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Almost everything about a human creature is ridiculous, except it’s ability to suffer bravely, and die gallantly, for whatever it loves and believes in. The validity of that belief, the appropriateness of that love, is irrelevant; it is the bravery and the gallantry that count. These are uniquely human qualities… -stone as my 42 minutes of silence (8:46 am – 10:28 am september 11) comes to a close, i am thankful. this image:  never forget. says it all for me today. -stone So life has been crazy lately, finding me on the road more often than not, tethering my cell phone whenever I need to get online. I run an Internet consulting / Infomediary company, so my Internet usage is pretty heavy sometimes, and my network needs are far above what the average end user would be happy with. I tether as a last resort, because sprint will throttle your connection after you pull the first 5 gigs from the same tower, and in some places (the shop) I’ll hit that pretty quickly… 7 days in fact: *sigh* I wasn’t even doing anything heavy (no video teleconferencing, streaming, etc.) I even set windows update not to download patches unless I specifically tell it to. Same thing with antivirus and so on. Almost 7 gigs in 7 days. So I have a couple of dear friends that live nearby, who I do work for now and again… It seems they are quite happy to exchange tech support for a connection… Thing is, there’s a lot of distance, a lot of trees, and a railroad between us, so my old “string cat 5 through the culverts” trick isn’t going to work here. Looks like all the proper hardware to do this “by the book” is about $300 bucks. Hmmm… I used to do a lot of 11 meter (citizens band / cb radio) skip shooting back in the day… so I actually know just enough to be dangerous when it comes to this sorta thing… Gone are the days of stacked:
and cophased: (Co-phasing or “stacking” has long been a way to get high gain from antennas. Co-phasing involves placing two (or more!) identical antennas either side-by-side or one over top another (“stacking”) at a certain distance apart (usually a 1/2 Wavelength or more) and feeding the antennas in-phase. The result is 3 db more than just a single antenna.) Moonraker 6 beams:
60 ft (the legal limit) off the roof of our house on the hilltop outside of Bellingham (during my 11 meter / cb radio days) … but knowledge is knowledge, right? (I had a summer job once So my awesome neighbor has a Netgear WNR-1000-v2 wireless router… You know, these:
and for under 10 bucks, my local Wal-Mart supplied these:
That’s a pair of “Rubbermaid 16-Cup Dry Food” containers. I had intended on using a pair of the “Rubbermaid 1776473 21 Cup Dry Food Storage” units, but I couldn’t find them locally, so I went with the smaller ones. These will require a bit of hacking, but they’ll have less windage, so it may be a win, right?
So the first thing we need to do here is to cut a mounting block for the router to fasten to, that can then be fastened to the container itself. (Then the mounting brackets can screw into the back of it).
Then I cut some holes for the antenna (and then the cables, as I didn’t want the inside/outside seal to be in the working portion of the antenna, so I had to get the router closer to the top of the container) This router is their end, so the connections are Note that this deviates from my standard “router to switch is always hot pink” and “modem to router is always red” standard of cable color coding (the more important it is, the brighter it is, servers are yellow, mailserver is orange, dialup concentrators are blue, internal workstations are green) Anyway:
The router is currently mounted to the block with a liberal amount of high temperature hot melt glue. I later pulled the unit apart, screwed the bottom plate to the block, and then reassembled the router, as the glue didn’t hold up when I accidentally dropped it
With the bigger container, in theory, you can just put everything inside the container and call it a day, but this worked out very well for me, as you’ll see later so now to plug the holes and do some weatherproofing…
That’s a length of 2″ abs drain pipe, cut in half lengthwise, and glued to the container with hot melt glue.
It doesn’t have to be pretty, as small as you can make it is best.
Use a very liberal amount of silicone on the antenna holes:
and then do some more hot melt glue filler work:
Just go slow and let things cool off until you have it watertight and reasonably smooth:
Then screw your mounting brackets to the backside:
Those are 2″ pipe hangers, so I can use 2″ abs drain pipe for my mounting mast. Spray paint it white to make it reject heat a bit, camouflage what’s in it, and make it all professional looking… and we’re done with that one for now. Now we move on to my end of the equation (a Linksys WRT54G v8):
That sucks. Version 8 of this router doesn’t have removable antennas. that’s kinda shitty of them, I expected this kinda half assed crap on the comcast supplied Netgear, but on a Cisco product? for shame.
Oh well, not my first rodeo. Looks like I need to do a bit of grinding on the case:
So the router can snug up against the top of the housing:
Note that on this one we only need one network uplink (technically didn’t *need* it, but I’d rather not have to go up on the roof an take it down if I have to do anything creative…
This operation should be pretty familiar by now…
So lets go mount them up and see what happens…
The other router is going to be mounted somewhere out there…
On the other side of those trees…
Starting to think I need to replace the safety lens protector on my phone… So here’s what my end looks like. That’s a couple lengths of 2″ abs drain pipe (25 ft total) So lets power this puppy up and see what we get
So far so good! And on to the other end of the equation…
Google earth and my protractor show that my target is about 10 degrees or so off of “parallel to the wall”, so in the above pic my target is almost directly behind me, and since the neighborhood has a policy about this kind of thing, I decided discretion was best… (you have to be *in* the back yard to see this installation at all) so, no mast. Not bad for a power cable, 2 runs of cat 5, and a router in plain sight
Not the cleanest installation, but it’ll do for now.
I’ve been spoiled by DD-WRT (the firmware running on the Linksys) it makes life so much easier. You can find it [here] (every time I have to do anything with an end user router running stock firmware, it makes me cry a little inside… dd-wrt makes me smile So I head up to the bus, log into the Linksys, and see if it works…
Interesting. So straight out of the gate this works. Both routers can see each other, and are talking ok. Lots of errors, but they all seem to be transmit errors from the Linksys side of things (the Netgear statistics page is next to useless) implying that the Netgear is having some troubles. The eth1 interface is the connection between the routers, over the long haul hop.
