Friday, September 13, 2013

The Deserted Desktop

This week's featured desktop makes use of a wallpaper we featured in Wallpaper Wednesday last week, and adds some smart Rainmeter skins over top of it for a personal touch. Stylized date in the center, system monitors on the left, and a stylized clock in the upper right. Simple and easy.

This is a pretty easy desktop to set up, so if you're curious about Rainmeter and want to get started with it, give this one a try—it has the elements you'll see in most featured desktops, and you can move on from there. Here's what you'll need:

The wallpaper from The Paper WallThe Rainmeter system tweaking and monitoring tool for WindowsThe Cabal skin for Rainmeter to create the system monitors on the leftThe Elementary skin for Rainmeter to create the sylized date in the centerThe MemoDijay's Suite for Rainmeter for the clock on the upper rightThat's all there is to this one. It's simple to configure, and looks pretty good, even if this one is more form than function. Still, it's a great starter desktop if you're interested in customization and building a desktop that could eventually be featured here! If you do, make sure you submit it to our desktop showcase by posting it to your personal Kinja blog! If you need help, check out our guide to Rainmeter for tips, or head over to C Shu Yang's Flickr page to ask your questions. Make sure to let him know how much you like his work if you do!

If you have a good-looking, functional desktop of your own to show off, share it with us by posting it to your personal Kinja blog using the tag desktop showcase or adding it to our Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr pool. Screenshots must be at least at least 640x360 and please include information about what you used, links to your wallpaper, skins, and themes, and any other relevant details. If your awesome desktop catches our eye, you might get featured!

June Desktop Showcase | Flickr

Fried chilli eggs

01.05 176.jpgThese are fried chilli eggs. They are very good for dinner and easy to make. They are spicy and delicious. 01.05 153.jpg1,5 teaspoon tamarind
8 hard-cooked eggs
2 little onions
a piece ginger
2 cloves of garlic
2 red pepper
1 bar lemongrass or lemon grass powder
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon sambal olek or more if you want
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
6 tablespoons water
salt
pepper
coriander
oil

knife/cutting board
pan
standard kitchen supplies
fryer


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Guitar to AV Receiver Interface

connected.jpgHave you ever wanted to amplify your electric guitar by plugging into an AV Receiver (home stereo)? Ever tried rigging up a 1/4" mono instrument plug to RCA patch cable? If so you most likely were disappointed when it didn't work. Most modern consumer grade AV equipment only has output power amplification which has to be fed with Line-Level Pre-Amplified signals. Musical instruments with passive pick-ups have a high impedance low signal level output that has to to be gradually stepped up with pre-amplification.

Article Features:
Simple two transistor stage pre-amplifier circuit, with a high impedance input stage suitable for musical instruments with passive pick-ups and an output stage with enough signal level to feed AV equipment. A brief description of the processes I used to fabricate the clear acrylic case I made. circuit-annotated.jpgThe input stage of this amplifier circuit is a Common Collector amplifier which has high input impedance, low output impedance, and high current gain. The output stage is a Common Emitter amplifier which has medium input and output impedance, and high power gain. The input and output is decoupled from the 3V DC supply power by C1, C2 & C3, R1 & R3 control the base current of Q1 & Q2, and R2 & R4 control the output current of each transistor stage respectively.

I used point-to-point construction for this circuit, however it could be built on a PC board if desired. I used aluminum duct tape to form power rails on the inside of the acrylic case. Since the tape can't be soldered I used small pieces of tape to fasten the connection points to the components. It was challenging to make reliable connections with this method. Alternatively copper tape, or wire could be used.

Parts List:

I used male RCA plugs as the output termination because I wanted a compact inline connection, alternatively female RCA jacks could be used with patch cables. I connected the RCA output plugs in parallel to feed both the left and right channels of the AV receiver.

Standard AV RCA phono plug on center spacing is 13mm with a 10mm panel mount hole.


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DIY Footwear Projects

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Paper iMac 4.8"

weiß.jpgThe fact that you can read this Instructable proves that you are the owner of an internet-capable device already, and don’t need an iMac, in case you don’t already have one.
But they look so pretty...

Here’s the deal: You can make this one for under a dollar. Or Euro. Or Lira, whatever.
But it lacks of a few functions that one might evaluate as essential, such as internet connection, USB-ports, or in general... working.
Also, with 4.8", the display is a tad smaller than the original one.

Bildschirmfoto 2013-06-13 um 13.42.43.pngPaper: You could just use normal printing paper. But paper with about 160 g / m2 looks more professional. The great thing is, that the unevenness of the paper gives it the texture of brushed aluminum (So don’t think that my template is sloppy because it looks too slick). Glue, scissors,.. And other optional crafting stuff, like tweezers, pins, mini scissors, cutter. Transparent Tape (recommended)

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Cajun Fish Rolls with Vegetable Sticks and Fried Courgette Flowers

IMG_8745.jpgHere I am with some more fish fillets. As the only fish eater in the house, not counting our Mr. Peabody, I go wild and I try to prepare them in a thousand different ways. Fish is light, healthy and delicious. In spring I like to accompany it to seasonal vegetables, in winter I prepare delicious fish soups, in the summer I prefer it in a sauce for pasta. One thing I regret is that I do not like shellfish. I find it so beautiful and versatile yet their flavour is not really my thing, and so I am left with white fish, preferably sea fish.

The recipe that I propose below is very simple and consists of several elements and different textures. A light meal, despite the fried courgette flowers, slightly hot and fully spicy. The fish and vegetables in the roll are soft and delicate, the courgette flowers are crisp and tasty just like the sautéed vegetables and the little fritters. Serve with a fresh salad topped with a tasty vinaigrette, wholemeal bread or a nice piece of focaccia and you got a good meal that is really very, very satisfying!

Don’t give you the amounts for the ingredients because they depends on how many rolls you want to make and on the size of the vegetables at your disposal. Here, however, are the ingredients and the steps to make this dish:
•fish fillets
•courgettes cut into sticks
•carrots cut into sticks
•yellow pepper cut into strips
•courgette flowers
•extra virgin olive oil
•vegetable oil for frying

For the batter:
•flour
•cajun spices
•salt
•1 pinch of baking powder
•cold water

IMG_8726.jpgCut the vegetables into strips except the courgette flowers.

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