Turn a Life-Gear Glow Light White!
18 November 2012Problem: Ever tell a new guy to go to the COMMO shop and get some chem light batteries? Ask them now, they'll likely come back with some minicell batteries, which is what powers Life+Gear's Glow Light. The Glow Light is essentially a battery operated chem light and it makes a great light weight light to run with when it's still dark outside. Problem is they don't make white lights which happens to be the only type of Glow Light my unit allows us to run with.
Solution: Each light, regardless of color, has a white light in the flash light end. So buy one in your favorite color (they don't make them in multicam unfortunately), unscrew the glow end, take out the light module, flip it around and put it back in. Easy day and now you'll have a white glow light that you can run with.
Logon Scripting 101
17 November 2012
Download the class here
A logon script is a script that runs as soon as a user logs on to their computer. You can use it for a wide variety of tasks, but I primarily use it to map the user's networked drives, printers, and a couple other tasks to keep the user from asking their help desk tech to do it for them. Logon scripts can get fairly elaborate depending on how much you want to automate, but with this attached power point (meant to be used for teaching a class), we concentrated on the basics. This class is also good for those wanting to learn the basics of VBScript and batch files. All text in green is operational code that can be copied into notepad, saved as a .VBS or .BAT file and used to for testing.
Turn a Webcam into a security camera with Dropbox and iSpy
16 November 2012I used Dropbox (http://www.dropbox.com/) to provide online storage for iSpy (http://www.ispyconnect.com/) to capture pictures and video when motion is detected. iSpy saves the pictures and video to my online web storage so if the computer that is taking the video is stolen, I still have the evidence offsite. That and I can monitor security from outside the house.This shouldn't cost any money as long as you have a webcam and a persistent internet connection. It's great for dorm rooms or home office security.
Never use Boot Blousers Again!
16 November 2012
Blousers suck. They pop off, roll out, cut off circulation, take time and skill to configure each morning (neither of which I have for blousers) and when they do work, they ride up the leg exposing your socks. Tucking in or tying the pant leg lanyards (for lack of a better word) is another option for keeping your pant legs looking up to standard, but inevitably the pant legs pop loose and you have "snakes" spring forth from your boots. Fortunately, early on in my career I read those old Ranger Rick digest books and found a cool little trick that has kept me from screwing around with my pant legs every 5 minutes.
Installers Tool Box OVERHAUL!!!
15 November 2012
UPDATE: I've overhauled the Installer tool box design. The peg board is still used (sort of) but its just there to hold the MOLLE panel. Giving credit where credit is due, the panel was made by Mark at custommollegear@gmail.com. He did a great job, had a good turn around for about $90, and did pretty well working with my seemingly bizarre specifications.
The pouches were purchased at an army surplus store and most of them were gutted and re-sewn by my wife to accommodate the type of tools each would carry. The first prototype tool box i built had problems with the parts container shelf breaking. It was made out of pegboard. this time around I used steel, haven't had a problem since. The toolbox as pictured currently has one overseas deployment and probably 15 major projects tallied up and has been a real asset on the job site, but getting it there is not for the faint of heart; it weighs about 115lbs when loaded up. While it does have wheels, most job sites are not wheel friendly, and just getting it off the truck (alone) can really take a toll on the back if the installer is not careful.