Everything in Its Right Place

I spend my working life writing software and generally staring at computer screens. When I’m done with the computer for the day, I feel compelled to do something “real world”, like cook or build something. Cooking is easy, satisfying and relatively self-contained. Other types of projects require not only space, but an organized space where you can find the right tool or the right size bolt before you have to stop because it’s bed time.

Such has been the problem with my garage since I’ve had a garage. My tools have traditionally been stored in a pile next to the last thing I worked on. At best, they were all jumbled up in a toolbox. After seeing how Jaime Hyneman keeps his tools organized, I was kind of inspired. So long as everything has a place and you know where that place is, the amount of time you spend looking for something in particular can be greatly reduced, if not eliminated.

I started by declaring a number of functional areas for the space. I would have one bench for small projects, like electronics and another for larger stuff, like woodworking. Bike repair would have its own area. Tool storage would be centrally located.

I decided that I what I really wanted was a way to have my tools all out and accessible at all times, but not all jumbled up. I’ve seen this done effectively with peg boards, but those get pricey by the time you’ve got a hook for every tool. I also don’t love how much actual wall space pegboards take up. I decided I wanted something that would come out from the wall a bit that had a horizontal surface with holes in it. This could be used to store all manner of commonly used hand tools, like screwdrivers, hammers, pliers and so on. I was just about to make something when I saw this milk crate in the corner of the garage. It was an older one that had this heavy metal band around the top. I turned it upside down, bolted it to the wall and started putting tools in the holes in the bottom. If a tool wouldn’t fit, I cut some of the plastic bars to accomodate it. I probably fit two pegboards worth of tools in a quarter of the space. Here’s a picture of it:

For things that wouldn’t fit in the rack, I just put a finishing nail in the wall and hung it. Another thing I’m kind of proud of is this quick but useful drill bit holder I made:

It has hooks so it can hang on the wall but can also be moved where it needs to go.

Now that everything has a spot, I waste no time looking for stuff. I can spend the hour or two at a time I might have for projects actually working on projects instead of looking for my sh*t. Yay! Here’s more pictures of the finished reorganization.

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Pharrell Talks About ARTST

Via Steve King of Fishbucket:

Pharrell did a nice little piece on Current a few days ago, talking about the inspiration behind artst.com (formerly known as Heywire.) The site has been blowing up this month, a huge flood of new members and artwork and always inspiring stuff to check out. If you haven’t yet, get in on that!

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Remove OSX “._” files from Subversion

Do you use subversion? Did some well meaning OSX-using member of your team do “svn add *”  and accidentially commit a bunch of OSX’s vestigal “._” files?

Here’s an easy way to get rid of them. From the command line (in any Unix variant, including OSX) and cd to the working directory in question. Then paste in the following:

Then commit, and you’re done.

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Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreaks

I am not given to writing music reviews, especially of pop music. There are two reasons for this. First is that I’m generally about three to five months behind in terms of “new” music. Second is that I don’t know that I want all my cool hipster friends knowing that I listen to pop music now and then. Sometimes even listen to it non-ironically! (gasp)

In semi-related news, I found out that Rhapsody allows you to get your playlist via RSS, complete with album art and links to listen to the tracks on the free (web-based) version of the service. Pretty neat! I thought it would be fun to publish that, so one quick and dirty Wordpress plugin later and here it is. I’m sure it will be used against me at some point in the future when T-Pain puts out a new record and I play it continuously for three weeks straight.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Currently, the most recent Kanye West record, 808s & Heartbreaks has been in heavy rotation on Radio Jaybill. Now granted, I liked Golddigger as much as the next thirty-something uncool white guy, but this record couldn’t be less like Late Registration. I’ve decided that this record is basically to pop music what Pirates of the Caribbean is to movies. That is that it’s such a stupid idea that it shouldn’t have worked, so one has very low expectations. Then it actually turns out to be good and you’re that much more surprised. Seriously, this should have been a formula for disaster: rapper turned R&B singer makes record with little more than sparse drum machines and Auto-Tune about why he is sad. On the surface, it’s far less plausible than a pirate movie based on a theme park ride.

Somehow, though, it works. I think the most striking thing about it is how utterly sincere it sounds. Granted, Mr. West has had a pretty rough year and has plenty to be upset about. I mean, nothing worse than your average country songwriter must endure in a typical year, but still. That’s probably got something to do with why this record succeeds, actually. If someone had made a country record out of this subject matter, it would have been totally boring. The choice of medium really helps the final product.

I thought it would be difficult to feel bad for someone who makes more money in twenty minutes than I’ll make this year, and yet, I kind of did. His apparent honesty is utterly disarming. He makes no apologies for being rich, famous and powerful. If he had, it probably would have cheapened it somehow. If art is about finding a unique perspective, I put forth West has done nothing if not that. This is a record about someone who seemingly has everything and is suddenly forced to reckon with the utter vacuousness of his existence. This is combined with his realization that he’s worked so hard on his career that he’s left no room for his personal life. It’s a heady mix of inner torment that would make Trent Reznor proud.

Aside from a slew of guest appearances (including Lil Wayne and the ever forgettable Young Jeezy) it lacks most of the trite trappings of typical hip hop record. (including, for the most part, actual hip hop) While overall a pretty great record, it’s not without a few duds. The final track, Pinocchio Story, for example, shows what happens when he turns off Auto-Tune. It’s not pretty.

Overall, though, it’s a very solid record and I highly recommend it.

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Dear Myanmar…

Thanks for making hacky sack look stupid:

This is a sport called chinlone. It’s sort of a cross between sport and dance and people that are good at it are amazing to watch. I imagine if you’re a fan of this and go to events, you probably don’t want to sit too close to the action unless a really good team is playing, or you are so taking a foot to the teeth.

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