morphsci

Part of the problem is that this is an extremely dense wood. The problem with wood in general is that the density differentials are not that great so you need machines with very fine resolution. IMO of course.

I am now toasting you guys from aways-away. Have fun.

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone. Pretty Relaxed day and a quiet dinner out with the family at Los Potrillos. Time now to catch up on some cocktails for the evening.

You can control it with the remote app or go all out and use one of the VNC apps like iteleport. The VNC app is kind of overkill unless you already have it for other purposes. They haven't updated the remote app since it was released but it works fine.

If you mean a small form factor computer that just works, then you are wrong because the Dell does not fit that description.

SAS and the windows version of Excel will keep me running parallels for the forseeable future.

I have two Mac Minis. A two generation removed one at work. I use this exclusively to play music at work. I cracked it open and upgraded the memory to 2Gb ( this models max). It has an 80Gb drive but all the music is on a 750Gb freeagent go drive. Like Mike I have used and still use many of these on both PC and Mac. Has been going like a champ for almost 2 years now. At home I have a current gen. with 4Gb RAM and a 320 Gb internal drive. As a music server I keep all the music on an external 1Tb Freeagent go drive. If I thought that was somehow limiting in speed, which it is not, I could also use a FW800 drive. On the new models, upgrading RAM is trivial since there is a hatch on the bottom. The new model is wider but shorter and has the power supply in the case rather than as an external brick. Does not seem to run any hotter than previous generation models. I use this one as both an iTunes and squeezeserver and for running Amarra mini. It actually runs faster than our older iMac and on par with our newer iMac. I do occasionally use iPad to control the mini at home and it works fine. But it has a dedicated monitor, keyboard and trackpad so that is what I generally use.

Pffft, BBQ bobcat is actually pretty good.

If your machine has trouble penetrating it just needs moar power. Not touching the woody line.

Patience, I do not want to use up all the juju.

I wanted Steve to participate more in the thread.

Yep, I agree. Trying ultrasound would be cool though just to see if anything can be discerned. I wonder if the OB ward at the local hospital would mind me bringing in a hunk of wood?

I don't think a contrast dye would penetrate any significant depth in lignum vitae. I say ultrasound as the best bet.

Hopefully my new Gris-Gris works.

Man this sounds like a great party. I will be there in spirits

22903. So priority to my zip is $5.95 unless 16 will fit in a small flat-rate box which is $4.95. Funds sent.

Do I detect a Morris cocktail this evening?

Happy Birthday to you. Now get going and post in the "What are you drinking now" thread.

Yeah, that kind of bites but there really was a world of difference between contractors. We were able to discuss the pros and cons of pretty much all our options since he handles and has loads of experience with a wide range of types. We are on the list, so there's always the chance that we can get in early, but the probability is small.

Hope everything works out well Ken. Hope you had a nice biscuit to celebrate the new job Brent.

Thanks for the info Bryan. Condolences to Todd and his family, he is one of the good guys.

I've been meaning to post in here for a while. We had planned to replace our standard tank heater with either a hybrid or tankless system. Like Greg, my research was very equivocal regarding which system is better. It pretty much came down to finding an installer we actually trusted and had confidence in their abilities. We went through 4 different contractors coming to do an onsite visit before we finally found one we had confidence in. In our situation, the house is not huge, about 2500 sq. Ft with 2 1/2 baths. In addition the water heater is centrally located in a small closet in the house and all pipes run through interior walls. The hot water pipes also have relatively short runs to all bathrooms and the kitchen. So we will be going with a Noritz tankless system. Our installer is quite popular so this will not be happening until early summer 2011. So we have a little wait, but I would rather have a busy contractor rather than one who had plenty of time to fit us in.