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Monthly Archives: May 2006

  • Starter Newel Installed on Stairs

    I cut and installed the starter newel today. It took me almost all day to cut and fit it, as it was one solid post (actually it is filled with poplar 1x or something similar), and was too deep for my circular saw, and with the molding, too akward for my table saw.In the end, I started the cuts with the circular saw and then finished it with chisels and a flush trim router bit. It took forever t...

  • Consolas Font Pack for Visual Studio 2005

    Prior to this release, Consolas was only available on Windows Vista. Of course, this font will look best on Vista, with subpixel ClearType technology, but it also looks ok XP, as long as you use the correct font smoothing. Here's what the font looks like with the three different smoothing options provided in Windows XP. Yes, the no-smoothing version really looks that bad. Sta...

  • Stairs

    Last weekend I stained, painted, and finished the stairs. Melissa asked that I move the stairs ahead of the cabinets because Ben is going to get mobile sometime soon here, and we need to be able to put a safety gate up. Makes sense to me.The stain is General Finishes Early American water based stain. The topcoat is five coats of Varathane Satin water-based floor finish, sanded be...

  • New WinFX / WPF Releases

    Lots of new releases this week. Here are the WinFX-related ones: WinFX Beta 2Visual Studio Orcas (Cider) May CTPExpression Graphic Designer (Acrylic) May CTPExpression Interactive Designer (Sparkle) May CTPWindows Vista Beta 2

  • CTP for Expression Web Designer (Quartz)

    The first CTP of Microsoft Expression Web Designer (Quartz) has been released. See the entry here. EWD is worlds beyond what Microsoft has provided to web designers in the past. Don't think of your Visual Studio design tools when you think of this; there's no comparison.

  • Funny Volkswagen Commercial

    This VW Passat commercial is pretty funny. If it annoys you, you might want to borrow a megaphone ;-)

  • Cabinet Wood Down to Manageable Size

    From my earlier entry, you know that I bought about 500 bf of Ghost Tiger Maple for our kitchen cabinets. I cut the maple down to manageable sizes. In my shop, as tiny as it is, I can't really handle anything longer than six feet. In addition, the resaw capacity of my older model MM16 is about 13", so that is as wide a board as I can handle. My planer has the same width limitation.So, ...

  • Acura RDX

    This looks to be a really impressive vehicle. Look for it this summer.  The technology package has some nice features including bluetooth for your phone, and MP3 player compatibility. (image cropped from Forbes Auto. Copyright 2006 ForbesAutos.com) Other links: Fosfor.seAcura