I am looking forward to experiment with some plastic extrusion when its done.

Republikken is a coworking space in Copenhagen for creative freelancers. It is a great place and I would definitely consider getting a desk there had I more business.

Sodium alginate (E401) with the chemical formula NaC₆H₇O₆ is an extract from seaweed commonly used in the food industry as a stabilizer and emulsifier. When a liquid containing sodium alginate is introduced into a solution of calcium chloride it reacts to form a gel like texture.

We mixed the mango juice with sodium alginate and added some fructose and citric acid in order to enhance the flavor. The cranberry juice we boiled with cane sugar along with sodium alginate to form a thicker syrupy consistency. Using plastic syringes we dropped the solution into the calcium solution and let the drops set for a few minutes before removing and washing them.

The result is quite beautiful, and at first the texture was amazing. The skin breaks in the mouth and the tasteful liquid explodes in your mouth. However New Years eve they had a solid gel like texture and the taste had fainted. So eat them fresh, and take care to wash of the calcium chloride properly to avoid them solidifying further.

I used kino for the editing, it works really well, and is very stable even when doing data intensive tasks as importing and exporting large amounts of video data on my new bare-bones samsung nc10 netbook.

I ordered an amp6-basic kit from 41hz.com because of the many recommendations I have read and because the kit comes with mostly through hole components and is relatively easy to solder.

After soldering i mounted the amp in an aluminum plate from an recycled aluminum profile. It was quite a revelation to discover how forgiving aluminum is as a material. I have added a 50k Ohm stereo log pot for volume control a stereo minijack input and a switch that i wired to the 12V input since it didn’t seem to produce any noticeably larger turn on thumbs than the sleep jumper. I somehow managed to reverse the volume pot, meaning you turn it up rotating against the clock, and the power level seems to max out when turned half way around. It is not important for this amp, but for the next one I will look into improving the volume control, perhaps using an attenuator and an active preamplifier – can anyone point me to a good DIY volume control or preamplifier guide/advice? Currently the amp is powered by a screw machine battery but we are planning to bring a car battery to power it during the upcoming festival.

The amp sounds great, and is loud enough even through 8 Ohm, and being a class T amp it is very efficient thus giving us many hours of music on a recharge.

Next up is encasing the amp and speakers providing it with weather protection and fitting it with wheels, i am hoping to find some large bicycle wheels. Right now i am considering a light design using two 8 Ohm compact speakers, or using 2 heavier 4 Ohm speakers, they are very old and rated to 15W RMS which is not quite as much as the 25W RMS the amp outputs through 4 Ohm, I am not sure if this will be a problem.

On a side-note fooling around with electronics for the past 6 months i have been wondering why we are not all running with 12V DC as mains. I suspect there are a few reasonable arguments but i haven’t been able to find them.

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When encapsulating plugins or parts of your themes in classes, you create a container for variable, constant and function names thus avoiding name clashes with the core or with other plugins. You can also encapsulate your class in a statement checking if the class already exists to ensure that in the rare case of a name collision your plugin will not initialize and crash the WordPress installation.

Here is a simple example

< ?php
// Plugin Name: Text Barking Dog


if (!class_exists('OurWpPluginDog')) {
    class OurWpPluginDog {
        function __construct() {
            $this->text = "wuff wuff";
        }
        function bark() {
            echo '';
        }
    }
    $dog = new OurWpPluginDog;
    add_action('wp_footer', array(&$dog, 'bark'));
}

This plugin will insert “wuff wuff” as an html comment at the hook wp_footer. The __construct function runs when the class is constructed you can also place your actions and filters here, if you do you simply reference array(&$this … instead.

Object oriented programming encourages DRY – it simply makes it more convenient to reuse your code. As your plugin grows you will also find it easier to get an overview of the code.

Motivated by moral reasons i finally installed Ubuntu on my Macbook Pro. The change did not involve major complications. In fact the synaptic package manager puts more order into your computer than any drag and drop interface and gives you access to an ocean of amazing Open Source utilities making ubuntu a good choice for both the casual and the professional user. Unless you are a hardcore gamer ubuntu will most likely more than suit your needs.

The two open movie projects, Orange and Peach respectively have pionered the world of open movie production. The Orange movie project released Elephants Dream as the worlds first open movie and the same team supported by the Blender foundation now gave us Big Buck Bunny. Both projects are made entirely with open source graphics software such as Blender, and with all production files freely available to use however you please, under a Creative Commons license.

Traditionally you need to watch the mandatory disclaimers and copyright notices before the action starts. That is; if you are lucky enough that the region code of the dvd matches that of your drive. In short the paranoid industry spends enormous amounts of resources on lawyers and copy protection. Protectiong themselves from who? One might be right to ask.

The open movie projects are a breath of life to the industry and a prove of concept that professional movie production and animation can be accomplished with an open phillosophy utilizing only open source software.

With no experience as an architect i have come along way. From believing bamboo resists gravity, to actually understand the materials properties in the real world. I have read a great deal about bamboo, its structural properties and different uses. Bamboo is the steel of nature, and the ways in which it can be used continuously amazes me.

For my project i have worked mainly with woven bamboo. Sophisticated weaving techniques allows you to weave bamboo in all imaginable shapes. For the framework i utilize heat bended bamboo. The structure positioned in the treetops of the jungle is supported by long structural elements of four black bamboo canes connected with steel knobs. The structural elements are mounted in a concrete foundation in order to avoid moist damage to the canes. Several of the elements are inspired by the prototypes presented by Bamboo Lab a research project on bamboo as a building material.

I have tried to investigate more sophisticated ways of handling bamboo in order to showcase its potential as more than a Tiki Hut material but a beautiful element in contemporary architecture.