Online Tools review: XE Universal Currency Converter

If you've ever found yourself having to convert currencies, you are probably aware that there are numerous tools available to help you in the process. But one of these, an online tool called XE Universal Currency Converter is billed as the most popular currency exchange site in the world. With a number of tools for currency transactions of all types, as well as charts and more, XE is truly an amazing resource for anyone that requires currency conversion tools and help.

(Foreign currency & coins image©bradipo)
I've recommended this tool to many of my friends when they were travelling internationally, and they have all praised its ease of use and access. Take a look for yourself, and I believe you will quickly want to add this bookmark to your travel links.

Pick of the week: VersionTracker

Like almost every computer user today, I sometimes struggle to get all the updates to the software titles that I use on my computers, let alone find out about new software. There are many software repositories available online, but sadly, they are mostly for the Windows platform, and that is not too helpful for me, being an Apple user (my wife and I are both Apple users). But there is one that I have found to be helpful, well organized and current and that site is VersionTracker.

VersionTracker provides a list-type interface, as well as separate tabs for Windows, OS X, iPhone and the Palm OS.

If you use any of these software platform and didn't know about Version Tracker, head over right now. You'll be glad you did.

Online Tools review: Block Posters

Have you ever wanted to create a wall-sized print of an image? It's not such a complicated feat using software like Photoshop, but it is not necessarily an easy task either. As I was searching for a solution to this problem, I stumbled upon Block Posters, a free online tool that promises to "create any size wall poster from any size image". A rather bold boast, but from my experience so far, I have been very impressed. An easy to use interface, enough options to create your poster the way you want, in all, a really great tool.

Go take a look for yourself, upload an image and print out a large poster; I'm sure you'll appreciate the ease of use immediately.

RAIS Woodstoves

When I was younger and living at home, we lived in a beautiful house in Markham, Ontario. Since my father had decided to remodel the house, one of the elements he wanted was a wood stove. A fireplace would simply not do, as my father was raised in the country, where fire was all important for heating during the winter. It was during that time that he learned that a fireplace was mostly a decorative home element rather than a true source of heat. With a wood stove, the closed combustion chamber and the heavy mass of metal that make up the stove structure increase the efficiency of any wood burned within by capturing and releasing heat over time.

When most people think of a wood stove, the image of a small, black, horizontal, front-loading stove comes to mind. But these types of stoves are what I refer to as the basement stove; it works well enough, but it sure isn't pretty to look at, so might as well hide it in the basement! Well that is not the type of stove my father wanted. He told me about a stove he had seen in an old home, a vertical design, covered in enamel, with front and top loading. I had never seen anything of the sort, but lo and behold, my father returned home one evening with a receipt for delivery for the stove he wanted, the Petit Godin cast iron wood stove:

Although Godin stoves are no longer made, it is possible to find them through specialized dealers and other sources, including antique stores! Although I always found that little stove very nice, it just didn't appeal to me aesthetically. I prefer cleaner design, with less clutter and decoration, but higher manufacturing quality and more efficient functionality. My research led me to discover RAIS, a Danish company that designs and manufactures wood stoves in several different models based on the original RAIS wood stove, designed by the architect Bent Falk in 1970. He took on the challenge of designing an environmentally-friendly series of “green” homes that made use of effective fireplaces. For his designs, he was awarded the Danish Design Award that year for his stove, the RAIS 1.

Some of the models offered include several freestanding soapstone wood stoves. Yes, the same type of stone used in Inuit carving! Soapstone has many advantages to offer from a heating perspective. It is quite dense and retains heat long after the fire has died down. It radiates that heat in a gradual and diffuse manner, avoiding unnecessary hot areas in the room. It allows for the construction of smaller wood stoves that maintain very high thermal efficiency.

If you are looking for a new fireplace, whether a freestanding model or an insert, with or without soapstone, head over to RAIS and take a look at what they offer.

Pick of the week: Strobist

I've been an amateur photographer for almost 20 years now, and the one thing that I've discovered is that as a photographer, one is always learning. Whether learning new techniques, or revisiting something that hasn't been done in a while, there is something new each and every day. And with the digital revolution that has taken place, there is an entire new chapter to the art of taking pictures.

