Water-cooled Hackintosh!

I know this has nothing to do with traveling- but it's pretty awesome anyway.

I decided to build a "Hackintosh"...meaning, turn my PC in to a Mac! Why? Because I need a creative outlet...DUH!

And its water-cooled. Sweet.

My friend Dale and I built this computer for less than $150 in 2007 using an assortment of parts from a broken

Dell and things we could find at Bimart or in his garage. It recently sprung a leak and I ALMOST got rid of it. After replacing all the wet components, I took on the challenge of making my own Mac.

Here is what I have (and a guide to install OSX to your PC!)

Hardware:

-Pentium 4 HT 3.0 GHz (was running @ 3.66GHz)

-2 GB DDR

-Nvidia GeForce4 6600GT

-500GB HDD for Windows, 160GB for Mac.

-MSI motherboard…nothing fancy

AKA, this thing is OLD!

Water cooling:

-Waterblock by Danger Den

-Tupperware container as a reservoir

-Radiator is a transmission cooler from a Jeep Cherokee

-Various badges from old Jeeps for flare!

-Standard hose and fasteners from Home Depot.

-A fish tank pump stolen from Dale

-Various Jeep labels on the case. Just because.

Software:

Running Windows XP Crystal

MacOS X 10.5.1 Kalyway

How to install:

-BIOS settings need to be changed. This is a common source for continual reboots. I changed my power options to AHCI S3 because I used SATA. Different if you use IDE.

-You can use boot loaders, but since I had 2 hard drives, I use the BIOS boot menu to choose which to boot off. OS X will recognize my Windows drives and files no problem.

-Some single core CPU systems will need boot options here after installing. Make sure the install includes writing to the MBR. This is where I had to experiment with several command lines to get it to boot right. I chose “TOHKERNEL” and it worked without issues.

-Many Nvidia cards are supported, as are onboard AC97 sound cards. My USB wifi card needed a different driver, but works just fine. Anything with a Realtek chip in it should work.

-Comment if you want advice! My system works pretty well. Running Hulu or videos through iTunes are jumpy. Otherwise, my computer thinks it’s a really slow MacPro!

Look, ma! Two screens! And terminal!

The rest of Nicaragua

Hola!

Since I didnt have internet up in Santa Luz, I will do a long update here about my time with AMC and MTI in Nicaragua!

The roads were pretty well maintained on the way up to Santa Luz until the last half mile up to the compound that was 4x4 only. The first day we got settled in, met everybody (super friendly people!) and set up shop. Dr. Gregson and I repaired a rheostat, that controlled the air on one of the tools using a cut up rubber plunger and a leatherman.

Through the week, we saw patients of all ages, but mostly children. We performed general cleaning, and sealants on almost everybody, and did extractions and even reconstructed a smile of a 16 year old boy. He walked 8 miles there the first day with his young brother, and we asked him to come back after his cleaning to rebuild his two front teeth that had decayed due to a genetic condition that leaves his teeth without enamel. The before and after of his smile were incredible.

During the middle of the week, I was asked to go to local schools to help teach proper dental hygiene to students. I met with grade school and middle school aged students and used my friend, a bright yellow dog with large teeth and a large tooth brush and mirror to explain about brushing molars, the tongue, and gums. When we got there, the understanding was I would do the whole thing! So I learned vocab very quickly, brushed my teeth about 6 times that day, and had a blast with the kids using disclosing tablets (that show where you didnt brush.) Because of AMC, lots of these kids only have a toothbrush at school because they can brush when they get to school and when they leave. And school is generally a location for safe drinking water. This day, we also hiked to a waterfall down a creek! My waterproof shoes got wet from the inside, meaning it took the rest of the week to dry out.

It was in the upper 80s, 100% humidity, and the bugs were very large. But the folks were nice, the KIDS were SO disciplined. Rarely were there tears. They sat and had their teeth cleaned and were thankful. I was very impressed. Also with the 4wd of the truck we used to get around to the schools. Toyota Hilux trucks! The food was good, even though most of us had some sort of stomach problem, and the dry latrine was a real treat to use, as was the drip and pour method of the collected rainwater!

We had a great time meeting new friends, and playing Uno. I wish I could go back again. The people of Nica were so generous to us and really enjoy American visitors. If you ever have a chance to go, GO! We went to Granada on a tourist day, and we also saw some sights in Managua. Pretty sweet.

Shout out of all my friends and family who supported me through this adventure. Thanks for everything!!!

Utah 4x4 advice

After doing a lot of research and traveling a lot of the back country around Moab, Utah, I have a few pieces of advice to share.

