Kyng of all things Skull-ish

Love at first site.

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:16:46 GMT

They are a perfect match. All is good in the world.

I had a few moments to spare and spent it in photoshop. Enjoy.

Computer Completed (at least phase 1)

Tue, 06 May 2008 11:18:44 GMT

Well, if you ever want to learn how make your computer go from this...

to this...

Go here...

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1296911

There are also lots more pictures there as well (page 3 has more finished photos). Enjoy, and would love to hear any feedback!

Damion

The smell of earth and steel is close

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:48:26 GMT

In less than a month (5/20/08), the new MMO Age of Conan will be released.

I've been pre-ordered and ready to go for a very long time now.

If anyone out there in my friends-list is picking this up, let me know, and we'll group up in Hyboria.

http://www.ageofconan.com/

It is one of the most anticipated games ever. It is also 15Gig big. It is dark and raw like Howard's books.

The Computer Project - Relocated.

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:23:08 GMT

Hey all,

Still working on my computer, but you'll have to click a link to see the progress.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1032389414#post1032389414

This is a computer forum. LJ and HardOCP use different image links and such, and, frnakly, I'm too lazy to re-write all of my posts.

So... please click this to read all about it, and see more images!!!

Cheers.

The Computer Project... Part01

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:55:07 GMT

As you may recall, several months ago I had mentioned building a PC from scratch...

This is the first half of that journey. There are lots of pics, so enjoy the beginning of the transformation. (yes sorry to be a spoiler, but the case is not done... yet)

The history...
This entire adventure started... oh, I suppose around the time the video card had died in the G5. I had been frustrated about the cost of Mac vs. PC components. I had been complaining to my friend/co-worker (ObviouslyTom) about it. A few weeks or so after, I decided I would build a PC that could do Maya and Zpaint. ObviouslyTom was kind enough to donate this case to me (which he had aqcuired for free from someone) and I went down to Fredrickburg to pick it up. It had since been sitting in my house for at least the last 2 or so months, while my plot developed around this monstrosity.

Aren't I a pretty case? Only the most sexy get held together via black duct tape...

This is the back of the monstrosity. It is pretty epically huge.

The first thing you notice about the sacrificial case when you see it in person is how BIG it is - I can say it, but you just don't get it, until you see it. Plus it is made completely of STEEL. It was an old gateway server case, still with MoBo and processors. It took a good two hrs or so to strip it down to the base shell, and I tell you, I wasted no time getting right to it (who does not like to deconstruct old hardware?)

It is a very well-build case, not only do the sides come off, but the top as well, it is very easy to access the space in this case.

The old Motherboard, still in the case.

An even better picture of this old P3 Motherboard. It is fascinating to me. I still have it sitting on a shelf, not that I'll ever do anything with it...

This is one of the two old P3 processors. Yes, dual processors! woot. This thing musta cost a fortune back in the day... Also, let it be known that the way these things were attached to the MoBo, coupled with the absolutely ridiculously sharp aluminum heat sinks resulted in several small lacerations. I am very lucky I didn't cleanly slice a finger off. S H A R P

Even a nice capacity removable HDD shelf.

At this point, with the case stripped, (and weighing almost 30 lbs, empty, iirc), I sat down and measured and remeasured and tripled measured all of the panels, the frame, and the locations of every mounting point. I then made views of each side in Adobe Illustrator at 100% scale. Up until now, everything was straight forward and easy, now I actually needed to figure out what I was going to do with it.

Over the next, oh I would say 2 months, I designed, laid out, measured, re-laid out, remeasured, researched parts to fit, re-re-laid out and ultimately created what will be (I hope) an incredibly cool, and most certainly unique PC case. Knowing that there was no way I would ever get this beast of a case to feel delicate or compact and cool, i took that into my design. Also, during this time, I laid out my budget, and researched exactly what kind of innards I wanted for my PC. (you'll get to see them by the end of this post). Amazingly, almost all of that took me right up to roughly last weekend, when the final computer parts arrived (to make it run), and I set about modifying the case to work around everything that I had purchased.

From Last Week until Present.
This brings me to the point where I get to use big, nasty power tools to cut up the case to fit certain components for my case. A Porter Cable jig-saw with a metal blade on it will cut through steel akin to a starving parahna next to a splashing kid in pool.

The first thing I needed to do was account for the air flow in the case. There are already places for (x2) 80mm fans, and a larger one up front (whatever might have been there was gone when I had gotten the case. This really made the ideal placement of the fans I wanted to use a no-brainer. Unfortunately, the perf grill of the case was maybe 50% open, so not the best for allowing the case to breath. I decided to cut out the original perf (it was actually part of the stamped steel paneling), and replace it with a much more open hex mesh, that I had used on a previous computer.

