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Chickadee at Feeder

Mar 1st, 2010 by Tony

So I decided to take some video of a Chickadee at the feeder this morning.  Not the smartest animals out there, but they are fun to watch.

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Free CSS Dropdown Menu (with iPhone quick tip)

Feb 24th, 2010 by Tony

Recently, I picked up the LWIS.NET CSS Dropdown Menu for a project that I’ve been working on.  In my opinion, this is a great menu system with a few different templates (horizontal & vertical) for easy customization.

The one trick that I picked up when using this template is that you need to add some code to get the drop down effect to work.  Basically, adding onmouseover=”" inside the li elements with submenus will allow the hover CSS events to perform as intended.  By default, the iPhone will ignore hover CSS events unless you specify a onmouseover event handler (even if it is blank).  Thanks to commenter twenty205 for the original idea.

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Olympics

Feb 24th, 2010 by Louisa

Question: What to do in the middle of winter, when it’s cold and grey outside?

Answer: Go find some hot cocoa, chocolate cake, and watch the Olympics!

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Photo Album Redesign Completed

Feb 17th, 2010 by Tony

During the past week, I’ve been busy revamping our photo gallery that’s contained on the Photo Albums link above.  For the other nerds interested in web technologies out there, I’ve made the following changes:

  • Moved away from the terrible table-based design that the gallery has used since 2004.  I’m now using a 2-column CSS template that works well in Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer 8 (no CSS3 rounded corners on IE 8). The sidebar on this 2 column design will contain tips for viewing images, as well as links to a view of our Picasa Web Albums.
  • Converted older galleries to use the Lightbox2 photo viewer.  This is an awesome free javascript app that provides an overlay for viewing images.  Simply click a thumbnail on an album to see it in action.
  • The albums are now separated by year, instead of being lumped into one giant list.  The years that have been converted to the new format are:
  • Converted older portrait images to a viewable height.  You will no longer have to scroll to see an entire photo in portrait orientation. (Yeah, the old photos were huge if they had a portrait orientation.)

If you have any suggestions or thoughts on the new format, please leave a comment below.

Posted in Photos and Travels, Site Update, Technology | No Comments »

Quick Tech Tip: Use NiMH Batteries for Remotes

Feb 11th, 2010 by Tony

LaCrosse BC-700 Charger and Rayovac NiMH Batteries

Recently, I started to replace our AA alkaline batteries with NiMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) rechargeable batteries.  My main reasoning for the switch was the many remotes that use AA or AAA batteries (2 XBox Controllers, TV Remote, 2 DVD Remotes, and Stereo Remote) in the house.

After investigating NiMH technology, I found the following advantages:

  • Rechargeable – Less batteries to buy, means less waste for those green folks out there.
  • Low/No Memory Effect – This was more of a problem with certain NiCd (Nickel Cadmium) batteries, but it basically means that you don’t need to worrying about charging the battery when it’s only partially discharged.
  • Low Self-Discharge on Certain Batteries – These have better shelf life than standard NiMH batteries.  Manufacturers claim that these batteries will keep 70-85% of their charge after one year. Look for batteries that are labeled as pre-charged or hybrid.

If you are looking to move to NiMH batteries, keep these points in mind:

  • If you want to keep spares available for a long period of time, look for low self-discharge NiMH batteries.  Again, these will be labeled as pre-charged or hybrid.
  • NiMH batteries come with different capacities, measured in mAh (milliampere-hour). Shy away from batteries that claim a very high capacity (over 2100 mAh), as it appears that they have a higher self-discharge rate than lower capacity batteries.
  • Smart chargers are better than dumb chargers.  This mainly due to the fact that dumb chargers will not give you any indication on when a battery is charged.  There are varying degrees of smart chargers, but the main point that I’d look for is an indication that a battery is charged.
  • Avoid quick chargers, especially chargers that claim a 15 minute charge time.  Charging batteries at a higher mA (milliampere) level can degrade the battery cell.  The charger I use has charge levels of 200 mA, 500 mA, and 700 mA.  I use the 200 mA level unless I need a faster charge.

With these points in mind, I recommend the following batteries and chargers:

If you do not wish to buy from these Amazon links (I do participate in their affiliate program), most of these components can be found at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, or other online stores.

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