1. We rented a 2010 Ford Explorer with low range 4WD and about 8.3 inches of ground clearance. We drove it down from Salt Lake City for use in 9 mile Canyon and a few other stops on the way. The SUV was very solid on the road, felt great even at 90 MPG and had so-so passing power. It was the 4.0L SOHC V6. We totally had enough power for rock crawling AND we averaged 21.3 MPG the whole trip. Not bad.

2. We first went to the south off-road trail in Moab and traveled it from South to North (not recommended.) The road was perfect for the Explorer and we put on the low range a few times with no problems. There was one spot that said it was impassable during the summer due to deep sand, but with some speed it was a lot of fun! The reason why they recommend North to South is the final .75 miles at Tower Arch between Salt Valley road. We got up the first two features (quite a challenge) and then saw the huge stair case. 16 inches of ground clearance IS needed for this section. I was told that a stock Wrangler and Tahoe did it, but scraped along the way. The drive is worth it for the tower arch and for the Eye of the Whale arch. Make sure and walk around or through Eye of the Whale. Looks way awesome!

3. We then drove the first few miles of the Colorado over look road in Canyonlands. It was raining very hard, so I had to go through a few deep pools (up to the doors) but otherwise the road was very easy. The rest of the road has 1 second to stairs that any stock 4x4 should be able to do with some good lines.

4. I drove to looking glass arch (worth the 4 miles total out of the way) and ran into deep sand after a heavy rain. This was a blast to do with the 4wd off, but I had to stick it on to get through a wash.

5. We drove up Onion creek for a while after a rain storm and the road was closed. This was a fun trail that I hope to complete at some point!

Moral of the story: If you want to do some light offroading, don't rent a Wrangler in Moab. There, they are $150 for a half day and there is a 150mile limit meaning no needles district for canyonlands. Our entire bill for the 4 days at Enterprise was $300 with unlimited miles. We were not stressed with trying to pack in a huge day of 4x4ing and the Explorer has very similar capabilities as a stock Wrangler.

Random Travel tidbit #1

If you are going to drive up to the top Mauna Kea on the Big Island, you do NOT need a 4wd vehicle. We did it in a Ford Fusion and it did just fine. On the way up, the ground was a little wet, but we took it slow and we managed to keep up with all the tour vans. There were a few spots where the traction control kicked on, just keep it at 10MPH and don't stop. We got there just in time for sunset and it was amazing. It is above the clouds, even on the rainy day we went up there. On the way down, we stuck it in low gear and used the hill decent control. Never had to touch the brakes. 4wd could come in handy if the road is super wet, but the steepest parts are all paved and well groomed at the top. Go slow and save money by using a fuel efficient car :) We saw 4-5 MPG going up the road due to lack of oxygen and high revving engine. Combined with the trip back down, we averaged 30MPG. Do the math.

Update!

I have returned to the USA, and will be writing updates here of my time when I was away from the internet :) hugs!

Nicaragua!

Hola de Nica!

So far, Nica is very warm, and humid, but it hasn´t rained much! The people are very friendly, and enjoy a red flavored soda that is awful. The hotel we are at is nice and the food is amazing. Mostly veggies, rice, beans and some sort of chicken or beef. Very good! And the driving is crazy, as expected. There are also alot of grafitti and governments signs supporting Daniel Ortega...everywhere. Read up on the history of him and Nicaraguan political movements, its quite interesting.

The first day we rested, but I was asked by a volunteer doctor to visit a clinic and act as a translator. She is a gynecologist who helped train doctors at a clinic for detecting cervical cancer. When she was here 2 years ago, it was very small, but now its scope is large and helps women´s health in many aspects, such as community education for STDs, domestic violence prevention, treatment for some cases of cancer, and legal representation. I had NO idea what most of the folks there were talking about because of the terminiology, but the doctor did so we were a good team together. It was a great experience the first day!

Today we went to AMC for our orientation; what an excellent organization! They provide great medical care for thousands, and taught us about the health care system here. After a nice lunch, we visited the cathedral, the old cathedral, some important government buildings, then went to the top of the city for a zip line tour. Freaking awesome! Learned alot about Nicaragua history and their revolutionary war.

Thats all for now! The computer and wifi were broken here, but I fixed the one computer with a working mouse so I could write this, and tell everyone thanks for their love and support! I leave tomorrow after church for the jungle where I will be staying on a coffee farm in a plantation and will not have internet access. Post comments or email me :)

Hugs,

Stephen

I'm back!

After a lengthy break from my travel blog, I decided to come back for my upcoming journey to Nicaragua and Guatemala. I will be traveling there to work with Medical Teams International on a trip supporting dental services to rural areas in the northern part of Nicaragua. I will be mostly translating for the dental team, but I will also clean some teeth I hope!

Stay tuned!

Aloha from Oahu.