Here i have cut out the front of the case to allow for my main intake fan, which is a 140mm AreoCool fan. I would have gone bigger, but the next size up was 200mm (designed for the SIDES of modern cases), and although it would have fit, I felt that it would have begun to interfere with other internal parts. The remains of the original perf that I removed is laying in front of the PC Case.

Here is the back of the case. In addition to removing the bumped out perf areas, I also had to cut out the old I/O port, since it was also part of the stamped back panel. That was a nervous cut, since I knew I would have to get it as dead-on as possible, so that the ports on the back of the new motherboard would line up with the supplied I/O panel. Again, the wreckage of the industrial jig-saw is seen in front of the case proper.

The circled area is where I am running some wires for the power on and reset switches. The switches I purchased are industrial vandal-proof switches, and will actually stick into the hole in the case a small bit.

Since I am completely redesigning this case, I had to come up with a new front that matched my design. The plastic front that came with the case was not only unacceptable to my design, but it was broken. Honestly, that is quite fine with me, as I would prefer to make a new front to make the case as much my own as possible. So, knowing how I would manufacture the front, I wanted to be able to bolt the front panel on from inside the case. This meant taking some of the metal out of the case around certain mounting points so that I could access the bolt, even if the case still had all of its internals inside.

Here are two locations (circled in red) where I had to remove metal to allow for the hardware (which, btw is a big meaty bolt with two standard washers and a lockwasher.)

Here is another place I needed to modify the case for a bolt. It is the top left corner. You can actually see it holding the front panel onto the case.

...which brings me to the new front of the case! (well at least part of it). Your actually not going to get that much from the next few pictures. I will tell you that I have made it out of 2 sheets of 1/2" thick acrylic - yes, solid acrylic. Yes it will weigh a lot. Yes, it machines very nicely.

This is the first layer of 1/2" acrylic. The acrylic is actually tapped to allow the bolts to thread right into it. I am using so many washers so that I can use a 3/4" long bolt and have the threads go right up to but not proud of the face of the first sheet of acrylic. I have my reasons for this, which is why I didn't make additional hole depth in the second piece of acrylic.

Here is the full 1" thick acrylic face, completely aligned, bolted up, tested, and straddling all of the components that interact with the face of the case. I wonder what those two large holes in the case about mid-way up could be for... Hmmmm....

At this point, I spend a great deal of time sanding the cut areas smooth, scraping off old stickers and adhesive gunk, and getting everything as polished as possible before I painted it.

Time for the Finishing!
Wow. What an adventure. I wish I had been keeping track of hours spent, but I was more concerned with getting the case up and done... so, eh. At this point, I break out the solvents and wipe down the case to get all metal shavings, grease, grime, dirt, and last bits of sticker residue off the case, and all other parts I'll be painting.

First up, painting the case skeleton, the cut to size hex screens, all of the hardware, the HDD cage, and whatever else I needed for the internals installation.

Obviously, the first step is priming, so here are a bunch of pictures the case being primed...

I installed the I/O panel prior to priming and painting. You can see it in this picture. Yes, I did check to make sure it would line up, and guess what? It does! Yay me, I can use a ruler.

Lots of the misc sundry items in a state of primer.

The front of the case.

And now the back and side.

The nice thing about primer, it drys fast. Here comes the paint!

Here is the new and finished front of the case (that noone will ever see). It is rustoleum copper metallic spraypaint. I was surprised, it went on really nicely.

And here is the back...

The inside...

And now all of the misc doo-dads.

.
..
...
So... if any of you know me well, you know that I can be impatient, especially when I work on a project that I am stupidly excited about. To me, waiting for paint to dry is about equal to having your fingernails sheered off by bamboo stakes. Somehow, with a forced shower, a forced nap, and forced eating, I managed to get through it to where the paint was cured enough to handle gently (there was no way I could wait 48hrs - sorry just no way in hell it would have happened. Ever. Well, unless you drove me to another state and pushed me out of the car to walk home)

Since we are waiting for the paint to dry, I'll show off the guts that will ultimately go into the computer. To preface this, I wanted a multi-processor computer that could handle stupid amounts of RAM so that I could run 3d computer animation programs as quickly as possible. I ultimately decided to build a machine that would use the Vista 64 bit OS. OK, on to the parts!

This is the heart of the machine. It has 4 processors, each rated at 2.4GHz, stock. The Q6600 is a stable, tried and true processor that has really good over-clocking abilities (which I will be taking advantage of).

If the heart cannot breathe, it dies. This is my CPU cooler. It is two pounds of copper (an incredible, if not expensive heat conductor) and a 110mm fan. This thing is about the size of a grapefruit.

This is the motherboard. Short of the most incredibly confusing and ridiculous box art, it is actually a really good motherboard with very nice over-clocking potential. You know, it makes me wonder who designs these and video card boxes, which almost always have really lame artwork on them. I think I blind rat could do better.

