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A while back, I saw some instructions to make a watch band out of 550 paracord, which is a military specification parachute cord.  I always thought it looked cool, and I wanted to try it myself.

The one thing I didn’t like was the plastic clip.  Too cheap looking and frankly, I don’t trust a $150+ watch on a clip like that.  So, it turns out I had an extra diver’s deployant clasp. I went off to an army surplus store and picked up 20′ of cord for about $3.00.  Following the instructions here (with my modification) I went about weaving my own band.  The instructions are very complete and easy to follow.  It was a little harder due to the metal clasp, but here is how it turned out:

The metal clasp was worth the effort.  It looks much more professional and I hate how those plastic buckles can pinch.

The whole process took about 45 minutes, so less time than I thought it would.  Luckily, I didn’t have to re-size and reweave it.  Plus, the deployant clasp has 3 micro adjustment holes, so if it is a little loose, I can adjust it.  It is surprisingly comfortable and looks pretty darn cool on the wrist.  The cord does come in 4 colors (Grey, Tan, Green, and Black ) so I may try another.

Below you get to see a toddler stream of consciousness.  I love the photos that have his little foot or feet in them.  Yes, they may be badly exposed and framed, but it is fascinating to see what a 2 to 3 year old takes photos of!

[nggallery id=17]

With the Micheal Jackson, we have completed the trifecta for this week.  I never cared for his music much, but being born in 1974, it puts almost all of my childhood in the Jackson era.  His videos really changed the entertainment world, and his musical talents were evident to even his critics.  His later antics, well, really tainted his legacy. 

In happier news, Glenn’s third birthday is next week.  He talking in longer sentences now.  He loves to repeat what you say, but he comes up with novel, 7 to 10 word sentences on his own, which are more or less grammatically correct.  He is really into trains now, we will have to head of to Heston Steam Museum again.  He will really appreciate the choo choos now.

The weather has been pretty bad here, too darn warm too quickly.  I think I need a cold beverage as I type this.
 

Been trying out the netbook more, now that I have Linux on it.  Ubuntu is a little quirky, but it is pretty intuitive.  The simplified desktop is very nice and perfectly suited to the small netbook screen.  I did a little test today:

Ubuntu:

Cold boot to desktop, no disk activity, 43 seconds.

Time to load Firefox, first load 4 seconds.

Time from cold boot to online, able to open a web page, 48 seconds.

Windows XP:

Cold boot to desktop, no disk activity 65 seconds

Time to load Firefox, first load, 17 seconds.

Time from cold boot to online, able to open a web page, 82 seconds.

Mind you, this is on identical hardware, dual boot system.

Kinda telling, don’t you think?

The image at the top of this post was taken using the webcam built into the netbook and resized using the GIMP.  This whole post was done on the ideapad.

These netbooks are too much fun.

Not too much happening.  Mother in law was over yesterday.  She is possibly the slowest Scrabble player on Earth.  Went my sister’s new apartment today.  Helped her build 2 Ikea pieces and get her cable Internet up and running.  It’s a nice place, reminds me of some apartments I have had.  Classic Chicago apartment.  Hardwood floors, nine foot ceilings and a some charming features like built in cabinets.  The zoned parking really helps.  I hated living in a non zoned area.  Nowhere to park.

In geek news, we are trying out Ubuntu Linux 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope?) netbook remix on the ideapad.  It is really really fast on that hardware.  I think all the software was recompiled for the Atom processor and all the hardware drivers are installed (like the webcam.)  It goes from cold to fully loaded (NO DISK ACTIVITY) in 42 seconds.  Windows XP is getting a little long in the tooth and not that fast or stable on the ideapad.  It even imported all the documents, bookmarks and even the desktop image from Windows XP.  Nice touch guys.  I see why Microsoft is terrified of Netbooks.  No profit and Linux runs circles around it on low end hardware and it forced them keep XP for years longer than they wanted.