Shroom consumption ETA: 10 minutes.
Details later.

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK
I typed for an hour, got a drink, and everything disappeared, idk what the fuck happened either.... I'm typing in notepad. i'll have the entire story up shortly... It's long

Saints win the super bowl!!! They've been an NFL franchise for 43 years and havent won, so they deserve it! Plus the Colts knocked the Jets outta the playoffs - fuckers.

Anyway, i'm pumped to see New Orleans actually celebrating after Katrina. Makes me happy.

Woot woot football.

In other news, my dad built a computer with an i7 processor, and the RealTek Audio drivers are crashing his system; random shutdowns when streaming music, playing COD:MW, and Portal... Must fix soon...

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Edit- sorry i was drunk

This is how it sounds: Clicky

So if anyone remembers my rant 2 weeks ago, i solved my problem (Which op-amp to use for a tremolo pedal) And i also ordered a crapton of parts online. The last of which came in the mail today while i was in class. So naturally, i tear everything apart, search for some wire i had hanging around, and i start prototyping.

I get the thing built, and it runs. Perfectly. First try. I couldnt believe it.
I couldn't build the whole thing because i ran out of solder so i cant connect my other bypass switch, or the other 2 pots i need for the tremolo circuit..
Here's some breadboard shots of the distortion circuit:

Up-close shot of the fucking enormous capacitor that i need to find a replacement for:Here's another shot showing power in, the bypass switch, and the clipping-diodes (orange things near the top right part of the giant black capacitor)And here's my old guitar hooked up to the input, and you can see the output going to my computer.I'll post some more pics of the rest when i can get down to Radio Shack and pick up some more solder (and some replacement caps for the behemoths)
Also i'll pick up my actual guitar amp so i can hear what it sounds like for real instead of out of my computer speakers.... Cant hear shit outta them because there's no pre-amp going into them, there's only about 500mV coming from the ass-end of the guitar pedal, i'm surprised the speakers could play that at all =]

Hey Twhlers.
My final semester of my 2year degree program started yesterday, and i was wondering if there's any Electronics Eggheads out there.

My final project is due in may, but we need to start it ASAP. My next class isn't 'til Thursday (when the final designs have to be in and approved), and i just stayed up til 3AM getting the first part of this working in the simulation software...

Anyway, I'm an Electronic Engineering student, and my final project is going to be a guitar pedal.

It has 2 main parts to it. 1) Distortion 2) Tremolo effect

I got the distortion down, it was as simple as using 1 BJT and a reversed-pair of low-power diodes to clip the output waveform... and a potentiometer to control the amount of gain etc etc...But i'm having trouble doing the tremolo. I want to use a 555-Timer to power on and off an op-amp with a gain of 1.

I have the timer set perfectly within the time ranges i want (1hz - 60hz) and i even have a pulsing LED to show the timing. But i can't for the life of me figure out the op-amp....If anyone knows which op-amp would be good to use with a 9V supply, and if i really need a positive and negative input or can i just use a +9 and a GND input on the - input?

Idk... Well i have almost another whole week to figure this out, but if anyone could help, it'd be amazing....

My band just recorded 2 new tracks through our first record label.

www.myspace.com/positivechaos

The new ones are:

"Saturday Night"
and
"Neural Shutdown"

Let me know what you guys think. These tracks are just demos of the mixes. They're not mastered and the individual raw data tracks are on an external HD. So we can change anything we want at anytime!!! (For dirt cheap too hehe)

Comments / Criticism Appreciated

My new Heat-Sink came in last night. A full day earlier than expected. Got it installed last night and booted up this morning. Works perfectly. Unfortunately, the vibrating still persists; it's the PSU Fan that's making all the noise on this thing.

So can i just get an 80mm fan and replace it or is it better to just get a new Power Supply? (seeing as how this is a generic, no-name one that came with my $40 case)

In other news, I'm going to the New England Air Museum in about an hour or so. Hopefully they allow pictures, and i can grab some really good ones.

Also, I hate my job; I'm back working at McBrides Pizza, the place where I held my very first job. I'm back working there because it's close, and i've worked there before. Meaning, little to none job re-training. Anyway, everytime i step into work I'm reminded of the very reason i left in the first place; the job fucking sucks. It's 90million degrees in the kitchen, the AC's been broken for 3 years, and the exhaust fan isnt worth shit. Not to mention that it's OWNED by the main waitress and the bartender, so every little minute detail that's wrong you get chewed out.

TLDR; Computer's fixed, Museum in an Hour (Pics, Maybe), My Job Sucks

I hope everyone's Christmas And Christmas Eve was safe (Srry, i'm sorry to hear about your oak incident) I got a lot of stuff i wanted, some i didnt even know i wanted until i unwrapped to see the magic. Once i get everything organized i'll edit with a list of what i recieved. until then, i need to spill this information.
Idk if anyone remembers my computer having random blue screens every now and again. I never found out what was causing the problem until today when i booted my computer up for the first time in 3 days to find the desktop unresponsive, and none of my computer peripherals were functioning; mouse, keyboard, any usb device..
Well come to find out my heat-sink was NEVER properly attached to my processor. And i probably would've lit the thing on fire if i hadn't used arctic silver. I opened my case to find copious amounts of dust EVERWHERE within my computer and when i got to the heat-sink, it was layered with dust. I cleaned off the dust to find the clips connecting the sink to the motherboard were broken! So that explains the hardware blue screens and the massive vibrations i'd receive upon startup.
I find myself blessed that i didnt cause more damage than i did.
So i popped onto my moms lappy (which i'm using right now) ordered another one off newegg that'll be here on wednesday.