Fortunately, the people at EVGA have much better taste in box art than Abit. Instead of screwing up and doing something horrible for the cover, they played it safe and just avoided the entire problem altogether. Some specs on the video card... 768meg of RAM, tons of benchmark texts that put it close to the cards costing almost 2x it, and an incredble following in the PC community vouching how badass it is. Oh, it is huge as well, as in it is longer than the motherboard, and takes up two PCI slots.... and it also needs two direct feeds of power straight from the PCU (power supply). This thing is truly a beast.

This unassuming black lump is the power supply. It is energy efficient, has the fan in the back (alot of them now-a-days have them on top), and has a lot of really great reviews. It is rated at 610w, which should be more than ample to run my components.

Inside these shiny boxes is RAM. Lots of it. In fact, there is a whopping 8 GIG of RAM in there. This is the best company ever. G.Skill RAM - Great Skill - WHERE SPEED IS! You have to love that.

In addition to that, there are two DVD burners in the machine (just normal w/ lightscribe), and two hard-drives, one 160Gig, the other 500Gig.

The Assemebly!

Here is where I delicately assemble the entire computer, hook it up to a keyboard and monitor, and then cross my fingers...

I started off by installing the newly painted hex mesh and the fans, so that I would not need to manipulate them around other components. I had pre-located the mesh prior to painting and had cut out small sections whenever it fell over a screw location. All of the fans went on perfectly smoothly.

Here is the new front fan and hex mesh.

And of course, we have the rear fans. Since the fans are black, it is very hard to see them. BTW, those fans are 80mm scythe fans, which are really good. They should last forever, move alot of air, and are quiet. What more could you want?

Here is a picture of the rear fans from inside. If you look closely at the edge of the fans, you can see where the hex mesh is sandwiched in between the case and the fan. The mesh does not interfere with the fan at all. I did spend some time clipping the mesh so that it was only completed Hexagons in the pattern. Any little points or partials were removed so that I would not tear my fingers off later on their sharp little edges.

The next step was installing the new feet onto the case. Right now they are not painted, but that will be resolved in the near future. While I was in this step, I also installed the risers for the motherboard inside the case. Unfortunaly (or fortunately, as it would be relatively boring) I do not have a picture of this step.

Now comes the time where I install the processor and heatsink onto the motherboard. I didn't take any pictures of the processor itself, since you never know when a bolt of lightning will shoot from your camera and fry your helpless processor.

Here is a comparison of the stock steel and aluminum processor heatsink versus my huge copper one. Not only is my new one bigger for more heat distribution, but it is also about 1000x more heat conductive.

Here is that heat sink installed onto the motherboard. You can just now start to see how HUGE that heatsink is.

In goes the Motherboard, the video card (also HUGE), and the power supply. You can see the hungry octopus of wires creeping over the case side.

Ahh, thats a little more manageable. At this point, all of the components are hooked up to each other. I only have one stick of RAM in at this point, just to boot the machine and make sure everything runs.

Another view of the inside of the case, with a little more close-up of everything. You cannot miss how big that video card is.

The Moment of Truth

Time to cross your fingers, hook up the monitor, plug in a keyboard and mouse, and hope things are not too stupidly wrong or broken....

We hit the power button (currently, the only one I have access to is on the Motherboard)...

...

and...

...

SUCCESS!!! WE GOT THROUGH POST!

In all honesty, Getting through POST was all the computer managed to do on Sunday night. I spent hours monkeying with the hardware, swapping RAM sticks, trying different configurations, even pulling an old HDD with XP and trying to boot from that. Nothing worked. I spent about 6 hours working on it with the help of another Tom (Tom M - thanks!), until at about 1:30am, I just went to bed defeated.

The entire next day at work, I was milling over everything that I had tried, and by the end of the day, I had several plans to try, and multiple contingencies lined up. I had a bet that it would be memory, motherboard and then processor in that order from highest to lowest on likely problems. ObviouslyTom was set up to drive his rig to my house that night with his computer (he also has a 6600, and different RAM) and we would have test all of those components to see if I had recieved something DoA from the store.

Fortunately, my hypothosis was correct, and within 5 minutes of getting home last night, I had the computer booting up from the Vista disc.

The problem? The RAM. It is rated at 1.8-1.9 volts, optimally. The Motherboard auto-detected the ram and set the voltage at 1.8, the bottom end of its functioning range. I upped it to 1.9, and everything blasted right up. I even ran Prime95 for a few hours last night, and it seems rock stable. (Prime95 is a software that alot of people use to stress test their computers. It does some mathematical formula that makes all of your processors and memory (depending on the test) run at 100% capacity. If you are going to pop an error due to being unstable, Prime95 will force it to happen.

Here we are, vista64 up and running, updated, and I am just reclining back listening to some music.

Well, thats the first half of this journey. I have a running computer, and a fairly badass computer at that. Next will come at least two more updates, one will be for overclocking the processor, I'd like to hit 3.6GHz on it,but we'll see how it goes. The other post will be to finish the case, and show you the TRUE vision that I see for this PC.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. It will take a lot of work, though, so be patient as I work on it.