During my quest to learn more about flash photography, I came upon what I consider to be the most advanced amateur flash photography web site, Strobist. The site describes itself as being about one thing and one thing only: "learning how to use off-camera flash with your DSLR to take your photos to the next level. Or the next ten levels". Quite a bold statement, but with over 1000 articles on using lighting to improve your photography is no small achievement.

If you are into photography, do yourself a favour and head over to Strobist and learn something new today!

A new way to look at mobile homes

My wife and I are hoping to move into a home one day, but we both feel that the quality of most homes today leaves a lot to be desired. Spurred by a belief in self-sustainability, environmental friendliness and value, we are looking at home builders that provide these types of features in their design.

One company that caught our eye is the Canadian design firm, Sustain, that provides numerous designs based around a mobile platform. As such, many of their homes are classified as mobile, and may bypass several issues involved in typical residential construction, such as foundations and more. We have known about this company for a while now, and I've even posted some information about the MiniHome Solo, but we wanted to make sure that they would stay in the business and actually build some of the great concepts they came up with. It is nice to see that they have continued the premise of building on a mobile platform. One great advantage of such a design includes the possibility of moving the entire home to another location, which can be an attractive option.

The model above, called the MiniHome Solo, is a bit on the small side, but is fantastically appointed and one of the greenest and most eco-friendly homes available for production today. Take a look here for a gallery of images. And Sustain is expanding and improving, in more ways than one:

Many of the newer designs are based on the experiences learned with previous models and most of the designs share some common ideas, such as external materials that do not require any maintenance or painting, low power consumption and more.

Head on over to their website and take a look a what they've got to offer. So far, we have been pretty impressed and will inquire to get more information.

Kidrobot Futurama Series 1

I am a huge fan of Matt Groening's Futurama, and since my wife and I have been collecting vinyl toys for a while now, you can imagine how happy I was to find out that Kidrobot and Groening were teaming up once again to create a series of Futurama vinyl toys.


The series will be a blind box assortment, and will comprise a total of 12 figures, with 2 chase figures to boot. Each figure will be retailing for $8.95 USD and will release on August 13th, 2009.

From one of the pictures I've been able to find, it's been determined that the series will include the following figures:

- The Devil robot
- Nibbler
- Leela
- Morgo
- Zapp Brannigan
- Mom
- Fry
- Bender
- Lrrr
- Dr.Zoidberg

and what looks to be Hermes and Hypnotoad (all hail Hypnotoad) as the chase figures. I can't wait to see them for myself!

Building your own arcade cabinet

I've always thought of myself as young at heart, but I am starting to notice that I am physically a little older than that! The other day, I was reminiscing (yes, that was one of the first things that clued me in to the fact that I was getting older) about an entertainment venue that has literally disappeared: the arcade and arcade cabinets. I spent a large part of my youth dropping quarters into these gaming machines and there are days when I really miss it.

Of course, in a fit of sentimentality, I installed the MAME emulator and thousands of ROMS on my iMac, easily replaying the great games of my youth. But something was missing; part of the fun of the arcade was getting to play on a stand up console, with controls that were meant to be used forcefully. And that got me thinking. Wouldn't it be possible to build a stand up cabinet that would essentially be a large PC case running MAME (and/or other existing emulators), with hard drive storage to hold thousands of ROMS and more. That idea really got me going, so I began to do a little research into the hardware that would be required to make this gaming cabinet a reality and any other related information.

The cabinet

The cabinet itself can be built using MDF or another similar material, and is not beyond the skills of most people. Several plans are available online, but it is quite easy to design your own cabinet. A friend suggested using cardboard from furniture and appliance boxes to build a life-size mockup, as it would allow the designer to refine the cabinet design before actual construction can begin.

The monitor

It is possible to purchase monitors in the required sizes, for these exact purposes from manufacturers like Vision Pro. Nowadays, it is also possible to get an LCD panel of the correct dimensions, for a more energy-saving cabinet. For some cost savings, it is possible to substitute a regular tube television, which are now available for a fraction of what they were worth only a few years ago. If you do choose this route, make sure that you select a flat tube television, as it will make your cabinet look that much better.

