Android 365 Project

If you've liked the photos of the Android 365 project so far, then be sure to follow www.androidpix.com to keep up with it the rest of the year.

I'm not going to be posting duplicates to this blog any longer. It's more work than I want to keep up with :-)

Nate

Impact Fitness Photo Shoot 3/28/11

I went and did a photo shoot for a gym in Kansas City yesterday. It was a really nice place! Normally I don't like the "gym" atmosphere a whole lot, but I could really see myself working out there if I lived closer. The equipment is all brand new, it doesn't sound like a night club with music so loud you can barely think, the trainers were really nice, and there was a really diverse group of people working out.

Anyways, this is one of my favorite photos from the shoot.

Android 365: Day Ten

After some failed photos earlier and a really busy day, I got this on my way home from a photo-shoot.

Nate (Motorola Droid X)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Day Ten... In Progress

So we've made it to the double digits. So far so good. I'm enjoying this project and the feedback I've gotten from it. Thanks for your support and comments.

Yesterday I asked for any suggestions or challenges for photos. I got a few and this morning I tried two of them out. Underwater and children's toys... combined. They were two separate requests, but Meagan suggested combining the two! So, I filled the tub with water, found a cute little rubber ducky, and waterproofed my Droid (aka double bagged it in Ziploc baggies). First I tested a paper towel inside of a zipped bag to see if it would get any bit wet while submerged for 30 minutes. It was dry, so I continued.

To sum it all up in a few sentences. I may have ruined the light I used for yesterdays photo. I thought it was waterproof, turns out it just LOOKS like it is! And on the photo side of things, I'll still be hunting for today's photo as the day goes on. I'll have to figure out a new waterproofing technique for the camera. It didn't focus well through the bags and all the images were a bit hazy. On the bright side, my Droid is dry and survived it's submarine impression.

R.I.P Craftsman LED Worklight

Nate (Motorola Droid X)

Android 365: Day Nine

Here's Day Nine. I might get another one up later on, but just in case, this is going to be it.

The weather here has been less than desirable recently, so we haven't ventured outside too much. To put it into perspective, I was wearing shorts and flip flops less than a week ago and we were considering turning the air conditioning on. Yesterday? IT WAS SNOWING!!! Our willow tree had just sprouted a bunch of small leaves for the spring and now I think it's second guessing it's timing.

Alright, any guesses as to exactly what this is a photo of?

Also, I'm up for a challenge. If anyone has any suggestions of possible photos or something that they think can't be taken with a camera phone, let me know and I'll give it my best shot.

Later

Nate (Motorola Droid X)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Android 365: Day Eight

In keeping with the coffee theme, here's my beans!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Android 365: Day Seven

The morning cup :-)

This morning I'm sitting here working on another project and enjoying some of Starbucks finest, AND drinking it from my favorite mug! The Tribute blend was just released at the beginning of March and it's so good! It has notes of Berry and Dark Cherry, and is a nice Full-Bodied coffee. It's a blend of beans from Ethiopia, Sumatra, Papua New Guinea, and Colombia. Most of my favorite single-origin beans in one bag? Can life get better? I submit that it cannot!

In fact, I can't think of a better "tribute" Starbucks could give to their customers. Well, maybe free drinks... but I'll take a new delicious coffee blend. You're welcome Starbucks for being a loyal customer since the dawn of my coffee drinking years.

Sincerely,

Caffeinated-Nate (Motorola Droid X)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Android 365: Day Six

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

It's before noon and I already have my photograph(s)! Yesssssssss :-) I've got another one that I may post, I'm trying to decide if I like it enough.

I went to drop off our recyclables this morning and thought that the glass bin looked pretty cool. It was even better I was throwing my glass containers in and they were shattering into a million pieces! I just might need to take the D700 back there next time and capture the pieces shattering, how cool would that be?

