Related posts:

1. Marker & Paper Art
2. SketchUp and My Basement Remodel
3. SketchUp’s Dynamic Components

Admitting You Have a Problem:

I like to golf.  Golf courses typically have very nice turf.  So when a sea of yellow flowers overtook my yard this spring, my lawn stood in high-contrast with my  course's, and I decided I would have to go beyond simply mowing and trimming this year.

Tip #1:  Mow High

• Set your mower to cut your grass at about 3" (inches).
• Once you get your weeds under control, tall grass helps to shade out new weed upstarts.
• This will also help to green the turf in prolonged dry spells.
• Furthermore, it promotes root growth (think of the height of your grass blades, and that's about how deep the roots go).

Tip #2:  Kill Weeds

• As your weeds disappear, your grass will grow to fill in the gaps and new weeds will have less area to gain a foothold.

Killing Weeds:

This doesn't happen overnight.  When I decided to eradicate weeds, I researched "natural" and organic techniques, but decided that I needed to try chemicals first due to the extent of my infestation.  I feel guilty about spraying chemicals on my lawn that will likely runoff to water supplies or wetland habitats, but I'm able to rationalize chemical herbicide usage for now.

This spring I started off with a "Weed & Feed" treatment.  This is a bag(s) of granules with both fertilizer and herbicide mixed in.  I used a broadcast spreader to apply this to my lawn, and followed manufacturer directions on how much to put on each 1,000 sq/ft.  After about a week I noticed a lot of the dandelions started to curl and wilt.  after 2 or 3 weeks, I felt that the herbicide had done all it was going to do.  This is when I began Spot Spraying.

Example of a bag of "Weed & Feed" granules

Broadcast-Spreader

Here's how I've spot sprayed this year:

I got about 20 ounces of 2,4-D and a hand-held sprayer, and I've been mixing in about 3-4 ounces of liquid 2,4-D to 1 gallon of water and then spray this solution on remaining patches of clover, dandelions, thistles, and other broadleaf weeds.  2,4-D is a "Highly Selective" herbicide, meaning it selects broadleaf plants, but does little-to-no harm to grasses.  Contrast this with Roundup, which will kill almost any plant (non-selective).  I obtained the liquid 2,4-D from a family member who is a farmer.  I'm not sure how everyone else gets their hands on this chemical in its isolated form, but it's available in plenty of store-bought herbicides (like Ortho "Weed-B-Gon")

More 2,4-D info:

• wikipedia 2,4-D page
• 2,4-D fact sheet

Hand Held Sprayer

Of course, I don't have a 100% weed-free lawn, and I never expect to.  I just want to create the environment that encourages my turf to grow in thick and choke out unwanted plants.  As this continues, weeds become less of a problem and more of an ongoing minor-maintenance issue.

By next Spring or Summer, I plan to start using home-made "organic" herbicides.  This involves something along the line of mixing vinegar, dish soap (to stick to leaves), and possibly citrus or clove oil mixed with water.  I'll probably update with my experience at that time.

Tip #3:  Plug (or) Core Aerate Your Lawn

• De-compact your soil, which aides root growth
• Allow air molecules, moisture, and fertilizers to get to your turf's roots
• Let subterranean microbes to the surface to break down the thatch layer
• Set the stage for over-seeding

Aerating Your Lawn:

Typically turf aeration is recommended for Early Spring or Fall.  There are 2 reasons for this:

1. Grass is "dormant" in the Summer and Winter
2. There's typically more moisture / rain in the Spring and Fall

I chose to ignore this advice and aerate in mid-June because after a prolonged dry spell for most of May, June has been very wet, and I expect the grass to grow just fine when it gets this much rain.

When core aerating, you want very moist soil, but not muddy soil.  If you have to water a lot the day before you aerate, so be it.  I prefer to let Nature prepare my lawn with heavy rains, but not everyone enjoys my climate.  And remember to aerate in multiple directions across your lawn.

plug / core aeration of your lawn

You can hire a local lawn-care company to aerate your lawn, or you can buy an aerator (what I did).  Below is a photo if the model I purchased.  I found it online from the Home Depot, and it was more affordable than any similar brand's models.  This model is manufactured by Brinly, and has worked well for me.

