The One and Only Big D Thread

Crazy, big D. You work too hard!

But hey, you enjoy it!

 

@Thad E Ginathom
Only had my own business for 15 years in the Computer Industry before I retired at 55.
$50 to $200/hr for my work was a big help.
5 Different Divisions and a One Man Show didn't hurt either
Didn't have to answer to no one but my Clients
And I could tell them to go screw, if needed
It was a win win for me
I just loved what I did.....

 

I couldn't resist posting this....

Fractal Design is a computer case maker.
They make a line of very traditional cases that are very popular with the builder crowd. Form and function is what Fractal Design is all about. They compete well with Corsair, which is the benchmark for computer cases IMO.

Here goes their new design.....
You are not going to believe this...
Fractal Design "Fur E" Case



"Fur E" has got to be the craziest case I have seen in a while. And this is not a one off design. This is real....
Here is the link to the computer tech site I frequent 'Tech Report"

http://techreport.com/review/31384/fractal-design-fur-e-case-reviewed

PS: It comes with 2 Combs.....

 

Hmmm... I suppose the date "31st March" on the article was to throw people off the scent?

 

Complete stranger here, but I couldn't help commenting:

I'd actually get that case just to piss people who actually build off )

 

Bad News....
The Cardas Audio Gold Shortout Pins did not work!!
The Krell KSA-200S still has hum with the RCA outputs...
Sheesh!!
$12 down the drain, and my heart broken...
Good thing that I did order the XLR Morrow Audio MA4 Reference Cables last week.....

The wait for the best sound on the $10K Speakers continues...
Still sounds quite amazing now, but I'm hoping for more detail and things, you know things,
like William Shatner used to say on Star Trek....
He used to say.... "These things........... and take a deep breath........... are going to kill us......... another deep breath...
It was so funny when he got emotional on the show Star Trek.
Classic......

 

Added my Altec Lansing USB Portable Speaker System to my Bedroom setup.
They screw together and the wires get pushed up inside.
They sound good, but don't throw much volume....
They come with a nice cloth travel case...
Just great for Laptops....
That's what I bought them for....

Pic...



And they are just a stopgap for the Altec Lansings that are coming from Amazon that are $13.58 and are also USB models, but sound a little more robust.

I have a pair already, and the next model up.
The next model up, goes the same speakers.... but now gives you a tiny sub and an AC Power supply and a connection with an 1/8" plug to go into the sound card. They get some serious volume and cost $38.76. Same drivers for the satellites.... just the USB 2.0 system doesn't go real loud, but sounds accurate. The 2.1.... you could have a room party with your friends and have a good time.

Pic... 2.0 Altec Lansing USB Speakers



PIC... 2.1 Altec Lansing Speakers AC Powered



This is what I have on my Win7 Workstation.....
And this is what I'm going to have on my Dell 24" Touchscreen Intel Kaby Lake NUC System right next to my BenQ 24" Gaming Monitor (My Workstation Monitor) in my Office Setup. This will be (2) sets... One for each computer. The sub is so small.... and the speakers fit right underneath the monitors just perfect. The sound is accurate. Nothing special, just accurate sound. That is all I need at my Desk.
What is going to be connected to the new Dell 24" Touchscreen?

The New Intel Top of the Line NUC,,,,, and it is going to be "Off the Chain".
Should be leaving the manufacturing plant tomorrow and getting into the hands of my warehouse by the 4th of April.
I should have mine a couple of days later. Me ready.

I will fill you all in on one of the biggest developments in NUC in history...
Just a little longer..... my SBAF friends......

