After checking that there are no holes in my shorts (so that I don’t expose myself), I pulled off my bike to the sidewalk, replaced the flat inner tube, inflated it, and continued my ride for a total of 11 miles.

My shopping list: Inner tubes, tire, tire levers (I had to use a wrench), and shorts with more padding.  For the last one, does anybody have any suggestions?

It says, “NOT A LOW CALORIE FOOD.”  I don’t know about you, but I could not help but to derive some amusement from it.

Desk before LED upgrade

Thus, I started the project to integrate LED lighting into the venerable Jerker desk from Ikea.

The Sample Order

I began searching for LED light strips on Amazon.com, which offered kits from Inspired LED for $148.  While tempting, I wanted to evaluate the characteristics to see that it is truly something I would want.  After browsing the catalog, I started with this order from Mouser.com:

• (4824) Super Bright 21-LED Panel, Cool White – $13
• (4825) Super Bright 21-LED Starter Kit, Warm White – $22
• Shipping – $7.93

Total: $42.93

Upon arrival of the order, I tried different methods of positioning the panels.  Ultimately, I settled on sticking the cool white LED panel behind the display and the warm white LED panel on top.

Sample LED panels installed

I found the lighting characteristics acceptable, and I decided to press on.

Design

The design process consisted of determining where to run the cables and coming up with a bill of materials so that I order only what is necessary to complete the project.  Since I would not always be reading when I am at my desk, I planned for separate switches for the reading lights and the bias lighting.  The bill of materials for the rest of the projects looked like this:

• (4802) Distribution block – $8
• (4833) Dial dimmer – $20
• 2x (4772) Interconnect, 6 ft. – $10 at $5 ea.
• 3x (4804) Interconnect, 3 in. – $9 at $3 ea.
• (4832) Super Bright 21-LED Expansion Kit, Cool White – $14
• 2x (4823) Super Bright 21-LED Panel, Warm White – $26 at $13 ea.

Total: $87

At the top of the photo with the sample LED panels installed, one could see a bright spot.  This indeed caused some glare, which required me to make a glareshield.  For that, I identified and purchased a metal piece from McMaster-Carr as well as some tooling from Harbor Freight:

• (4630T13) Anodized Aluminum (alloy 6063), 90 Deg Angle, 1/16″ Thick, 5/8″ x 5/8″ Legs, 6′ L – $9.51
• (77185A21) General Purpose Polyethylene Film Tape, 1/2″ Wide x 36 Yards Long – $11.41
• Shipping – $18.46
• 10′ tape measure – $0.99
• Hacksaw – $3.79
• Ratcheting clamp – $3.49
• Sales tax – $0.50

Total: $48.15

Ouch!  That is one expensive glareshield.  At least I get some tooling to keep out of this.

Installation

Adhesives made everything easy, and I only needed to make one cut for the aluminum to bring it to length.  Afterwards, I placed the three warm white LED panels on the metal piece.

I then placed the entire reading lights assembly on the top part of the desk:

The bias lighting was  a much easier affair as it involved sticking the two cool white LED panels on the back of my monitor:

In order to turn on the lamp, I had to stand up to reach the switch.  I remedied this by placing my switches underneath my desk:

Now, to Plug it in and Turn it On!

Bias lighting only

Reading lights only

Full complement

The three photos above were taken with the same exposure settings.  As a result of this installation, light is spread more consistently throughout the desk and I now have much better lights for reading.

For Those Who Wish to Follow My Steps…

For me, the total cost was $178.08, but the cost may be lower for those who want to repeat what I did since you will not need to order a sampler set like I did.  To replicate this project, here’s what you need:

• (4827) Super Bright 21-LED Deluxe Kit, Warm White – $48
• 2x (4824) Super Bright 21-LED Panel, Cool White – $26 @ $13 ea.
• 2x (4772) Interconnect, 6 ft. – $10 at $5 ea.
• 3x (4804) Interconnect, 3 in. – $9 at $3 ea.
• (4802) Distribution block – $8
• (4833) Dial dimmer – $20
• (4630T13) Anodized Aluminum (alloy 6063), 90 Deg Angle, 1/16″ Thick, 5/8″ x 5/8″ Legs, 6′ L – $9.51
• (77185A21) General Purpose Polyethylene Film Tape, 1/2″ Wide x 36 Yards Long – $11.41

Total: $141.92 (excludes cost of tools, shipping, and any taxes)

Of course, feel free to tailor this to your needs.  If you need any help, just visit www.inspiredled.com and click on “Contact Us.”  The representative I worked with helped me throughout the process.  If you order directly from Inspired LED, you can save on shipping costs.

Disclosure: This author did not receive any compensation for the mention of Inspired LED products.

After that, he visited Nepal for two weeks.  During his journey, he witnessed generosity amidst poverty, which inspired him to make a positive impact on their lives.  A chronicle of his journey can be found here.  To this end, he is raising $11,000 so that a village can buy land and raise a new school building and playground there.

As of the writing of this article, he is just a bit past the halfway point.  With your support, the school building and playground can become reality.  Please make your donation at http://www.giveforward.com/namaste-nepal

It is also, as I found out Tuesday, the amount South Korea has to violate their disputed sea border by to provoke North Korea into throwing a temper tantrum [1].  Suppose South Korea moved its entire border up into North Korea’s territory by 0.001 millimeter.  How much land could they possibly gain?  To answer that, I pulled up Google Earth, busted out the path tool, and traced the path along the border…

As you see above, the border spans for 279,650 meters.