What I found when looking to get my yard aerated is that paying a company to aerate my approx. 10,000 sq/ft lawn would cost about $80, and I wasn't sure how thorough they would be.  Since I found a 48" aerator for $130, I figured I'll be money-ahead after 2 aerations (and if I do a poor job, it's MY job).

pull-behind plug - core aerator

Tip #4:  Over-Seed Your Lawn

• Fills in and re-invigorates your turf
• Use decent quality seed which is appropriate for your climate
• Over-seed within a few days to a few weeks after you've plug-aerated
• Water well (if Mother Nature isn't providing rain)
• Apply between 1 and 4 pounds of seed per 1,000 sq/ft.  (you be the judge)

I live in the northern part of the country, so I sewed an "Athletic Mix" of Tall Fescue and Kentucky Blue Grass.  If you live in the South, you'll likely plant something like Zoysia, St. Augustine, or Bermuda.  This subject is all about personal preference and geographical locale.

What IS important when you're seeding (or over-seeding) is that your seeds land in an area where they can be surrounded or covered with loose soil.  This is why I over-seed after plug aerating, because there's a lot of soil cores laying on top of the lawn, and with mowing and rain, those cores will pulverize and refill the holes.  Combine this with water, and it will provide a fertile place for seed to germinate.  Spreading seed on top of compacted soil, or not at-least raking the seeds into loose topsoil will yield poor results.

Tip #5: Get Your Soil Tested (If Necessary)

• Take soil samples from different areas of your lawn and pay your local extension office to test them
• When you find out your soil's pH level, you'll know whether to add Lime or Sulphur

Turf grasses typically thrive in soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5 (slightly acidic).  If none of the other tips have helped you achieve your desired lawn (and do yourself a favor and give it a few months to evaluate), then you may have a soil pH issue, or an insect issue (like grubs).  I'm not going to discuss turf-insect-infestation problems in this article, as I have no experience with it.  But, I can provide links to helpful info on soil pH and County Extension Offices.

Soil pH links:

• Purdue Turfgrass Science Program: Soil Testing For Lawns (PDF)
• eXtension.org: Raising Soil pH and Soil Acidification

County Extension Office links:

• eXtension.org (at the top of the screen: click on "Find a U.S. Institution")
• USDA Cooperative Extension Office Locator

Conclusion:
Let me know if I've left something out, and if you have related tips, or questions.  Remember, I'm not a lawn care expert, just printing about what worked for me.

Related posts:

1. How to run HDMI cable through existing construction drywall
2. Favicon? What is that? How to make one?
3. SketchUp’s Dynamic Components

She even says most of the names of the States!

50 State Jigsaw Puzzle

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1. Portfolio Update

I believe a website isn't really finished until it has a favicon.  Take a look at the first image below.  Most of the "Favorites Bar" links do not have favicons, and therefore they do not stand out, differentiate themselves, nor present their brand identity well.

Below are some examples of favicons:

favicon examples

favicon examples 2

A great place to make a favicon for your website is here.

There are more complicated ways to make favicons.  For example, you can download a free plugin for Photoshop and turn a photo into a favicon, which I did for the afes4kids.org site.  The important part is that the favicon is saved as a ".ico" file, and named "favicon.ico".  When this file is uploaded to your website's root folder (directory), web browsers will look for the "favicon.ico" file and display it on tabs and bookmarks.

Comment if you would like more info on how to create and host favicons (be specific).

Related posts:

1. AFES: Athletics For Education and Success
2. Website Revamp – FM Controls, Inc.
3. Authenticating your Blogger site in Yahoo’s Site Explorer

Check it out

Homepage for FM Controls, Inc.