 

@Deep Funk
I'm working on a super secret project. You will like this one. I have a NDA on it right now. But I will be able to disclose it real soon......
It is about a music system that trumps a lot of the designs out there. It is an unconventional design that will (oh I can't tell you).
But when I can.... It will be really cool. I wish I could give you a hint right now, but I have my hands tied. There is a thing that probably has been tried, but I haven't heard of it. That is for sure. I am going to do something groundbreaking, or just something out of the ordinary with sound setup. I have been knocking heads with people with this idea for over 30 years, and it looks like it may come to some testing in the Big D Labs in the next 6 months. It might take a while before everything shows up to the door. Complex..... Why yes.... Has anyone thought of this idea before?
You betcha....
But not with the setup and components that I have come up with and it should be really exciting for all types of music....
There is no type of music that will run thru this system that will be nothing but the most exciting experience in my Easy Chair that you have ever heard...
Unless... you have Vinyl....
Sorry...
I don't have the Cash for Vinyl System...
Or the patience to have the anti-static horseshit that goes along with the whole Vinyl setup...
I have seen what it takes and the costs...
Shit... I want a good DAC......
I'm a holdout till I think that it is really time.... the best is out there...
Yggdrasil is tops... but I want to wait just a little longer to see what breaks... and then I will strike..
My system is ongoing and will find it's final resting place....
But I am going to make my Livingroom the Big D Labs to find the Golden Ring...
It may cost me $30K to get the Golden Ring....
So be it....
I am Retired...
This is what I have Dreamed about for the last 30 Years....
Let me have my Day in the Sun...
And stop thinking I'm some rich fu$%ker..
No I just want my wish in life...
Martin Logan
Great REL Subs
Krell Amps
Who could ask for more....
Is that too much to ask for a man that worked hard....
It's not easy to run a 5 Division Business all on your own.....
I did it, so I could retire young and enjoy me life while I still had time....
This is America....

Get it....
My Oyster....

See Ya....

 

Contrary to popular audiophile belief, you do not have to spend a lot of money on playing vinyl. What people forget is that it was all we had at one time.

But, unless you are one of those with the magic touch, you do have to put up with the clicks and the scratches. I don't have that touch. However careful i think I am being (and hey, fifty years experience) the second time I play a new record there will be noise.

So, as much as love getting physical with the covers, the LPs, the deck... it's a pure digital present and future for me.

 

@Thad E Ginathom
The clicks and pops I don't miss one bit...
I did dislike my ear pain when digital first came out in some recordings that the treble was a bit too much over an hour of listening on substandard friend's stereo equipment.
It didn't sound bad on mine....
I was always the stereo nut, and had not expensive equipment, but good sounding equipment since a small child. My father bought Heathkit stuff, which I would inherit, and I inherited a large 3-way speaker system with 15" Woofer, 8" Midrange, 12" Horn Tweeter with 2-Way Adjustable Crossover made by Heathkit. It was a good sounding Speaker. Over the years, I would change the drivers for better ones and the Crossover for a better External 2-Way Crossover with better components. The Speaker cabinets stayed with me for almost 30 years. I would add Bookshelf Speakers on top of them to add Audiophile type compliment to them and to have my NAD Amplifier of many years push out double the power. Very handy cabinets, they were. Great Old School Design. Reminds me of the Klipsch Horn size speaker.

So digital thru them with the mess of Audiophile Bookshelf Speakers that I would try on top with the New Digital CDs and my Mod Squad Digital Damper Disc on top of the CD garnered some pretty good sound. Compared to what my friends were listening to......
I had a $900 Denon CD Transport at one time in my very expensive Car Stereo at that time. Went from the top Sony.... which was the best, to the newest.... Denon... It was so much money, $900 (what?). But I had a $7,000.00 Car Stereo at the time, and had wiring that cost over $1,400.00. Couldn't resist. It stuck out of the Dashboard, it was so big with the FM tuner separate on a cord that had to be tucked somewhere under the dash. But the sound with the Denon CD Player was such a significant improvement, that it was worth the price of admission.

That is how I dealt with the end of my Vinyl, and the birth of the Digital Baby.............