Signal wobbles a bit and it’s really weak, but it’s there. I’m frankly surprised this connection is passing data, I have never seen a signal to noise ratio in the negatives that still works ok. Lets see what we can do about that…
So this is a parabolic antenna template, done by Michael Erskine over at FreeAntennas.com Instructions are simple: 1) Go peruse Michael’s site [here] (you’ll probably learn something MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THE SQUARE ON THE DIAGRAM SQUARE! 4) Print the image out on whatever. business card stock or acetate (document protector) works well. So here we go. Start by transferring your template to your chunk-of-antenna-support. I used a piece of very solid oak plywood, because I have lots of it, and using it means I can let the screws bend the metal for me.
Then I cut it out with the scroll saw. Use whatever tool you have and you’re comfortable with. This part matters, so make it as smooth and accurate as you can get it.
I cut outside the line a little:
Then I sanded up to the line on the disk sander. Then off to Lowes for the bits I didn’t have lying around…
Since it’s 12″ long, I marked out and drilled 11 holes in it, and started screwing it down.
The screws worked well to make my curve, and this is the part where I learned that I used the wrong sized template. It’s perfect if I trim the edges of the steel off, but they aren’t going to hurt anything by leaving them, so for now they stay (I may revisit this later)
Here’s a shot of the backside, with all the screws in:
Pardon the duct tape, It was raining like only the pacific northwest does, and I need to fiddle the mount. 1) “chunk-of-antenna-support” hits the bulge where the cable cover is. I’m probably going to make a much bigger reflector and mount the entire router in front of it next time.
Screw it, close enough, lets kick the tires
*low whistle* so that 88 cents I spent just proved the parabolic reflector works fantastic Keep in mind that the Netgear is the only one with a reflector on it, and that it hasn’t been aimed, tuned, nothing. This is wild ass guess at it’s best.
Looks like the connection wobbles slightly, but it’s *way* better than it was. For those of you who are wondering how I turned that Linksys into a Repeater bridge, It goes a little something like this: Take your Linksys WRT54-whatever, and make sure it will support DD-WRTV24 firmware or higher. Please note that this is *not* for wired connections between two routers, it is a wireless connection only. Your PRIMARY router must be in AP mode (default) with DHCP Server enabled. Your SECONDARY (DD-WRT-whatever) router will be configured as the repeater bridge. Restore factory defaults on SECONDARY router Do a proper HARD 30-30-30 Reset on the SECONDARY router. Connect to your PRIMARY router, and set it’s LAN IP to 10.1.1.1 On your SECONDARY router: Wireless -> Basic Settings Virtual Interfaces Section NOTE: You can try using the same ssid but there are many reports of random disconnects and/or no connection if the ssid’s are the same. If using the same ssid doesn’t work for you, use a different ssid from the primary router. Wireless ssid Broadcast : Enable (should be WPA2-AES, as WEP can be cracked in seconds by anyone marginally competent). WPA Algorithms : must match primary router Virtual Interfaces Section Security Mode : must match physical interface Setup -> Basic Setup Setup -> Advanced Routing Open Services Security -> Firewall tab [Reboot] Once you have it working, go to the wireless security tab, and set the same type of security AND key for both the primary and the repeater ssids and hit apply. set your computer back to auto IP and auto DNS if you wish. Your SECONDARY router should now be able to connect wired and wireless clients. They will receive IP Addresses from the Primary Router. NOTE: All repeaters, (including this one), will sacrifice half of the bandwidth available from the primary router for clients wirelessly connected to the repeater. This is a result of the repeater taking turns talking to not just one partner, but to two, and having to relay the traffic between them. As long as your internet bandwidth requirements are within this halved bandwidth amount there will be little or no reduction in “speed”. If it doesn’t work properly the first time, check all your steps / settings again, and reboot the PRIMARY router, then the SECONDARY after the PRIMARY comes back up. So, I finished this project weeks ago, and held off the blog post until I put the parabolic antennas on the Linksys… which I have yet to do because it’s working well enough for now, so here ya go -stone An uninterruptible power supply, (UPS for short) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source, (typically the utility mains), fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power system or standby generator in that it will provide instantaneous or near – instantaneous protection from input power interruptions by means of one or more attached batteries and associated electronic circuitry for low power users, and or by means of diesel generators and flywheels for high power users. The on-battery runtime of most uninterruptible power sources is relatively short. 5 to 15 minutes being typical for smaller units, but sufficient to allow time to bring an auxiliary power source on line, or to properly shut down the protected equipment. Today I decided to change that, since I need to be able to run off batteries for a lot longer. As may of you know, I am planning on going on the road for an extended period of time with the mighty warbusaur, and I will most likely be spending my summers in the pacific northwest, and my winters somewhere warmer… So of course I have an epic plan involving solar panels, and wind/tidal/current generation techniques as well. That stuff is all coming. but in the meantime, as I give the warbusaur (my pd4501 greyhound super scenicruiser) much needed love, I find that I need to run a large number of electronics when there is no power to do so… I have a generator, but running a generator (even my super awesome honda EU3000is) just to charge my laptop and cell phone, with fuel being $3.95/gal right now, is frankly retarded… So, how to store power for later usage? I figured I needed something like 12 hours of runtime, but more is always better (go big or go home) and easier on the batteries, since they won’t discharge as far (deep discharges are what kill batteries) Hmmm. Batteries. I know I have some deep cycle trolling motor batteries in the van, but lets see if we can solve a couple problems at once, since batteries don’t like to sit, and my bus has a pair of really big (1400cca!) batteries in it, that are not being maintained properly. so, I’ll pull them out of the warbusaur, and temporarily use them for this.
That my friends is a pair of Interstate Workaholic 1400cca 8d batteries… Amps: 1750 They are heavy (260 lbs!), and they aren’t deep cycle, but they are as industrial as they come, and will work fine for what we are doing here.
So after much herculean effort, I managed to pull the batteries, and get them on my trusty cart, and drag them the 150 feet or so to the front of the shop. A bit of work with a terminal shaper, and a scrub brush and some water, and they look as good as new.