Well, I suppose I'll post my other picture too. It's of my Technivorm coffee maker filter basket while brewing some Sumatra. I thought the colors of the oils on the bubbles were really pretty against the dark brown grounds. The blur in the corner is the water flowing into the basket and a perfect 200F :-) How did it taste you ask? Like perfection in a cup. Here's the other photo below. UPDATE (a few minutes later) So, after seeing the coffee photo on the bigger screen I don't really like it as much. I'll leave it because I said I'd post it... just don't grade me on it, I realize it's not great. Come to think of it... I don't really like the first ones very much either. I'll find a better one throughout the day :-)

Nate (Motorola Droid X)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Ok, I'll claim this one as the Day Six photo. This was taken through the front end of our DuaFlex camera. I had the idea earlier when I was loading up our recycling stuff to take one through my old 35mm Minolta. Then I saw the DuaFlex as I was putting some clothes away and thought it'd be fun to try and get a cute one of Liam. I think I succeeded ;-) How can a photo of my son not be cute?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Android 365: Day Five

At some point I know I'm going to have to quit writing the number out. Android 365: Day Two-Hundred Fifty-Six is a long title. Maybe it looks better than the number 256 though? I guess we'll decide when we get to that point, it's still a ways away.

So, here's today's photo. It's my Taylor guitar... one of a few we have around here. Meagan has a Gibson electric, which I'm sure will make Android 365 at some point, and I've got this Taylor and an old 1976 Martin 12-String. They're all really pretty guitars, maybe we'll see if we can shoot them all together.

I just saw today that someone makes a tripod for your Android phone! I can't imagine a situation in which I'd need one, but still it's kinda cool :-) I'll find it and post a link.

Nate (Motorola Droid X)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Android 365: Day Four

I'll be uploading a few more for today when I get within Wi-Fi range, but this is the start of today's find. I'm happy with what I got, I think you'll like the rest of the series.

Nate (Motorola Droid X)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Aaaaand here are rest of the pics. These were taken at the Baldwin City Depot which was constructed in 1906. The tracks were first laid in 1867. I'm not certain if that's the proper train track lingo "laid" but it seems to make sense.

Anyways, today I figured out that a man taking photos of train cars with his phone must be entertaining. I must say, that after seeing the workers of the nearby grain silo staring at me I did get a little self-conscious about kneeling down and and framing photos with my sweet phone camera. The only thing that helped me feel a little better was the fact that my photos probably looked a lot better than what they might think a tall guy in jeans, a t-shirt, and flip-flops might be taking with his phone.

I was tempted to go back to my car and grab my real camera to start taking photos with it, just to be like "yeah? Now what!?!?! Booyah!" Buuuuuut... I just let it be. Then I sat there on one of the train cars and went through my photographic bounty of images to choose my favorites and begin to post them.

THE END

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Android 365: Day Three

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

It took a while today to find and take the right photo. Meagan and I had the afternoon together so we decided to go to a movie (which we haven't done in months!) and have lunch. It was fun, we rarely get time to ourselves these days so it was a really nice day. :-)

I was looking around for something to catch my eye during the day, but didn't see anything good. Luckily the sunset was pretty when we got home. I took this photo through my sunglasses, which have a tan tint and are polarized. It has not been edited in any other way.

~Nate (Motorola Droid X)

What Are We Doing Here?

No, this post isn't going to include the answer to one of life's great mysteries... why we are all here. I'm sure there are many blogs and sites out there to deal with that question.

Mine is rhetorical, although you can weigh in if you want in the comments section, but I have a feeling this will be a little one-sided as I am writing this well before you will be reading it.

What we are doing here is expanding the realm of creativity to something we use every day, our phones. There's rarely a minute in the day that we don't have them with us or at least within earshot. It's a mighty tool for working, passing time, gaming, navigating, building, referencing, and oh yeah... talking to someone! There's a thousand things we can do with our phone, but there's one that we are going to be particularly interested in here. The camera.

I've already stated what I'm going to be doing with this blog. What I hope comes out of it, is that somehow I can inspire other people to be creative with their phone and capture some really great images. It doesn't matter if every photo belongs on a wall. What matters is that there's an effort to be creative and that it's ok to do something just for the fun of it. Take a ton of pictures and look for what inspires you to be creative!

Here are the ground rules I'll be following.

