Jplaz.com

First 5k!

Jplaz — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:13:07 +0000

Last Saturday (4/28/12) I ran in the Haverford Education Foundation Twilight 5k Run and Walk. This was the first 5k I’ve ever ran in and probably only the third time that I’ve actually ran 3 or more miles. I finished 42nd overall and something like 6th in males aged 15 to 19 with a 22:24 time. Not bad, I think, for my first ever 5k and for the first time running in a few months. The event was fun and I look forward to participating in more runs like this one.

New Semester

Jplaz — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:46:53 +0000

Last week the second semester of my Junior year of high school began. My schedule is as follows: AP Physics C Mechanics AP Calculus AB American Literature Honors AP Biology I’ll still make an attempt to continue to create content … Continue reading →

How to browse Wikipedia during the blackout

Jplaz — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:01:45 +0000

As you probably already know, Wikipedia will be shutting down tomorrow (Wednesday, Janurary 18th 2012) in protest of SOPA and PIPA. I won’t go into details, but Google searching any of this will give you a wealth of information. Anyway, this protest is good and all, but for those of us who can’t live without Wikipedia, there is a way around it. Click here to download the needed .torrent file and download its contents (Google search how to torrent if you don’t already know). From there, follow the instructions in the file. You’ll be able to access a saved version of all the articles on Wikipedia. However, this saved database will not update any changes so this will only serve as a temporary stopgap. Thanks.

****LEGAL NOTICE****
Torrenting is NOT illegal. Torrenting illegally is illegal. The contents of this torrent are in no way illegal and I do not assume any responsibility for any actions of the readers of this post.

New Site Feature: Captcha

Jplaz — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 04:15:30 +0000

Due to a recent influx of spam comments I’ve chosen to implement a captcha (device that verifies that the commenter is a human) to hopefully reduce the amount of spam.

Trebuchet Project

Jplaz — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:39:45 +0000

(The Trebuchet, without the counterweight bucket)
For my Honors Physics class, we were assigned a project which involved designing and building a trebuchet. The siege engines would be designed to hurl miniature pumpkins across the school field, similar to . Also, we had to measure the various distances versus varying amounts of counterweight. My group constructed a medium sized machine, which stood approximately 3 feet tall with an arm length of about 7 feet. Our design was fairly simple. We used a gate latch to release the arm and a bucket filled with barbell plates as a counterweight. The axle was made of nested PVC pipe and the rest of the trebuchet was built using wood. During testing, we attained a maximum distance of 66.9 feet with 45 pounds of counterweight. The full results are below. Our trebuchet performed well for its size and weight, though other groups reached farther distances they had to use much larger siege engines to do so. Overall, I was fairly pleased with the effort, though I would build a larger one if I did it again.

(The data we collected during testing)

(An early test video)

Sony CDP-291 Successful Repair

Jplaz — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:50:58 +0000

(The broken device)
A few days ago I received a broken Sony CDP-291 CD player. First, I diagnosed the unit. I plugged the CD player in and attempted to turn it on, but the power button had no effect. Preliminary research yielded very little information, so I proceeded to open the unit.

(The inside of the player)

(Soldering Setup)
I decided to check the power supply first, so I unscrewed the board for a closer inspection. The board was covered in some kind of residue and the circuit traces, particularly the ones near the transformer. I decided to bypass the traces by soldering wire across the corresponding leads. For the large main trace I used desoldering wire, as the wire I had was too small for the amount of current. After a successful continuity check, I reassembled the CD player. Upon powering on, the device worked perfectly. I consider this a successful repair.

(Soldered board)

(Operational Unit)

New Stable OC

Jplaz — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:34:40 +0000

My latest overclock is a modest 3.8Ghz at 1.41 volts.This is my 24/7 stable overclock and has passed hours of stress testing and days of Folding@Home.

CPU-Z Validation

Overclocking Spreadsheet

Jplaz — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 20:55:08 +0000

I use this spreadsheet to document all overclocking that I do.

Introduction to Overclocking

Jplaz — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:55:55 +0000

Wikipedia defines overclocking as “Overclocking is the process of running a computer component at a higher clock rate (more clock cycles per second) than it was designed for or was specified by the manufacturer.” Overclocking to me is a hobby as well as a means of saving money. For example, making my current computer run faster has kept me from needing to spend money on upgrades I would have otherwise had to pay for. Overclocking, while tedious, is rewarding and also sometimes competitive (see Benchmarking) or even charitable (see Folding@Home). The website Overclock.net contains a wealth of information on the subject as well as many helpful members who will answer any question you may have. I enjoy this practice and will post my overclocks in the near future.