In the depths of time there is a story about argyle pushing a 55,000 lb bus by himself… We were on our way back from Pennsic, and overnighted in a rest stop up in the rocky mountains. We awoke to 35 degrees outside, and the warbusaur won’t start. She turns over fine, but that 8v-71 jimmy diesel is just not having any of it. We were on flat ground, so I dropped it in gear, let out the clutch, and bumped it with the starter, the idea being that if I can get her to move a little, we can just roll down the mountain and pop start it on the exit road from the rest area… Well, when you walk a 55,000 lb scenicruiser about 50 feet on the starter, it creates a whole lot of current draw, and that in turn creates heat… The above is what happens when your battery cables get hot enough to melt their jackets off and melt into the battery case…
I can see the plates through the holes on one of these, so I need to do something about it… Duct tape is tacky, so I got out my trusty hot melt glue gun and did a bit of plastic welding… Hot melt glue is awesome stuff when you need to fill gaps and stick things together permanently. I am constantly using it for things.
This is the bigger of the two holes in the casing. you can actually see the lead plates through this one.
5 minutes later, the patch is done, and cooling down. after it cooled down I used a utility knife blade and shaved the patch down so it was flush with the rest of the case. Topped the cells up with distilled water, and put them on my 10 amp slow charger to see if they will take a charge (they should, but they are completely dead, so it may take a bit of cajoling) So now comes the fun part But I have a lot of random bits floating around the shop, and we may be able to come up with something a bit more… creative. This is one of those times I wish my solar panels were here, instead of sitting in Arizona waiting for me to buy them So I rummaged around the shop and came up with a pile of dead computer ups systems. Most dead ups systems aren’t actually dead. usually they work just fine, but the batteries are hosed. Most of them will have smart chargers in them, and handle the failover from mains (shore) power to battery backup, automagically, as well as do unattended shutdowns of attached equipment (with a bit of creativity). (although for this instance, I only need that if I’m running my workstation) So, lets see what we’ve got, shall we? +—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-=< |>=—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-+ Exhibit A: Powerware Prestige 1250p2 Capacity Looks promising so far…
*blink* Sad day, this won’t work for our needs, because I don’t have 5 batteries. Interesting design though, looks to be pretty well thought out. Notice the lack of a big transformer?
Upon further inspection, if I had 5 batteries this unit could probably handle it. Alas, I had to put it back on the “I’ll use it sometime” pile. We need something with a 12 or 24 volt rail. +—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-=< |>=—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-+ Exhibit B: Smart Power Systems SS1250RM That cold start ability is handy (although most ups’s, you can do the same thing by plugging them into themselves if you have to) Capacity: Nice. AVR is good, but most ups’s have that, (exhibit a does, because the output can be greater than the input for short periods according to the spec sheet) The run time and recharge numbers are nice, but for my purposes, I would expect to be drained down to more like 70%, and our batteries are so much bigger that it’s meaningless to us (except when comparing to other units) This is worth a look…
Hmmm… paydirt! Note the large transformer.
The charging circuits on this unit seem to reflect that aforementioned recharge time. The charging circuits here look pretty whimpy, especially compared to Exhibit A, and they may die if we put a real battery bank on it, but this unit will do the job. Lets keep looking… +—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-=< |>=—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-+ Exhibit C: American Power Conversion Smart-ups 650) This is a small, low end unit, but I know people that have used a car battery with one, so lets check it out.
12 volt rails, so we can use 1 battery, or 2 in parallel. This appears to be a pretty robust unit. 410 Watts is enough for my cell phone and laptop, but it won’t run my workstation. This unit works fine, but apparently apc decided to change their powerchute software and remove the old versions from the internet, because I can’t talk to the stupid thing to turn off the “hey!, I’m on battery power!” alarm. Setting it aside, Wrong tool for the job. +—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-=< |>=—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-+ Exhibit D: American Power Conversion SU3000RM Let’s pop the top and see what we have here..
This just makes me smile. This will do Errr. or not. 8 batteries in 2 series parallel banks of 24 volts each, for a 48 volt dc rail. so i need to buy 2 more batteries, or move on. The temptation to buy 2 more batteries is very very high…
I mean, just look at those transformers
Woot! it’s even got the smartslot card in it.
And that brings us to our last contestant… +—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-=< |>=—-=< \>=—-=< ->=—-==—-+ Exhibit E: American Power Conversion SU1400RM This is a similar design to the last unit we looked at, so here’s hoping
Pull the faceplate, Pull the battery Plug out…
Pull out the battery drawer…
60 amp fuses on the dc side of things, there are two of them, so that means series parallel
And this is what series parallel 24 volt rail wiring looks like
Like the other apc units we’ve seen so far, the build quality and the layout are well thought out. I think we have a keeper
Looking good so far
Nice, well thought out parts layout and cooling…
Mock it up for testing…
So far so good…
You can plug a lot of things into one of these. it’ll run your microwave or your coffee pot all day (The 3,000 va one will do both at the same time all day) Now I’m going to leave the ups unit charging the batteries all night and see if it blows up or not… Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter, The chance to hit the road is always one that I look forward to, and I very rarely turn down a road trip. Heading East, then South, Sunrise found me ticking off the miles on my way to the city of sin to meet up with my uncle and his lady for some door banging fender rubbing NASCAR craziness …and then I head a bit further south to pick up 1500 lbs of high tech old school engineering…
When my bus is done, I’m seriously going to start spending winters in Vegas and Arizona, because I’ll tell you, 70 degrees in the sun beats the crap out of the “it’s rained for 3 weeks straight and hasn’t gotten above 45 degrees in a month” that we deal with here for 6 months out of the year here in Washington…
I never back down from a weird parking challenge…
although I really detest backing up small trailers
This stuff is pretty heavy…
Packing round things in square spaces is always a bit of a pain, so I got a bit creative At below 55, aerodynamics don’t have nearly the effect on fuel economy that they do at high speeds, and while I figured it was going to be a 55mph slog home regardless, parts of this load needed to be “not flat”.