Related posts:

1. Favicon? What is that? How to make one?
2. Is Your Site Accessible?
3. Marker & Paper Art

Since most of us with new flat screens don't also have newly constructed houses to match, let's talk about how to run the television's power, HDMI, RCA, and any other cables through the wall.

These are the tools to get ahead of time:

Drywall Hand Saw

Wire Fish Tape ex.1

Wire Fish Tape ex.2

Now let's talk about the hardware you'll need:

• Two (2) Wall Plates
• Two (2) Existing Construction Gang Boxes
• Cables [in my case: two 15 ft. HDMI (1 for DirecTV, one for HTPC), one RCA cable (goes from TV to surround sound receiver), one TV power cable (of course, this comes with the TV)]

Wondering where to buy this stuff?  I recommend mycablemart.com.  And no, they're not paying me to write this.  I found the company through a Google search the week before Christmas, and bought a wall mount bracket, face plates, gang boxes, and 2 HDMI cables at a very competitive price.  I made this purchase late afternoon 2 days before Dec. 24th, and by the time I got home from the office the next day, the package was waiting for me in my garage.  That's fast shipping during the hectic Holidays.  If you have a better place to shop for this stuff, by all means, leave a comment about it.

Pass Through Wall Plate

Existing Construction Wall Box (front view)

Single Gang Existing Construction Wall Box

So why did I buy the "Pass Through" face plate?  Because it seems like A/V equipment is always changing the inputs/outputs as the years fly by.  I didn't want to pigeon hole myself into a limited set of i/o ports.  With the pass through plate, I have the option of running different cables through the wall as needed (although I don't plan on doing this often, as it's a pain).

That said, if you want something a little more customized and even more "finished" looking, check out these wall plates:

Audio Wall Plate

Keystone Type Wall Plate

Installation:

• Get out the Sharpie, put the Single Gang Wall Box up to the wall, and trace the inside of it with your marker to get the general size of the rectangular hole you're going to cut into your wall.
• Do this twice--one down by the baseboard, and one up by the TV's wall mount bracket.  Make sure these holes are directly in-line with each other, in the same stud bay.  Otherwise it will be difficult or impossible to run the cables.
• Take your drywall hand saw and cut the rectangular holes out.  Just wiggle the saw in, no need to go any deeper than the drywall (say about 1/2 inch).  After you cut the rectangular shape, see if the wall gang box fits.  It probably won't, so do some fine tuning and shave away areas that need it.
• Fit the wall gang boxes in the holes.  You don't need to tighten them down yet.
• Feed the wire fish/snake wire through the top hole, down through the wall, and fish it out through the bottom hole.  This may be easier said than done, and it's good to have a helper.  In my experience, the "wire fish" tool is necessary... we tried a wire clothes-hanger, and it wouldn't work.
• Now that you've got your fish wire hanging out the bottom hole, take your cables and tape them to the fish wire in a manner that makes them "aerodynamic" and not bulky.  Remember, you're pulling all these wires through a wall with insulation, other wiring, or whatever is inside.  You need your cable bundle to be as sleek as possible to avoid getting caught on other stuff as you pull it up.
• Now have your helper push the cables up from the bottom as you pull up your fish wire from the top.
• Once you get the wires ran, make sure you really have all of them.  I finished up the entire job before I realized I forgot the TV's power cord!
• Get your screwdrivers and turn the screws in the gang box so that the little "arms" squeeze tight against the back of the drywall.
• Thread the cables through the openings in the pass through face plates (or plug them into a customized face plate if that's what you bought).
• Turn the screws on the face plates to attach them to the gang boxes.

Pass Through Face Plate

That should be everything!  Now hang your flat screen back on the bracket, plug your cables in, and enjoy that "clean" look.

Finished Look

Related posts:

1. SketchUp’s Dynamic Components
2. HTPC: Home Theater with Media Center
3. SketchUp and My Basement Remodel

It just got worse from there.  My Brother In Law snow blow-ed the drive at 10am, and the drift around the car was back half-as-high an hour later... and bigger than before not long after that.