Multiply this quantity by 1*10^-6, and you get 0.280 square meters.

There are 10.764 square feet per square meter, which means that South Korea has 3.01 square feet to gain.

Even at the most expensive real estate market, the land would be worth $13,305.19.

If you ask me, North Korea’s temper tantrum looks like an attempt by Kim Jong Il to compensate for something.  Whatever that something is, its dimension must be 0.001 millimeter.  I have a feeling that this government will collapse from sheer stupidity.  Either that, or a shellackin’ from South Korea and its allies.  Here’s hoping North Korea’s military and nuclear capabilities get disabled with minimal loss of life.

[1] http://www.npr.org/2010/11/23/131530509/2-dead-after-north-korea-shells-south-korean-island

On the ground, some of us have lost cars to accidents.  If not, some of us have been involved in a fender-bender.  Or how about those road rage-inducing near misses from that dumb # who needs to learn to drive?  The consequences of those are far less severe than if they were to happen in the air.  Even near-misses are not acceptable in the eyes of the aviation industry.

What about automation?  First of all, I need to recognize the ingenuity of those who are able to make the airplane fly itself and perform a precision landing.  However, the last time I checked, autopilot is not considered critical for safe flight.  What is critical for safe flight, then?  Per FAA AC 25-7A, section 25.1351, it consists of the attitude, direction, airspeed, and altitude indicator, communication systems, and navigation systems, to name a few.  Even when it is near-impossible for the automation systems to fail, I still want every, single pilot to know how to manually control an aircraft.

While in the cockpit, a pilot has to not only maintain control of the aircraft and be aware of the outside surroundings, but also listen to radio transmissions coming from several different radios, tune them to the proper frequencies, and not forget about keeping a keen eye on the engine instruments.  That takes a special level of maturity.  It takes a special level of maturity to uphold the passengers’ trust.  And, it takes a special level of maturity to remain level-headed and take corrective action until the very end.

Given the way I have seen people drive, I do not envision flying cars for the everyday folk.  And given the things pilots have to do in the air and the coordination that must take place between the pilots in the air and the controllers on the ground, I stand firm in my belief that only licensed pilots should be allowed to take to the skies.

If you want something that’s like a regular book, then GET regular books! Here is a handy-dandy list of what you CAN do with regular books that you cannot with iPad books (or any other electronic book, for that matter):

• Give to a friend after you finish
• Lend out to a friend
• Sell for money
• Work without electricity
• Work anywhere from ungodly cold temperatures to 451°F
• Read during takeoff and landing

Until I can do the first three things on that list regardless of which platform my book’s new owner has, I will be sticking to my regular books, thank you very much.

NO

I saw this on my Facebook feed today: Texas Water in UT Tower-Shaped Bottle to Raise Millions for Academic Scholarships. This completely flies in the face of the school’s push for environmental stewardship.  Also, this is just one of those things where being green will save green.

* – For the Brita system, non-recurring cost includes the first 40 gallons of service.  For the water filtration system, non-recurring cost includes the first 1,320 gallons of service.

Prices are approximate in the above table.  For the home and dorm room settings, I think there is no excuse to be drinking bottled water.

From an artistic standpoint, I would find much more favorable a glass-etch scale model.  It is surely not as flimsy as a water bottle, and it would not be blemished with this HUMONGOUS  burnt orange H2Orange text splattered on one side.

Even as a UT alumni, I cannot support this.  My donations will always be in cash, the form in which it is most beneficial to the organization and myself (in the form of a tax deduction).

Between Rockmart and Cedartown, there are these really steep hills.  I call them “The Hills of Heck.”  The bad news is that I had to walk the bike uphill once or twice on both occasions.  The good news is that I quickly learned how to better use my gears for climbing uphill.  This will be most useful when I decide to ride to work as there is a quite steep, rolling uphill.

Shortly after crossing the state line, we turned around to find out that someone got a flat tire.  All of us stopped for the sake of comradery.  We then got stopped by a train that blocked the road for about ten minutes.  That was on my “not a very nice thing to do” list.  Finally, we had our obligatory meal at Frankie’s Italian Restaurant.

Then there’s this conversation…

(10:13:23 pm) Her: you, nut!!!
(10:15:33 pm) Me: I got some nuts right here… want some? (offers a dish of cashews, peanuts, etc.)
(10:16:13 pm) Me: Perhaps you’ll like these nuts more. You’ll need a wrench to go with these… (shows container of hex nuts)
(10:16:41 pm) Her: oh my gosh…for a second I had a bad thought!
(10:16:57 pm) Me: A bad thought?
(10:21:21 pm) Her:think about it…
(10:21:55 pm) Me: (looks down) Oh, those? The thought of being kicked, punched, or otherwise hit in that area is absolutely painful! (cringes)
(10:25:05 pm) Her: yeah
(10:25:58 pm) Me: Oh, man… that little thing about nuts is so going on my blog.
(10:26:41 pm) Her: great!! (sarcastic tone)
(10:26:56 pm) Me: You’ll remain unnamed, I promise.
(10:27:35 pm) Her: good
(10:29:53 pm) Me: Gee, there was still a bit of life left in that nutty tangent.
(10:30:09 pm) Me: Something to the tune of, “Aaw, nuts! …”
(10:30:16 pm) Her: okk
(10:30:35 pm) Me: OK, I’ve milked that for all it’s worth.