=VG= SemlerPDX

Hey! You mentioned changing HUD color in Elite Dangerous, and wanted to share the method I use in case you want to use it, too.

It's the Elite: Dangerous Profiler by DrKaii http://www.drkaii.com/tools/edprofiler/

And it gives access to a lot of menu options outside the game, and a bunch of other helpful tools.  Here's a screenshot of my own setup, I use it to go between 3 different settings profiles quickly.  I don't change my HUD color anymore only because dangerous things that are normally Red on the radar (to draw our eyes) will also change colors to something innocuous, and can then be hard to notice on the radar as a "dangerous thing".

Hmmm.... This hits home for me for some reason...

 "and the home of the brave."

Was playing GTA:V online awhile ago, been saving up trying to get to $1 million for a long time just as a goal.  I don't spend much on cars, already got them, and guns galore...  I walked into AmmuNation to fill up on mags and sticky bombs, and accidentally the cursor moved from the Sticky Bombs to some half a million dollar alien gun on the wall.

Since I was just jamming the button to rebuy as many sticky bombs as I could hold, I instantly purchased this lame ass gun I didn't want when the cursor moved up.  I've since tried it out, it's pretty meh.  I'd rather have  the mini-gun if I wanted a heavy machine gun style weapon, for sure.

Luckily for my dumb ass, a new Casino is opening in GTA:V Online and they're having a promotion to launch it, including perks for linking Twitch Prime with your Rockstar Social Club.  I happen to have Amazon Prime, and Twitch, so I jumped through their hoops and BOOM!  EASY MONEY!  Also comes with a penthouse suite (free of charge/rent) at the new Casino when it opens on July 23rd.

28 miles of fireworks for 4th of July - at Long Beach, Washington   It was a fun vacation, but it's good to be home.

Elite: Dangerous -- Deep Core Mining for Void Opals is the new "Gold Rush"!  I've made hundreds of millions doing passenger runs in the Wu Guinagi Loop, but now that it's nerfed, I figured I'd get into mining.

It takes a bit of learning and reddits and YouTube, and then some more, and maybe more, but then when you get the hang of it, and find yourself a little hotspot far away from the overplayed and overpopulated depreciated areas like I did, you can make 60 million from cracking open just a couple asteroids in no time at all.

Took less than an hour to get this from three motherload asteroids... and they're EVERYWHERE! (if you know how/where to look)
(link to coriolis - the ship I used for this mining: https://s.orbis.zone/3mpt )

Last fall, I bought a few more PC monitor arms to free up desk space...  I have a transforming setup now, lol.

Made this GIF to show the different ways I can set this thing up so I can, for example, play VR without punching a hole in my main monitor or knocking over my drink. 

The laptop is connected to the smallest monitor on the right, the other two are connected to my PC.  I have to hide a lot of spaghetti behind the desk, but  all the cables are well managed.

Update on my DIY TrackIR project -
Wireless TrackClip Pro has now been on for a several hours and the voltage on the battery has dropped by 0.40 Volts. If I do some very rough estimates, I am assuming this thing might last between 18-24 hours between charges. I'm leaving it on overnight to find out. The other connector for the magnetic micro USB charger tip is shown in this pic. They sell cords, or these tips that plug onto the end of a normal micro USB charging cable. They have a tiny green indicator light when powered. At $4 a piece (for a male and female pair of magnetic plugs) they are so worth it for the bi-directional connection option alone!

$4.00 NetDot Magnetic USB Charging Connectors
$2.92 3.7V 10440 AAA Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery (sold in 4-pack for around $12)
$1.00 TP4056 (03962A) Charging Board with Protection
$1.00 MT3608 DC to DC Step Up Boost Converter
__________________
$8.92 Total Cost

A tiny little Arduino project wot I did late last night... Road America lap timer & avg. speed calculator
(charging circuits for the wireless TrackClip should arrive Wednesday)
 

DIY Wireless TrackClip Pro
Haven't had time to spend on this project for awhile....  Been trying to find batteries that will power these 3 LED's, and previous tests required at least 4x 1.5V AAA Batteries which is way too large for a battery pack that will sit velcro'd to my headphones.

