Blog Title

Have a read of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propeller_head if you are wondering about the title of the blog.

Projects

This is a list of projects that I have planned:

• Masters coding and development;
• Get my Quadra 950 going properly with more RAM, MacOS7.6 and some big hard drives;
• Get a PowerBook 100 going (to have a shot at the Retro Challenge 2007);
• Get ethernet going on my Newton 2100;
• Start doing some basic Newton (probably OS 2.0) development;
  
• Build and configure my home office server (I picked up two 18.1 GB SCSI drives for this). It will be my G3 Server (beige, 300MHz, as much RAM as I can find). I will be using it for backups and storing photos.
  

As always, more time is required :(

Long time no update

• I now have a Flickr web page. People seem to be visiting but not commenting... It contains photos of birds I have taken using my Canon 350D.
  
• Still collecting old Apple/Mac computers (collection getting huge). I recently had a lot of fun with an Apple IIc that I picked up from the Quokka. All of the equipment and disks worked perfectly (and they were dated 1984). I also picked up 2x 350 MHz B&W G3 machines, a QuickTake 100, a 24-port 10/100 BayStack Switch, a PowerMac 5500/225 (along with numerous other bits and pieces).
  
• Building a HO scale model train set (mainly LIMA gear) with Cameron (although he tends to specialize in stress testing). I will post photos soon.
• My birding life list has now passed 100!
  

McNaught Comet

Saw the McNaught comet last night - quite spectacular despite the clouds that were around.

Tawny Frogmouth

Late last night I noticed a Tawny Frogmouth sitting on the line going to our house. I have never seen one of these in the suburbs (I haven't really been looking) so it was a bit of a surprise. It was quite happy to sit there while I got a closer look and took some photos. Quite an unusual looking bird up close, the bristly feathers above the beak were clearly visible.

Kylie identified it as a Tawny Frogmouth (I initially thought it was an owl of some kind) and held the torch on it so I could focus the camera correctly.

A bit of an update...

Things that have been occupying my time of late:

• Taking bird photos with my newish Canon 350D (mainly at Pinnaroo Valley);
• Reading through a stash of old Mac magazines I picked up out of the Quokka;
• Watching cricket (in particular the Ashes) on TV;
• Reading Steve Wozniak's autobiography. This was an excellent and highly motivational read.
  

Happy New Year everyone!

Rainbow Bee-eaters are back

At exactly the same location as last year, I saw (and photographed) two Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus). I suspect they are nesting somewhere nearby. While they are fairly common it is still a highlight to see them.

Masters Mocha in West Perth

The most reliable source of Masters Mocha in West Perth is Joe's Cake Kitchen. If you are like me and are fairly dependent on this wonderful beverage this is worth knowing as other vendors in the area seem to have intermittent stock. Joe always seems to have a few in the fridge.

New Camera

Just purchased a new digital SLR camera - a Canon 350D (discounted due to the introduction of the 400D). I bundled it with the twin lens kit and a 2GB CF card. I purchased it from Plaza Cameras - highly recommended. Hopefully I will have some sample pictures here soon.

New baby

Our daughter, Olivia Louise, was born 27/09/2006.
For more details please email me.

Willie Wagtail

Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys). Photographed at Craigie, W.A.

Recently...

• Went on a Birds WA walk through Pinnaroo Vallery Memorial Park - highlight was the Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens).


• Bought a 17" LCD monitor (analogue) - a ViewSonic VA702 with the silver casing. Very nice and means I can open documentation and sample code on one screen and Xcode on the other.


• Upgraded the RAM in Kylie's iMac DV+ (Sage) from 320MB to 512MB.


• Upgraded the RAM in the G3 Server from 256MB to 448MB (should be 512MB but half of one of the chips is not being detected correctly).

6 out of 10 of the Most Important Macs Ever

LowEndMac has an article (link) listing Adam Robert Guha's 10 most important Macs. A quick check reveals that I own 6 of the 10 (I don't have a 6100/60 but I do have three 6100/66s so I'm going to count that one). I think my collection is getting a tad out of hand...

My Birding Database

Over the last few months I have been tinkering with a MySQL/PHP/Apache "application" to keep track of bird sightings and to maintain a primitive life list. Over the weekend I got some of the basic functions going and added nearly 60 sightings. I have records going back 5 years or more still to go through but currently my life list stands at 48. These are only for birds seen in W.A. Not really that impressive but at least I can now keep track of what I see. All I need to do now is find a sensible way to back the databases up (and enter about 100 other sightings!).

