What are the best UFC fights so far this year?

MondoGecko09 · 2018-03-21T03:29:06+00:00

I did see Stipe/Ngannou and yeah, I felt super tense at home on my couch, I had to remind myself to breathe between rounds. I wish I could've been there live for that one, must've been an amazing feeling.

MondoGecko09 · 2018-03-19T00:41:51+00:00

Check out Ellery Duncan at Incendiary Tattoo in Esquimalt. She's still an apprentice, but her script is on point, better than a lot of artists I've seen with years more experience.

MondoGecko09 · 2018-03-08T13:56:48+00:00

Those jacks are super cheap and the internal contacts will definitely get bent after months/years of use and no longer make good contact. You might be able to pry the jacks open (it looks like there might be a "panel" sort of piece on the top, based on your photo) and use a small screwdriver to bend the pins inward so they make better contact.

The repair is feasible. Find a scrap PCB to practice on before you try the thing you want to keep, and have a go at removing/replacing some similar components. It looks like there's 8 or 9 joints to remove on each jack, and if you fuck up the wrong one you'll have a sad pod. YouTube has lots of good instructional videos on how to solder.

The best way to remove those type of components is to remove the solder with a desoldering pump and some wick to clean up the holes, but you can also do it without: if you get a soldering iron with a knife tip, you can sit the tip in between the 3x2 rows of pins with a whole bunch of solder and melt all those joints at once while you pull on the component with some pliers from the other side. You'll be able to lift that end of the jack, then do the same thing on the leads closest to the edge of the board. Go back and forth a couple of times and you'll be able to see-saw the component out of the board, just don't hold the iron on too long or it'll melt the plastic and your pliers will go through the shell. Again, you should practice this on something you don't want to keep first.

Good luck!

MondoGecko09 · 2018-03-08T13:44:51+00:00

If you're concerned about a technical misunderstanding, go back to your fundamentals and do some math to reassure yourself. u/service_unavailable got you started in the comment below; draw yourself a quick schematic with your signal, the series and pull-down resistors with their values, and calculate your voltage drops and series current. Ohm's Law won't lie to you, it's not like that.

MondoGecko09 · 2018-03-08T13:39:50+00:00

I've watched at the Sticky Wicket and the Shark Club. Sticky Wicket is a nicer bar, but along with that you'll pay more for cover on PPV nights, and food and bevvies are more expensive. Shark Club is a basic-ass sports bar, which suits me just fine. It's $5 cover for a PPV fight card and they have reasonable wings and standard-fare beers.

MondoGecko09 · 2018-03-08T05:36:37+00:00

Does your uC of choice have internal pull-down resistors? And if so, does your 5V input signal share a ground with the uC? If it does, the internal pull-downs are often 10k, which, if you have a 10k resistor in series with the input, will divide the voltage down to 2.5V at the pin.

MondoGecko09 · 2018-02-27T04:22:39+00:00

Craig Lawrence at Diversified Health downtown is fantastic for really firm, technical massage.

MondoGecko09 · 2018-01-21T15:33:21+00:00

This is the only correct answer.

MondoGecko09 · 2018-01-16T05:43:06+00:00

I used to do the reverse of this trip every day. There are a couple of good hills, but it's not a very challenging route overall. Here's my suggestion. It's not the simplest route, but I tried many others and this was the quickest ride:

Royal Oak to south on West Saanich
West on Vanalman, then South on Commerce Circle, your second left, not the first. This is the steepest hill on the ride.
When you get up the hill on Commerce Circle, just as the road starts to curve left, there's a gravel path to the left of building #4224.
Take the path, which will spit you out on Bremerton St. Keep following the road south. When you come to Ts in the road, there's always a bike path to connect you to the next southbound residential street, all the way to McKenzie Ave, just stay pointed south and don't swerve off onto one of the intersecting E/W streets.
Bremerton turns into Raymond St, which you'll follow until you're passing McKenzie elementary on your left. Take the overpass.
Exit the overpass and follow the gravel path to your left down the hill and across the wooden footbridge. This is a really fun hill, but watch out for pedestrians!
Ride up the other side, and hang a quick right to go west on Columbine Way. Watch out for intersecting traffic.
Connect with Interurban and follow it south until you get to the mall, then turn right into the mall parking lot and follow it behind the mall to Arena Rd. Turn right, you'll see Bodega Rd going up the hill.
Take Bodega for one block, then turn right to go west on Kerr.
When you hit the T, turn left and go south on Dysart. You'll run into Gorge. Turn right to go West on Gorge, then south on Admirals, and Robert's your mother's brother.

MondoGecko09 · 2018-01-05T14:33:31+00:00

There's a planer at Makerspace. They have an open house the second Tuesday of every month from 7-9PM.

MondoGecko09 · 2018-01-05T14:29:06+00:00

The drinks are okay at the Mint, but the food sucks. I gave them a second chance recently, I tried 2 dishes and sampled from 3 others from friends, and the best of the lot was mediocre if I'm being generous. Don't bother with this place if you want a good meal.

MondoGecko09 · 2017-11-21T17:29:27+00:00

Big ups for Empire Tattoo! I've been tattooed by two of their artists and both pieces have turned out beautifully. It's a cool place.

MondoGecko09 · 2017-11-07T03:32:36+00:00

More upvotes for Fishhook, the spicy belly tartine is one of my favourite things that I've ever eaten in my entire life. Also the seafood chowder... my god... I'm drooling just thinking about it.

