Favicon? What is that? How to make one?
What is a "favicon"? it's the little icon on a web browser tab, or next to a bookmark entry.
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).
How to run HDMI cable through existing construction drywall
I didn't realize this was such a hot-topic until after the Christmas season. Several family members bought new flat screen TVs and were wondering the best way to get that "clean look" of a wall-mounted screen with no visible cables.
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:
- Wire Fish Tape (or: Fish Tape, Wire Snake, Wall Snake, whatever the kids are calling it these days).
- Two (2) Screwdrivers (a Phillips and a standard)
- Drywall Hand Saw
- Sharpie Marker
- Electrical Tape
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
SketchUp’s Dynamic Components
I'm a big fan of the Dynamic Components available in SketchUp. I've prepared this blog entry to showcase the framing (wall studs, floor joists) version of these components.
In this example I took an existing basement remodel model, and began to build the main floor on top of it.
Go to: Components>(should be included in the basic templates) and choose the "Wall Framing" component.
Or Go to: File>3D Warehouse>(and search for dynamic components, joists, wall, 2x4, studs, whatever....)
Once you've placed your component, it's already selected (or select it with your cursor so it's outlined - in blue in my photo), and then Right Click> move down and Select "Dynamic Components">then select "Component Options."
In this case, I changed the 2x4 stud dimensions to 2x6 inches. As you can see, the programmers of this component have provided several options to customize a section of wall framing.
Scaling a Dynamic Component in Google SketchUp
This is the most impressive, time-saving, awesome feature of Dynamic Components: ability to Dynamically Scale.
Select your component (if not already selected), and click the scale button (circled in yellow in the photo). You'll notice that there are neon-green cubes along the perimeter of your object. When you grab one of these and drag it, the wall framing unit will change size to your new dimensions. The best part is that after it resizes, it will automatically fill in with studs spaced to your preference (in my case, every 16 inches).
For those who don't know, if you re-scale a component that isn't dynamic, it begins to look either stretched-out or compacted, (depending on if you rescale larger or smaller), and the end result is a "disproportionate" look. This is why Dynamic Components are a wonderful addition to SketchUp.\
If you have questions, comment on this tutorial and I'll address them.
SketchUp and My Basement Remodel
This post is just to talk about "Layers." I find it very helpful to categorize a project into layers. For example, I put the basement floor and stairs on their very own layer:
But I start my projects with a perimeter (the outer block wall of my basement). I measured my basement. It's important to me when I build a project on the computer that it's to scale. This way, if you're creating a plan, you can be confident that it will probably work in reality. Otherwise, you might as well draw it on a cocktail napkin.
After I created the outer wall (my "framework"), I started on the inner walls. I'm still not sure if I want to have 2 bedrooms or 1 larger one, so this may change. But for now, I've made an office and a bedroom, plus a living room area.
I'm sure some might look at this and think of how they would plan the layout differently. Realize when you work on your projects that you're going to have to work around obstacles. In this case, I'm not going to relocate the toilet or the shower drain, as they're set in concrete and I don't want to get into all that work.
Also, I'm not planning on moving the stairs or main ducts, but would like to move the furnace and hot water heater (which I've done in this model).
I added furniture to get perspective on how livable the rooms will be. This goes back to the importance of taking accurate measurements of the space you want to remodel.
Another great thing about SketchUp is "3D Warehouse" in which you can find just about anything you need (furniture, trees, windows, fixtures, etc...) and download it directly into your model. Saves you the time of making everything from scratch.
When I do make something original, I like to upload it (or "share") so that I'm contributing instead of just taking. Here's the hot tub I made:
Then I decided that I'd need an egress window in each bedroom. I read up on what that would entail, and decided it would be easiest to make a couple of existing windows larger. You can see the lighting scheme and the doors, plus the main ducts in this picture.
I even created the joists in my model to get an idea of how to move some ducts and where to put the recessed lighting. This wasn't necessary, but I was enjoying this project and went all out with details.
SketchUp 7 now has scalable "dynamic" models that you can download from 3D Warehouse, which makes creating joists, 2x4 walls, shelving, and other tasks much easier.
Here's the joists and ceiling drywall.
(click on the pics to see enlarged version)
For Walk Through Animations and different SketchUp projects, check out my website.
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