Re-configuring Rufus’s Mountain Buggy for Maja
Sep0
The bad thing about keeping everything is the need to organise it or accept the reign of chaos. The cool thing about not throwing things away is that when you come to re-configure an old Mountain Buggy (the NZ made version) you have what you need at hand:
- 2 x carbon fibre tent pole sections
- 1 x length of 7mm dia aluminium rod
- A singer walking foot sewing machine from the old Mt Mule factory
- Some webbing
- A Vodafone advertising banner
The idea was to take Rufus’s buggy and turn it into one that suited a wider age range, my daughter Maja being 5 months old. This entails adding the ability to drop the back to a sleeping angle and re-shape the seat, which frankly wasn’t the shape of any child I have seen to start with.
Soo… I added a big gusset, shortened the seat and made a light frame from the carbon fibre and aluminium so when adjusted the seat was rigid enough, I didn’t want Maja sinking in and turning into a wee ball.
So far so good, the only slight problem is in the down position the COG is backwards, not dangerously but needs to be kept an eye on. The truth will be in testing tomorrow on the race track.
Might have to make some light weight rain covers and pannier bags as well…
Wanaka Wastebusters Housing Insulation Project Progress
Sep0
One of my bigger projects at Wanaka Wastebusters in the last few months has been to build up a new business unit to perform insulation installation in the Central Otago region. We are well placed to provide this service as our existing partner CBEC in Northland has been running a service for a few years.
This project includes researching the potential, branding and communications and then forming a team, and putting together the paper trail and doing the quality control as we roll out the service. Initially we will be contracting to the Otago Regional Council to their Clean Heat Clean Air program.
I put some thought into the brand and decided something a wee bit cleaner and smarter than the ‘Comfy Homes’ message out there may be a little more appealing to the Central Otago Audi driver. I really like German trades logo styles as well which tend to be small and authoritative. I settled on ‘Energy House’ which I think sums up our mission, to reinforce (through insulation) that a house needs energy, good energy, and to retain it.
The recycling god and a Cisco Network Assistant JVM error
Sep2
As usual – if you put it out there around here – it turns up. Provided by the recycling god today for my office netwrok/phone system project was a Cisco 2950 24 port switch. I plugged it in and we are all action – a little noisy on the fan side but it will replace 3-4 stacked 5 port switches which have accumulated chained together here at Wastebusters.
To get to know the switch a bit better I downloaded the Cisco Network Assistant. Cripes – what a torturous process that was. Why are these big companies so scared of a browsers standard file downloader?
install went ok but on trying to the run the application I got a “Could not create Java Virtual machine” error. There was a bit out there on the net on some very complex fixes involving un-installing and reinstalling with a older version JVM – but then in the Google cache I found the below – which worked :-)
When you start Network Assistant, Java determines whether the resources it needs are available. If they are not, Java displays the message Could not create Java Virtual machine, and the session ends. To overcome this problem, open the file C:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\CiscoSMB\Cisco Network Assistant\startup\startup.properties (the default installation path), and modify this entry:
JVM_MAXIMUM_HEAP=1024m
Replace 1024m with a lower setting that does not exceed the available RAM. There is no way to foresee what value will work. Try 512m, and lower it further if necessary. You can use the dial peer tag range 2500 to 2999 out-of-band to define your own dial peers.
Journeys in the world of VOIP
Sep0
So…the VOIP project for Wanaka Wastebusters continues. Most of the bases have been covered in the last few weeks:
- Tested the Kiwilink service with a variety of hardware and software phones. PAP2T, X-Lite etc. Call quality is very good 90% of the time and choppy around 4pm…hmmm…hopefully a new ADSL link fullspeed in both directions will solve that
- Have setup auto attendant features and voicemail, nice and easy
- Blind transferring a call has been a bit more of an issue. In X-Lite it is disabled in the free version and PAP2T’s don’t seem to have a good speed dial method. Kiwilink has been exceptional in trying to find a solution – so far the easiest seems to be to use dedicated VOIP phones over ATA’s with analogue phones – will up the investment price a bit
One of the outcomes for me has been to see how VOIP technology, maybe technology in general, has evolved over time. The standards and even the hardware has been around for a few years but it has still not bedded in as a simple flexible solution: system components require extensive configuration, quality is variable and trouble shooting still an art not a science.
Depolying a VOIP PBX is not yet a turn key industry, but the advantages still greatly outweigh the disadvantages.
Eco – Packaging Tape
Sep0
One of my current sourcing projects is to find an eco packaging tape replacement. The assumption is that Polyethylene and Polypropylene tapes are a recycling chain nuisance as they pollute the cardboard recycling process. There is also aesthetic requirement for matt/paper tapes in some packaging.
Current alternatives under investigation are:
- Celulose tapes with natural rubber adhesive – (easy to use, hard to identify in comparison with PE/PP, llow tear strength)
- Kraft paper tapes with self adhesive backing of various types – (sourcing difficult, good brand printing potential)
- Kraft paper tapes with heat/water activated adhesive (require an applicator machine)
Links:
- http://www.tapes-direct.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=148_192&products_id=901
- http://www.findtape.com/shop/product.aspx?id=232&setscreen=1&width=1680&height=952
- http://www.shurtape.com/default.aspx?Tabid=75&Level1=21
- http://www.logotape.de/
- http://cnbydge.en.alibaba.com/
Like all things – the harder you look the more complex it is.
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