 

These days I don't even have a proper stereo set up. It is a bit depressing, but wife and I would not listen to the same music (there is stuff that we have in common) so I can't fill the house with it. Is a house without the Grateful Dead a home? hey ho... we haven't dicorced over it, so I suppose so. My turntable was in regular use until I packed up in London and moved here in 2005. It was never much used since then, except for some digitising (yes, some of the LPs do sound better than the CDs, even digitised).

I feel the absence. a home should have a turntable. It just should. But I admit I wouldn't use it much.

 

@Thad E Ginathom
I feel ya...
Been there....
Computer Stereo was all I had for a long time.
Then I buy the Martin Logans and my girlfriend hogs the bedroom and watches TV constantly and I can't play my Logans.
The WAF factor is alive and real. There is nothing we can do but hope that one day we will have some solace, in some shape or form.

I'm pleased that the opportunity has happened to get back what I had... (music in my livingroom again) when I was single......
Not so lucky for many years of my boy hogging the Livingroom with the TV cranking out Playstation or TV Shows. I had not much choice but sit back in my Giant Workstation setup that took up the whole Dining Room right next to the Living Room and Compute, Watch TV and sit in my Throne. There was my Klipsch 2.1 and my Klipsch 5.1 in the Dining Room. The 5.1 had an extra Klipsch Sub for the back side of the sound system. It was not audiophile, but it shook the house. We would sometimes anger the neighbors on Friday and Saturday Nights with Dance Partys. It was fun......

But a real 2 Channel Stereo, oh no....
Not since I was single.... 19 long years before.....

 

Really bad lightning storm...
I went out my front door to check, and a bolt came down 100 yards away and rumbled the ground...
Unplugged the 2 Channel Stereo Plugs on everything....
Not taking any chances, I have come too far to be taken down by Mr Lightning...

 

So I bought a Tool today that I needed badly, and my old one was thrown out 30 years ago, and I bought some shit one. It was a piece of crap, just like I said and broke.
So I went and bought the Commercial model again. Used in Schools and Colleges all over.....
Premier W18 Guillotine Paper Trimmer 18"......
It slices and dices paper with Ninja accuracy, and It just works.... hello Apple....

Pic......



I have a distinct use for it.....
I used to be a very successful photo T-Shirt Manufacturer...
I was #1 for Custom T-Shirts for many years on Google and Yahoo and the others, at least in the top 3......
Always #1 for Surfing T-Shirts......
Always #1 for Sci-Fi T-Shirts....... ( I did killer 3D Landscape Design in Bryce)...
Always #1-3 in Humorous T-Shirts.......

So I had a lock on this business for about 8 years, and then I slowly weaned the T-Shirt Store out of the picture. The Web Design just became paramount, and the money was big. I could get $200/hour building the Credit Card Sections, Forms for the Store. I did all the Product Photography @$100/hour. I was real good at it, and brought my light boxes and backdrops. Total pro setups, and a one man show that was reliable. So I made much more with the Web Stores, and the Designing of Websites in Flash. So the T-Shirt Business was only available to my special picks in the Surfing Industry that meant something to me.....

Well, today I ran into one of them. I had worked with this Surfer Magazine Photographer/Surf Shop Owner for many years and we have been great friends for over 25 years.
He wants me to work with his photos and produce the Photo T-Shirts of his work. He is a very accomplished Photographer. He spends on Photo Equipment, like I spend on 2 Channel.
I have made Tee's for him for at least 12 years.....
So I have to do my duty as a nice guy and go back to work.....
It'll be fun time....
Had to go spend $300 to get the stuff for the Job....
Who freakin' cares....
I did this sheet all the time for my friends years ago.....
You need me to take care of business...
Loss now...
Gain later....
That's how it works...
You always make money in the end.....

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Thoughts by Jay Handy.......

I have been not going to any Surf Shop for 3.5 years.
And not Surfing as well...........

2 Days ago......
I got the bug again...
I posted a link to the Contest in Western Australia on SBAF...
It got the Surfing Bug back in my ass.....
Oh No!!!
That Crazy Fu$%k is back.......