About 11am, the neighbor across the street got his Grand Am stuck on the street in front of my house (where the truck is in the photo).

Now it's almost whiteout conditions (3pm).  This is the 4th time this has happened in a month (this much snow and drifting in front of my house).  I think it's time to either plant a hedge row, or erect a snow fence.  The drift in this photo isn't the same one from the photo above -- that one was completely removed and then this one formed within a couple hours.

Check out these strange formations; and keep in mind that I didn't have my garage door opened all day.  This is all snow that accumulated from about 6am through 3pm, all blown through the cracks between the garage door segments and perimeter.  The reason it's interesting to me is because these drifts "grew upward" throughout the day, like a stalagmite (stalactite?) that grows up from the bottom of a cave... but there's not corresponding precipitation from above in this scenario.  There's no big snow formation attached to the ceiling above.

Here I am the next day; our neighbor cleaned out the drive except for this drift... looks like my wife is going to have some serious shoveling ahead of her if she wants to go anywhere : )

No related posts.

If you've never heard of "HTPC," and you somehow stumbled upon this post because you like Home Theater stuff, then comment on what you'd like to know more about, and I can answer with another post or email.

An ultra-quiet, powerful PC for your home entertainment center.

I’ve built many Home Theater Personal Computers over the last several years, and I know what works and what doesn’t.

This HTPC comes with RF (radio frequency) remote and keyboard made specifically for “Media Center” PCs.  These are great for when you would rather lay on the couch and enjoy your leisure than sit at a desk.  The keyboard has a mouse trackball and other buttons on the front of it so you can easily navigate the internet from the comfort of a recliner, or just use the remote, which also has a track ball and mouse buttons if you don’t need to type.

At this pricepoint, I offer 2 styles of cases.  They are of high quality steel and aluminum construction, and come in either silver (pictured) or black.  An oil dampened action lets the front cover open when pushed on, which hides the DVD tray and front audio/USB/Firewire jacks (great for copying movies from your digital camcorder to your HTPC, and then burning to DVD).

The front display is a 16x2 digit Vacuum Flourescent Display, pictured below.  The display can be customized depending on what software is installed to drive it.  The display also has an invisible infrared eye in case you want to use an IR remote control.

This unit has enough graphics power to push HD televisions, including 1080p resolution, at least up to 65” (which is the largest I’ve used it with).  If you would like your HTPC to double as a game console to play graphics intensive games like “Crysis” or “World of Warcraft” on highest settings, I would suggest you purchase an add-on low profile video card ($125) and wireless controllers ($45 each).

This video card has a 256MB bus, 512MB of DDR3 memory, and is Low Profile Ready.  I find cards with a lot of power, bus width, G-DDR3 (or faster) memory, and most importantly: the card must be cool and quiet.  Video cards must be quiet and cool, so they don’t heat up the rest of the case which causes other fans to work harder and become noisier.

Consider adding a video card only if you watch a lot of BluRay videos on a large HDTV; record HD home videos, process/transcode and burn to DVD; play graphics intensive video games; or design by CAD/ use Graphic Design programs like Adobe CS4.  Otherwise, the “On Board” Radeon 3300 graphics processor coupled with the 2.7GHz dual core CPU should fulfill all other visual needs.

I’ve used ASRock or MSI motherboards in my HTPC builds for 2 years now.  They offer reliability and more features per dollar than other manufacturers, in my experience.

The Gigabit LAN port allows you to stream HD video, music, and other large files faster than 100Mb/s LAN ports commonly provided with today’s computer hardware.  This enables you to connect your HTPC to a Gigabit Router and network with other computers in your home, if desired, and helps to ensure that your internet and router/network connections aren’t the tightest “bottleneck” in your home computer system(s).

Alternatively, you can set up 1 efficient and low powered “server” computer in your home to back up all other computer’s files, and store all of your videos, movies, music, documents, pictures, etc… in one place that all the other computers can access quickly through Ethernet connections (or even wirelessly, if desired).  I can answer questions on setting up small home “servers” to have one centralized location to back up and store files from your other home computers, or even stream info back and forth over the internet from your work computer to your home computer.

