First try with 123D Catch

I've been wanting to give Autodesk new free beta software 123D Catch a try, and here's the first result after about 10 minutes of play!

This software lets you input pictures you have taken (I took these with my iPhone 4s) and it will then use the compute power of the Cloud to construct a 3D model from those 2D pictures.

I've seen some demos of the technology but was really psyched to see just how easy the basics are. Originally I wanted to do this with my boat after seeing a demo at SIGGRAPH in Vancouver. But it's taken me this long to get to it and the boat is now under cover. So, I decided I'd just take 10 pictures of my desktop and see what I would get.

You can see the initial model is a bit rough but I'm going to try to patch in some additional images to improve the accuracy and level of detail. I added a very simple animation path and then pushed the button to get the vidoe out you see below.

Really cool app...need to mess with it some more! You can download it and try it for free here:
http://www.123dapp.com/catch
 

Happy New Year is here and I am getting my Ebay hobby back in gear after a bit of a slowdown at the end of the year.

My latest customer has me selling a collection of antique clocks. I've never owned a mechanical clock but this collection is really pretty cool...some more than 100 years old!

Check them out at my Ebay site:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/mattall/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686  


I will be posting more clocks for sale over the coming weeks.

Ebay Fun

Had a great Ebay moment today that capped one of my more interesting auctions. Earlier this summer I picked up a broken iBook G4 laptop that was listed on the local Exeter freecycle.org. Freecycle is a great way to give away items you don't need or get things you might want--all for free.

So, after a bit of reconditioning, I discovered that the only thing wrong with the iBook was a fried keyboard. So I bought a used keyboard off Ebay to repair the iBook and then was able to turn it around and sell it on Ebay for a couple of hundred bucks.

The kicker came this morning when I received payment for the broken keyboard which I listed on Ebay, perfect for someone who needed replacement keys.

Pressure Washer Fixed!

Pressure washer is officially repaired with the replacement manifold I found on Amazon.

I had some trouble remembering how to put it back together but eventually figured it out from schematics online. Tested it this morning before heading off to work and was operating well. One pinhole leak from a old rubber washer that will need to be replaced but perfect otherwise.

Cupcakes...finally!

Today I made it to Queen City Cupcakes before they sold out. Since opening this new store on Elm Street in Manchester, NH on May 5 this year, the small cupcakery has sold out their entire day's stock--usually before the end of the lunch hour.
http://www.qccupcakes.com/

There was a line but I was able to pick up a half dozen for the family tonight:

• 2 5-layer cupcakes
• 2 peanut butter cup cupcakes
• 1 snickerdoodle cupcake
• 1 carrot cupcake

Yardsale Deal?

I had some time to hit some yard sales this weekend including hitting a estate sale at a house that was being foreclosed. Pretty nasty house filled with clutter and smelling badly of pet urine and mildew. I found a Garmin i3 GPS for $1...no maps installed but got a free 2012 map set by registering the unit at Garmin.com.

Robin did better finding 9 Pandora glass and silver beads for $1 apiece!

I did decide to buy a pretty nice gas powered pressure washer with a Honda engine at another yard sale. I started the engine and asked the owner if it was working, which he confirmed. Unfortunately, he lied...when I connected after bringing it home it was leaking and spraying water from a cracked manifold.

Went looking for a replacement and after the intial horror of a $200 price tag for a replacement...I found what I think is a compatible part from another brand off Amazon for $45.

 I'll provide an update whether I can successfully repair my yard sale find. This sucker was like $800 new...be happy if I can get it working for under $100.

First post on my first blog

OK, so I've always thought I should start a blog and received an invite to my friend Paul's blog, so I'm going to give it a try.