Blackberry Storm Upgrade

June 10th, 2009

I just got my firmware upgrade for my Blackberry Storm. I usually don’t give into fanboy tendencies, but I am very very impressed with the software. They fixed the keyboard from hell in portrait mode, which was my biggest complaint about the phone. It also seems to be faster and use less battery. The only other change I can tell is that when you lock the phone, you cannot activate the screen by touching it. You have to unlock it before the screen will activate.

Overall I am impress and applaud RIM on their upgrades to an already solid phone.

Rules for Waging War

June 6th, 2009

I ran across this on another website. I feel it applies to everything, including zombies.

1. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.

2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.

3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.

4. If your shooting stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough nor using cover correctly.

5. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)

6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.

7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.

8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running.

9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on “pucker factor” than the inherent accuracy of the gun.

10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

12. Have a plan.

13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won’t work.

14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.

15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.

16. Don’t drop your guard.

17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.

18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.

19. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.

20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.

21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

22. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.

23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a “4.”

Finished the Interior

May 17th, 2009

I got off my butt today and got the rest of the interior swapped. It’s not something I want to do again. Removing the old carpet was the worst, and took about an hour. Infact the whole disassemble took twice as long as putting it back together. Here are the pictures of what I got done today. I still need to mount the piece for the rear cargo pocket.

Overhead Bracket
I got the mounting plate to check for fit. I still need to pull it and drill holes for mounting a radio up there. I’m pushing for this small uniden CB I have, my girlfriend thinks I should put a 2 meter ham radio up there.

Old Center Console
I had a hell of a time getting the old console out. I ended up just saying f*ck it and broke out the saw.

Broken Seat Bolt from Inside
I discovered why my front seat seems to flex when I lean. The bolt is broken off flat with the floor.
Broken Seat Bolt from Outside
This is the underside of the bolt. I figure a can of PB Blast, a pair of vice grips, & a trip to the junk yard should fix that.

Carpet Installed
Here’s the new carpet installed. I found out the flat bracket that holds duct work that goes through the console is cracked, so I need to snag one of those at the yard too.

Everything Installed
Everything Installed
Everything Installed

Mag Light Mount
Mag Light Mount
I had played with different ideas to mount my Mag Light, and finally settled on this. I’m very very happy with it.

Here is the full gallery of the interior swap. Today’s work starts on the bottom half of page 2.

Fun in the Sand

May 3rd, 2009

Yesterday, my daughter and I took my Traxxas Stampede RC truck to a sand volleyball court. It was alot of fun. Here’s a vid of my daughter driving my truck in the sand.

New Interior

April 27th, 2009

On Saturday morning, I picked up this mess:
New Jeep Interior
I got most of the interior out of a wrecked 2000 Jeep Cherokee, that was in quite a bit better shape. I got the carpet (both front and rear sections), the rear bench seat, the front buckets, center console, and sun visors. There are afew more parts I want to go back and get, and the guy said he wasn’t probably getting rid of it for afew weeks.

Here’s why I’m swapping:
Drives Seat

Passangers Seat

Back Seat

Cargo Area

I got motivated yesterday afternoon and got part of the swap done. I’ve got the rear carpet in and the rear seat. I still need to yank the front seats, console, and carpet (the easy part).

New Sun Visors
I still need to wire the lights (my old visors didn’t have lights).

Rear Carpet Installed
Here’s the carpet installed, and trim waiting to be installed.

Just needs the rear seat
Waiting for the rear seat.

Everything back together
Everything back together.

Much better
Much better than the original rear seat (see above).

Small doses of my offroad fix

April 22nd, 2009

With everything that’s been going on, Carrie is making me scale back my offroad plans for the Jeep. Right now, we are using it as the family car when we have to take everyone (including the dogs) out of town.

That being said, I picked up a used Traxxas Stampede. It’s a fun little truck that I got used, and has had some mods done to it. Thus far I’ve not gotten much of a chance to play with it. The first time out, I blew the motor. After installing a new motor and correcting some wiring issues, I’ve played with it a bit more. I’m going to hold back on playing with it too much until I get a new set of tires.