This HTPC has a dual core 2.7GHz CPU chip, with a “whisper quiet” cooling fan (rated 17 decibels, which is nearly inaudible to most people).  This advanced and powerful CPU has the power to assist the graphics processor with playing back seamless HD video, but is efficient enough to run at only 65 watts, which helps keep temperatures down and fans quiet... and it’s a little friendlier on your electricity bill.

In this unit includes a Blu-ray/HD-DVD player and Blu-ray burner.  It also will play and burn standard DVDs and CDs.  If you would like a Blu-ray player only (doesn’t burn Blu-ray DVDs), or a standard DVD burner/player, the price of the unit would be reduced.

If you have a High Definition TV, I suggest you at least get a Blu-ray player, as Netflix and Blockbuster have joined the movement toward by offering a large assortment of Blu-ray titles, and eventually Blu-ray will become the standard DVD format.

Other Components:

Memory: This HTPC has 4 gigabytes of high quality RAM (2 x 2Gb modules), with 800MHz speed.  The RAM modules I choose sometimes differ from build to build, but are always one of the parts specifically suggested by the motherboard manufacturer.

Hard Disks: This HTPC has two (2) 500 Gigabyte Western Digital Caviar Black hard disk drives.  It’s important to have high quality drives in a Media Center HTPC because using it as a DVR to constantly record television, and playing a lot of large files (music, home videos, etc…)  will put hard drives through their paces.  WD Caviar Black disks have 2 processors for increased speed, 32 Mbs of cache, and they have one of the most robust spindles in the hard disk world, securing the platters at both the top and bottom of the drive.  Most PCs do not have disks of this quality in them, and I’ve noticed the difference in speed and reliability since I started building with Caviar Black drives.

The reason for having 2 disks in the computer is for an automatic backup.  After you’ve gone to the trouble to move all your music, video, movie, and photo files to the HTPC, it’s important to back them up.  Windows can be set up to automatically back up on a weekly basis.  If you already back up your computers through a network to another central location, then you would not need 2 drives.

If you would like to increase disk drive space to two 1 terabyte disks (doubling the space), it is $160 extra.  Adding any more disk space (up to 4 terabytes) would depend on current market price the disks.

Power Supply: The power supply for this HTPC is a Corsair 400watt single rail, 80%+ efficiency unit.  These are known for their exceptional quality, durability, and quiet performance.  Single rail units are preferred as they don’t split the wattage across multiple rails, possibly yielding less power per device than needed.  80%+ efficiency helps to keep temperatures down, important when an HTPC is placed into a cramped shelving unit.

Tuner Card: A Hauppauge 2250 low profile dual tuner card is included with the HTPC.  Hauppauge is a leader in Tuner Card manufacturing, and after having tried several brands and makes of these cards, Hauppauge is the one that has provided the highest quality signal and reliability.

This card can be used to tune in High Def (Clear QAM) antenna signals, analog cable signals, and digital cable boxes and/or Dish Network/DirecTV boxes can be plugged into it (including the HighDef versions), providing the ability to use your HTPC as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), so you can set up schedules to record your favorite shows, just like any other DVR (TiVo, DirecTV, Dish, etc…)  You can also record 2 shows on 2 different channels at the same time, and even watch a previously recorded show while those 2 shows are recording.

Hauppauge 2250 with additional A/V in ports shown above

This HTPC is pre-loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium, which includes the Windows Media Center functionality.

This copy (for a limited time) also includes a manufacturer provided coupon for a FREE upgrade to Windows 7 when it is released in the fall of 2009.

Windows Media Center:

Windows Media Center ties it all together.  This is the “Hub” of the Home Theater Personal Computer.  It allows the user to easily flip through intuitive menus with a remote control.

