Well good news and bad news. I have found my desktop compiler, but lost my motivation to program….
Just kidding, “all available resources are devoted to that project”…. :D
Category Archives: Tech
Time Tracker(TM) Update
I decided how i wanted to code my customer/project section to reduce typing, but I’ve run into another snag in my quest to bring people wonderfully free SW… I apparently have exceeded the capacity of my PPC compiling engine. I must say, i was somewhat annoyed when i discovered that length of my program and not an error contained within it was the problem. So coding has been halted until I can find where I put the desktop compiler so that it can be reinstalled on my recently reborn computer…
Time Tracker(TM) Reaches Beta 1.0
I have been writing a small app for my PPC to simplify the tracking of my billable time for writing other SW projects and such. Well Time Tracker for the PPC is to beta 1.0… feel free to download it (though I do not offer any, express or implied warrenty on the software and you do so at your own risk and all rights are reserved copyright 2004 — lawyers.) as long as A) have a PPC – because this will not work on your home PC and B) you promise to give me some feedback.
I am planning on adding some way to select clients/projects from a list to reduce the typing necessary if switching back and forth between projects/clients but I haven’t figured out how I want to code that yet… but boy coding in a C based language again sure has deepened my appreciation of php’s ability to declare var and functions anywhere.
Oh and you’ll need the PocketC runtime if you don’t already have it:
- Pocket C Runtime for the PPC (under PocketC Software users)
A REAL Man’s Engine
In my browsing through the net, I found THE engine swap. Forget about putting an Integra engine in your Civic. Forget about shoving that big block into your Impala. The Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel is ALL the engine you’ll EVER need. Let’s compare it with the specs of the enviable Dodge Viper and the new F150 that Ford seems so proud of lately.
| Engine Type |
Ford F150 5.4L TRITON? V8 Cylinder Engine |
Dodge Viper 8.3L V10 Cylinder Engine |
Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C Inline 14 Cylinder Engine |
| Horsepower | 300hp (@ 5000rpm) | 500hp | 108,920hp (@ 102rpm) |
| Torque | 365 lb/ft (@ 3750rpm) | 525 lb/ft | 5,608,312 lb/ft (@ 102rpm) |
| Fuel Economy | 14 / 17 mpg (City / Hwy ) | 12 / 20 mpg (City / Hwy ) | 75 FEET per gallon (estimate) |
Awesome! Now THAT is some POWER! Of course, it’ll be killer at the pumps with record high gas prices around the country… Oh did I mention that the RTA96-C was designed primarily for use in very large container ships. Ship owners like a single engine/single propeller design and the new generation of larger container ships needed a bigger engine to propel them.
Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine is the most powerful and most efficient prime-mover in the world today. It is available in 6 through 14 cylinder versions, all are inline engines. Some facts on the 14 cylinder version: Total engine weight: 2300 tons (The crankshaft alone weighs 300 tons.) Length: 89 feet Height: 44 feet Even at it’s most efficient power setting, the big 14 consumes 1,660 gallons of heavy fuel oil per hour.
Shop Class Will Never Be The Same
There is some new saftey technology out that you simply have to see to believe. SawStop Technology monitors the electical conductivity of the the saw blade to by extension determin the electical conductivity of the material being cut through. So what you say? It allows this device to tell the difference between something like oh say wood and your shop teachers fingers. SawStop can make this distinction and stop the blade in 0.005 seconds. Which sounds fast but you have to SEE it to understand how fast.
They have some excellent videos on their site which perilously place a hot dog in harms way to show off the speed of their response. The difference? A small nic and a bandaid or a swift cut and the ability to scare small children for a lifetime with your nub. The video with the table saw is the best as it has to overcome additional obsticales not inherent in the other saws. IE The momentum of the blade and the fact that the wood “drive mechanism” is trying lop its finger off.