So after about another $80 and a lot of hours, I’m typing my post from the finished desk. It’s not perfect because I became a bit anxious to finish the project as the days turned into weeks.

The process was actually quite simple; I started by using a varnish stripper designed for wood. It removed a lot of the yellowed varnish, but it also left a lot behind. I spent many days sanding starting from 80 grit and moving down to 120. I choose to leave the wood a bit rough so the varnish would not need to be fully removed and the project would be completed more quickly.

Once everything was sanded and the desk was cleaned as best as possible, with my limited tools, I proceeded to mix my stain. I choose to use Minwax “Early American” with a hint of “Red Oak”. In mixing my stain I choose 2 cups of “Early American” to 1/2 cup of “Red Oak” with 1/4 cup of gum turpentine (used the turpentine to help the stain absorb through the remaining patches of varnish on the desk pieces.

After allowing the stain to dry I worked in a coating of Howard’s Feed & Wax, then waited a couple of days and hit the surface with furniture polish. Except for the top of the front L everything worked beautifully. Unfortunately the varnish stripper dried out the top of the desk, where the monitor sits, a bit too much and the stain isn’t adhearing properly. The desk top actually feels dry; so I’ll hit it with another coat of Feed & Wax over the weekend, which should correct the issue.

Once the top is treated, it’s time to build the hutch!

Here are some before and after pics of the desk:

Recently I switched to Google Chrome as my default browser, I’ve found it to be lighter weight and faster than the other main stream browsers (FireFox, Internet Explorer, Safari) found on Windows Operated PC’s. So far it’s been a really good move, except…

Apparently there isn’t a built-in function to check page rank in Google Chrome yet. This is a big problem as I constantly use Google’s PR to evaluate the performance of websites in Google’s search results. If a site has a good or even decent PR you can assume that Google is viewing it with some credibility, while a site with no PR has some serious issues.

While Searching for an answer, I discovered the following solution from techie-buzz.com

“With the recent PageRank update many webmasters and publishers may be eager to check their latest PageRank scores, but if you are using Google Chrome there is no toolbar available yet to view the PageRank.

If you do not want to switch between multiple browsers just to check page ranks, here is a handy bookmarklet you can use to check PageRank in Google Chrome.

Just drag and drop the Google PageRank bookmarklet to your favorites bar and click on it whenever you want to check the PageRank of any given page.

This tool is a part of techie-buzz.com’s collection of the extensive useful tools and utilities we are launching for users. Do try it out and give your feedback to us.

Here’s how it works:

1. In Google Chrome, Single left click and hold down
2. Drag to the bookmark bar in Google chrome (if done correctly, cursor will turn into a circle with a line through it)
3. Release left mouse button (shortcut will be created)
4. Click on bookmark to see page rank of the website in your current Google Chrome Tab. A pop-up will launch with your page rank information in it.

Mobsters 2 Vendetta by PlayDom is a highly addictive game that integrates with your Facebook profile. This is a great way to break the monotony of your work day; a peridioc tab over to the game keeps your mind multi-tasking and I believe helps to reduce stress. There just isn’t anything like putting a mobster on ice to keep the frustrations of coding at bay.

These games also help you to generate friends on Facebook more quickly. These friends may not be relative to your marketing or strategy, but give the appearance that people are following you and your products or services.

Check out this screen shot of a gang war, which shows my high score. In total it probably took 20 minutes to reach it.

WordPress Reaches New Dimensions!

I bet you were thinking this was going to lead to an incredible article about new features in the already hyper powered WordPress platform.

Well nope! Just this really rocking picture I found on SEO Blog

Google’s Ironic choice of CAPTCHA images on Blogger

This one’s pretty funny, while configuring a client’s Blogger account to publish to their website I was presented with the following image verification code.

I wonder what microsoft Bing would thing of this one?

I found this site on accident while trying to figure out a way to make Lightbox and Featured Content Gallery function in the same WordPress blog .

The tutorial to edit your plugins included a link to WpRecipes’ tutorial on using multiple headers. After reading the tutorial, I checked out the home page and Wow!

This site is loaded with WordPress hacks, Mods, Theme Edits, and more…

• Want to speed up WordPress and make it load faster?
• Need to prevent search engine indexing on a specific page or post?
• Want to display your content in two columns?
• Need short URLs for social bookmarking?
• Want to implement cool new features to your blog that you haven’t evn thought of yet?

If you answered yes to any of the above, what are you waiting for?

Go check out WpRecipes

A client contacted us to ask for help recently. Aparently when people went to his website, anti-virus warnings were poping up.

After a few minutes it became clear what had happened; a cialis spammer had hacked into the site, uploaded files and folders and coded a ton of spam junk into each page of the site (see image below).

