so I'm working on this idea I Had for a further mod to my car's dashboard before I finish installing the CB and everything, the new radio has a composite input used for a rear backup camera but here's what I was actually thinking of using for it.



see I was thinking I could have a composite in to feed from a drone camera, a composite in for my portable computer in case I want to hack in the car but don't want to don the glasses.
then the backup camera (possibly mutliple angles/camera that can be switched between to check blind spots.

then 2 outputs, one to the dash screen/radio/media device and one to an external jack for plugging in a screen if needed (like glasses?)

edit: maybe an extra switch so I can turn the CB's audio/radio audio on/off

so I've got 3 days during the week of time to do whatever the hell I want and I figured hey maybe I should see about setting up a local-ish business where I build PC's for people and deliver/set them up on site for $$$, anyway that's the idea I'm thinking I want to do, does anyone have experience with this sorta thing and could offer some advise?

for those who work in IT I know you've gotten the worst of the worst when it comes to customer calls, well here's a site I've known about for a while, great for laughs, and for those who don't work in IT, you might just enjoy it too.

http://www.techtales.com/

have fun

so I was just watching some footage and reviews from gamescom (think E3 but in northern europe), and one big thing I noticed is that so far all of the upcoming paradox games are slated to have support for linux from the get go much like stellaris.

it's official, I think paradox has become my new favorite RTS/Strategy game dev!

now if only EA could get their head out of the sand and stop being so microsoft focused...

CBD oil is basically a marajuana derived product, without the THC, the known agent to cause the effects of the high. CBD acts upon certain neurotransmitters and basically has the same calming and anti-anxiety effects, without the negatives of the psychoactive components of the drug. 

It's completely legal in my state, and while it's not cheap, I got my hand on some, and I can say it works like no other. I'm truly pretty impressed. 

Anyone else ever tried similar products or have anything to say? (@leo, curious what your thoughts are )

so I'm back to vlogging and would like some Q&A for one of my upcoming vlogs, best 10 questions will be answered!

so please feel free to ask me anything!

Most people say around 55-65 MPH is best as far as fuel efficiency is concerned. It's certainly true that going faster dramatically decreases your gas mileage, particularly over the speed of 70. Most people blame the transmissions and say they need deeper overdrive gears, and while the transmission makes a huge difference, most new cars do in fact have very deep overdrive gears, and the mileage still dips considerably as you approach the speed of normal traffic on your typical freeway. Turns out that the wind drag makes a pretty significant difference all on its own, and I decided to put a lot of that to the test in my new ride. 

My 2007 jetta, 5 cylinder 2.5 liter is pretty nice. Snagged another steal on it and paid 2400 for it with 60K miles, and it's clean inside and out with no mechanical issues whatsoever. EPA claims it gets around 19 MPG in the city and 28 on the highway. 

Granted, I have yet to own a single car yet where I didn't exceed the gas mileage estimates. I don't necessarily drive like I'm in the Indy 500, but I don't drive like a grandma either, so I'm a little pleasantly surprised by this. In the city, I do generally average only around 20 MPG or so (a little better back home, usually closer to 23). But on the highway, rolling at 70 MPH or so, I get about 30-32 easily, sometimes a hair better. A noticeable amount better than the EPA's estimates, and without dipping down to an unreasonably slow speed. 

It's a small sedan, and most compact cars do a little better than this, but for a car that isn't specially designed with fuel-economy in mind, 18-20 in the city, 30-32 on the highway isn't bad and is definitely liveable. But for a car that's the same size as my corolla, I wanted to see how far I could push it. 

I noticed that around 50-52 MPH or so, my mileage was a good bit better than I expected, and even in the city (if I was driving at a good time and didn't hit a lot of red lights), my mileage was actually a little better than it was on the freeway. Turns out that around this speed in my jetta, it will easily average about 36-38 MPG. Took it out on the open freeway and put it in cruise control at about 55-60 MPH or so in the evening, got about 35 miles to the gallon. Not bad at all for a 2.5 liter engine that's only rated for 28 MPG on the highway.  

Did a little quick research, and it turns out there's an explanation for this, despite the super deep overdrive gears in most newer cars. Wind drag is basically the result of your velocity/speed squared. So increasing speed from 70 and going up to 85 miles per hour increases your wind drag by around 33% alone. Based on those calculations, my car would only get about 20 MPG or so roaring at 85 MPH. I can get away with that easily in my civic and still not dip below 30 MPG, but in my Jetta, I think I'll be staying below 70... 

Interesting stuff indeed. EPA estimates can in fact be beat. And pretty easily at that. 

what I'm about to present to you guys is a really old trick but handy if you've got some old computers that you either want to get on the internet or want to link without Ethernet, effectively allowing you to dial into them in the same way you used to dial into an ISP.

now there's a couple things you need to know, first of all you're going to need to generate a line voltage on the phone cable, this is normally handled by the normal setup with the phone company but since you aren't dialing out of your house it's something to work around.

some modems actually can generate this for you so a bit of research is needed but most PCI/ISA/PCI-E etc modems are software based and only have the hardware required to send data.

Your Mileage May Vary.

second thing to know is that your data limit will be based on the slowest modem on the link, 33K or more is fairly standard though.

now that the basics are out of the way here's a couple circuits which you will need to splice into your modem to modem RJ11 (phone cable), cable.

the supplies to construct them are as listed

• Telephone cord ( straight... about 10 or 15 feet ( 3 1/2 meters ) )
  
• Capacitor ( .47 �FD - 1 �FD Electrolytic (Very Important))
  
• Resistor ( 330 ohms - 390 ohms )
  
• 9V battery snap connector(standard or heavy duty)
  I say go with the heavy duty snap connector because the connectors pull out too easily on the cheaper version
  
• 9V battery
  
• Utility knife ( 'Exacto' knife)
  
• Electrical tape or solder w/ soldering iron.
  

so tons of people have used raspberry pi and variant boards for all sorts of cool projects, personally I'm using them to build a home automation system 1 room at a time.

so what sorts of things do you guys come up with?

Seeing as to how we went way off topic in the Hydration thread, right about here, it warranted enough to start another conversation. 

So, let's have it. What's in your cup of tea?

Obviously there are tons of blends in each category, but if I listed them all we would be here for days. Vote for your favorite, then share your preferred blend if applicable.