First aid kits aren’t very interesting or exciting, but lets face it a first aid kit could save your life. For that reason it is important to always have one on hand. No you aren’t required to carry one with you all the time, but you should at least be able to find one quickly. Your work or school should have their own kits so you shouldn’t need to worry about one there, but you need to have a kit for at home and on the go. Here are the basics on what every kit needs, but these aren’t the only thing you should it’s a good idea to tailor you kit to your specific needs and environments.

• Small bar of soap
• 2-inch roller bandage
• 1-inch roller bandage
• 1-inch adhesive cloth tape
• 3-by-3-inch sterile pads
• Assorted gauze pads Keep Reading

Light is a fundamental part of our world. The uses of light are endless, it can be used to transmit data, change the mood of a space, perform surgery, and cook food. Light is the reason we see the world the way we do, but what is light?

History

People have attempted to explain light in many different ways. The earliest idea, held by Ptolemy, Euclid, and Hero, was that, “the rays [of light] originate in the eyes and travel to the object that is seen” (Physics). This was the accepted idea, until the 10th century when Alhazen discovered that, “light rays are emitted by a luminous source and are then reflected by objects into the eyes” (Physics). Seven hundred years after Alhazen, Newton discovered that white light was made of a combination of all the colors. Newton also claimed that light was made up of a “stream of particles” (Physics). This was challenged by Huygens, who said that light was made of waves. Huygens was later proven to be correct by Fresnel.
Radio waves, gamma rays, x-rays, and light are waves that make up the electromagnetic spectrum. Waves are forms of vibrations and are not made of matter. The difference between them is wavelength and frequency. Wavelength is the distance between two crests of the wave, and frequency, measured in hertz, is the number of times the wave oscillates between crests per second. These can be expressed in relation of one another as , where is velocity, is frequency, and is wavelength. Waves are infinitely dispersing. For example a flame of a candle, it radiates waves of light, and from the waves radiates different smaller waves and from those the process continues infinitely. Keep Reading

Dowd’s Vintage & Antique Tools is coming back to Austin and will be at the Ginger Man on Saturday, June 12. Here’s your chance if you missed the January sale. From woodworkers to craftsmen in general there is something for everyone at this sale. Collectible and quality user hand tools including but not limited to planes, hand saws, edged tools, marking and measuring tools, gadgets and whatsits straight from Texas shops and tool boxes.

Saturday, June 12th, 1:00 til 6:00 p.m. at the Ginger Man Pub – 301 Lavaca – Downtown Austin

For more info contact:
Dowd’s Vintage & Antique Tools
dowdstools@tx.rr.com
(972)-271-8665
http://www.dowdstools.com

Also if you’re in San Antonio, Dowd’s Vintage & Antique Tools, will be at the new Woodcraft store (13719 San Pedro) on Sunday, June 13th from 11:00 – 4:00.

I was in Guitar Center today to pick up an audio adapter that I needed at the last-minute for a show. While I was wandering around, I spotted some Light Source Mega clamps. Usually Guitar center only has cheapo American DJ junk, so I was pretty surprised to find these.  The markup was only around three dollars so I bought a pair. I am not generally a fan of Guitar center, they have treated me really poorly, but I know where I am going if I need a high quality clamp quickly.

You may have noticed that there hasn’t been much new around here lately, for the last few weeks I have focused my attention on the ever pressing issue of not having a semi-decent looking theme for Anvilx. Well today I  introduce the new look! Please take a look around and tell me what you think of it in the comments. Tell me what you hate and what you love. Did I overlook a major detail? I want to know about it.

Bust out your green it’s St Paddy’s day.

Fire and Ice, as seen at LDI 2009, are two new color specific LED fixtures offered by ETC. Fire produces reds, oranges and ambers and Ice produces blues, indigos, and greens. ETC touts them as being able to produce extremely intense colors with, “brightness levels that rival or surpass the outputs of tungsten lighting fixtures,” all the while being more energy-efficient than conventional fixtures. They both feature Luxeon Rebel 2.5W LEDs with a rated 50,000 hour LED life. In units longer than 11” every 11 inches has a unique DMX address.

ETC’s Fire and Ice

Google ISP

Google announces that it will begin testing a fiber services, with an incredible speed of 1 Gb/s. Of course everyone and their grandma is going to try to apply their community for testing, but it will be interesting to see which city they pick and the services quality. [Ars Technica]

Esteemed Steampunk Gun

Jonathan Alberico, aka macabre151, shows off his steampunk gun “Doris the Blunderbuss”.[Brass Goggles]

ESTA releases standards drafts

ESTA, The Entertainment Services & Technology Association, releases two drafts of standards for public review, E1.30-1-20xx, EPI 23. Device Identification Subdevice and BSR E1.20 – 201x, Entertainment Technology — Remote Device Management over USITT DMX512. [via Stage Directions]

Arduino updates

Version 0018 fixes several bugs and adds features based on user feedback.

Barco, High End Systems, releases the FQ-100 an update of the long-standing F-100 fogger. It uses the same 9.5 liter tank as the F-100. It also features, an optoelectronic liquid sensor, an LCD menu, DMX, 3-pin and 5-pin XLR DMX in/out connectors, a fluid level sight gauge, and a safety cable mounting point. Yea, no dip switches or 3 to 5 pin adapters. What are your thoughts on the “Q” ?

It’s Ground Hog Day!

Edit: According to Punxsutawney Phil there are going to be 6 more weeks of winter.