Happy OverClocking!

Skully.

iPod Touch

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:21:25 GMT

Last night, I was bequeathed with an iPod touch, which I happened to win in a vendor raffle back in October. (Yes, it took them a while to get one and get it to me).

I knew it was a fairly expensive prize, but was not blown away by the idea of it. See, Ashley has an iPod Classic. It is awesome, holds lots of music, and most anything else she would want.

This iPod touch can only hold about 1/10th the information her iPod can hold. I figured this was just the same sort of thing, with a lower capacity, and a prettier interface.

BOY WAS I WRONG.

This thing is very cool, very sleek, and very versatile. Basically, it is an iPhone, without the shitty, overpriced AT&T service. Sure it plays music beautifully, as it should, complete with the jutebox flipping interface. It is also WiFi enabled and you can surf the net at any time, for free, as long as you can find a wireless signal. Additionally, it has most of the features of a blackberry style device. It has contacts, calendar, calculator, alarms, warnings, and lets not forget FULL internet support, not some wimpy ass watered down version. Hell, the thing even has a direct link to YouTube.

About the only thing it seems to be lacking in, is a basic script text doc program, to write notes. A stylus would also be great, because even though the image flips and rotates just like on an iPhone, the keypad can still be a bit of a trick, if you have big fingers.

All is all, I am totally blown away by it. It may hold less data, but it packs in a ton more features.

What happens when you cross a Damion with a malfunctioning G5?

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 01:13:51 GMT

You get a (semi) epic story in G5 modding... just to change out a dead video card! Just look behind the link for LOTS of pics and hopefully some enlightening information should you ever have to tear up your Mac.

As you may or may not know, I have a first gen G5 (dual 2.0Ghz) that was originally purchased for my own personal pleasure. Oh and to do all of the layout and production of The City Morgue Magazine (may you rest in peace).

Say hello to my sad G5... Poor G5 has no more picture.

The cause of this sadness, is the result of a video card that I believe over-heated, and just cooked itself to non-functionality.

This is the Radeon 9800 Pro that I got with my G5. It was the upgraded video card at the time, but in all honesty, was starting to show its age, especially as I begin to do more and more in Maya. When i pulled it out of the G5, the video card was exceptionally grungy, and I believe that the dirt was the culprit that did it in. So, for all of you computer owners out there, blow out your computer regularly!

Here is the innards of the G5, sans one video card.

Finding a decent video card, in and of itself is an adventure, but after lots of searching, frustration, and research, I found the absolute best video card you can get for the AGP style G5s, the Radeon x800! All of the benchmarks put this at about 60% faster than the old 9800 Pro I had in my machine.

Look! It even comes with really bad box art!

And.. this is the beast itself. Woo, look at how much bigger that heatsink is!

Now, I bet you are wondering where the "crazy epic modding" is that I mentioned way above..." Well, here we go!

You see, since my vid card died from overheating, and getting this really badass video card was to all degrees difficult, stressful and expensive, I decided that would never, EVER happen to my G5 video card again. Hence, I purchased this...

This, my friends, is an aftermarket video card heat sink.

I am sure that this is not at all impressive all alone in that picture. Let me put some reference in there so you see exactly how buff this heat sink is...

Now I bet you are getting it. Yes, it is larger than the entire 9800 Pro video card! Heh, let the epic begin.

Now the first thing you need to do is yank off the factory heatsink from the new X800. Amazingly, it is only held on by two screws. It looks like the thermal paste was some quality stuff as it wiped right off, too, not that crusty crap used in the 9800Pro (not that I tore off that heat sink and checked...)

Hello new video card! Meet my screwdriver!

The nice thing about the aftermarket heatsink? It also comes with baby heatsinks that sit on the RAM chips on your video card. It came with 8, but I could only use 4 of them. They have adhesive on the back, so it is a very easy peel and stick.

Here you can see the cleaned off processor and the baby heat sinks! Aren't they cool? Now, when you wipe off the old thermal paste, be very careful not to damage the processor. The best way is to use some isopropynol alcohol and q-tips. or you can get a processor cleaner from Arctic Silver. I used alcohol.

Once you get the processor nice and clean (no finger grease, lint, or misc. animal furs), you can put a bead of thermal paste back onto the processor. Thermal paste helps to transfer the heat of the processor into the heatsink. The better your thermal paste, the better it transfers heat. Don't be cheap, it could save you alot of money in the long-run. I used Arctic Silver 5 which is some of the best stuff you can get (10.00 bucks for the small applicator). You need only a very small amount, about the size of a grain of rice. Once you squirt it on (it comes in a syringe), carefully spread it smooth over the entire processor.

Here is a nice layer of the Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste on my X800. Lets hope I know what I'm doing!

