Last last week, while driving to work, I saw a truck hauling a pinball machine. I used to be really into those things as a kid. I think I want to design and build one. It'd be so cool! I understand all the electical, software, woodworking, and most of the mechanics of a pinball machine. Just need some artistic help and a theme.
The playboard can be fabricated from wood and paint. The electronics can all be LEDs and wiring. Stick in a pair of old PCs or whatever to deal with the intelligence and I/O. And then order the bumpers, flippers, basic mechanical units from some replacement parts store online.
.....
Okay, maybe this might be too big of a project for now. Maybe later. Need a theme too.
Last weekend, I went to go see some of the San Jose Grand Prix. As far as I know, it's the first time San Jose had one, so I was curious. I went on Saturday, so I didn't see the actual race, just some of the qualifying and demo races.
While watching some of the cars drive by, periodically I heard loud noises which I first thought was engine detonation. Turns out, as they pass by the banners on the fences, the air rushing by causes a big enough vacumn to whip the giant banner against the fence and therefore the loud bang.
On the other side of the track, they have to cross over the light rail tracks. Similarly, the impact of the tire against the track creates loud noises as the tires, suspension, and frame deform.
In the convention center, a car show was going on. There's a guy who took an old 1992 BMW 325 and mixed it up with a E36 M3 parts car and did a pretty good job trying to make something of it. Just read the article if you're interested.
A team that specializes in drifting was there too. They had a lot of their cars on display. I saw a AE86 that for some reason, the engine really resembled the engine on the Supra sitting next to it. Either it's cosmetic, or somebody's gone a little too nutty with the mods. On one car, a group of mechanics were fixing a blown head gasket.
After about 4 hours of walking around in downtown, I went home to take a nap and meet up with people for dinner.
Yesterday, I went to the beach with a bunch of IBM people. Played volleyball, built a bonfire. We probably also pissed off the restaurant owners at the all-you-can-eat sushi place in San Mateo too. 13 people staying around for a little over 2 hours with some guy trying to order 9 orders of salmon at a time can't be good. Wasn't too warm that day but, it was still pretty fun.