New dreams! Starting to build the Ulua Proa...

Long time, no blog! We're starting a new project over here, so trying to blog again seemed appropriate.

In the past few months we've made Pirate hooks... And giant lizard tanks...

 

Sold bunnies and bikes....

 

...To make room for new dreams.

Like THIS!!

This is a strip built sailing "proa" which is kind of like a catamaran with uneven hull sizes. Yes, we're probably biting off WAAAAY more than we can chew. But that's pretty normal for me. 

I've wanted to build a boat for 8 years or more. I have probably 3 dozen different boat plans saved on various computers. This particular one is called the Ulua by Gary Dierking.  There's debate around here on how to pronounce that properly. If you're at all interested in building one for yourself, this is his website, and this is the book we're building from. 

These are our other two favorite boats that we were looking at. The first one is the Light Scooner by Phil Bolger. There's a hysterical blog about some builder/sailers with quite a few fun stories. Please ignore the annoying music...

Then this is the other one we were looking at. The Arctic Tern by Tad Roberts. We loved the look of this boat and the plans were free but..... We wanted something we could sail solo and a 24 foot boat just isn't that. It was sailed to Alaska and back and that makes for major awesome points. 

So we landed on the Ulua. 

I like it. 

Our first step was anything but glamorous, but to us (me) it was exciting. Wanting to do something for 8 years and then finally getting to mark the first measurement on wood was like taking the first step on an epic journey. 

The road goes ever on and on, 

down from the door where it began...

Anyway, this was the first step. Lofting. It is NOT as scary or mysterious as some sites make it seem. If you can follow directions well and know how to use a tape measure and square, you're good. It's basically drafting a graph and then plotting the points along the curve, making the outline of the mold for the hull. 

Simple in concept, but overwhelming the first time you see one of these offset charts...

Yeah. That's all you need to build a boat hull. 

(These are not the offsets for the Ulua. Buy the book!)

So we got this. The outline for our first mold station. Only 16 more to go! 

Tell me now if it looks crooked to you. It totally does to me in this picture....

I'm going to try my best to take pictures regularly and post as we go. I think this stuff is interesting, maybe someone else will too! 

ps- I want to put one of these sails on it.

Because I can.

Learning Linux and Hacking!

I know this isn't very Biblical sounding.... but I'm learning how to hack. I actually do have a reason for this that's not totally shady!! I work for a company that does Penetration Testing, where they go and test the security of a computer or business by staging an attack. So yeah, we get to pretend to be bad guys and do the fun bad guy stuff, but not get in trouble. AND get paid. Well... that's the goal anyway.

Right now I'm attempting to make myself more valuable to the company and that means learning. Learning and making money ties in with the whole P31 thing, and I think its fun. Thus this post.

If you don't like tech stuff, stop reading right now and wait for another crafty blog!! Don't worry, I totally get it! I won't be offended. Much.

So. Linux.

Here's the secret to Linux............. Google it. 

That's all. That's the massive secret to using Linux. If you willing to learn and do your homework, you can have the most stable and virus free operating system on the planet for free. Yes, FREE. 

Some basics for the baby-techies out there: Linux is an operating system, just like Windows 7/8 or Mac OS (insert some fierce big cat here). The big difference is that it takes more work to set up and you don't have to pay for it. The reason you don't have to pay for it is that nerds made it so they could tweak it. Cuz that's what nerds do. They wanted to be able to play with an OS (operating system) and to be able to let their friends play with it too.

"But nothing's free," you may say. "Where's the catch?"

There is one, but it probably won't effect you much. Because Linux is so stable (it won't crash), businesses like it. And Linux people know that. So they do charge for business who want to buy multiple versions of their spiffy business server versions. Yeah, didn't think that would be a problem.

Oh, did I mention there are multiple versions of Linux? There are. Don't worry about it. 

Enough twaddle. So you want to start? OK!

1. Get a computer you don't care about. No, really. Don't install Linux on your primary computer if you have no idea how to use it. You're just going to get pissed off. The learning curve is a bit steep.
2. Get another computer (this can be your main computer) and have Google standing by. 
3. Look up http://www.ubuntu.com/ This is a pretty user friendly version of Linux. Wander around a bit. Read. Read some more. 
4. This is the easiest way to install it. It's a windows installer, but if you want to be extra nerdy, you can install it from a USB stick. Look around for instructions on how to install it from USB. Or just click here.
5. If you have questions, GOOGLE IT! Seriously. Read the error message and just type that in the search bar. If you ask me, that's all I'd be doing. I'm not a Linux guru, but I know how to use Google and it's almost the same thing. Ok, not really. 
6. Have fun! There's lots of fun things Linux can do that the regular OSs can't. Look around on YouTube for tutorials on how to use it. Install stuff. Check out spiffy toys like CompizFusion to make it look cool and light your desktop on fire. There's even tutorials on how to make Linux work/look like Windows or Mac
7. Don't be afraid to break it. It was free, right? Just install it again and start over!! I've done that multiple times, believe me. You learn more when you fail than when you succeed.

Ok, so I totally wasn't expecting this to be a Linux install tutorial. But whatever. I have had Linux running on my laptop for one or two years now. It works fine. No problems. Installing stuff is annoying sometimes, but that's why Al Gore invented the interwebs.

I just finished installing a different version of Linux called Kali Linux. It is a version designed specifically for hacking and I have no idea what that means yet. But its up and running and I'm about to find out. I had trouble installing it, so I wouldn't start with Kali. Ubuntu is great and if I can't handle Kali, I'm going back to Ubuntu.

Check out this video on Linux (and his other videos too!) if you want to know more about Linux in general. He has a whole bunch of computer videos and quite a few on Linux. Good stuff. Beware - tis long.

If you have a question, or an idea for a blog post, or something you have no idea how to make but want to see if I can do it... Comment below! Have a wonderful night!