Here you see the X800 with its new heatsink! (yes, trust me, the video card is under there somewhere). You can also see the factory heatsink above it (which was quite respectable in its own right). The aftermarket heatsink comes with all of the hardware you need to mount it to your video card (make sure you get the heatsink specific to your video card)!

Ahhh... how sweet it it. Here is the X800 with the new heatsink in the AGP slot in the G5. It looks so fine in there, bwuahahahaha. Now, one thing about the aftermarket Heatsink, the two fans require some power. The G5 is, well, a bit miserly when it comes to plugging in fans. So, time to get creative!

The only place you can really tap into the power of the G5 cleanly is to leach off of the DVD player plug, I know there is a name for the standard 4 wire power connector used in almost all computers, but I unfortunately don't know it. This is the kind of plug that is used on the DVD drive.

Here you can see the standard 4 wire power connector used in nearly all computers. The colorful short piece is what I have added. You can see the small 3-pronged fan connector hanging down below the metal tray holding the 2 harddrives and DVD player. That 3-prong connector is spliced into the 4 wire power connector (yes from the factory, go to radio shack, and you can get a bunch of them). Notice how I have removed the video card to give me more room to run the wires. Also, you can see that one of the PCI slot caps - the one above where the video card goes - is vented. This also came with the aftermarket heatsink.

Here you can see the wires cleaned up a little bit. If you are observant, you may have noticed I have (x2) 3 prong plugs hanging down from the optical drive. That is because I have a little surprise for my G5. What is it you ask? Just be patient, my poppet.

The DVD player is really only held in by two plastic clips that swing open. The easiest way to remove it from the G5 is to disconnect the ribbon wire from the Motherboard (you can see it to the left of the 3 prong wires in the picture above - it is the wide black thing). Once you disconnect that, and swing open the clips to the DVD player. (right in front, at the bottom of the DVD player - you can see the tabs in the picture above as well), the dvd player will be free to pull out enough to get to the 4 wire power connector. Plug in your little bridge, and feed the 3 prong fan connector through the same hole as the ribbon wire. Easy as cheese. Now, to reveal my little secret...

I've reinstalled the video card, and.. just so it is not all lonely in my neglected PCI slots, I've added an 80mm cooling fan. That was what the second 3 prong connector was for. All i have to do now is a little wire management and that is good to go!

Now... if you happen to own a G5, or just know a bit about macs, then you know there is a big polycarbonate air defector that is behind the aluminum side panel. It is very elegant looking, and the G5 internals are very striking to look at through it. Unfortunately, is has huge extruded parts that extend into the G5, to manipulate the air flow. One of these extrusions happens to be right where the PCI and AGP slots are. And... if your video card happns to have a monsterous heat sink, that air defector will no longer fit into the case. So get rid of the air deflector you say? Wrong. I wish it were that easy. You see, the air deflector has a sensor at the bottom. When the computer sees that the air deflector is missing, it goes into emergency mode, and all of the fans (9 of them I believe from the factory) go into overdrive. It is the most annoyingly loud and creepy sound you will hear coming from your G5 (minus country music on iTunes). I guess this is really where the epic comes in. I took a dremel to my air deflector. And 2 files, and a bunch of sandpaper, and then I polished the edges that I cut. Unfortunately, I did this work prior to my photo-documentation of this project, so no real nifty pictures of stuff half chopped up. Sorry.

Let me tell you, this was the most nerve-racking part of the entire process.

Here is a picture of the shield. The unfortunate thing about taking pictures of clear things, is that they are clear >.< It may be hard to notice, but I left the handle part of the air diffuser intact.

And another shot of the modified air deflector.

Here is the air deflector with the part that I removed. That is green tape on the scrap piece. I had the entire panel covered in tape to prevent accidental scratching of the polycarbonate. You see, polycarbonate (lexan) can stop a bullet, but it cannot have scratches buffed out of it.

And finally, all of the mods are complete! Here we have the extra fan, the new video card with heatsink and the air deflector, all working in perfect harmony.

And... the fan has blue LEDs. I love blue LEDs. Now my G5 has a faint glow. How perfect ^^.

I guess at the end of the day, it was not that "crazy" of a mod to do at all, but it still took some guts to tear up my new video card and cut the air diffuser to pieces. I know everything is working great because I am currently typing all of this up on my G5. And watching Falling Down at the same time. Good times.

It should also be noted that despite the addition of 3 fans, the computer is absolutely quiet. I keep checking just to make sure everything is running!

My next big computer project (which I will probably post here when I do it early next year) will be to build a quad or dual quad processor PC from scratch. We'll have to see how budget and luck treat me on that one.

Take care everyone! I hope it was not too boring! And now, I have no excuse on not finishing my next Maya rendering >.<

Damion

I wantie this for xmas!

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:51:15 GMT

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=109_1195663753&p=1 (sorry couldn't make the video link work).

