MeisterPlanet

The Computer Monster

A classic clip from Jim Henson and company.

Spammers Profit Despite Low Response

The BBC has an interesting article on the types of profit that spammers can see in the field. I often get asked how spammers can make a profit when so many spam emails are obvious scams. The answer comes from the fact that spammers can send out millions of emails ...

Fallout 3

Nearly every free hour I've had since the the release of Fallout 3 has been spent wandering the post-apocalyptic wastelands portrayed in the action-RPG game world created by Bathesda. I absolutely did not expect to be as swept up by the amazing atmosphere and story created by the developers, yet I ...

My Day as an Election Poll Worker

November 4th is finally over, and my 14 hours working at an election polling precinct is complete. It was a long, long day, but ultimately worth it. Turnout in our precinct was strong, with nearly 72% of all eligible voters having taken their part in the election process, either through ...

“There’s Nothing We Can’t Do”

Barack Obama's speech to Virginia, given during the middle of a rainstorm, is a wonderful spot of inspiration in what can often seem like dark times.

Meister House Halloween Tour 2008

(YouTube Video) After a few weeks of setup, the Meister House is ready for Halloween 2008. Since we had the lights up to show to some friends, I took a few minutes to walk through the setup to show both our indoor and outdoor decorations. We've ...

Making Your Own Holiday Light Show

If you remember the videos a few years back of elaborate Christmas light shows synced to music, you may have wondered how you could do something similar for your own holiday decorations. In the process of planning my own Halloween decorations, I discovered that there’s an ...

The Graveyard Book

I just finished listening to the audio version of The Graveyard Book, read by author Neil Gaiman, courtesy of my Audible membership. It's a great all-ages story for the Halloween holidays, especially as read by Gaiman. He has a real skill with storytelling, both in the written and spoken sense.

Poll Worker Meister

I went down to the local Board of Elections for Poll Worker training today. It was interesting seeing the process behind election day preparations. I'm glad I volunteered, as looking around the room, I was definitely the youngest person there. And in an increasingly technology-based world, it's ...

The Meister House Graveyard 2008

We added a little light show to the Meister House's Halloween display this year, and after much work, it's nearly complete! The show is powered by Aurora software running a D-Light ACx16 controller.

Ultra-Compact Laptop Market: Small, but Growing

If you've been keeping up with currently available notebooks and laptop PCs, you may have noticed the new phenomenon that is netbooks, such as the Asus Eee PC or the Acer Aspire One. Also, Lenovo and Dell have both recently made announcements about their plans for ultra-compact notebooks. "Netbook" is ...

Don’t Get Lost - Updating Your GPS

It seems like every month there's a news story about someone getting in trouble because their GPS unit lead them the wrong way. This week, I had a chance to talk with the Fox 8 Morning News crew about updating your automobile GPS with new software and current map ...

Making Halloween at the Meister House

The Meister House is busy with work put into its Halloween makeover. The above photo is of a table full of indoor decorations that we put on display inside our over-sized garage for both our annual Halloween party, as well as Trick-or-Treat with all the kids a few days ...

Halloween Project Initial Test

I'm currently working on a Halloween light-show project to add a little technology to this year's display. I have a programmable light controller from D-Light Designs that allows a program called Aurora to tie light patterns in with music and video. In the above ...