This client had a decent alpha-numeric password, but it did contain a portion of the domain name. We can’t be certain that it was a simple case of hacking, the password could also have been accessed by means of a trojan or keystroke recorder that slipped past the anti-virus program.

It’s ok to use passwords that are easy to remember, but complicate them by using symbols and punction marks.

For example: The domain name Your-Propeller-Head (76 bit encryption) could be used as a password, but we would adjust it something like this Y0ur+Pr0Pe1!Er-HeAd# (109 bit encryption).

It’s still the same password, it just uses more symbols and punctuation than the original. Even though it might be a little tougher to remember, after entering it a few times it would be easy to remember.

P.S. – No Your Propeller-Head isn’t stupid enough to use his actual password in a blog post

Normally I steer clear of politics unless it’s relevant to small business, but I couldn’t resist sharing this one sent to me in an email.

It was recently discovered that two more people weren’t credentialed at the State Dinner for India.

It turns out that these two flunked the credential process:

Economics – F
Basic Math – F
Earth Sciences – F
US History – F
Drama – A
Speech – A
Physical Education – C

GPA = 1.43

A recent trip to the Tucson Museum of Art provided a chance to view the “Han and Beyond – The Renaissance of China: The James Conley Collection”  exhibit. Along with the pottery often expected in such exhibits were some incredible pieces of furniture made from woods most in the Western Wood are unfamiliar with.

Once back online, the search began to find out what these woods were. In the process WIKI of course came up, but the descriptions weren’t very good, so the search continued. Ignoring the WIKI related search results provided a link to  which had a page describing the different types of wood used in Chinese furniture.

By providing this free information which the search engines recognized as relevant to the website’s content, Quing Gallery drew in traffic that was interedsted in their products (Antique Furniture).

Whatever your industry, remember you never know what will make the sale unless you try, so create a draw for your target market Organically through free information on your website or Virally through free information that can be printed or emailed.

It’s amazing how often an accident of typing, or a glitch can create something artistic. Today’s entry comes from a TV Decoder card that locked up and recorded the same frame repeated.

The origin of the frame is currently a mystery, but chances are it’s from an episode of the original Twilight Zone.

The end result is an image that looks like a master photographer caught a moment in time.

——————————————————————————–
Letter:
——————————————————————————–

STATE OF MICHIGAN
Reply to:
GRAND RAPIDS DISTRICT OFFICE
STATE OFFICE BUILDING 6TH FLOOR
350 OTTAWA NW
GRAND RAPIDS MI 49503-2341
JOHN ENGLER, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
HOLLISTER BUILDING, PO BOX 30473, LANSING MI 48909-7973
INTERNET: http://www.deq.state.mi us
RUSSELL J. HARDING, Director
December 17, 1997
CERTIFIED

Mr. Ryan DeVries
XXXX Dagget
Pierson, MI 49339

Dear Mr. DeVries:

SUBJECT: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023-1 T11N, R10W, Sec. 20, Montcalm County

It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal l****wner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity: Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond.

A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department’s files show that no permits have been issued. Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301,. Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws annotated.

The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially, failed during a recent rain event, causing debris dams and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all unauthorized activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the strewn channel. All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 1998. Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff.

Failure to comply with this request, or any further unauthorized activity on the site, may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action.

We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter. Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
David L. Price
District Representative
Land and Water Management Division
616-XXX-XXXX
dlp:bjc
cc: LWMD, Lansing
MontcaImCEA
Pierson Township
Lieutenant Mary C. Sherzer, DNR LED

——————————————————————————–
Reply:
——————————————————————————–

Stephen and Rosalind Tvedten
XXXX Hayes Street
Marne, MI 49435-9751
616-XXX-XXXX
616-XXX-XXXX Fax
steve@XXXXXX.com
1/6/98

David L. Price
District Representative
Land and Water Management Division
Grand Rapids District Office
State Office Bldg., 6th Floor
350 Ottawa, N.W.
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2341

Dear Mr. Price:

Re: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N, R10W, Sec 20; Montcalm County

Your certified letter dated 12/17/97 has been handed to me to respond to. You sent out a great deal of carbon copies to a lot of people, but you neglected to include their addresses. You will, therefore, have to send them a copy of my response.

First of all, Mr. Ryan DeVries is not the legal l****wner and/or contractor at XXXX Dagget, Pierson, Michigan – I am the legal owner and a couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood “debris” dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, nor authorize their dam project, I think they would be highly offended you call their skillful use of natural building materials “debris”. I would like to challenge you to attempt to emulate their dam project any dam time and/or any dam place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no dam way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.

As to your dam request the beavers first must fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity, my first dam question to you is: are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers or do you require all dam beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request? If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, please send me completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits. Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws annotated. My first concern is – aren’t the dam beavers entitled to dam legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said dam representation – so the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer.