Very cool. This is about the first practical human exo-skeleton I've seen. It doesn't look too bulky, and seems to do its job well. My wonder is... How long does its battery last? Thats especially important if it is used in a military setting (which I am certain it will be), unfortunately.

Also, i know i promised an image of my latest Maya creation. It is almost done... bear with me a little longer.

Skully.

Guinness Advertisement

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:44:29 GMT

As you may know, Guinness is one of my favorite beers. Enjoy this fun dominos inspired Guiness ad.

Cheers.

Taking up 3D computer animation

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:55:29 GMT

In my spare time, I've been working on learning the program "Autodesk Maya 8.5". It is a 3D computer animation software used in lots of games and movies. And.. it is also something I've been telling myself I would learn for years (since Maya 3.5 was released on Mac OSX), but have never been patient enough to get past the interface to create something more complex than a simple polygon structure. If you've ever messed with a commercial grade 3D software package, you'll know exactly what I mean about the learning curve.

At any rate, I've been spending alot of time over the last 3 weeks learning how to model (one step at a time), and I actually have a complex polygon shape to show for it. I am rather happy with the results!

A few things of note:, I'm going to re-work the crown, I just kinda plopped it up there for now because I was excited to show off what I had accomplished (i plan on it siting crooked and off to the side, very "fun" style). I'll also be adding modeled gems and other misc. details to the crown. I have made a few other objects (some of which you will get to see later) so no, I've not spent the entire 3 weeks creating this). I believe the actual time was close to 4 or 5 good work sessions (6hrs each, give or take).

This is actually the second skull I have made, the first though, ended up horribly disfigured. I believe the biggest cause of this failure (which was not really a failure at all considering how much I learned), was that I was trying to skulpt the original skull as one complete piece. The second skull, I only made the left half and mirrored it to make a complete skull. This worked SOOOO much better, and I had much more control over each vertex, edge and face. Both skulls did start out as a simple cube.

So, with all of that said, and knowing it is far from perfect, I would love to hear any comments / suggestions.

PS - I AM SORRY FOR THE GIANT WATERMARK ACROSS THE IMAGES. I am using the (free) educational version, as I do not currently have 7k to blow on this program.

Cheers!

Nissan Skyline GT-R (2008 release)

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:33:27 GMT

The specs have finally been revealed (last night, the 23rd) on the infamous Skyline GT-R that will be released in the US:

Engine
• VR-series twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V6.
• 480 hp @ 6,800 rpm. 430 lb-ft torque @ 3,200–5,200 rpm.
• Dual overhead camshafts with variable intake-valve timing.
• Cast aluminum cylinder block with high-endurance/low-friction plasma-sprayed bores.
• IHI twin turbochargers, one per cylinder bank.
• Pressurized lubrication system with thermostatically controlled cooling.

Drivetrain
• ATTESA ET-S All-Wheel Drive (AWD) with independent rear-mounted transaxle integrating transmission, differential and AWD transfer case.
• Rigid, lightweight carbon-composite driveshaft between engine and transaxle.
• Electronic traction control plus 1.5-way mechanically locking rear differential.
• Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC-R) with three driver-selectable settings: Normal (for daily driving, controls brakes and engine output), R-Mode (for ultimate performance, utilizes AWD torque distribution for additional vehicle stability) and Off (driver does not want the help of the system).
• Hill Start Assist prevents rollback when starting on an incline.
DisclaimerVDC-R cannot prevent accidents due to abrupt steering, carelessness, or dangerous driving techniques. Always drive safely.

Transmission
• 6-speed Dual Clutch Transmission with three driver-selectable modes: Normal (for maximum smoothness and efficiency), Snow (for gentler starting and shifting on slippery surfaces), and R mode (for maximum performance with fastest shifts).
• Fully automatic shifting or full sequential manual control via gearshift or steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters.
• Dual clutch design changes gears in less than 0.5 second (0.2 second in R mode).
• Downshift Rev Matching (DRM).
• Predictive pre-shift control (in R mode) based on throttle position, vehicle speed, braking and other information.

Wheels and Tires
• 20 x 9.5" (front) and 20 x 10.5" (rear) super-lightweight forged-aluminum wheels with Gunmetal Gray finish.
• Exclusively developed nitrogen-filled Bridgestone® RE070A high-capacity run-flat summer tires, 255/40R20 front and 285/35R20 rear.
• Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).
• Optional exclusively developed nitrogen-filled Dunlop® run-flat all-season tires, 255/40R20 front and 285/35R20 rear (includes Bright Silver wheels).

Brakes
• Brembo® 4-wheel disc brakes with 4-wheel Antilock Braking System (ABS), Brake Assist, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Preview Braking.
• Two-piece floating-rotor 15-inch front and rear discs with diamond-pattern internal ventilation.
• 6-piston front/4-piston rear monoblock calipers.

Steering
• Rack-and-pinion steering with vehicle-speed-sensitive power assist.
• 2.6 steering-wheel turns lock-to-lock.