I just found some rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries with 3.7 Volts each in a "AAA" form-factor.  These things are great!  I tried running a single battery, but the LED's didn't illuminate in any noticeable way so I had to wire a second battery in serial, and they light up just fine.  They are 350mAh each, which is less than half the capacity of a standard rechargeable Li-ion AAA battery, but the trade-off for a higher voltage in such a small size is exactly what I need for this project.

I left this thing plugged in overnight and it was off in the morning, I guess I'll time it to see how long it lasts.  Next step will be to rig a recharging circuit with a micro-A USB female plug-in for easy re-charging, and then cram it all in a small black box with a velcro strap to easily attach to my headset.  To start, I'm not going to cut the TrackClip Pro wire, and I'll leave the female USB connector shown below on the battery pack.  I may shorten the TrackClip wire near the end of this project, at least to remove the heavy USB pass-through dongle hanging off it.

We'll see where this goes, I've never done anything like this before so it's a small challenge.

AHH!! I keep throwing money at my screen but nothing's happening!!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1051200?snr=1_41_4__42

GOG has a decent sale going on right now; picked up a pair of classics for less than a fiver -- Sid Meier's Pirates (the 2004 remake) and Railroad Tycoon 3
Always nice to put a few more cheap titles in the rainy-day games bin 

Terrible storm is shaping up to be rather.... shapely

Working on a DIY project right now between other things; "wireless TrackIR TrackClip Pro"

I have an old TrackClip Pro with several broken plastic pieces, so I'm using it for all sorts of testing and feasibility checks before cutting up my new working TrackClip Pro.  I want to use a small modern Lithium Ion battery and have the ability to charge it through USB micro-A connection, with a charging circuit, and a power on/off switch, but a few of the batteries I've tested so far have me scratching my head.

If this simple 3x LED device normally operates on a USB 5V 1A connection, I really only need to replicate that.  But I've already had little success with the batteries I have around my house.  I may have to purchase a battery specifically for the project, as well as the charging circuit.  It all needs to be very small and lightweight.

I've read several DIY forums where people already did this exact thing, so I have plenty of ideas for products and procedures.  I'm very patient and I'd rather spend a few extra dollars if it can be a little more sturdy or look a little better, so time will tell how this turns out.  Will take pictures once there's something worth taking a picture of.
 

I'll be back... just not yet.... (server maintenance *burp* postponed) 

Naughty Timmy...

Screenshot by ChrisBV:
"Goofing around with some editing..."

Oooh - time to grab soda and popcorn! It's a history of Punch-Out episode!

https://youtu.be/XAwM-lCI4YU

If anyone is looking to buy the Oculus Rift before January 31st 2019, or if you know anyone who is, I have 2x 10% off Coupons available from their holiday referral program: 

When you buy an Oculus Rift with coupon code (contact me for code) , you'll receive 10% off your purchase.*

*Valid only at Oculus.com. Expires January 31, 2019. One time use only. Cannot be combined with any other discount code or coupon. May not be redeemed for cash. Discount not valid on prior purchases and cannot be applied towards taxes or shipping charges.

That's not how you mount an SSD....  (j/k, cool art - very "Tron")

Today I learned that in Falcon BMS, there is a volume knob in the cockpit for AI Comms only, will be helpful when you want IVC Comms to be louder than AI comms traffic.  Dash-1 BMS Manual, page 24
check it out:

POLL Falcon BMS - Do you extract MFD's?

Falcon BMS Poll - Do you use external MFD's? (or any extraction of MFD's) vote here:

https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?34635-IMPORTANT-MFD-extract

Happy Halloween!

The Different between Soccer and American Football 

Got Middle Earth: Shadow of War last night for $17 -- it's on sale right now until Oct. 1st, I think... From what I hear, the game is now balanced to require no micro-transactions just for enjoying the main game, though the post-game or "end game" content is grindy as hell and is played to unlock a second shitty ending to the storyline, so that's where they "get you".  Personally, I'm not much interested in this weak fan-fic storyline anyway, it's the combat and Nemesis system that makes this thing so cool.

If you've been thinking of getting the game, now's about as low cost as it's gonna get.  DLC is still full price, but I'm sure that will also see sales before the end of the year.  Regardless, IMHO it's pretty weak DLC, short like all DLC and completely different "flavor" than the main game, so it probably doesn't feel like content that was gated off just to have DLC to charge for.