For an interactive demo of Media Center, click or copy + paste this link into your browser:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/mediacenter/demos/windowsmediacenterdemo/default.html

For the WMC Homepage, go to the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-media-center/tv-windows-vista.aspx

Shop Around: If you like the idea of buying a Home Theater PC, but you’re wondering if my custom builds are a good value, please feel free to shop around.  I’ll even provide some links to other HTPC builders’ websites (see below).

Cannon PC - $2,083.00
http://www.cannonpc.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=74

Go to “Customize” to upgrade the components to a more appropriate “apples to apples” comparison.

Okoro Media - $2,205.00
http://www.okoromedia.com/model.asp?model=LX100

Go to “Customize” to upgrade the components to a more appropriate “apples to apples” comparison.

If you’re in Central Iowa (if you’re close, some exceptions made) I can come to your home and install the HTPC, including connection to your TV & other devices (like digital cable/dish box), connection to your internet/router, set up of Media Center (including channel scans), and some education to make sure you’re comfortable with the remote control and other functions.  I charge between $150 and $250 for this service, depending on your proximity and complexity of set up.  I have not seen any online HTPC sellers that offer in-home setup.

Otherwise, I can just ship the HTPC to you, which is $40, and I can answer questions you may have via phone or email.  This option is recommended for those who consider themselves relatively “tech savvy”.

In both cases, I require payment before shipping or delivery through PayPal.  Custom HTPCs usually take me between 1 and 2 weeks to assemble and test before delivering or shipping.  I will need to communicate with you throughout the assembling of your HTPC about your current television and subscription details (dish/cable + what sort of connections used, i.e.: HDMI, DVI, Component, etc...)

Related posts:

1. How to run HDMI cable through existing construction drywall

I recently spoke with a potential client about her desire to blog about her business.  before our conversation, we had been emailing.  I checked out her website.  It wasn't good.  It looked unprofessional and low-rent... Home-made; in a bad way.  Like it was designed in MS FrontPage in 1998, and never updated since.  Tables and borders were undersized so that borders overlapped text, and info about a sales promotion/contest showed an ending deadline that was months past.

When I talked with her on the phone, I mentioned that I could both revamp her website and set up a blog that she could either learn how to manage, or pay me to manage and market.  She said that her website didn't need any work, and sounded almost offended.  I'm assuming she created the website.

This is for business owners:

I know most of you are successful to some degree.  You've ran a profitable business for some time now, perhaps long before the advent of broadband internet service.  Perhaps you owe very little of your past success to a "web presence".  Perhaps you don't care much for the internet, or you find every business in the Yellow Pages, or you assume that your type of business is excluded from any need of internet marketing...  I have no idea why you may have no (or poor) web presence.  But if this describes you, it needs to stop.  For future success' sake.

If you've been successful for a long time (decades), then you must be smart enough to realize that the world turns and things change.  What worked in the past may not work in the future.  Don't stop innovating.  The public and your customers expect to find you in cyberspace.  More and more consumers take web presence for granted.  If you don't have a decent web presence, you look bad to a growing number of consumers (or worse: you're invisible).

This doesn't mean you have to hire an IT department, a marketing firm, and a design house.  A thousand bucks will probably get you a wonderful 3 or 5 page website that tells the public "About" your business, where you're located, your history, your mission, what you can and can't do, and (importantly) provides a positive first impression.

Oh, and it's nice if potential customers can actually FIND you.  Your pretty website is just "there" if you're not putting the address on your business card, programming it into your receipt tapes, printing it on the big magnet on the door of your work vehicle, etc... and having someone do all the right Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your site.  The SEO stuff should be done by the same person or firm that designs and builds your site, in my opinion.

Supporting Links:

• 20 reasons why an organization needs an effective web presence
• Important Ways to Increase Your Web Presence

Related posts:

1. Website Revamp – FM Controls, Inc.
2. Is Your Site Accessible?
3. AFES: Athletics For Education and Success

Someone sent me this, and it's hilarious.  Sorry I don't have the original artist.... if it's you, let me know and I'll link the graphic to your site.

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