Suspension
• 4-wheel independent suspension with Bilstein® DampTronic system with three driver-selectable modes: Normal/Sport (for automatic electronic control of damping), Comfort (for maximum ride comfort), and R mode (engages maximum damping rate for high-performance cornering).
• Electronically controlled variable-rate shock absorbers. High-accuracy progressive-rate coil springs.
• Front double-wishbone/rear multi-link configuration with aluminum members and rigid aluminum subframes.
• Hollow front and rear stabilizer bars.

Body/Chassis
• Exclusive Premium Midship platform with jig-welded hybrid unibody.
• Aluminum hood, trunk and door skins. Die-cast aluminum door structures.
• Carbon-reinforced front crossmember/radiator support.

Exterior
• Wide-beam headlights with High Intensity Discharge (HID) low beams.
• LED taillights and brake lights.
• Dual heated power mirrors.
• Flush-mounted aluminum door handles.
• Body-color rear spoiler with integrated center high-mounted stop light.
• UV-reducing tinted glass.

Audio/Navigation/Performance Monitor
• Digital Bose® audio system with AM/FM/in-dash 6-CD changer and 11 speakers including dual subwoofers.
• HDD Music Box system, including hard drive with 9.4 GB for audio storage.
• MP3, WMA and DVD audio capable. In-dash Compact Flash card reader.
• HDD-based GPS navigation with touch screen.
• Driver-configurable performance monitor, developed with Sony® Polyphony, with graphical readouts of vehicle data and driving data displayed on a total of 11 screens.
• 7-inch WVGA high-resolution color-LCD display for audio, navigation and performance monitor.

Interior
• Automatic Temperature Control (ATC).
• Electronic analog instrument cluster with multi-function trip computer and digital gear indicator.
• Power front windows with one-touch auto-up/down feature.
• Intelligent Key system with pushbutton start. Power door locks.
• Cruise control.
• Tilt/telescoping steering column.
• Bluetooth® Hands-free phone system with voice recognition.

Seating/Appointments
• Leather upholstered front seats with perforated Alcantara inserts.
• 8-way power front seats with entry/exit switch for rear-seat passengers.
• Driver-shaped bucket seat.
• Dual individual rear seats.
• Heated front seats.
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob.
• Drilled aluminum pedals.

Safety/Security
• Nissan Advanced Air Bag System (AABS) with dual-stage supplemental front air bags, seat belt sensors and occupant-classification sensor.
• Driver and front-passenger side-impact supplemental air bags and roof-mounted curtain supplemental air bags.
• Front seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters.
• Nissan Vehicle Immobilizer System.
• Vehicle Security System.

To me, that is pure poetry. Otherwise, I could imagine it being a very boring post. Official pics have been released... and here they are!

...

......

Oh my god, what an incredible car. Definitely an amazing fusion of design and technology. I'm glad that Nissan stuck with the 6-cylinder Twin Turbo legacy of the Skyline, instead of trying to adapt a V8. This will go on my list of cars I would die for but will never have. My guess is that it will cost about 60-70g's when it is released, maybe even as high as 80. Certainly not within grasp of the average car guy.

Oh well, maybe I'll find me a winning lottery ticket somewhere!

Cheers!

Skully.

Transformers bootleg!

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:40:42 GMT

Well, not really. I'm torn between this being exceptionally geeky and just really exceptionally cool. Seems like a lot of thought and mechanics (and contortionism) had to go into this hobby.

There is not a single second of this that is not "Teh Win".

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:09:36 GMT

I wanted to put a snappy saying here, but the clip speaks for itself.

Just wow.

Skully.

This takes a special kind of something...

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 19:54:08 GMT

... to get a tattoo of this ilk. Still, no matter how juvenile it may seem, in your heart, you know it is funny.

Mirabelle Swimming!

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:34:15 GMT

This is a video from the 2nd day Mira ever swam. The process originally involved me lugging the 55lb furball to the middle of the river and plopping her into it. After doing that 4 or 5 times, she wanted to go swimming all on her own!

She's such a smartie and undeniably cute, to boot.

My favorite Recipe

Mon, 14 May 2007 15:30:12 GMT

This is my plan to cook up in the yet undecided "near" future:

Take one of these:

And add one of these:

Well, specifically, this:

Did you see the quality of the ingredients? No? Take a closer look...

And you get this. Squared.

MMMMmmmm Good.

That there is a tasty cookie.

EDIT: Just a distillation of the above...

Take your standard "inline 4" 2.4 litre engine with approximately 155hp and 160ft lbs of torque and replace it with a "inline 6" 2.6 litre engine with dual turbochargers rated at a conservative 280-300 hp and about 280-300 ft lbs of torque. In addition, you have an easily modifiable and reliable engine. It is pretty common to get this motor to 400-500hp w/o too much trouble, and it is generally considered rock solid. (And yes, it is a RB26DETT Skyline motor.Technically, the pic is from the R34, I would get an R33 difference is AWD vs RWD, respectively.)

