I started using OpenDNS with Parental Filters. (a must for kids on the network!)

Note, it is free for home users!

Bouldering in Tulsa

On the west side of Tulsa, there is a park, “Chandler Park” that has all sorts of interesting granite walls and inclines to scale. Having the day off, my daughter, little M and I headed off to explore.

We had a good time.  Also, there is playground equipment so if you just want to set the kids free to play…  🙂

 

Other info about bouldering and climbing can be found at:  rockclimbing.com

Winter “Man” Camping in Oklahoma

Had a great time in January with the guys I attend church with. Can’t wait till our next opportunity.

It was 72 degree when Scott and I arrived Friday afternoon around 4pm. By 8am it was 25 degrees F!  The morning was also memorable as some guy “out of no where” asks for a ride back to the main road, since his battery died in his jeep (him and his buddy where overnight sleeping in).  {Weird}

Later, we did some hiking on the old Military road built in 1832. The rest of our crew arrived after lunch-time. We hung out, shot some paper and in general had a good time. Luke made his famous Southwest stew and Aaron the next morning made a great breakfast.  Check out the “Frozen Fog” on the trees.

The roads in the area are all US Forest Service Roads and were definitely maintained.  Overall, had a good time and can’t wait to do it again.

Spotify

Fall in Oklahoma

It seems like time is just flying by.  The weather has gone from 110 in August down now to 60’s in the daytime and in the mid 30’s during the night time.  Last night there was an earthquake near Oklahoma City around 2am.  No, I did not feel it, but some of my neighbors did.  Playing tennis at night is now done indoors.  The wind is howling outside.  The leaves are changing color.   It must be fall in Oklahoma!

 

Off-Roading in the Tulsa Area

Last weekend, near Bass Pro I took the kids out sight-seeing and with a limited amount of time, decided to do some 4×4 crawling near the house. From the looks of it, this might be a night-time hangout spot for teenagers with campfires. My kids had fun (Big M and Little M.)

Coming down this hill we used Toyota’s DAC feature (Downhill Assist Control) to modulate the speed and brakes for each individual wheel/tire.

Here are some links to Tulsa Oklahoma-based 4×4 Trails and Groups.

I have not visited these other locations but I think that the groups and the trails will offer a cool experience.

Groups

1. Extreme 4 Wheeling Facebook Group
http://www.extreme4wheelin.com/

Families and Novices welcome.

2. Gettin Bent Offroad | Facebook

Only for serious off-roaders. (No Street-Legal Vehicles)

Trails

Here is the Disney, OK info (below the dam)
Disney, OK
For SE Oklahoma there is also:
Clayton,OK

Resources

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/

Wireless Point to Point Connections (where cabling/fiber is not an option)

I was asked last week about the cheapest method to connect a remote site to a central site that was within line of sight.  I pulled up an old article I had written and re-posted here for reference.  If you are not technical, or don’t have a need, just feel free to gloss over and wait for my next post! 🙂

Thanks

C

——————————————————

Do you have a site that is just out of reach of your physical network?

Maybe a remote warehouse across a field, or maybe two building that are separated by a public street?  Getting right-of-way permits and hiring a professional boring company to come in and push underground pipe may be too time consuming and costly.

Consider installing a wireless point to point network. 

Considerations:

• No special FCC Radio licensing required if using standard 802.11 spec devices.
• Devices must stay below 1 Watt of Radio Power to remain within the rules.

Requirements:

• You need Electrical Power at both ends
• You need line of site (a direct path between antenna locations) between each end that is unimpeded by electrical lines, trees, buildings, traffic, water towers, etc.
• Less than a mile without involving a professional wireless engineer.

Types of Point to Point Antennas:

• Yagi – Directional Antenna that is just the size of large paper-towel roll.
  Example:  WIFI-LINK
• Mesh Dish – Larger profile, but connects much further than Yagi.  Requires more sturdy physical mount than yagi.  Has some movement in wind.
  Example: WIFI-LINK
• Solid Dish – Requires strong mount pole and strong mounting accessories.  Use for long distances with maximum radio effectiveness.
  Example: CISCO

Sample Parts List using a Mesh Dish Antenna.