Cheynes Beach and Waychinicup National Park bird list

Here is the list of birds seen during a recent holiday to Cheynes Beach Caravan Park (alas no Noisy Scrub-bird):

• Brown Quail (Coturnix ypsilophora)


• Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)


• Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus)


• Crested Tern (Sterna bergii)


• Brush Bronzewing (Phaps elegans)


• Western Rosella (Platycercus icterotis)


• Red-winged Fairy-wren (Malurus elegans)


• White Cheeked Honeyeater (Phylidonyris nigra)


• Grey Currawong (Strepera versicolor)


• Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa)


• New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae)


• Singing Honeyeater (Lichenostomus virescens)


• White-breasted Robin (Eopsaltria georgiana)


• White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis)

Birds seen at Albany during the same trip:

• Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)


• Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus)


• Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)

Birds seen on the roadside whilst travelling:

• Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang, between Wagin and Katanning)

PowerBook 100 Update

I replaced the broken 40MB SCSI HDD in the PB100 with an 80MB drive from the busted up 165c. I installed Mac OS 7.1 and it runs quite nicely (I have 4MB of RAM). The screen has a few rows of missing pixels from the left hand side but nothing that inhibits use. One of the feet is broken but I have a second battery and the external floppy drive.

PowerBook 100

I also picked up a PowerBook 100 from eBay. The PB100 is very small and light (the floppy drive is external). All I have to do is replace the SCSI hard drive as it is hosed (I have a few spares).

Recent eBay purchase and question

An original Mac OS 7.6 CD. I intend to use it on the Quadra 950 mentioned earlier. If anyone knows the largest hard drive partition 7.6 will handle please email me.

More Kingfishers...

Saw a handful of Sacred Kingfishers (Todiramphus sanctus) at the same location in Dampier as the previous post. They also seemed to shelter at the camp in bad weather.

Red-backed Kingfishers

Saw three Red-backed Kingfishers (Todirhamphus pyrrhopygia) at Dampier 20/01/2006. They appeared to be sheltering in the mining camp I am staying in while the cyclone passed.

Birds at Herdsman Lake (10/12/2005)

• Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)


• Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)


• Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa)


• Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides)


• Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)


• Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)


• Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)


• Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys)


• Little Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)


• Welcome Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Recent Bird Sightings

In Karratha (23/12/2005):

• Bar-shouldered Dove (x4 down near the mangroves, Geopelia humeralis)


• Ruddy Turnstone (actually seen near boat ramps in Dampier, Arenaria interpres)


• White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)


• Brahminy Kite (feeding on dead kangaroo, Haliastur indus)

At Pinnaroo Vallery Memorial Park (27/12/2005):

• Hardhead (Aythya australis)

All of these are birds that I haven't seen before.

Striated Pardalotes

Saw my first Striated Pardalotes (Pardalotus striatus) in Wagin over the weekend (two adults and one young). Very hard to photograph though...

Also saw an Echidna on the road (Albany Highway) on the journey home.

Rebuilt PowerBook 190cs

I have finally had the chance to rebuild the PowerBook 190cs (thanks to a stash of 5300 parts from David). As such the 190cs has the external monitor adapter (with cable) and the IR circuitry (that don't come with a 190cs). It was rebuilt to serve as a Newton development machine (although I really need to add ethernet to it). I am installing the Newton connection software and some other goodies as I type this.

Bird Sighting

Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus) sighted just down the road from home on a power line.

Planes to Karratha

On the last flight to Karratha I realised that I had flown in a few different Qantas/QantasLink planes. A quick check of the Qantas website jogged my memory so here is the list:

• Boeing 737-400 (generally the plane I seem to catch)


• British Aerospace 146 (great fun landing on the short Karratha runway!)


• Boeing 717-200

Regarding the name of the blog...

"Propellerheads" is the label given (affectionately?) to the group of control systems engineers that I am a part of here in Dampier. The blame part alludes to the fact that when things go wrong and there is no obvious cause fingers get pointed in our direction.

All in good humour though.

Old PowerBooks

The PowerBook 165c I picked up off eBay (see previous post) has an internal modem (probably 14.4). So the plan is to rip it out and fit it to my functional PowerBook 160 (the 165c has a very busted screen). If anyone knows whether this is possible please email me.

I also have a PowerBook 190cs with a very dodgy case. I have a replacement case from a PowerBook 5300 which I will transplant (along with the external video card and anything else that will fit).

Now all I need is a few days off to tinker :)

Recent eBay buys

• Quadra 950 (40MB RAM, 350MB/700MB/1.2GB HDDs)


• LC111 (36MB RAM, 500MB HDD)


• PowerBook 165C (8MB RAM, 80MB HDD)


• Power Macintosh 6100 (???)


• Power Macintosh 7100 (72MB RAM, 2 GB HDD)


• Commslot Ethernet Card to suit Performa 5400

Cost: $10 for the 5 Macs, $5 for the ethernet card
Room left in study now: almost nil

Birds seen at Dampier

Here is a brief list:

• Zebra Finch


• Australian Pelican


• Sooty Oystercatcher


• Yellow Throated Miner


• Magpie Lark


• Corella (will have to check the books to determine which one)

Update: Corella sighted is most likely the Little Corella.