Sweet dreams are made of these...

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:08:33 GMT

To experience this, I cannot even begin to fathom. The mechanics and power behind this. Sigh. Suddenly I feel my 360+ hp Z is a Hugo. The closest thing I think I'll come to this is going to that F1 school in France some day.

BTW, my favorite line: "At this speed the tires will give out in 15 minutes. But that is ok, because will run out of fuel in 12." Hot. Sexy. Damn.

God Hand

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:28:19 GMT

This is the absolute best video game commercial I have ever seen. It makes me smile. And it even has corporal punishment...

I am now going to find this game and worship its over-the-top "slap-happy" ways. Who says advertising does not work?

A game if you have a moment of slackery.

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:25:07 GMT

http://www.riemurasia.net/jylppy/displayimage.php?pos=-11668

Enjoy.

Pics of the pup, 1 month later.

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:34:13 GMT

We've now had Mirabelle for a bit over 1 month. She is a whooping 20 lbs now, and still only 3.5 months old. She has easily doubled in size since we've brought her into our home, and will easily double (nay triple) in length before it is all said and done, and potentually quintuple in weight!

She starts her schooling on Monday, so that should be exciting. We would like her to be a therapy dog, and although the breed is well suited for that, we'll have to cross our fingers and see how her schooling goes.

Now, without further pomp and circumstance, I present you, the Puppy Mirabelle!

*Skully listens for the collective "Awwwwww".*

Enjoy!

Meet the new fluffy Family Member!

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:35:40 GMT

Say hello to "Mira" everyone! (Short for Mirabel).

She is a 2 month old Bernese Mountain Puppy, and was born on (go figure) Halloween! When she is full grown, she'll be close to 90 lbs! Mama Mia!

PS: Ignore the doofie looking dude in the 3rd picture.

"I kill you with bionic cuteness puppy rays!"

"Look mom! I slayed the giant mutant killer bee!"

"Um, wake up and play with me, you slacker!!! Puppy demands it!"

We look forward to her meeting Orion and Max and Fergus and Moika & Dolche. (well, maybe not all at once)

Ushering in a new era...

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:55:57 GMT

As is the way with the world, when one life ends, another begins...

Meet the new skullmobile, mach 2.0. (working name).

May her horsepower only increase, and her turbos never coke over.

The skull and crossbones at half mast.

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:17:30 GMT

Today, we hold our skull-covered flag at half mast. At noon, the man with the flatbed wrecker made his appearance to tow away the bones of the skullmobile. Please remove your skullcaps, bow your heads, and share a moment of silence as I say a brief eulogy.

Skullmobile, I made you mine with blood and sweat and tears... More blood than anything else. We went everywhere together, like best friends. Or parasitic twins. We spent the last seven years together. growing (mostly in horsepower) and changing (from auto to manual). You were the first car that I ever felt was my car.I knew you so intimately, every weirdly spliced wire, every place I used a washer to fill an odd gap in some suspension miss-match from all the parts you were made of. And you allowed me to take you apart, and rebuild you. You allowed me to remove your heart, and in doing so, replaced it with mine. And through it all, you never complained (well, except for that one brake caliper... and that rear alignment bolt). And no matter what happened, or how badly things were, you always protected me. You always kept me safe. And even in the end, after that fatal and crippling blow. I walked away with naught a scratch.

And you still managed to drive me home. I love you skullmobile.

You will never be replaced in my heart or garage. I am sorry for never making you all you could be, all that I knew you were, and all that I saw in you. May you be blessed in car-heaven with Stage IV Spoon Sports Cams and a vicious turbocharger. You will forever be missed.

SKULLMOBILE aka TROGDOR aka SKULLY

October 1999 - November 2006.

Car Stripping Madness

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 14:05:30 GMT

I have a unique event going on this Saturday, 11/18/06 - assuming it is not hailing or snowing or anything. I am stripping my old car (black civic) down to the bones to part out.

If you ever wanted to take a car apart completely, this is the time to do it! It is one of those junkyard / how things work moments.

I would really appreciate any help, and I can't help but think it is going to be a blast.

Drop me a line if you are interested, even helping for an hour would make a big difference.

hot damn ^^

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 17:16:09 GMT

You scored as Pinhead. You are Pinhead. You come straight from hell. Your curiosity has caused you to make some mistakes in life. But you are now more powerful than you have ever been. You enjoy pain just as much as you enjoy pleasure. Unlike most killers, you like to make sure your victims suffer for all eternity.

</td>

Pinhead

75%

Leatherface

70%

Freddy Krueger

60%

Jigsaw

55%

Michael Myers

50%

Hannibal Lecter

50%

Jason Voorhees

45%

Candyman

40%

Captain Spaulding

35%

Buffalo Bill

35%

Which Horror Killer are You?
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