wires that went up to the red LED’s on the top of the shoe. Here is a video:
My rental garage has 10+ foot ceilings, and I have a lot of stuff to store. To utilize the vertical space, I built a lofted storage shelf from fourteen 2×4 studs and a single 4×8 sheet of 3/4″ plywood to go over my electronics project table. This is what it looks like before I added the electronics table, pegboard and shelves.
Because I’m renting, I needed the unit to be free-standing, and not attached to the walls. I had the plywood ripped at 30″ at home depot for a 96″ wide and 30″ deep shelf, leaving me an 18″x96″ section that was used for both the back and side bracing panels.
LED lights are much more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs, slightly more efficient than compact florescent (with much less mercury!), and have recently really dropped in price.
I just purchased a six pack of 11 watt LED bulbs designed to replace 65 watt flood lights for $27. When lit, together they use 66 watts. (And light up the kitchen better!)
Compared to the 390 watts used by the incandescent bulbs they replaced, this is a savings of 324 watts. If they are lit for three hours a day the savings is substantial; 972 watt hours, or almost one kWh! If we pretend the average cost of electricity is 0.10 a kWh (it’s actually closer to 0.117 for me) this works out to paying for the light bulbs in energy savings in less than a year (270 days!). As long as the bulbs last for at least 810 hours, they have paid for themselves. (The rated life on the package claims 25,000 hours)
If we conservatively pretend the bulbs will only last 10,000 hours (9 years at 3 hours a day), they will continue to save 324 watts x 9190 hours after they have paid for themselves. This works out to 2,977 kWh, or $297 worth of electricity. Not a bad return on investment for $27 of sunk costs.
In summary, it’s time to replace any incandescent bulbs you have with LED’s. (You may as well wait for the CF bulbs to burn out before you replace them.)
If you are looking to park and charge an EV on the UCF (University of Central Florida) campus, plugshare shows three options.
One is right at the visitors information center, one is on the NE side of the first floor of parking garage A (by the elevators), and one is under a large solar canopy in the D1 parking lot next to the Memory Mall. All chargers require you have a UCF parking permit. (Visitors can purchase a daily permit at the visitors information center for $5.)
In September of 2016, the Memory Mall parking lot was the site of construction, so check on that before heading for it. The spots in Parking Garage A may be occupied during the day by UCF employees/students. Continue reading
