2016 is rapidly approaching it’s (much needed) conclusion. 2016 was balls. Horrible, horrible, horrible balls. I am glad it is nearly over.
(RIP Carrie Fischer)
Year: 2016
Side Projects: CO2 Powered Racers
So a STEM teacher at the Middle School got a CO2 Racecar Kit (something like this). In passing she suggested that I make a race car to race with. Well, challenge: accepted.
On Professionalism
Someone asked me earlier this week what I thought were hallmarks of professionalism, not in any specific context or job, but as a general rule.
It wasn’t a difficult question for me to answer, as I think about this from time to time as an IT-Semi-Professional. What did catch my attention though was some of the answers I heard from other people.
Let me start with what other people thought defined being professional.
On: Windows Deployment Services
AKA: Something that has caused me to lose a lot of hair.
My coworker Steve had started asking me questions about Windows 10 deployment, as we’re probably going to be in Windows 10 land next year. I said everything I’ve read involves deployment solutions other than Altiris, our current deployment solution. I said my roommate has suggested a bunch of things, but Windows Deployment Services is probably the easiest to work with.
If WDS is the easiest to work with, I am really glad I went with it because, my god, it has made me pull my hair out a lot over the past week
Cables 102: Repairing Cables, Continued
So on 11/16 I wrote about fixing “Janky Cables”, specifically regarding a console to USB cable. That post was available here.
I am pleased to report that the cable was successfully repaired!
Take a look at that. Isn’t that a beautifully patched cable?
As a reminder the pin-out was:
USB Black to RJ-45 Pin 2 (Brown-White)
USB Green to RJ-45 Pin 4 (Blue-White)
USB White to RJ-45 Pin 3 (Green)
USB Red to RJ-45 Pin 5 & 8 (Blue & Orange-White)
USB Shield to RJ-45 Pin 1 (Brown)
I soldered the individual wires in the cable and used heat-shrink tubing on the individual wires also.
Once I had the wires all soldered together, I carefully wrapped them in electrical tape. I then used another piece of heat-shrink tubing to bundle it all together and keep it from looking atrocious. Pin 6 and Pin 7 from the network cable are snipped and individually heat-shrink tubed to prevent feedback/cross connecting accidentally.
Sure enough, I plugged that cable into a Keypad and a Computer; the Keypad lit up immediately. Soon after I heard the standard Windows found hardware audio. A moment later, the keypad was responding to input and the PC accepted the input. Huzzah!
Sure, the colors don’t match up, but the cable actually works now.
And at the end of the day, when a new keypad is $180 and the only way to get this cable is via that (it’s not a standard Console to USB cable a’la Cisco): I’m very happy to have fixed 2 of them and saved the district close to $400.
Besides, they only have to last for a year until we switch to ID Card Barcode Readers.
I hope.
On Feature Creep And Spec-Sheets
So I’ve been working on a project relating to Bungie’s game Destiny and it’s been an interesting project and process so far. It’s my first project of this scope and size, and it’s also a project I’m not getting paid for (both because I’m an idiot and because I like a challenge). I’ve learned a lot so far, especially about PHP Objects, Laravel (because my roommate won’t shut up about it [Sorry Nick], but it does sound really cool in his defense so I get where he’s coming from), CSS, and Javascript.
Reader beware, you’re in for a scare.
Cables 101: On Fixing Janky Cables (Console to USB?)
Fun times at the district last week. A broken cable lead to a frantic search for the oddest of cables: USB to RJ45-Console-Sort-Of-Not-Really.
Here’s what we’re dealing with (a good cable):
Sorry for the weird angle, I wasn’t thinking when I took it.
Destiny & It’s API
Been fooling around a lot with Destiny API lately. It’s been an experiment in strangeness, to say the least. It has been a little difficult to work with, but only because at my office (where I do my thinking) the API Documentation is blocked (because Games are the devil at schools) which makes it tricky to figure out what data I need to provide in order to get the data I want (like having to provide a Platform ID and a Character ID in order to get number of kills).
That being said, it’s a learning exercise for objects and classes in PHP, which is fun. It’s certainly a good distraction from the clusterfuck that is American Politics today.
On Laptop Disassembly
At work, we have a bunch of different models of devices. We actively maintain no less than 3 separate models of Desktops (1 for the K-3, 1 for 4-5, 1 for 6-8, 2 for 9-12 but these are usually a mix of the 4-5 and 6-8) and no less than 4 different Mobile devices (4 models of Chromebooks, 3 models of Laptops). Most of the Mobile devices, including the Chromebooks we get from Dell and Samsung are pretty easy to work on.
This is not the case for the Dell Laptop model Precision M2800. They are a bear.
I’ll tell you why.
PS4 VR: It’s a BIG Yes
So I’ve been playing a LOT of games lately on my PS4 because, well, honestly it’s an enjoyable platform. I’m still PCMR but the VR for PS4 was too good (and inexpensive) to pick up. I can’t state this enough: If you have ANY interest in VR: Get a PS4 VR system. It will not disappoint you.