The tires that are on it are a very nice tire, called Badlands. My problem is that alot of my RCing involves pavement, which wears these tires down very fast. I’m planning getting a set of Masher 2000’s for normal playing, and save the Badlands for a softer terrain.

Thus far the only mod I have done to the truck (with the exception of replacing the motor), is the RPM wide front bumper. Future mods include upgrading the suspension and eventually replacing the motor and electronic speed control with the setup from a Stampede VXL.

Here are some pics:
The truck right after unboxing.
Here’s the truck after unboxing.

I had to take some Poser/Flex Pics.
Some Poser/Flex Pics.

I had to take some Poser/Flex Pics.
Some Poser/Flex Pics.

The only mod so far is the RPM bumper.
Another Poser/Flex pic that shows the new front bumper.

A Pirates Code of Conduct for Bittorrent

April 8th, 2009

Normally, I don’t like to repost things and create blog spam. I ran across an article for a code of conduct on bit torrent. Feel free to read. I encourage everyone to read the whole article.

Jeep Goodness

March 26th, 2009

This is going to be a quick update. I’ve started doing the maintenance and upgrades to the Jeep. I replaced the saggy rear lift gate struts with a new set. They came from ebay and I suspect they were designed for something a bit heavier, as the liftgate raises on it’s own when opened and you have to push kind of hard to get it closed. No big deal, as the struts wear they won’t go all floppy as quickly.

The next upgrade was to replace the crappy original gauge cluster with a real one. Below are before and after:
Original Gauge Cluster
The original gauge cluster.
Replacement Gauge Cluster
The new gauge cluster. This mod alone makes the Jeep feel 100 % better.

Somebody backed into the Jeep and cracked the tail light. Below is the original tail light and the replacement.
Tail Lights

Lastly, I took some poser pics of the Jeep last week. Here’s my favorite:
Poser Pic
You can also see the full album from that shoot here.

In other non Jeep news, I downloaded the trial for the Warhammer MMO. It feels alot like WoW, but the graphics are less cartoony. I just wish they’d give you more than 10 days on the trial (maybe 14) and allow you to progress beyond level 10. Oh…well… I’ll play until the trial is over and be done with it. I doubt I’m going to see enough in the glimpse that they give to sell me on the game.

Jeep Goodies

March 4th, 2009

I’ve settled into having my Jeep. Thus far, I’ve replaced the bald tires. I also got a set of TJ flairs to replace the factory fender flairs.

Here are some pics:
75% or better tread life
The tires have atleast 75% of their tread life left.

TJ Fender Flairs
Here’s the fender flairs for a Jeep TJ. This is a common mod that allows you to run bigger tires with less lift. Less lift means lower center of gravity.

Right now I’m pricing a Rough Country 3 inch Series II Lift Kit. If I can get the lift (which I hope I can do soon), I’m going to sit on the kit until I can get some new tires. I’m shooting for around 31 inch tires.

New Toy

February 25th, 2009

This last weekend, I picked up a 1997 Jeep Cherokee (XJ). This will replace my 1993 Olds Cutlass Ciera (which is currently for sale) as my beater/play vehicle. Future plans include 3 inch lift, larger tires (probably 30’s or 31’s), offroad style bumpers, and a new coat of paint (I’m thinking OD Green). I also want to mount a CB, my 2 meter ham radio, and possibly an HF ham radio rig. I also picked up a new gauge cluster to replace the rather limited original one.

I plan to use this Jeep as a work truck and light hauling and something that can take me to slightly more out of the way places for things like cemetery exploration, metal detecting, and setting up mobile ham radio stations.

Here are some pics of the beast. It was getting dark when I got it home on Monday night, so pictures are limited. More to come when I have the chance to snap the.
Front End
Driver's Side
Passenger Quarter
Rear End
Rims
Engine (I6 Power)

Click here to see the full photo gallery for the Jeep.