TechShorts

Ages ago I picked up one of the RadioShacks CueCats but I never used it.  Up until today it sat in a box of computer junk having survived several purges.  You know Purges:  You have so much junk you have to get ride of the old. I never got ride of the CueCat because barcode scanners are not cheap, which I do not understand. Any way, I came across Scott Hanselman's article on a .Net app for the CueCat, Coding4Fun Hardware Boneyard - Using the CueCat with .NET , and decided to break out the old dusty cat and give it a spin. The code was no problem, getting my machine to read the CueCat was.  See, I have a Logitech wireless keyborard and mouse so Windows XPdid not load the PS/2 drivers.  I wound up having to dig up an old PS/2 keyboard (from the same junk box, you should always have PS/2 keyboard and mouse handy!) plugged it in, rebooted and vola, it worked. Now I am off to inventory my CD collection.  And my books.  Maybe the comic books.  If I do the pantry my wife my smack me..

My Dad originally made a living as an auto machinic and working on cars is still his favorite pass time. Besides working on cars my Dad liked to swap cars. Swap cars, car parts, you name it he would swap it. The benefit of that to me was that I was exposed (read - drove) to a lot of different cars, some clunkers some not. One of the cars he swapped for was a Chevy Vega with a 327 small block V8 in it. That little car was freaking FAST and I am surprised that he actually let me drive it at all. I recall that I broke at least three speed-odometers just from peeling out. Now Chevy did not make a stock Vega with such a powerful motor. No, someone got the bright idea to take out the crappy four banger that was in it and replace it with a 327 small block V8 with a 3/4 inch racing cam and a Herts speed shifter. They even had to take out the cross bar member on the front end so that the motor would fit in the tiny Vega, which made the tires sit funny when it was parked. And you know we