Add a very heavy chunk of cast iron and a couple heavy bags to the mix, and it made for an interesting game of tetris
and everyone needs a UFO strapped to the top of their trailer
The sunset as I crossed the Mojave desert on the way home was absolutely gorgeous
I suspect the pucker factor moment involving how low the fuel gauge will go, and what happens when the fuel economy computer tells you that you have “—” miles before you are stranded by the side of the road deserves a mention
We hit the rain just after grant’s pass, and it washed off the desert dust quite nicely…
No load shift anywhere, my +10 sanguine shades of Tetris are truly appreciated
Of course, it all got soaked, and the internal package padding is cardboard, so I’m going to have to unwrap it…
And this is what an unpacked, 20 foot in diameter yurt from [Pacific Yurts] looks like… The craftsmanship is top notch.
What is a yurt? well… Etymology and synonyms The Kazakh word used for yurt is киіз үй (transliterated: kïiz üy), and means “felt house”. The Kyrgyz term is боз үй (transliterated: boz üy), meaning “grey house”, because of the color of the felt. In Turkmen the term is both ak öý and gara öý, literally “white house” and “black house”, depending on its luxury and elegance. In Mongolian it is called a ger (гэр / ᠭᠡᠷ᠌). Afghans call them “Kherga”/”Jirga”. In Pakistan it is also known as gher (گھر). In Hindi, it is called ghar (घर), which means home. In Persian yurt is called xeyme (خیمه), in Tajik the names are yurt, xona-i siyoh, xayma (юрт, хонаи сиёҳ, хайма). Construction The frame consists of one or more lattice wall-sections, a door-frame, roof poles and a crown. Some styles of yurt have one or more columns to support the crown. The (self-supporting) wood frame is covered with pieces of felt. Depending on availability, the felt is additionally covered with canvas and/or sun-covers. The frame is held together with one or more ropes or ribbons. The structure is kept under compression by the weight of the covers, sometimes supplemented by a heavy weight hung from the center of the roof. They vary regionally, with straight or bent roof-poles, different sizes, and relative weight. A yurt is designed to be dismantled and the parts carried on camels or yaks to be rebuilt on another site. Enthusiasts in other countries have taken the visual idea of the yurt—a round, semi-permanent tent—and have adapted it to their cultural needs. Although those structures may be copied to some extent from the originals found in Central Asia, they often have some different features in their design that adapt them to different climate and use. In the United States and Canada, yurts are made using hi-tech materials. They are highly engineered and built for extreme weather conditions. In addition, erecting one can take days and they are not intended to be moved often. These North American yurts are better named yurt derivations, as they are no longer round felt homes that are easy to mount, dismount and transport. North American yurts and yurt derivations were pioneered by William Coperthwaite in the 1960s, after he was inspired to build them by an article about Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas’ visit to Mongolia. In 1978, Oregon-based company Pacific Yurts became the first to manufacture yurts using architectural fabrics and structural engineering, paving the way for yurts to become popular attractions at ski resorts and campgrounds. In 1993, Oregon became the first state to incorporate yurts into its Parks Department as year round camping facilities. Since then, at least 17 other US States have introduced yurt camping into their own parks departments. In Europe, a closer approximation to the Mongolian and Central Asian yurt is in production in several countries. These tents use local hardwood, and often are adapted for a wetter climate with steeper roof profiles and waterproof canvas. In essence they are yurts, but some lack the felt cover that is present in traditional yurt. Different groups and individuals use yurts for a variety of purposes, from full-time housing to school rooms. In some provincial parks in Canada, and state parks in several US states, permanent yurts are available for camping. Neat huh? So we hit Vegas again on the way back… and I kinda regret coming home. It’s warm there I’m beautiful in my way, ’cause god makes no mistakes, I’m on the right track, baby I was born this way… -stone Since my mother’s heart attack in march of 2010, and my adventure a day after they released her, I’ve been trying to keep my act together health wise. I’ve been doing a 5 mile fast walk most days, with the intent of keeping my heart rate up for at least 45 minutes, as I try to keep in compliance with the 200 minutes of exercise a week (or better) rule. I’ve got a nice route I do, lots of things to see and quite varied terrain. The first mile of it is all downhill, (can’t be helped because of where I live) which sounds nice and easy, but that means the last mile is all uphill. To be honest, I miss my roller skates. I’ve considered getting outdoor wheels for them, but quads and Washington weather don’t really work well together. Generally it’s been working. I’ve still got a sysadmin belly, which I blame on fast food and soda, but I’ve got my wind back and I physically feel better. I’ve had a lot of major upheavals in my life recently, completely derailing the balance of health, wealth, and relationships, that one needs to have to be happy. The past 8 months have been very hard, mostly due to events beyond my control, and the sheer amount of stress that I’ve been dealing with for the past couple years. Major Depression, lack of sleep, inability to focus, just to name a few. Considering who I am and the kind of things I do, this is a really bad sign. I was taking these supplements:
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Spring Valley, Enteric Coated, Fish Oil. (3600mg a day, 1080mg a day of omega 3) Fish oil has been studied for treating clinical depression, anxiety, and high blood pressure. Countries with the highest intake of fish in their diets are correlated with the lowest rates of depression among citizens. Several studies report possible anti-cancer effects of n−3 fatty acids found in fish oil (particularly breast, colon and prostate cancer). Omega-3 fatty acids reduced prostate cancer growth, slowed histopathological progression, and increased survival in genetically engineered mice. Among n-3 fatty acids (omega-3), neither long-chain nor short-chain forms were consistently associated with breast cancer risk. High levels of docosahexaenoic acid, however, the most abundant n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (omega-3) in erythrocyte membranes, were associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. In a recent study of 35,000 middle-aged women published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, those that took fish oil supplements were found to have a 32% lower risk of breast cancer, although the study authors stressed that the result was preliminary and that “we should not draw any conclusions about a causal relationship.” The US National Institutes of Health lists three conditions for which fish oil and other omega-3 sources are most highly recommended: hypertriglyceridemia, secondary cardiovascular disease prevention and high blood pressure. It then lists 27 other conditions for which there is less evidence. It also lists possible safety concerns: “Intake of 3 grams per day or greater of omega-3 fatty acids may increase the risk of bleeding, although there is little evidence of significant bleeding risk at lower doses. Very large intakes of fish oil/omega-3 fatty acids may increase the risk of hemorrhagic (bleeding) stroke.” Studies published in 2004 and 2009 have suggested that fish oil may reduce the risk of depression and suicide. One such study took blood samples of 100 suicide-attempt patients and compared the blood samples to those of controls and found that levels of Eicosapentaenoic acid were significantly lower in the washed red blood cells of the suicide-attempt patients. A small American trial, published in 2009, suggests that E-EPA, as monotherapy, might treat major depressive disorder, however the study achieved no statistical significance. According to a study from Louisiana State University in September 2005, fish oil may help protect the brain from cognitive problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease. A