The CPU

For the CPU, the sky is really the limit; any system that will run MAME or any other emulator, with support for USB, audio and video will do the trick. An astute builder might also consider that the CPU and motherboard will determine the overall limitations of the cabinet, and could also help to provide additional functionalities (the gaming cabinet could also be a modern jukebox!).


The controls

This is the portion that I thought might be difficult to find, but was I ever wrong. Several companies build hardware for arcade consoles, including the best I found, X Arcade as well as other manufacturers, such as Arcade Controls and Suzo-Happ.

This is commercial quality hardware and should help to build a durable, high quality cabinet.

Other hardware

It is even possible to get a coin-operation panel for your custom-built arcade cabinet. Yes, you can make your machine coin-operated as well (in my opinion, it would be an excellent way to keep your kids off of your cabinet!!!)

Why not try your hand at a project like this? A quick Google and Wikipedia search revealed dozens of related sites, images and tutorials, so go ahead, build a little flash from the past and have fun. Take a look at some of the following links for more information:

BYOACWiki - A fantastic resource for the DIY Arcade cabinet builder.

Webb's MAME Arcade Cabinet - A DIY guide to a great MAME cabinet.

MAME Arcade Cabinet - Another DIY site, with lots of information.

Using the Garmin Nuvi 250

I've had the the Garmin Nuvi 250 for about a month now, and have used it several times in order to get a feel for how the device operates and how accurate it is for everyday navigation. So far, I have been very impressed with the ease of use of the device, and its navigation accuracy. Now don't get me wrong, the device has its bugs. For instance, I have not been able to get the device to map out a route to my father's residence. No matter how I select my dad's address, the Nuvi just hangs at 80% completion, and will not begin navigating. It's odd, and I've been able to get it to map a route to an address on a neighbouring street, and that seems just fine.

I've also used the device on foot for geocaching on several occasions, and have found that it was just as accurate, and more useful than my Garmin eTrex. I have been able to connect it to my wife's iMac without problem (it is recognized as an external drive) and it has been very simple to add waypoints using the computer instead of entering them manually into the device. The most pleasant surprise was to find that the Nuvi recharges when it is connected to a computer through USB. A truly useful feature. I have also been very impressed with some of the useful software utilities provided by Garmin. These tools can make route planning a little simpler, and uploading these routes to the device a piece of cake.

I will post more information on my experiences as I continue to use this fantastic gadget.

A couple months with my netbook

I've been using the Asus EeePC 900HA for a couple months now, and I am still quite satisfied with my purchase. As with any other electronic device, there are changes that I would appreciate in a future replacement, but they don't make the netbook any less usable. I have used it on pretty much daily basis for almost 2 months now, and it has stood up to that use, and more. Most of my use currently is being done outdoors, so although cooling has not been a problem, exposure to dust and other particulates has.

Like most plastic devices, the EeePC is a dust magnet, and I have not been able to keep it clean for the life of me. Another factor that has been bothering me is my inability to turn the touchpad off. Since I am using a wireless mouse with the netbook, the touchpad has only served to cause typos when my thumb inadvertently touches it and moves the cursor in mid-sentence. The battery life has also been much less than anticipated or claimed by Asus. At most, I'm able to get 4.5 solid hours of use from the device, under low load conditions, mind you. Personally, I count on 3 hours of actual, everyday use, with some reserve power to save files and shutdown the system adequately.

Other things I've noticed include flickering of the backlight at the lowest setting; as I've mentioned, I often use my netbook outdoors, and frequently at night. The second lowest brightness setting is more than required in these circumstances, but that is when the flickering is the most obvious. A more annoying bug has been the reconnection to a wireless network after coming back from a suspend mode; about once out of three times, I need to reboot the computer to get the wireless to work again. This last issue might have more to do with the operating system (I've been using Eeebuntu with the Netbook Remix as my OS) than the actual hardware, but I have no real way of confirming or denying such a claim.

I will continue to post more information on my experiences, but so far, I am quite satisfied with my little machine.