The Department’s dam concern that either one or both of the dams failed during a recent rain event causing dam flooding is proof we should leave the dam Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling their dam names. If you want the dam stream “restored” to a dam free-flow condition – contact the dam beavers – but if you are going to arrest them (they obviously did not pay any dam attention to your dam letter — being unable to read English) – be sure you read them their dam Miranda first. As for me, I am not going to cause more dam flooding or dam debris jams by interfering with these dam builders. If you want to hurt these dam beavers – be aware I am sending a copy of your dam letter and this response to PETA. If your dam Department seriously finds all dams of this nature inherently hazardous and truly will not permit their existence in this dam State – I seriously hope you are not selectively enforcing this dam policy – or once again both I and the Spring Pond Beavers will scream prejudice!

In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their dam unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows downstream. They have more dam right than I to live and enjoy Spring Pond. So, as far as I and the beavers are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more dam elevated enforcement action now. Why wait until 1/31/98? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice then, and there will be no dam way for you or your dam staff to contact/harass them then.

In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention a real environmental quality (health) problem; bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the dam beavers alone. If you are going to investigate the beaver dam, watch your step! (The bears are not careful where they dump!)

Being unable to comply with your dam request, and being unable to contact you on your dam answering machine, I am sending this response to your dam office.

Sincerely,

Stephen L.Tvedten

xc: PETA

Woohoo Finially got the network up and running!

Once all the cable issuess were resolved, I had to turn my attention to the network hardware I was using. The fact that the connection speed was rocking with a direct connection, but slowed down by 25 – 50% when run through the router was a big tip off.

So I satrted by looking up my router and checking the firmware revision. I also even debated on replacing the default Linksys firmware with DD-WRT, a free super powered firmware for WRT Routers.

I decided that this still wouldn’t guarantee a fix. So rather than keep searching and not finding any answers (DOCSIS 3.0 being so new), I headed to my local computer shop SWS Electronics for some ecxpert advice (You always find a hard core gamer or two in a real computer store – no one knows more about overclocking and network configuration than a hard core gamer).

After talking with the salesmen, I find out some of them have DOCSIS 3.0 already and they suggested I go with a GigaByte Router. I choose a Linksys (a Cisco company) WRT310N V2, picked up a couple of cheap TrendNet Gigabyte NICs for $18 a piece and bought about 40 feet of Cat 6 Cable for $.18 a foot.

I always hardwire my works stations for maximum performance; wireless just can’t get the same speeds yet. Back at the office, I installed Gigabyte NICs in the older workstations, cut the cable fro two of the workstations and capped the pieces with RG45 connectors. Next I hooked up the router,  configured the network security settings and BAM! full speed ahead.

Now I’m getting around 40 MBS consistantly. DOCSIS 3.0 rocks, when you have the correct hardware.

Only thing left to do is get some more cat 6 cable, another Gigabyte NIC and wire in the remaining workstations.

So the tech shows up today… Still not going well. Turns out the state wide outage from yesterday wasn’t the issue. I’d chosen to to go with the modem Cox provided instead of going out and buying a new one myself.

After a little searching online – Well lets just say time isn’t always efficently used by looking for the best deal.

The Tech got out here around noon. He changed the modem reset the thing , connected it directly to the CPU. Still nothing!

Turns out that the modem Cox had provided didn’t have the proper firmware; a short update later and it worked.

This still leaves me with an issue; when the modem is connected directly to a computer bypasing the router I am getting 30 mbp. When it is connected through the router it loses 10 mbp, definately not good.

So at this point, I need to do a little homework.

To Be Continued…

Cox has introduced a new Internet package; seems like my current connection always starts to fail every time they offer a new package, but that’s another story.

I decided to upgrade as the price difference was minimmal and well I needed my internet connectivity back to full capacity.

Yesterday I waited from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM and no tech shows up. I was home, so I wasn’t happy. At 5:59 PM I gave Cox a call; turns out the tech was here at 3:41 PM however, the Cox rep had given them the wrong phone number (argh!).

So I schedule for a Tech to come out today and he arrives around 1: PM. Unfortunately we are having a state wide outage, so it’s not the best time for him to come out.

He tries to setup the modem but the thing just wouldn’t sync, after about an hour or so the Tech and I agree that it’s pointless to setup the modem when there is a statewide outage, so I told him to go ahead to his next job. He left his number and his companies number (very professional in my book) so that I can call him in the morning if the network still isn’t back up.

Around 6:00 PM I call Cox; they verify that the modem won’t sync and we put my old modem back up so I can check the email.

More to come!

This clip courtesy of The Onion News Network; it’s a riot.

SPOILER ALERT excessive use of profanity!

Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn’t Fucking Work