1. Only an Android smartphone may be used to take photos for this blog.
2. Photos can be edited with Adobe Photoshop Express (found in Android Market). Adjustments are limited to Exposure, Saturation, Contrast, Brightness, and Tint.
3. Photos are uploaded directly to this blog from my phone with Blogger-Droid (also Android Market)
4. Photos can only be posted from the day they are taken. E.G. No taking 7 days worth of photos in a day and sitting on my butt for a week.
5. At least one photo per day for one year will be posted, starting on Mar 19th, 2011.

I think that's it.

Android 365: Day Two

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

This is a handle of a really old cedar chest in our house. I'm not overly impressed with this photo, but it's nice.

I'm going to try and get a better one as the day goes on. March 20th is not over yet.

Nate (Motorola Droid X)

Android 365: Day One

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

So, I just got an Americano from the Starbucks drive-thru, and as I was waiting the rain began collecting on my windshield. I've always liked the look of raindrops on the window, but I've never had my camera ready. So, today I just took this photo with my Droid X. I'm pretty impressed with this "phone", if we can still call them that nowadays. They're more like a small computer than a device solely used for talking.

Then I began thinking that the cameras on these phones are probably much more capable than we give them credit for. I decided that I'm going to explore just how capable they are and push my expectations for photos captured with my phone.

My goal is to take one good quality photo a day with my phone and upload it with the Blogger-Droid app to this blog. I will also be using the Adobe Photoshop Express app for Android to make small tweaks to each photo.

Some days I may feel extra creative and post a series of photos or just random photos taken throughout the day.

So, today (March 19th 2011) marks Day One of Droid Pix. My year long journey into the capabilities of my Droid X's camera.

~Nate (Motorola Droid X)

Update: (March 20th) This is a photo taken on the same day. I will most likely edit text on the computer after posting originally from my phone, since I tend to make a lot more mistakes while typing into my phone. Also, like today, I may want to add another photo to the blog on the day it was taken. In these instances, I will still upload them from my phone and add them to the date they were originally taken. I just want to emphasize that even though they may be added later, the photos have only been taken and edited on a Droid phone.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

The Best Camera

Is the one that's with you.

Just got an Americano from the Starbucks drive-thru, and as I was waiting the rain began collecting on my windshield. I've always liked the look of raindrops on the window, but I've never had my camera ready. So, today I just took this photo with my Droid X. I'm pretty impressed with this "phone", if we can still call them that nowadays. They're more like a small computer than a phone. The one thing most of them have in common though is that they have a camera. So, the next time you see something picture worthy, just remember that the best camera is the one that's with you.

Nate

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Air Roaster KIA

While trying to integrate a varaliable resistance switch to control the roast temperature, I've run into somewhat of a barrier. Main barrier? It doesn't turn on anymore! I rewired the internals to what I assumed would be correct for the addition of the switch, but after popping the breaker for the kitchen outlets twice and smoking my power strip... I can only surmise that my rewiring is incorrect. Hopefully none of the components are fried, so I can figure out my errors and eventually resurrect the ol' gal. For now though, I'll be roasting solely in the toaster oven.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

My Experience: Roasting Coffee - Part One

This is part one of my experience for our new project. My attempt will be to convey the experience of creating the perfect cup of coffee. The process begins with choosing the right green coffee bean, then goes on to roasting it properly, grinding it to the right size for the brewing method, and then finally brewing it properly at the ideal temperature and for the perfect amount of time. I know this is a lot more effort than many coffee drinkers may prefer to put into their cup of coffee, but for me the experience is just as important as that final delicious cup. Here's a video and some photos of the air roasting method.