Note: I included spare wireless access points, since these guys get hit by lightning on occasion.  Also, if you want good isolation, installing ethernet to fiber transceivers at the entry to your building, you will have optical isolation (preventing lighting from entering the building) across your fiber lines.

Parts	Description	Qty	Unit Price	Extended Price
Wireless Access Points	Production Linksys WAP54G	2	$72.79	$145.58
Wireless Access Points	Spare Linksys WAP54G	2	$72.79	$145.58
Cabling Kit	LLC400- TNC male RP & N male connector	1	$270.18	$270.18
Ant to Amp Cable	N male to N male(LLC 100/50cm)	2	$10.81	$21.62
Amp to WAP Cable	N male to TNC male RP(LLC 400/1m)	2	$21.83	$43.66
Directional Ant.	2.4GHz Square GRID Parabolic Antenna 19dBi	2	$45.00	$90.00
Ant to Lightening Arrestor Cable	N male to N female(LLC 400/6m)	2	$20.86	$41.72
Lightening Arrestor	LP N MALE TO N FEMALE 3GHz	1	$9.35	$9.35
Mast Extension	Tessco Cantilever Wall Mount Kit with 96″ mounting pipe	2	$170.00	$340.00
Grounding Parts	Grounding Wire and accessories	1	$60.00	$60.00
Amplifier	High-Gain Amplifier for Ant. Over 12DBI	2	$176.79	$353.58
Shipping	Shipping:	1	$165.00	$165.00
Total:	Total:			$1,686.27

Sources:

802.11 Limitations

CISCO

EIRP Calculator

TESSCO

WIFI-LINK.COM

Why the TSA should not exist

• Wastes inordinate amount of money and does not do an effective job even stretching its job responsibilities outside of the United States.
• Steals from Travelers
• If you have to pick a Government to run it, it should be Israelly run…

• Money spent on current TSA staff and procedures is a waste of resources and is making private companies rich off of fear-mongering

  The TSA payroll includes over 67,000 employees and continues to grow. At the same time, although the TSA is a federal government organization, many privately-held, for-profit companies are making significant profits due to these security increases. Each full-body scanner costs up to $170,000, and the TSA expects to have at least 500 total machines in place by the end of 2010 – currently there are 385 in use.

  This money would be much better spent on having a smaller, more highly trained staff and focusing more on intelligence gathering and less on screening.

• TSA Screening Methods are not scientifically proven (wasting both time and money!)

Pictures from: http://matadornetwork.com/life/airport-security-then-now/

Then

Security screening at Columbia, SC airport, 1973. Photo by Hunter Desportes.

and Now

My question to you:  Is the TSA effective and if not, what are you going to do about it? Comments welcome.

Cool things this week 10/7/2011

The Most Amazing Time Lapse Video (Nature)
Make sure you open this in full screen mode (icon in bottom right-hand corner)
I love the nature (God’s Creation) aspect.

I have been enjoying the Internet’s greatest music application “Spotify” this week.  I totally recommend it.  It is not available in all countries yet, so they are still working out licensing deals to support their product.

At work I have been spending a lot of time on 2012 Capital Planning. (Projects)  It has been pretty interesting.  It is tough to balance the needs of a company.

At home I have been reading to my oldest daughter, “Big M.”  She is five years old, in kindergarten and is learning to sound out words and is not just memorizing books anymore but actually learning to read!  We also got to harvest our crop of sunflowers that she planted this spring.  I brined the sunflowers for several hours, then boiled them in the same solution outside on the side-burner of the grill and then smoked them for several hours on medium heat inside my electric smoker.  Big M likes the plain version, while I am enjoying some of the smoked ones.

Little M, my youngest daughter had a sore throat early this week.  I got to spend my evenings comforting her and growing closer together.  She is healthy now and is running around the house as fast as can be.  (Almost 3 years old.)

I wont promise to blog all the time, but this is my start.

C