Tech Advice for all, and for all subjects

[mdmf007]

Thanks Badger, im digging into it now...As far as security goes, its pretty benign stuff and boring.

[TomServo]

there'd be nothing non original about drilling. bolts maybe, where you might substitute copper rivets.
But holes in metal are OE, I'm sure. and welding will discolor the steel, I'm sure. I'd think a copper rivet or two, would look pretty cool.
not telling you what to do.....just suggestions.

Added fittings this morning..is just a plain brass nut cap, but looks ok. I can probably find something more decorative, but this doesn't bother me..

[Box Burner]

the folks on this site can give you some info on period techniques.

http://www.armourarchive.org/

Use a softer metal for the rivet than the material you are riveting. this is especially true for articulated joints. That way, if it fails it will be the rivet and not the armour being held together. Replacing the rivet is easier than repairing the armour.


if you use long copper rivets you can insert them from the inside. Then set the cheekpice with the rivethead down on your anvil and give it a solid whack, just enough so that the shaft of the rivet expands to fill the hole. Then wit a small ball peen hammer you can gently hammer the end of the rivet so that it expands like a mushroom back down onto the metal. then using files or a dremel you can decorate the mushroomed rivet. Practice on scraps of metal with a few rivets.

the copper rivets are available from tandy leather. I generally get the 3/4 inch ones and then cut them to the desired work length.

[Ugly Dougly]

Even better (if you want to go whole-hog stitch-countingly authentic):
http://www.romanarmytalk.com/

I am patching up the chimney on my house. It wasn't born with a damper, so the heat goes straight up the flue and bye bye.

Fireplace inserts are expensive, and because the fireplace is a unique Mjollnir shape, an insert would not fit.

But they do have chimney cap/spark arrestors with built-in dampers, and I have one on order.

It seems that the current chimney cap/spark arrestor was not mounted on a flue liner. The chimney does not have a flue liner at the top. I am (more than) guessing it was destroyed in the Loma Prieta earthquake and the former owner patched it together best as he could.

So I got a flue liner, muscled it up onto the roof, chiseled the bricks so it fit in place. Nice.

It needs some mortar. Will any cement/mortar work or do I need heat-resistant stuff? Do they have this at The Home Despot?

[Ugly Dougly]

So here we go. The 12"x16" flue liner is 12" high and meets the bricks inside the chimney.

[ygmir]

so, one of my email accounts, apparently, has been hacked.
Someone (thing?) is sending "links" to everyone in my address book.
They seem to be harmless ads, but still.
no subject usually.

a few questions:
could they get into my Yahoo address book via my phone?
How could they get my whole address book?
Is there a way to stop it, or is "the horse out of the barn" and it'll send to my contacts, until it "moves on"?

any thoughts are appreciated.

[MikeVDS]

Usually if you change your password to a strong password you should be ok. A lot of those guys who hack accounts will use a dictionary based attack to check peoples passwords or just try random combinations of lowercase letters. They send out the mails based on the contacts and e-mail addresses in your e-mail inbox. Sometimes they get your login and password by you logging in from a computer infected with a virus designed to steal that type of information, so be careful that the computers you log into are secure and virus free, including your personal computer.

For a strong password, really anything that's not a "common" password or in the dictionary is usually good enough. Two words and a number make a good password, especially if you us capital letters. CrackMonkey88 is a good example. Another good way to make a password is a pattern on your keyboard. 0okmju789 for example. Looks random but if you try to type it out, you'll see that it forms a triangle on the keyboard, so it will be fast to type even for people who type with one finger.

[ygmir]

great thanks MikeVDS! I'm wondering if it could have gotten the addresses through my smartphone somehow?

[Ugly Dougly]

Change your password every few months. Just changing the numbers at the end should be enough, however.

[MikeVDS]

Smartphones can get malware just like your desktop, especially if you like trying out new apps all the time. I believe yahoo always uses secure connections, but I could be mistaken. If they do not, then using an open wifi connection could give someone access to your information. Also some people like to use the same password for everything. So if your facebook login is hackmeplease@yahoo.com and uses the same password as your e-mail, they can get that over an open wifi connection and try it on your e-mail and they are in.

[Ugly Dougly]

Looks like I am going to inherit a free or cheap hot tub this year.

That's the good news.

It's electric and can cost $50 a month to heat.
I'm thinking I can convert it to gas if the new heater is not too expensive. At the very least, I can make or buy a solar water heater.
Any ideas?

[unjonharley]

Coil a water hose on the roof..

[Triken]

Coil a black water hose on the roof..

there, fixed it

[Ugly Dougly]

Yes, there's the simple answer. The devil's in the details, however.