So I'm on a 60lb loss 8 week Diet.,,,,,,
That is doable with my 100lb weight gain since stopping Surfing....
I probably will lose much more by June 15th......

I have 3 Skateboards, 3 Surfboards to train with once I feel I have pulled off enough weight....
I will probably Surf for the 1st time in 2 weeks....
I'll suck for 2 weeks.....
And then I'll be a little bit of me starting to come out the 3rd week....
The real Big D.... that is going to take me to get to my Ninja self...
I will let you all know...
I already have let some of the Training of my Asian Life Lessons come back into play...
I am as serious as it gets with training...
I'm no Tom Cruise....
I trained with the Grandmaster....
His Son was a Teenage Ninja Turtle...
Grandmaster would oversee many movies for correct Martial Arts...
I was his good friend....
We were closer than you were to most of your friends....
I have Terrorist Training, Weapons Training, Master Gunshot.....
Can do a thousand pushups when in shape.....
So I will let you know when I am back in Ninja shape and can Surf to my ability again..
But I now have the bug....
It is so far up my ass..... and it will not leave to I prove myself one more time.....
In the water....

 

News about my Lady.... Cynthia...

She is still in the ICU....
But She is in the Wing that is not the Dying Wing....
So things are stable and life is once again will commence in the future...
Not sure when she will be transfered to a normal Hospital Room, they don't even know right now...
Some time will still need to go by....
They sent her home too quick 8 weeks before, and she was back with the same infection....
This time they are not taking any chances...

This is all good in my book...
Time will click by...
Tomorrow will be another day...
One day she will be well...
And I will have my Cynthia again in my arms....

Thanks for caring SBAF....
It helps....

 

@Marvey
I have wanted to show you what I am going to do to my FRS for about a week.....
But circumstances have curtailed some of the fun, and I have some time tonight to show you where the FRS is going....
This could not be a very soon upgrade....
Still could be even a couple of years out....
But I have commited to this....
It actually was an option in some countries....
Just not in the USA.....

JDM Exhaust Tips.....
TRD Louvers......
TRD High-Rise Spoiler......

Pics....





With both the TRD Louvers and the High-Rise Spoiler, JDM Exhaust Tips... the FRS has some moxy..... and looks the part of a Race Car.....
I don't want to put a loud exhuast on the car......
I have that with my Maxima...
And my Rousch...
I want to go under the Radar.... and Redline the car all day long.....

This is what is going to happen...
I will also have a couple changes of wheels....

Pic (showing the TRD Louvers) ......



See how the Gold and the Chrome goes with the Red FRS....
Yes... there needs to be some changes of the wheels with me....
I like how the Louvers look with the Red FRS....
It makes it..... WOW.......

Widebody above is all showcar, but no Racecar... (not for me).....

 

Your first picture doesn't show up for me....

 

@Dino
I removed it....
It was a popout of the Louvers.... that I realized that it was a fake after I posted it....

It costs $1,000.00 for the Louvers...
That's why I don't have them already....
Hard to jusify...

 

@Dino
Curious?
Do you miss your Maxima?
That to me is a one of a kind 4 Door Cruise Missle that has yet to be de-throned in the modern world.
There is no limited-slip 4 Door Cars coming out with 32 Valve Engines with Variable Valve Timing and so much room in the Trunk, Back Seat, Front Seat, Arm Room.....
Should I go on....
It is the best 4 Door.... other than the Early 5 Series BMW M5 that I have ever driven....... Peroid....

 

I did miss it (off and on) for quite a while. Now it is more like pleasant memories, when I think of it. Everything it did felt so right.

I had heard that Nissan was putting a lot into their cars in that era. Not really a profitable thing to do in the short run. They were trying to increase their market share and image. They really de-contented the next Maxima. Those seemed to sell well, so it looks like their plan worked.

The Maxima was probably my third favorite car to drive.
1) 1973 BMW 2002
2) 1972 BMW 2002 Tii
3) 1990 Nissan Maxima