I'm not too bummed, as i'm playing soccer tomorrow all day, i'm snowboarding Monday, going bowling Tuesday, and probably working Wednesday.

Anyway.. Here's some pics i took with my new Nikon D3000 Camera.TLDR; Computers broken, could have been bad but is not, will be fixed soon, new camera, some pics, Merry Christmas!

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Here's what i got. Quite a haul if i so say so myself:
The family got a new 40" LCD HDTV!! 1080p and prog-scan and all the goodies. We got a PS3, I got Band of brothers Blu-Ray Set. 5 dvd's with bonus features. Got a Complete car care kit: wash, wax, chamois, tire black, rim shine, armor-all interior care; you name it's in the box. As previously mentioned, i got a Nikon D3000:And along with that i got 2, 4gig HD Sd Cards for memory. (holds total of 2K + pics) Got a case for the camera, 3 year warranty, and a 55-200 Zoom lens. My Girl got me new snowboard boots (nice white burtons, the no-tie, pull-to-tighten ones) assorted sweatshirts, pants, loads of gum (cant chew because of braces, i traded the gum for sweet tarts from my brother) I also got $40 gift certificate to EB games, some scratch-off lotto tickets (lost on most, only won $6 :-/ ) Got a Leatherman Blast, a nice craftsman digital multimeterAnd my father just handed me a card with $400 in it. He couldnt decide what to get me so he figured i'd treat myself to something nice. I will as soon as i can find time to do so.

Woke up this morning to this; 6" of snow, and ice rain.
My school was closed until 11:00AM, but incidentally, that's when my first class starts. I woke up at 8, got outside at 8:30, finished snow-blowing and clearing my car at 10, showered and ate by 10:20, got to school at 10:54.
The parking lot was only 1/4 of the way plowed, so i decided to do a few e-brake powerslides around the lot.
I got into my class and forgot that we had a test. After studying for about 19 seconds (listening to a friend of mine explain a circuit) i got an 84 on the test. After that, i wrote 2 lab reports, and had about 3 LAN matches of Call of Duty 2. All of which i won. By a spread of 20-25 kills.

TLDR: Snow day, but it was a good day.

Just got this in the mail last night.
Thinking if it'll affect my HL mapping.
I'm running an NVIDIA card so hopefully it wont hinder it.
Plus i'm going from 32 to 64 bit. Which i'm currently researching all the driver and compatibility bs right now.

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And i promise that Castle Disposed will not be affected by this in any way, shape, or form.

New Game : Supreme Commander
Time consumption: Full

Beat the first campaign. Onto the next. woot.

(p.s.) got it for $5 - Direct 2 Drive had a 5 year anniversary. Got BOTH supreme commander and the expansion pack for $5 combined.
Else each is $20
I saved $35 - win

Today, September 26th, is my 21st birthday.
Pictures and maybe videos when I awaken from the blackout.

Was just playing a game of Capture Point TF2, and with one One jar of Jarate, and one rocket from another soldier, we killed 8 people.
EIGHT PEOPLE with one jarate and one rocket.
As soon as the countdown finished and the door opened, i tossed the jarate, (got an achievement for 4 people in 1 shot) and bam. Explosions.
Epic.
AND we went on to defend the point. =]
Thanks for all who pushed me to play TF2 more.

MEH..
Haven't opened hammer in ages.
Havent worked on anything in ages.
I only come to TWHL to see if there's compo results.
Other than that, i'm in school, working, or doing homework. I thought this semester was going to be a light load with only 4 classes... I was wrong. Each one of them is 3 hours long!!! And the homework and tests are killer. I'm putting in extra time at school to do my work and study because god knows i'm as productive as a log when i'm at home.

Good news - Went golfing again and shot a 48 (on 9). Was my first time out in about 2 months. Going again tomorrow.

[

Edit ---

Didnt go golfing today, bad weather, andninja cat

GO SEE DISTRICT 9
ENOUGH SAID

EDIT- Breaking Benjamin's new single. - Fucking awesome

Hey fellas. Turns out I'm clinically depressed! Could explain why I lack motivation for anything.
Things with the ex are going wierd. We spend all weekend chilling and just talking and I think we're on the verge of getting back together but I'm not going to let that happen because idk wtf is going on with me.

Therapy starts Thursday. I'll keep ya posted.

Oh and..

TF2 FTW. Finally gave it a second chance, and i'm glad I did.
Edit - My state is a bit wierd: http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1748/nutmeg.png