The spa water does not go straight into the hose. There has to be a heat exchanger. And a thermostat. Will that talk to the existing system? I guess I will fund out.

[ygmir]

there's a ton of good info on hot tub DIY heating.
black hose is good, better if in a "solar oven" type thing on the roof, with glass over.
why would you not run the hot tub water through the roof system? just an anti backflow valve and it should be ok, no?
if you keep' a heater (gas, wood, cow pie fueled) lower than the hot tub, it can circulate via thermo siphon.

[Ugly Dougly]

Back of the envelope here: The hottest of the water (exposed to the sun) would want to stay at the top of the system (the heater on the roof) rather than drop to the tub (the radiator/heat sink in this case) where it would be needed, so I would need a pump wouldn't I?

Heat exchangers are useful where a freeze is likely, and you don't want to be bathing in propylene glycol.

Dunno, just at the head-scratching stage with this project.... Have to examine the new tub and see what it has.

[ygmir]

yeah, the roof system needs a pump, since your heater is higher than the tub (unless we build a siege tower in your yard........just thinkin' out loud here haha

or, if set up right, you can pump tub water through, and drain it when not in use (the roof system, that is). Problem I've seen with roof types, is, in winter they don't work real well, and that's when you want the most heat.

[Rice]

yeah, the roof system needs a pump, since your heater is higher than the tub (unless we build a siege tower in your yard........just thinkin' out loud here haha

or, if set up right, you can pump tub water through, and drain it when not in use (the roof system, that is). Problem I've seen with roof types, is, in winter they don't work real well, and that's when you want the most heat.

How would you keep a roof tank from freezing (without an electric tank heater)?? (We have temperatures in the -20 to -40 range for at least 4 months every winter)

[ygmir]

yeah, the roof system needs a pump, since your heater is higher than the tub (unless we build a siege tower in your yard........just thinkin' out loud here haha

or, if set up right, you can pump tub water through, and drain it when not in use (the roof system, that is). Problem I've seen with roof types, is, in winter they don't work real well, and that's when you want the most heat.

How would you keep a roof tank from freezing (without an electric tank heater)?? (We have temperatures in the -20 to -40 range for at least 4 months every winter)

[Ugly Dougly]

Stretch, I think that they use a combination of antifreeze (thus the heat exchanger) and insulation. Maybe even a pump to circulate the water from the tank. At least that's how the fancy house water systems work, I think.

For a "black hose on the roof" spa system, you'd just empty out the water and take it down from the roof until the weather warms up.

[unjonharley]

A heat sink for the hose system could be one or more water heaters pans from home depot..

[gyre]

First, I need advice on a place I can get torx drivers, not bits, but drivers in the 8 to 10 range.

I've found sets only at hf and northern from 10 up.
No individual drivers.

A lot of torx applications have narrow space, and that is my issue.
Any ideas?

I was parked, and someone came along at full speed and hit the mirror hard and destroyed the whole thing without touching the sheetmetal.
I have to take the door apart to replace it.

Any ideas, short of snapon, etc?

[gyre]

More importantly, I have to install a repeater for wifi.
I have a cisco that I think will do the job, but I can't understand any of the coding, and cisco has no support without high cost.
Can anyone help?
This is not bestbuy cisco, but industrial harsh conditions all steel cisco, with four antenna jacks.
I don't think it can do multi-band as a repeater, but that's okay.
It is currently set up as a router/transmitter single frequency.

If I can't set that one up, I'm looking at a hawking tech repeater with a directional antenna, 12 db gain.
I can go wired, but it's annoying, and not that much cheaper.

Any other recommendations, approaches?

Distance from the transmitter is about 250 feet max, line of sight.

[Rice]

what is the model number?? I have set up wireless repeaters, but not Cisco. They tend to do it "their" way, which is special {sarcasm intended}

From the IT perspective, it is not that bad

[gyre]

They are.

I have a family emergency.
Have to go.

Thanks.
I'll be back later.

[Rice]

no worries! I'll be around

[ygmir]

so I need a new email client, prefer free.
my outlook express, conflicts with my antivirus, and is not supported anymore, anyway.
I use chrome, because Firefox won't work with Facecrack for me (not sure why, but can't click on things).
I really like OE.
Anyone have any suggestions as to what to use?

[maladroit]

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/

Easy to set up, works well. I've been using it for about a decade.

[illy dilly]

On another note, is there a way to configure you're antivirus to work with your Outlook?

Personally I prefer yahoo mail. Its free, I can access it anywhere from my phone, my work computer, a friends PC, or my home PC.
And, I can send attachments to my self and use it as a sorta virtual (cloud-ish) hard drive.

I'd also say maybe look into Windows Live Mail, which I believe is the new version of the old Outlook Express.

[FIGJAM]

I use Gmail.