USS Salem and Submarine at Quincy MA?

 While I am not sure this would fit into the category of being 'nerdy', I still think it is cool and wanted to put something in my Big Nerdy Guy blog; hence, I am posting it here.

My brother, Don and I went to see the USS Salem in Quincy MA. Unfortunately it is only open on the weekends - Saturday and Sunday. We were there on a week day. 

We had some trouble finding it. We took a few wrong turns but we got there. I took some photos of the place. We found that there was a tiny sub on the outside entrance of the place. I am posting those photos here. 

Here is the submarine at the entrance of the battleship

area. It is really old and is detreating. 

Here is the front view of the battleship. 

Here is a side view of the battleship.

I didn't take a photo of the bow of the ship which had the name but I did take some. When we get to go back when it is open, I will definitely take more photos of the place with more information on it.

My Own Country? The Country of Tom?

 I saw a post about what I would do with a giant stack of goldbacks. It was a post in a group about goldbacks. I thought it would be cool to 'start my own country' with it just being a joke. 

I thought to get the creative juices going and decided to create my own 'country'. Of course it isn't a real country but a fictional one. I thought what would the flag look like? What would the logo or seal look like? What would the coin or banknote look like? it got me going since I like to draw and create designs. The below is some of the results. 

I called it the 'Country of Tom'. I named it after my first name. I thought 'Why not?'. 

This is my flag for the 'Country of Tom'. I like the blue edge since I like blue. I put the flames on top of the T since it is similar to that of the Indiana flag where my story begins. The blue circles are just to give it an artistic look. I like the simplicity of the design and how simple it is to do.

This is the coin of the 'Country of Tom'. It is similar to the flag but with it being in a circle and without the blue edge. In a coin, it would not have color but I have seen some coins that have been enhanced with color. Since this is a fictional country, why not have it colorful. I am still working on the banknote (a banknote would be more complicated in design). 

This could also be the seal for the 'Country of Tom'. It is similar in design for simplicity. 

I decided to make a currency system. It is like the US has the dollar and the UK has the pound, the 'Country of Tom' would have the tom or the tommy. Since most currency logos / symbols have lines through it, mine is the letter T with two horizontal lines. 

I wonder if this could be a design for a cryptocurrency? I think something like that would be for another post since I have read that it would be complicated to create cryptocurrency. There is a site that has a format that one can create ones own 'fantasy' banknote. It is at the Museum of the Mound. It shows how it is done (might do a separate post on it) - design a banknote. 

This is my backyard with what I call a screenhouse. It is the official building of the 'Country of Tom'; actually it is the only building in the backyard. There is a small garden and a tool shed behind it with a compost pile. It is a poor country since it doesn't have power or running water. One day it will have a 'Country of Tom' flag on the front. 

As I create more for the 'Country of Tom', I will post that too. 

National Postcard Week? - Postcard History - Part Two

 I participated in the National Postcard Week 2024. I had created (designed and printed) postcards that I sent out to those on the list of people sent to me by the people who organized it. Part one was about what I did and sent out. This is part two; about the postcards that I received from those on the list. It is not really organized. I think it is how I received them. This is just photos of those postcards. See part one read more about National Postcard Week 2024.

The postcards came from all over the country. There was three that I sent to outside of the USA but I received a couple from outside the USA that wasn't on the list of participants (at least I didn't see them on the list I had - added after I received my list? - unknown but still neat that I got them but now I wish I had sent them one but couldn't since the postcard didn't have their return address [take breath - way long sentence]). 

This is not a postcard but it was in the envelope with the postcard and I thought it was neat so I added it with the other photos of postcards. 

Some of the postcards came in an envelope. I think this is a neat way of sending the postcard. It opens the back of the card so where one can write more without having to worry about leaving space for an address (to and from). 

I am hoping to participate next year too. It was a lot of fun (creating, sending and receiving postcards). 

I like printing out my own postcards. I use a photo printer and postcards to print different things on them (photos, designs, etc.). I will post more on this part in a different post.

National Postcard Week? Part of Postcard History - Part One

 I think this is really neat. I didn't know about this until this year. I participated in it for 2024. It was May 5th to 11th of 2024. 

National Postcard Week

I found out about it at the Postcard History site. I found out to participate in it. Once signed up for it, I send in that I wanted to participate in it. I received instructions on what to do and a list of people to send postcards to. 

The first step was to create a postcard. This involved designing one and getting it printed. I found that Avery has an online service - Avery Custom Printing; Postcards - that allows one to design a postcard and they would print it for you. One can design a postcard, upload a design then have them print it for you. They have a few shapes to chose from. The price varies depending on whether it is one sided or two sided and how many they print for you. I found the process to be quite easy.

I did one that was just on one side (bottom one above). I uploaded a map of Newburyport MA and added the 'Newburyport MA' part to the bottom. Since I used the single side postcard, the back was blank. Once I received it, I used a ruler and a pin to divide it into three parts (the back of it). One for the writing area where one puts a message, one for the return address and one for the address of the person being sent to. It wasn't big so the message was small (or one can write small and put it more). 

I did one that was two sided (top one above). I uploaded a map of Newburyport MA and filled the front of the postcard. Since I had the two sides to use, I put links on the back to information on Newburyport MA. I left space for the return address and the address to the person it was sent to. This did not leave space for a message but the links were the message. I wanted to use this to promote Newburyport MA where I live (I think it is a neat and historic little town). 

I added lines to the top one but not to the bottom one (added after I took this photo). Neither was very big but it had room enough for the addresses and a stamp. 

I received a list from them of the people to send them to. Most of the ones were in the USA with three being outside the USA. I waited to the week of the even to mail them out. There was about 80 on the list but I had printed 100 of the postcards. There were some leftover that I used to mail to friends and family (hoping that anyone who sees them would wonder about my town and look it up). 