study examining whether omega-3 exerts neuroprotective action in Parkinson’s disease found that it did, using an experimental model, exhibit a protective effect (much like it did for Alzheimer’s disease as well). The scientists exposed mice to either a control or a high omega-3 diet from two to twelve months of age and then treated them with a neurotoxin commonly used as an experimental model for Parkinson’s. The scientists found that high doses of omega-3 given to the experimental group completely prevented the neurotoxin-induced decrease of dopamine that ordinarily occurs. Since Parkinson’s is a disease caused by disruption of the dopamine system, this protective effect exhibited could show promise for future research in the prevention of Parkinson’s disease. Evidence regarding the efficacy of fish oil supplements as a treatment for depression is currently inconclusive. Whereas several methodologically rigorous studies have reported statistically significant positive effects in the treatment of depressed patients, other studies have found effects to be small or insignificant. For example, an August 2003 double-blind placebo-controlled study published in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology found that among 28 patients with major depressive disorder, “patients in the omega-3 PUFA group had a significantly decreased score on the 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression than those in the placebo group.” Another study in the American Journal of Psychiatry reported that the addition of fish oil supplements to regular maintenance anti-depression therapy conferred “highly significant” benefits by the third week of the trial. Despite the conflicting scientific evidence for the efficacy of fish oil in treating depression, web searches reveal a large amount of anecdotal evidence for its alleged benefits. Notably, it does not appear that any peer-reviewed studies have reported negative effects on depressive symptoms as a result of fish oil supplementation. -
and :
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Spring Valley High Potency B Complex (one per day, in the morning) Promotes energy and metabolism. Recommended as part of daily regimen for health, stress, mood, and energy. Vitamin B-6 builds body proteins; riboflavin and niacin regulate antioxidant activity. Specially formulated to replenish the nutrients lost during high stress times. Vitamin B-1 (Thiamin Mononitrate) 50mg The Vitamin B Complex comprises of the essential B Vitamins – Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B9, Vitamin B12 plus the vitamins Biotin, Choline and Inositol. Vitamin B Complex is needed for the proper functioning of almost every process in the body. Energy Production Healthy Nervous system Good Digestion Healthy Skin, Hair and Nails -
They were working pretty well for me, so I started taking them when I climbed back in the saddle so to speak. Thing is, I couldn’t break the depression cycle, and the “spent 3 days in bed because I’m too depressed to do anything” thing really had to stop… So after much research, I went shopping today and picked up the following supplements:
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Natural Balance “happy camper” herbal formula (one per day, in the morning) A couple friends of mine swear by this stuff, so I figured I would try it. Basically, it’s a proprietary blend of: Kava Kava (root, rhizome) Eleuthero (root) Gotu Kola (aerial portion extract) Kola Nut (seed extract contains caffeine) Schizandra (fruit) Wood Betony (aerial portion) Lavender (flower) -
and:
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NOW Mood Support With St. John’s Wort. (one per day in the morning) “Mood Support is a nutritional supplement that contains both nutrients and herbal extracts that aid in the support of a healthy nervous system and a positive, balanced mood state.” Mood Support contains: -
Note that this adds a substantial amount of B complex, but it is *very* hard to overdose on B complex, as they are all water soluble. This means excess vitamins are expelled in the urine. I don’t know anyone willing to take 30 high potency b complex tablets at once, but, that’s what it takes to “overdose” and the only result would be bright yellow urine. So, while you can od on B complex, its only dangerous in people who are already allergic to one of the B vitamins. This works very well in conjunction with the “Happy Camper” mentioned above.
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NOW Melatonin (one per day, taken at bedtime) Dietary tryptophan is converted to 5-HTP, which in turn can convert to serotonin and then to melatonin. People with diets low in tryptophan or who lack darkness at night may have a functional deficit of serotonin and melatonin, making melatonin supplementation useful. Melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant that supports immune system function and is an antagonist to cortisol, the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Cortisol is partly responsible for many of the classic symptoms of chronic stress, including lack of sleep. Human melatonin production decreases as a person ages. Light dependence Antioxidant Recent research indicates that the first metabolite of melatonin in the melatonin antioxidant pathway may be N(1)-acetyl-N(2)-formyl-5-methoxykynuramine (or AFMK) rather than the common, excreted 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate. AFMK alone is detectable in unicellular organisms and metazoans. A single AFMK molecule can neutralize up to 10 ROS/RNS (reactive oxygen species/reactive nitrogen species) since many of the products of the reaction/derivatives (including melatonin) are themselves antioxidants. This capacity to absorb free radicals extends at least to the quaternary metabolites of melatonin, a process referred to as “the free radical scavenging cascade”. This is not true of other, conventional antioxidants. In animal models, melatonin has been demonstrated to prevent the damage to DNA by some carcinogens, stopping the mechanism by which they cause cancer. It also has been found to be effective in protecting against brain injury caused by ROS release in experimental hypoxic brain damage in newborn rats. Melatonin’s antioxidant activity may reduce damage caused by some types of Parkinson’s disease, may play a role in preventing cardiac arrhythmia and may increase longevity; it has been shown to increase the average life span of mice by 20% in some studies. Immune system Endogenous melatonin in human lymphocytes has been related to interleukin-2 (IL-2) production and to the expression of IL-2 receptor. This suggests that melatonin is involved in the clonal expansion of antigen-stimulated human T lymphocytes. When taken in conjunction with calcium, it is an immunostimulator and is used as an adjuvant in some clinical protocols; conversely, the increased immune system activity may aggravate autoimmune disorders. In rheumatoid arthritis patients, melatonin production has been found increased when compared to age-matched healthy controls. Dreaming Autism Current and potential medical indications Treatment of circadian rhythm disorders Taken 30 to 90 minutes before bedtime, melatonin supplementation acts as a mild hypnotic. It causes melatonin levels in the blood to rise earlier than the brain’s own production accomplishes. This usage is now commonly used in sleep and relaxation drinks. A very small dose taken several hours before bedtime in accordance with the phase response curve for melatonin in humans (PRC) doesn’t cause sleepiness but, acting as a chronobiotic (affecting aspects of biological time structure), advances the phase slightly and is additive to the effect of using light therapy upon awakening. Light therapy may advance the phase about one to two-and-a-half hours and a small oral dose melatonin, timed correctly some hours before bedtime, can add about 30 minutes to the advance achieved with light therapy. ADHD Mood disorders Cancer -
Yeah, so it’s been working so far Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 9:34 pm Health Rider Inversion Table System
I’ve also upped my mileage to 5 per day, I’ll probably leave it here for a while. Today I restocked my “Happy Camper”, “Mood Support” and Melatonin. I’m _not_ changing the Happy Camper, Mood support, or Omega 3 dosages at this time. I also made some other additions to my supplement routine.