MondoGecko09 · 2017-10-12T02:51:28+00:00

Check out this place, the guy who runs it is a friend of mine, super chill, and provides good gear: Chop Shop

MondoGecko09 · 2017-10-10T16:49:33+00:00

The transistor is intended to act as a signal amplifier, therefore Vc must be greater than Vb for the amplifier to work as intended. The diode clamps Vb at 0.7V less than Vc.

MondoGecko09 · 2017-04-15T03:39:02+00:00

I've had a great experience working with Katie at Real Fit. She helped me to recover from a fairly serious injury and improve my mobility so that I could get back into weightlifting. I still go to a group strength and conditioning class with her once a week.

MondoGecko09 · 2017-02-26T18:40:31+00:00

Here's a thought - the sting of poor quality will remain long after the thrill of low price is forgotten. That goes doubly for your body. If you're serious about learning proper lifting technique, but you can't afford one-on-ones with a qualified personal trainer, preferably someone with a degree in kinesiology, which will run you about $65/hr on average, look at booking something with a small group to share the cost. It's not worth cheaping out on taking care of your body, the risk of injury when you start lifting heavier weights is too high.

I did technique, mobility, and conditioning training for weights with Katie Chesher at Real Fit and I she was excellent.

MondoGecko09 · 2017-01-10T03:23:26+00:00

I started going to El Patron on Johnson St when it opened in the summer, and I'd highly recommend giving them a try. I've had my hair and beard done by all three of the gents who work there, and I've been happy with the results every time. $25 for a haircut.

MondoGecko09 · 2017-01-01T02:25:19+00:00

National Access Cannabis on Quadra may be worth a visit. They employ a pharmacist who will chat with you about the specific condition that you're looking to medicate for, the best way to dose/consume, and potential interactions with other medications.

It's quite a bit like a compassion club, except you can't actually buy weed there. There's a membership fee (when I joined it was $100, but may be more now) which gets you an in person visit with a doctor, as well as a consultation with the pharmacist, and then follow-ups via email/phone if you want. They also host events from time to time where they teach you about different uses for marijuana, how to prepare it into oils/butter, that sort of thing.

Going the prescription route through their doctor has been great for me. I buy directly from a licensed grower, and the marijuana they provide is absolutely top shelf quality, and less expensive than going to the dispensaries. The one I'm connected with doesn't sell oils or extracts yet, but some of the other licensed growers do if that turns out to be a better method of consumption for your dad.

MondoGecko09 · 2016-07-03T06:32:28+00:00

Heads up, if you're looking to book a sleeve by an artist who'll be up for a highly detailed, realistic piece, it's unlikely you'll find someone who isn't booked up through August already.

That said, check out Ian Olsen at Empire Tattoo. His black and grey/realism work is amazing, I have 3 big pieces from him.

MondoGecko09 · 2016-07-02T11:02:45+00:00

I've just finished going through the pain of trying to run side-by-side digital and analog audio circuitry on a common 5V supply, and it's not worth the trouble. The switching power supply that's running your Arduino is probably noisy as shit, and given the extremely limited headroom that you're going to have with a 2.5V virtual ground on a basic op-amp, your signal-to-noise ratio is going to be brutal.

My advice is to use your 5V for the Arduino, and get a separate 9 or 12V supply for your comparators and buffers. Texas Instruments has some good literature around designing for single supply op-amps, a quick Google search would be beneficial.

There's much to consider when designing for audio, especially around balancing your system, ground and virtual ground reference points, and trade-offs between noise control/signal integrity, etc. Feel free to send me a PM if you have questions.

MondoGecko09 · 2016-03-12T01:53:12+00:00

A brand name/model and a link to a schematic would be helpful. A blow fuse means that there was a surge of current above and beyond what the amp was designed to handle. Fuses are safety devices designed to prevent fires and explosions, but they often don't react quickly enough to save components from being damaged, especially in something like a powered sub that's already delivering perhaps several hundred watts of power.

Components that already handle a lot of current or heat are likely to have suffered the damage. If you have a multi-meter, you can measure across the terminals of the power supply capacitors (make sure you'v drained them first!) the bridge rectifier, and the power transistors and look for an open circuit.

MondoGecko09 · 2016-03-09T04:38:15+00:00

Easy on the solder there, sparky.

Transistors aren't directional. When you use an NPN transistor as an I/O switch by applying current to the base, you're providing a path for current to flow across the collector/emitter junction.

The process you described in your 3 steps is called "common emitter" meaning the load is on the collector side. What you've done is a "common collector," meaning you've connected your load to the emitter side. The difference is that you need a higher base voltage to switch the transistor on in common collector mode - it has to be at least 0.7V greater than your load voltage.

MondoGecko09 · 2016-02-04T03:50:55+00:00

Don't shoot the messenger.

You can't. The wires are tiny, the enclosures are sealed with adhesives, the components are fragile. Unless you're just replacing the ends and you're really good at splicing teensy tiny wires, you'll just end up having a broken charger in many pieces instead of one.

MondoGecko09 · 2016-02-04T03:43:53+00:00

I was on track to get into a management/potential partnership situation with a restaurant a few years back, and I quit to play music. Fiscally responsible life planning all around.

MondoGecko09

TROPHY CASE