I watched this over the past weekend. (I love Frontline btw – they have some really great documentaries).

http://video.pbs.org/video/1402987791/

What was most eye-opening about this piece, besides how swanky 2nd Life’s offices are, is how our various technologies that are supposed to make our lives easier and more connected with each other seem to be affecting the way our kids are learning and retain knowledge. The piece about the MIT students writing their papers one paragraph at a time for example was a bit alarming. We’ve made it so easy to get distracted by all the email, Twittering, and social networking… and these younger generations are fully engulfed by it. Even the multi-tasking that was talked about in the piece, and how all these kids claim that it’s not a problem, and that they’re more efficient. I multi task every day, at least in front of my laptop here. Quite frankly, it’s hard to do. Now maybe that’s because it’s something that I’ve had to learn over the years – unlike these kids who it’s sort of automatically engrained in, but there are things I’ve read over the past couple of years that are starting to say that people would be much better off if they focused on one thing at a time.

“My colleagues in the psychology department drew my attention to some interesting research, which proves that Buddhists and couch potatoes were right all along – the world would be a better place if everyone tried to do just one thing at a time. In a society that encourages more and more multitasking, researchers at Stanford University had assumed that people who do a lot of multitasking would be better at it. “But they’re not. They’re worse. They’re much worse,” said Clifford Nass, a professor at Stanford. “They couldn’t ignore stuff that doesn’t matter. They love stuff that doesn’t matter,” he said.”
– from http://openingtime.blogspot.com/2009/09/effectiveness-of-multi-tasking.html

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august24/multitask-research-study-082409.html

My 3yr old daughter already knows what an iPod is… and she automatically assumes that every phone she picks up can also take pictures. I wouldn’t be surprised if my older daughter comes home from the 1st grade next year and says her class has its own social network on Ning. All these things are great… don’t get me wrong… but as a Dad, I think we just have to be more conscious of how they’re affecting the way our children learn and develop.

24″ x 24″
house paint, modeling paste, oil stick, pencil, and tar on canvas
1/24/10

I designed and built this piece to hold miscellaneous toys, books, etc. in the little one’s bedroom. I love using 3DS Max to model these things before I even pick up a single tool – it makes doing the real work that much easier (and enjoyable).

Basic stuff here… 1/2″ plywood for the main carcass. And I ripped down some pine into 1×2’s and 1×3’s for the face frame, putting it together with pocket screws first, then tacking it to the front of the piece.

The initial sketch:

A clay rendering in Max:

The finished piece:

And in use:

Over the weekend I came across a posting for a very easy to follow recipe and technique on “how to make the best bread ever” and it inspired me once again to give it a shot. I used a combination of Eirik’s method of folding over the dough while still in the original bowl and the information that he linked to at the NY Times, and indeed, the bread turned out quite good.

Here’s what I did:

I combined 3 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon yeast, 1 & 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of cornmeal in a large bowl. I added about 1 5/8 cups of water. After spending about two minutes or so mixing it all up with a spoon, you end up with a sticky mess in the bowl. I covered that with plastic wrap and set it out on the counter overnight. I let it sit for 16 hours in total before touching it again. After the 16 hours I unwrapped the bowl and used a wide spatula to fold the dough over itself (while still in the bowl). I did this for a few minutes working my way around the bowl. I may try it again, using the original method explained in the NYTimes article but this sufficed. I let the dough sit another two hours with a kitchen towel covering the bowl, again just left sitting out on the counter. At this point I turned the oven on at 450. We have a set of ceramic Corningware pots with lids so I used a large, round 2.5 Liter one and placed it in the oven as suggested. When it reached 450, I took the hot pot out, dusted the bottom of the pot with flour, dusted the top of the dough with flour and cornmeal, and flipped the dough into the pot. Place the lid back on and then into the oven with it all for half an hour. After the 30 minutes, take the lid off, and I let it bake for another 15 minutes before taking it out and placing it on a cooling rack.

We had some tonight with dinner, dipping it on olive oil, and it was quite delicious!

Here’s another small painting I completed over the weekend:

20″x16″
modeling paste, house paint, oil stick, and roofing tar on canvas

An old barn on Chestnut Hill Church Rd. in Coopersburg.

What’s left of a chicken coop on South Hillview Road in Lower Macungie.

20″x16″
acrylic, ink, and oil stick on canvas

Changing out the pads for the front disc brakes on the Pacifica is about half hour job. First thing to do is jack up the side you’re working on and secure it with proper jack stands. Once you remove the wheel you’ll be confronted with rotor and caliper assembly:

What I typically do next is release some pressure from the pistons by depressing the caliper. You can get a special tool to do this, but I find a C clamp does the job just fine. It’s rather difficult, if not impossible, to swing open the caliper housing without doing this.

Another view of the depressed caliper:

I next loosen the two bolts attached to the slide pins at the top and bottom of the caliper.

I tend to remove the top one completely and let the caliper swing open. I’ve seen folks remove only the bottom one and let it swing up. In my case I have to rest it on something so I just use another jack stand. Either way, the results are the same:

The pads are easily removed at this point. I also remove the pad retainer clips.

I then start the reverse process by first installing the new clips:

…and subsequently the new pads:

Be sure to use some grease at the contact points of the pads and the retainer clips. The grease reduces any noise and possible sticking.

Because the new pads will be thicker than their old, worn-out counterparts, you’ll probably need to depress the pistons a bit more so you have clearance to swing the caliper back into place. I usually just use one of the old pads here, placing it flush to the pistons, and depress them again with the C clamp.

Once those pistons are depressed all the way, swing the caliper back into place. Replace the top bolt that was removed, tightening it and the one at the bottom.

The new pads are now ready to go.