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Spring Valley Natural C with rose hips 500mg (one per day, in the morning)
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and:
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Spring Valley Maximum Strength D3 5000 iu (one per day, in the morning) One of the most important roles of vitamin D is to maintain skeletal calcium balance by promoting calcium absorption in the intestines, promoting bone resorption by increasing osteoclast number, maintaining calcium and phosphate levels for bone formation, and allowing proper functioning of parathyroid hormone to maintain serum calcium levels. Vitamin D deficiency can result in lower bone mineral density and an increased risk of bone loss (osteoporosis) or bone fracture because a lack of vitamin D alters mineral metabolism in the body. Vitamin D has been studied as a potential treatment for osteoporosis, but since treatment of vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increase of mineralization of osteoid, it remains unclear whether vitamin D has any effect on osteoporotic bone. In cross-sectional studies there was a positive relationship between vitamin D and bone mineral density in the hip. Lips (2001) reported that bone mineral deficit in osteomalacia was larger than that in milder degrees of vitamin D deficiency. There is also a relationship between low bone mineral density and sedentary life style. This is evident in frail, elderly subjects because they are often vitamin D deficient and lead an inactive lifestyle. Lips (2001) also reported that mild vitamin D deficiency was not associated with an increased risk for hip fracture. A study done in Norway consisted of 246 patients with hip fractures who were studied for risk factors. Results showed that a vitamin D intake lower than 100 IU/day was associated with an increased risk for hip fracture. Vitamin D supplements may also increase bone mineral density in other parts of the skeleton. A study showed that a supplement of 800 IU per day of vitamin D increased the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine in postmenopausal women in comparison with the control group. Persons over the age of 50 years need higher levels of vitamin D. In a study discussed in LoPiccolo et al. (2010), adults who consumed a daily supplementation with 482–770 IU of vitamin D had reduced fracture rates of 20% for non-vertebral fractures. However, there was no reported reduction in fracture risk for persons who had 400 IU or less of vitamin D daily.
Immune system Vitamin D receptor ligands have been shown to increase the activity of natural killer cells, and enhance the phagocytic activity of macrophages. Active vitamin D hormone also increases the production of cathelicidin, an antimicrobial peptide that is produced in macrophages triggered by bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Suggestions of a link between vitamin D deficiency and the onset of multiple sclerosis posited that this is due to the immune-response suppression properties of Vitamin D and that vitamin D is required to activate a histocompatibility gene (HLA-DRB1*1501) necessary for differentiating between self and foreign proteins in a subgroup of individuals genetically predisposed to MS. Whether vitamin D supplements during pregnancy can lessen the likelihood of the child developing MS later in life is not known; however, vitamin D fortification has been suggested to have caused a pandemic of allergic disease and an association between vitamin D supplementation in infancy and an increased risk of atopy and allergic rhinitis later in life has been found. Veteran vitamin D researcher Hector DeLuca has cast doubt on whether vitamin D affects MS. Historically, vitamin D3 was used to treat tuberculosis patients, but has not been adequately investigated in controlled clinical trials. The hormonally active form of vitamin D3, 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25(OH)2D), has been shown to have antimycobacterial activity in vitro, but the applicability of this effect to clinical situations has not been shown. Vitamin D3 supplementations has not shown any improvement in treating tuberculosis except in a small subset of patients with the tt genotype of the TaqI vitamin D receptor polymorphism. Several studies have shown an association between low serum levels of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25(OH)D) and increased risk for both active tuberculosis disease progression and susceptibility. More prospective studies will be required to ascertain the potential role of vitamin D supplementation in treating patients with tuberculosis. Vitamin D3 has also shown some anti-HIV-1 effects in vitro, including the induction of autophagy. The potential effect in humans has not been investigated. Lower levels of 1,25(OH)2D in HIV infected patients are correlated with significantly lower CD4+ T cell counts and higher tumor necrosis factor levels, which normally decrease in number with progression to AIDS, although no causative association has been shown. In an epidemiological study of HIV positive women in Tanzania, there appeared to be a correlation between reduced levels of Vitamin D and speed of HIV disease progression. These results will need to be confirmed in a blinded clinical trial before dietary recommendations can be made. Influenza Lack of vitamin D synthesis is a possible explanation for high rates of influenza infection during winter however, see flu season for the factors apart from vitamin D that are also hypothesized to influence rates of infection during winter. For viral infections, other implicated factors include low relative humidities produced by indoor heating and cold temperatures that favor virus spread during winter. Cancer The molecular basis for thinking that vitamin D has the potential to prevent cancer lies in its role in a wide range of cellular mechanisms central to the development of cancer. These effects may be mediated through vitamin D receptors expressed in cancer cells. Polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Women with mutations in the VDR gene had an increased risk of breast cancer. A 2006 study using data on over 4 million cancer patients from 13 different countries showed a marked increase in some cancer risks in countries with less sun and another metastudy found correlations between vitamin D levels and cancer. The authors suggested that intake of an additional 1,000 international units (IU) (or 25 micrograms) of vitamin D daily reduced an individual’s colon cancer risk by 50%, and breast and ovarian cancer risks by 30%. Low levels of vitamin D in serum have been correlated with breast cancer disease progression and bone metastases. However, the vitamin D levels of a population do not depend on the solar irradiance to which they are exposed. Moreover, there are genetic factors involved with cancer incidence and mortality which are more common in northern latitudes. A 2006 study found that taking the U.S. RDA of vitamin D (400 IU per day) cut the risk of pancreatic cancer by 43% in a sample of more than 120,000 people from two long-term health surveys. However, in