Giving Blood

Today I went to the blood bus to... well, donate blood. It's been about 9 years since I last gave blood, not for any reason, I just never got around to it. So when I saw the bus I decided to just go ahead and do it. Initially, I was just going to give the normal way, but once the nurse found out I had the blood type O- she really wanted me to donate via some special machine that separates the plasma and red blood cells. They keep the red blood cells and then give me back the plasma. In return, this method yields 2 units of usable red blood cells that can be used within 24 hours. The other method yields 1 unit of red blood cells that can be used, at the earliest, in one week. So, it was worth the long wait and I'll be donating again in the fall :-)

Roasting with a Hot-Air Popper

I've had this Popper for a while and had originally bought it with the intent to roast coffee. However, until now I never got a good roast out of it. There was a temperature switch that would kill the unit before the roast was complete, thus ruining the entire batch. I took it apart at the time and couldn't locate the switch. Today I tore it apart with a renewed determination to find it and disable it. This time it was a simple task. I reassembled it and went about roasting the first full batch of beans in it. It doesn't compare to the toaster over in terms of volume, but when comparing the uniformity of the roast this is much better. As I write this, I'm enjoying the fruits of my labor. It's one delicious cup of coffee!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

George's Treehouse Photos

Polar Coffee Roasting

When I got home last night I realized we were out of coffee, roasted coffee. Meaning that I would have no delicious chocolaty brown beans to brew in the morning. So, it was a little cold but the desire to have the perfect cup of coffee in the morning outweighed my aversion to the less than comfortable weather. This is a video of the beans undergoing "second crack" there's a first and second crack that the beans go through during the roasting process. After the second crack the beans are approximately at a French Roast, which is where I normally remove them. Beyond French Roast is Espresso and right below it is Full City. It's determined by the darkness of the beans and the amount of oils on the beans. Anyways, here's a video and some photos. Oh yeah, I roast out on the back porch due to the large volume of smoke emitted by the beans.




Normally I don't roast by Flood Light, but the conditions warranted it.


Mid-Roast. Still pretty green.


The final product this morning. Brewed with my Technivorm coffee maker. Brews coffee at exactly 200F, not many coffee makers do btw. When I brew a small amount I just brew it into the filter basket with the valve shut and then take it off and let it drain into the cup.

First Post from Android App for Blogger

I love apps, and when I saw this one I was super-excited to use it. It will now be so much easier to make regular updates. Watch out world.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

My Blog has been Hibernating... I have not.

I've been busy with my own projects as well as projects for classes.

My main project right now is still my cap for water bottles that essentially turns them into sippy cups for kids. I don't think I've blogged about this before (except for a logo design I did), but other than that I don't believe I've mentioned it. I would really like to show all of my drawings and the progress I've made from the very inception of the idea (a dream... within a dream!), but for the sake of keeping the patentable portions of the design secret, I can't show very much or really describe it in any amount of detail. But to recap the progress, at the end of last semester I entered and won the business plan competition in the Entrepreneur Certification Program at KU. The plan detailed the design of the cap and how I was going to make money off of it (typical business plan I suppose, all about making money). Then with a portion of the winnings, I conducted a formal patent search (of which the results were very favorable), then I hired a patent attorney and we filed a provisional patent and are currently working on the non-provisional. The concept of the cap's operation is solid, I just need to build some prototypes and then a small run of the product for testing in order to have anything to take to manufacturers. That's what I've been working on now for the past few weeks and am finally starting to make some decent headway. I've had one cap drawn up in CAD and then printed on a 3D printer, I've also been pouring some molds to test different facets of the cap and whether or not the design is as good as I think it is. Now, I'm getting a lot closer to having a small run of the cap produced to be tested in the field. And that's where that is... I'll try to maintain updates.

My OTHER project is a drum coffee roaster that is being fashioned out of a toaster oven. I can show you drawings of this and will try to be even better about updating this project, since it's more fun... who doesn't like roasting coffee? Not more than 10 minutes ago I just received 5 pounds of Sumatra Manhelding green coffee beans in the mail. They're just WAITING to be roasted! In the past, I've used a regular oven in the house (can you say fire alarm?), a toaster oven (simple and good results, but hard to get a really even roast), and a hot air popcorn popper (not really that fun or that good of results, it will have new life though with my homemade roaster).

THE PLAN
-Put a small 5 inch diameter barrel inside of the toaster oven.
-Connect it to a motor to turn it. (ya know, like a cement mixer)
-Use the popper as a cooling fan and chamber to quickly cool the beans and remove the chaff.
-Plus some other various random things to make it wicked awesome.
-And finally, to drink lots of coffee.