This is not to say there are not other sites where one can have this done. It is just the one I chose to go with. I will check out the other sites and do posts on them; either as a group or individually. 

Some Links that I have found on it:

National Postcard Week - published May 2, 2021 (older one).

National Postcard Week - Wikipedia

National Postcard Week - Postcard History

National Postcard Week - Modern Postcard.

National Postcard Week - Facebook

National Postcard Week - Kovel's Antique Trader

National Postcard Week results using Duck Duck Go

    There were a lot of results. I am posting this link above instead of all that I found on it. 

This is part one. Part two will have photos of the postcards that I received. It will be mostly photos but just the front of them. I don't want to show the addresses on the back. If one participated in it, then one would already have the addresses since one would have gotten the file of those to send it to. 

Epson PictureMate 500? Photo Printer And Postcard Printer?

 I bought an Epson PictureMate 500 at a garage sale. I bought it for $20. The person selling it thought it was some kind of portable stereo. I thought it was too until I examined it. It didn't have a power cord. It had an ink cartridge but I couldn't know if it was usable since I didn't have a way to power it (could be used with a battery but it didn't come with that either). 

Here is a photo of one that is similar to it. 

There is a panel on the right front that reveals different ports for different kinds of flash / memory cards. There is an USB port in the back to connect to a printer. There is a panel in the back that shows where a battery would go (it was empty). 

There is a panel in the back where one inserts the photo paper. One can get the photo paper for this printer. There is a panel in the front that lowers so it holds whatever one chooses to print with it. It uses a standard size photo paper. 

It prints using an inkjet printer inside; hence, the inkjet cartridge that is put into the lower back of it. I am amazed how big it is; compared to the overall size of the printer. 

I was able to find the power cord on eBay. Depending on who has it up for bids or 'buy now', the price wasn't too bad. I could also find the ink cartridge (T770) on eBay as well as the Epson photo paper. 

Power Cord , Ink Cartridge and Epson Photo Paper

(there are times the ink cartridge came with photo paper).

Power Cord

Ink Cartridge

Ink cartridge with photo paper.

I also tried postcard paper that was made for printers. I separated it from the sheet; usually two per sheet. I fed them in a stack of singles in the back of the printer. It took awhile to get the printer head to print properly (it had not been used to print anything in quite awhile). Once I got it to print, I found myself creating a lot of postcards using photos I found online and ones I took myself. 

I found myself creating cards for different holidays and just for the fun of printing them. I have found that they post office does not have a problem delivering them. I have found it is a lot of fun. 

A Better Disney Computer? - Part 3?

 

Here is my idea for a better Disney computer. It is inspired by Goofy's hat or at least it does to me. 

The Disney computer they had before was a small desktop with a few Mickey Mouse type things added to it. I thought it was kind of plain and not very creative. It used a small desktop tower with a CRT monitor. It had a Disney frame around the monitor. I thought they could have done better.

My idea for a Disney Goofy (see other - part 2 - for the Mickey Mouse inspired computer) computer. It is a rough sketch. The main box is shaped like the hat Goofy wears. It has feet at the bottom to stabilize it. It doesn't show speakers but they could be on either side of the monitor. 

I think the main box could hold the main board - a Raspberry Pi board or small mini-ITX style board - that could easily fit within it. It could a thin LCD or OLED screen like that used in a laptop computer. If one wanted a camera, it could be placed above the screen. One could place speakers on either side of the screen. 

Since optical drive are no longer on newer computers, one would not have to make room for one. If one wanted one, there are USB optical drives that one could use.

The base of the computer box are 'feet' - shaped like Goofy's shoes. It could hold a power supply in one and different ports in the other (like USB, memory card slots, etc.). The feet would also stabilize it so it would be less likely to fall over. 

For the drive, one could use a small hard drive or a small solid state one. They don't usually take up a lot of space. One could also operate off a SD card or a micro-SD card (both now have really large memory capacity). 

One could use a blue tooth keyboard and mouse since one would not have to connect either to the box or one could attach them to the USB ports. 

This is just me thinking out loud. I like to design things - most of which I never get around to making or doing. Perhaps one day I will get to create it. 

TomLeeM

2024 / 02 / 08

TomLeeM at Cafe Press.

A Better Disney Computer ? - part 2?

 

Here is a more detailed version of my earlier blog and design for a Mickey Mouse computer. 

They had Mickey Mouse computer before but I think it was boring and not very creative. I think they could have gotten a little more creative than adding a Mickey Mouse frame around a regular small desktop computer.

My idea for one would be an all in one design. The box would be round with mouse ears on top (the ears being speakers on either side). There would be feet at the bottom to keep it steady. Perhaps a mouse shaped computer mouse and perhaps a Disney inspired keyboard. I think this would leave a possible camera for the space above the screen but with the frame / round box design.

I think the computer board could be a Raspberry Pi board, or one like the Mini ITX style boards. It is small enough that it could fit the case design above. 

The screen could be either an LCD or OLED screen; both of which would be thin (like those used in laptops computers) and would not take up much space. The screen would not have to be round but square and fit within the round box in front. 

I think a power supply could be located in one of the feet in the base and the other would have ports (USB, power, memory ports, etc. ). 

It would not need a space for an optical drive or a floppy drive since they are not being used in newer computers. It would need lots of USB ports or have blue tooth capabilities since both are very popular (but that could change) 

The above is just me 'thinking out loud'. It is my ideas on how it could have been better. Perhaps one day I could do it but I don't see it happening in the near future. I have lots of ideas and/or designs like this. 

TomLeeM

2024 / 02 / 08

TomLeeM at Cafe Press.