male smokers a 3-fold increased risk for pancreatic cancer in the highest compared to lowest quintile of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration has been found. A randomized intervention study involving 1,200 women, published in June 2007, reports that vitamin D supplementation (1,100 international units (IU)/day) resulted in a 60% reduction in cancer incidence, during a four-year clinical trial, rising to a 77% reduction for cancers diagnosed after the first year (and therefore excluding those cancers more likely to have originated prior to the vitamin D intervention). The study was criticized on several grounds including lack of reported data, use of statistical techniques and comparison with a self-selected (i.e. non-randomized) observational study that found long term convergence of breast cancer incidence (i.e. the cancer occurrence had merely been delayed) The author’s response provided the requested data, explained their statistical usage and commented that even if the vitamin D merely delayed the appearance of cancer (which they did not believe, based on other studies), that this was still a considerable benefit. In 2007, the Canadian Cancer Society recommended that adults living in Canada should consider taking vitamin D supplementation of 1,000 international units (IU) a day during the fall and winter. A US National Cancer Institute study analyzed data from the third national Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the relationship between levels of circulating vitamin D in the blood and cancer mortality in a group of 16,818 participants aged 17 and older. It found no support for an association between 25(OH)D and total cancer mortality. However, the study did find that “colorectal cancer mortality was inversely related to serum 25(OH)D level, with levels 80 nmol/L or higher associated with a 72% risk reduction (95% confidence interval = 32% to 89%) compared with lower than 50 nmol/L, Ptrend = .02.” Unlike other studies, this one was carried out prospectively — meaning that participants were followed looking forward — and the researchers used actual blood tests to measure the amount of vitamin D in blood, rather than trying to infer vitamin D levels from potentially inaccurate predictive models. A meta-study published in the International Journal of Cancer in May 2010 analyzed 35 independent studies of vitamin D and cancer. The researchers determined that a 10 nanogram/milliliter increase in serum vitamin D is associated with a 15% lower risk of colon cancer. The analysis also found an 11% lower risk for breast cancer, although the authors report that due to case study methodology that this finding is ultimately insignificant. A 2011 study done at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that low vitamin D levels among women with breast cancer correlate with more aggressive tumors and poorer prognosis. The study associated sub-optimal vitamin D levels with poor scores on every major biological marker that helps physicians predict a patient’s breast cancer outcome. The lead researcher stated, “Based on these results, doctors should strongly consider monitoring vitamin D levels among breast cancer patients and correcting them as needed.” Cardiovascular disease A report from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) involving nearly 5,000 participants found that low levels of vitamin D were associated with an increased risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD). The incidence of PAD was 80% higher in participants with the lowest vitamin D levels (<17.8 ng/mL). Cholesterol levels were found to be reduced in gardeners in the UK during the summer months. Low levels of vitamin D are associated with an increase in high blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. Numerous observational studies show this link, but of two systemic reviews one found only weak evidence of benefit from supplements and the other found no evidence of a beneficial effect whatsoever. There is a certain amount of evidence to suggest that dietary vitamin D may be carried by lipoprotein particles into cells of the artery wall and atherosclerotic plaque, where it may be converted to active form by monocyte-macrophages. These findings raise questions regarding the effects of vitamin D intake on atherosclerotic calcification and cardiovascular risk. Calcifediol (25-hydroxy-vitamin D) is implicated in the etiology of atherosclerosis, especially in non-Caucasians. Freedman et al. (2010) found that serum vitamin D correlates with calcified atheroscleratic plaque (CP) in African Americans, but not in Euro-Americans, “Higher levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D seem to be positively associated with aorta and carotid CP in African Americans but not with coronary CP. These results contradict what is observed in individuals of European descent.” One study found an elevated risk of ischaemic heart disease in Southern India in individuals whose vitamin D levels were above 89 ng/mL. A review of vitamin D status in India concluded that studies uniformly point to low 25(OH)D levels in Indians despite abundant sunshine, and suggested a public health need to fortify Indian foods with vitamin D might exist. The levels found in India are consistent with many other studies of tropical populations which have found that even an extreme amount of sun exposure, such as incurred by rural Indians, does not raise 25(OH)D levels to the levels typically found in Europeans. Mortality Using information from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey a large scale study concluded that having low levels of vitamin D (<17.8 ng/ml) was independently associated with an increase in all-cause mortality in the general population. However it has been pointed out that increased mortality was also found in those with higher concentrations, (above 50 ng/ml). A sophisticated August 2010 study of plasma vitamin D and mortality in older men concluded that both high (>39 ng/ml) and low (<18 ng/ml)) concentrations of plasma 25(OH)D are associated with elevated risks of overall and cancer mortality compared with intermediate concentrations. These boundaries were less than suggested by the Melamed et al. study of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data but the immunoassay used by National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey tended to overestimate vitamin D values. Overall, excess or deficiency in the calciferol system appear to cause abnormal functioning and premature aging. Complex regulatory mechanisms control metabolism and recent epidemiological evidence suggests that there is a narrow range of vitamin D blood levels in which metabolic functions are optimized. Levels above or below this natural homeostasis of vitamin D are associated with increased mortality. -
and:
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NOW 5-HTP “neurotransmitter support” 50mg (one per day, in the evening) 5-HTP has been studied and shown to be of benefit in the following conditions: depression, anxiety, binge eating associated with obesity, and insomnia. I’m going to walk softly with this, and if i don’t see any changes in a week I will probably stop taking it, as things like: “Direct and indirect evidence for possible yet unproven risks and side effects associated with 5-HTP when overdosed: Heart valve damage or disease (cardiac fibrosis). When combined with MAOIs or SSRIs, 5-HTP can cause acute serotonin syndrome.” Are warnings I do not take lightly. I feel comfortable with this at this time, as it is widely agreed upon that excess 5-HTP, especially when administered with Vitamin B6, is thought to be metabolized and excreted, and I’m taking *a lot* of B6. -
I’m also looking into:
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NOW L-Tryptophan 500mg (one per day, before bedtime) Serotonin (a neurotransmitter), synthesized via tryptophan hydroxylase. Serotonin, in turn, can be converted to melatonin (a neurohormone), via N-acetyltransferase and 5-hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase activities. Niacin is synthesized from tryptophan via kynurenine and quinolinic acids as key biosynthetic intermediates. Auxin (a phytohormone) when sieve tube elements undergo apoptosis tryptophan is converted to auxins. The disorders fructose malabsorption and lactose intolerance cause improper absorption of tryptophan in the intestine, reduced levels of tryptophan in the blood and depression. In bacteria that synthesize tryptophan, high cellular levels of this amino acid activate a repressor protein, which binds to the trp operon. Binding of this repressor to the tryptophan operon prevents transcription of downstream DNA that codes for the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of tryptophan. So high levels of tryptophan prevent tryptophan synthesis through a negative feedback loop and, when the cell’s tryptophan levels are reduced, transcription from the trp operon resumes. The genetic organisation of the trp operon thus permits tightly regulated and rapid responses to changes in the cell’s internal and external tryptophan levels. Dietary sources -
Since other than cheese, and the occasional ice cream, I avoid all dairy, and I have avoided all nuts for years, (although one would think that my intake of red meat, eggs, fish, and poultry would be enough). To take this one, It looks like I may have to drop the Mood Support, due to the potential for serotonin overdose when combined with St Johns Wort. so far, so good -stone ahh.. droid does indeed. so i did some digging, and found my answers… fresh. custom roms are everywhere for this phone, and it seems the primary customer complaint about the phone is that it’s slow, and sluggish, and there’s a bunch of sprint applications that auto start and run in the background that most people will never use… shame on sprint for making it so you have to hack root to uninstall any of it…. enter flipz and his posse of 31337 haxors, and the fresh rom. when i saw the list of what was removed… amazon mp3 i smiled, because i wanted all of that gone. then i looked at the list of stuff they added in… had me hooked at “wifi tether” so here we go… make a backup root your phone. grab the fresh rom (i’m running 2.4.0) from [here] and copy it to your sdcard. open your command prompt window, go to c:\droidsdk\tools type adb shell and hit [enter] select wipe data/factory reset. once it’s done, select “go back” to get to the main menu, and reboot system now. you should reboot into fresh. be patient, it may take a while. when the phone comes back up, set your google up right away, so it can sync your contacts while you’re messing with the rest of it. by the way, flipz removed sprint nav. enjoy note: these are the instructions for rooting android 2.x. android 1.5 rooting instructions are [here] so they forced a patch that plugged the root hole in android 2.1, so if you want to flash a custom rom, start by grabbing the pre patch rom [here] if you don’t have it yet, grab htc sync from [here] and install it plug your phone into your pc via usb cable. run the pre patch rom executable. follow the on screen instructions until you reboot. when the phone comes back up, it’s going to ask you about an update. tell it *no*, or you’re back where you started. the rest of this operation will require the android SDK (software development kit). extract the files to c:\droidsdk save yourself some pain and after you extract the files, make sure your tree looks like: c:\droidsdk\tools (and all the other folders) because it doesn’t unpack that way sometimes. on your phone, click menu > settings > applications > development and make sure usb debugging is turned on. plug your phone into your computer via usb. make sure that the connection type in the notification pull down is “charge only”. it should install the drivers automagically. once you have the SDK installed, open a command prompt (click start, click run, type cmd, hit [enter]) type cd \droidsdk\tools\ and hit [enter] it should reply with the serial number of your phone. if it doesn’t, reinstall the drivers. once you get the proper response from your command prompt, grab the root kit [here] and unzip it to c:\droidsdk\tools\ in your command prompt window: now we root it: type adb shell and hit [enter] it should reply with $ type sh /sdcard/unrevoked and hit [enter] it should give you a screen full of ascii text and a # prompt. go to your apps menu on your phone, you should see a “superuser” application. on your computer, in the command prompt window, type su and hit [enter] your command prompt should say: $ su now type flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img and hit [enter] your command prompt should say: # flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img type reboot recovery and hit [enter] your phone will now reboot into the recovery image you just flashed to it. in the recovery menu on your phone, choose “flash zip from sdcard” then select “boot-patched.zip” and press the home button to apply the changes. once Recovery says “install from sdcard complete”, you should probably make a nandroid backup… in the recovery menu, select “backup/restore” and then select “nand backup”. it saves the backup in /sdcard/nandroid/(your serial number)/ you need to disable the ota updates or you will lose root on the next update. that is done in your command prompt. type cd C:\droidsdk\tools and hit [enter] this does not prevent the updates from downloading, but they will fail their signature checks and will not install. welcome to root as my 42 minutes of silence (8:46 am – 10:28 am september 11) comes to a close, i am thankful for all of those in harms way… the ones who’s blood forms the thin red line that holds the evil of the world in check as best they can. thank you. |
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You know, to prevent Scurvy 
For many organisms (including humans), tryptophan is an essential amino acid. This means that it cannot be synthesized by the organism and therefore must be part of its diet. Amino acids, including tryptophan, act as building blocks in protein biosynthesis. In addition, tryptophan functions as a biochemical precursor for the following compounds (see also figure to the right):
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