message query for diy

Remote light switch has arrived

If you never hear from me again it is because I've tried to do some mains electrics by myself and it's gone horribly wrong. Dad helped replace the dry liner that I broke on the bathroom light switch, it seemed to go smoothly, we can isolate the power...

DIY IPOD battery pack

nice idea here from drewperry.co.uk... a few more IPOD hacks on that site too, like how to beat the sound limiter, and how fiddle with the battery charge meter....

The first rule about job club

Google blogger sacked, don't talk about work kids...Great weekend with a visit to Folkestone by Mum and Dad, took a trip to Lympne Castle, picked out some paint for the front room, and I DROVE A CAR, for the first time in about 8 years... piece of ca...

Podcasting's not dead

makezine.com have a piece on making yourself a podcasting appliance, ie a little radio type device just for listening to all these crap shows you can't help downloading.They're giving a big up to a mate of mine, saying "Kosso from Blugg.com has creat...

iPod mini 8GB Upgrade

Nick Knowles (DIY SOS)

Yesterday. The annoying git from DIY SOS, jeans and a lot of stubble.

DIY SOS

Right, we have this wardrobe from Habitat, and I'm quite pleased with it, but one of the doors is bowing slightly. When the door's shut, it's slightly convexed, so the magnetic catch at the top of the door isn't always catching. The door is adjustab...

Guitar Hero on the Commodore 64

Via engadget.com.There's a PC / Mac game you can download for free, where you hold your keyboard like a guitar, Frets On Fire......

Stuff I like today

twitter.com/PiMPY3WASH - someone's washing machine is on twitter.com, I like that. We just ordered a tumble dryer, I'm going to put it on twitter. All I need are some diy usb skills and I have the rest.Also Rocketboom's take on twitter. That's you, t...

Maybe I don't have to get rid of the pool table...

Combined the need for a new wardrobe with the need to get rid of the pool table! DIY hardward mashup!...

Spot the deliberate missteak in our new cot

No it's not that we've left the cot next to the radiator like that, or that an active baby could probably climb out of that window (the cot will be moved from this spot before we put the baby in it). It's not even that There's a big pile of CD's and ...

Call me sparky!

Just did my first mains electrics today! OK it was only removing a broken light fitting (yes of course it was me that broke it), but it involved actual screwdriver against 240v mains cableage. Turned the power off to do it, had to really as the only ...

Goodnight

Not goodnight, I mean GOOD NIGHT, we actually had a good night with Harry. He seemed to feed a lot better just before Clare went to bed, so he slept for ages before it was my turn to get up and give him the bottle feed. I was looking forward to it to...

I'll tell you what's a marvellous invention

White Duck tape! All my DIY repairs look so much more professional now!OK I don't repair everything with this, but that's because I only just discovered it. So far only the black out blind in Harry's room, and the shower curtain. If we lived in a car...

Semi fiascous weekend

Good weekend, quite tiring weekend though, painting and decorating and DIY for most of it, but also went out and stayed up too late.First on to the disasters, one I fell asleep on the (cream) sofa with a glass of red wine in my hand, oops. I was just...

I just bought a hollow wall anchor setting tool

This one, hear me roar, I am a man, I do DIY!Our walls are all hollow, even the external ones, covered in a soft cheesy layer of plasterboard. So I need these bad boys to do anything. Thought I could get the tool from Screwfix too, but seemingly not ...

Another weekend of decorating

Only did a tiny bit of decorating yesterday, as it was my "early" (Clare's lie in), so I got up with Harry and I took him to Screwfix, Homebase and the tip. I know how to treat my son! Screwfix was great, same prices as on the website, much cheaper t...

1p for a Laura Ashley Milton table and six chairs

Collect from Bridport, I suspect this will attract a few bids, that's nearly two grands worth of furniture...Leaving work early today to go see Stephen Fry tonight, looking forward to it.I think I already reported on my weekend of DIY, it went well t...

Should I buy these?

Should I get this infrared repeater so I can hide my DVD player etc in the cupboard? Or is there a better one? And what about thiswireless weather station? I would quite like one, not sure how much I would use it, but if I did buy it is it easy enoug...

A weekend off DIY

Still went to Screwfix again this morning, returned the IR repeater that I bought by mistake, think I'm going to get something from keene.co.uk instead. Do I get the basic starter pack though (still fifty quid) or delude myself that I'm going to auto...

Remote light switch is all wired in

The power is back on, nothing's gone bang yet! Programming from another remote worked well too, turn the switch on and off three times in a row and it's ready to receive a signal, then point any remote at it with a button you don't use pressed and th...

Good weekend

Remote dimmer fun aside, we had a great weekend. Went to Dover castle yesterday for the day, there's too much to see and do there, we must go back there soon. Then had dinner today over at Dom's, he cooked a big roast for everyone, which was great.No...

powerline / mains ethernet / homeplug thing not working

Tried to network my XBMC yesterday with the powerline mains ethernet network adapters I have, but no joy, even though it was all on the same ringmain. And now I know why! Reading Homeplugs FAQ they say: What stops HomePlug from working?Avoid surge pr...

HomeEasy

@hpoom tipped me off about Home Easy who make easy to fit RF light switches and sockets, sounds nice and simple and convenient, but does not support central control for full home automation. So an intermediate solution until you full commit to rewiri...

Day of cleaning

Well mostly cleaning, partly hiding down here in the study pretending to clean. I was up early this morning, and have achieved quite a lot. Tidied the leaves from the back garden, washed and despidered the front door, porch, and bin shed, more some d...

IF YOU HAVE NEW DENTURES, A QUICK RUN OVER WITH THE DREMEL AND NO MORE PAIN

If I mention Dremel to anyone any time soon, this is what I am on about... All proper geeks undoubtedly have their own already, so if anyone's reading this and can say "don't get that one, get this one" then please chip in...Not sure from that revie...

Another day of DIY

The rain is stopping me going out in the garden so far to tidy up that collapsed tree, but I have put up the new curtain pole across the front room. It's heavy, and the curtains on it are going to be heavy too. Hope the wall fixings are strong enough...

Still my favourite Dremel review

Here, about the dentures...

Foggy today

Clare is out at work, we were up early and dropped her off there so as to keep the car. Expecting it to be quiet at work as there is no visibility so not much point going up on to the cliffs. It was foggy yesterday too, we had visitors round and were...

Particularly unsatisfying paint of the kitchen

Did an hour or so while Harry slept, but it's not going on as well as it did before. There are greasy patches, spatters of oil from the cooker, staining the wall in places, and I can't paint over them. What to do about that?Hope when the paint dries ...

UK Indie gig

MJ Hibbett, The Bigger The God, Szeki Kurva (AKA The Fighting Cocks and more, a bit of a DIY effort from the uk-indie mailing list. At Oxford Point, now gone....

Coming up this week at the folkestone fringe

DIY fringe artist interventions: "unspoken conversations between the lost and found" be on the look out for victoria tami duzek-woodward�s small bears. These have been made from clothing given to her by family members and have been place around town....