I’ve had a FTDI cable for a while for testing serial communications between my microprocessors and my computer and for that job, it works great. However, I recently grabbed a couple Ardweenies from Solarbotics and decided to use my FTDI cable to program them.  The FTDI cable doesn’t have an automatic reset, so you have to push the reset button on the board at exactly the right time when trying to program it from your computer.  This causes tons of frustration.
Oddly, a few days of experimenting with …

In the first part of this two-part series, I went over some of the basics of graduate school applications.  In this part, I’ll go over some more detailed aspects you should consider when choosing a program and tell you some tips that might help you get in even if you don’t fully meet the requirements.
After each detailed section, there’s a “TLDR” notice. This stands for “Too Long; Didn’t Read” and gives just the basics of the section.

From time to time, people ask my advice for how to get accepted into Graduate school. Reading the school websites, and talking to professors and administrators isn’t enough.  Not to mention you need people skills to get in.  In this, the first of a two-part series, I’ll break down the very basics of what many programs require, and give you tips and tricks to help out.  The second half will be advanced tips, that show that you really want in the program.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m …

Viovio has been described on blogs and websites as being one of the best quality photobook services available. Because of this reason, I decided to try their services and overall I am pleased with my experience.

This is the second part in a two part series about how to design, build, and finish a simple woodworking project.  Please read Part 1 for more info and background on the project.  This section will mainly focus on finishing the bookshelf.
Staining wood projects is a hassle and you can quickly get in over your head.  When I first started looking for methods to stain my projects, I was bombarded with choices:

Oil or water based?
Which color should I use?
How long should the stain be left on the wood?

All of these …

This is the first part in a two part series about how to design, build, and finish a simple woodworking project.  This part focuses on the design and build of the project.
Jessica and I tend to collect a lot of books.   I mean a LOT of books.  When one of those cheap 7ft tall particle board bookcases we had finally bit the dust, and fell on me, I decided we would only get solid wood bookcases from now on.  I also decided that it was probably best that the bookcase …

Everything about the Ikea Alex made it a perfect addition to our home office – except its color. After a few coats of black spray paint, some mod podge, and damask styled scrapbooking paper, I had myself an Ikea Alex hack that looked perfect for our tastes.