The Echo Circle at the old Lafayette Natural History Museum
Back in the day, my family would go to the old Lafayette Natural History Museum and Planetarium on a regular basis. Most of these trips were at night however. Because of this, I never knew about the echo circle near Girard Park Drive until later on in life.
For those not familiar with the echo circle, it is pretty cool. It is a 30′ circle with a raised hub in the center. If you stood on the edge of the circle and yelled towards the center, it would sound like you were in a huge tank.
Today, the circle is falling apart. I went out and measured it the other day because one day I am going to make one of these in my back yard. Yes, I AM that much of a geek.
Why didn’t I get one of these sooner. If for no other reason other than it prints on heat shrink. The heat shrink is a bit on the expensive side but you are after all printing on heat shrink.
The unit makes beautiful cable labels in a few different formats. It can write multiple lines on a wrap around label that is easy to read. Also does symbols and barcodes as well.
I have been using “Vera” since we moved back to LFT in August of 2009. I started with a few lamp modules, an appliance module, thermostat and a door lock. It has turned out to be one of the best home purchases I have ever made.
Vera has a very simple web interface that allows a user to setup various scenes to control devices. Examples include: Turning on a variety of lights at dusk and off at dawn. When the lights come on, lock the door. Check once an hour and relock the door if it is unlocked. At 8am, it raised the thermostat a few degrees and lowered back to normal when our daughter entered her code in the door lock (which also sent us an email telling us she was home).
A great buy but the modules can get a bit pricey. Great for renters or someone who doesn’t want to run wires everywhere. The modules are connected through a “mesh network” based on the Z-Wave wireless technology.
Everyone knows that conference service managers are notorious for “fudging” on room sizes. Here is what I use as my argument ender.
The Leica Disto D3 is a great addition to the job box. It works well indoors but not so well in full sunlight. Lightweight and uses standard AAA batteries.
I always have to laugh at the posts in Craigs List to “work on a feature film for no pay but you get experience and screen credit”. Like those asses aren’t getting paid. This guy tells it like it is:
