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.

Wrapping up...

Hello from Corvallis.

I cannot believe all the great adventures and experiences that happened this summer have finally come to a close. It had been a dream to go to Tanzania for me for so many years, and actually going there to not only help others, but to go on Safari is one of the experiences I will not forget.

I am excited to use my research from my Tanzanian trip to continue to expand the sewing program and also to share my story with as many people who are willing to listen. I have posted the rest of my pictures on facebook, so comment away!

I have been so blessed with everything and I can't wait to travel again. Keep posted here for more travel stories

Cheers,

Stephen

Hello from Tanzania!

Hello all,

First of all, Tanzania has been one of the most incredible and different experiences of my entire life. It has opened my eyes to how most the world lives. I am in good physical health, and I have one more day until I go on Safari!

Don, Jenny, Carol and I have been traveling to local markets and micro-enterprises to research how business functions here. We have visited the country-side, local markets, and have met many many "Rafiki" who have introduced themselves as "Jambo Mzungu!" It is amazing to see the culture mixing between European influence, tribal influence, and pan-African influence.

It is hard to put into words what I have experienced here in Tanzania. I cannot wait to come home and show pictures to everybody. Our project research is progressing well, and we will have lots of time to digest what we have seen while we are on Safari.

I miss you all, and I look forward to seeing everyone when I come home this September.

Peace and love!

Stephen

It may be awhile...

It may be a few weeks before I write in this again...

Italy has been amazing, but my feet hurt so much from walking. I have massive blisters, but I have met some awesome people here and now I have some new facebook friends!

Amsterdam is my next stop tomorrow, but their internet is about 6€ per hour...then internet in Tanzania can be come and go so I will update again when I can.

I will see everyone in Oregon VERY soon :-)

-Stephen

Update!

Update from Italy...

I am sitting here in the most active and social hostel in the world in Florence, Italy. Rome was AMAZING and I saw everything. The highlights were the Pantheon, the Vatican, the Forum and all of Ancient Rome, and going to a small part of Malta in downtown. I met lots of cool people and went on a pub crawl and had a great time practicing my spanish, german, and even french! How crazy...

So now in Florence, I walked so much that I blistered my feet...but it was worth it, this place is totally awesome! I am going to the Cinque Terre tomorrow for some swimming, eating and just overall intake of the natural beauty of the place. After that, I am going to meet with some friends in Rimini then go to San Marino!

Then Amsterdam

Then TAZANIA!!!!!!

w00t,

Stephen

Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland

Danke für viele großen sachen...

Tomorrow morning at 11am, I will leave Germany for an amazing Italian holiday in Rome (Aug 12-13,) Florence (14th,) Cinque Terre (15th,) Pisa (15th,) Bologna (16th,) Rimini (16th) and San Marino (16th.) I will be leaving one of my favorite places in the world, with no plans on returning any time soon.

I always knew after my past trips to Europe that I would always go back to Germany, at least for a few weeks. It is weird thinking that I have no solid plans to return. As my life permits less traveling, it will be harder to come back and live like I am now in this place. I have met so many amazing people and I will miss them all.

Thank you Germany for everything. Bis Bald.

PS, Venice was amazing, please check facebook for pictures! I walked around, met some cool people, paid too much for food, saw some amazing colors on churches and with the sunlight on the water, and of course went on a Gondola ride...

The links to my facebook pictures are in the previous post...

I will be away from the internet while I am in Italy. I will try to answer emails when I get the chance to, but it is possible that you will not hear from me until Sept. 2nd when I am back from Africa in the USA. My time in Italy ends on Aug. 17th when I fly to Amsterdam, then I fly on the 19th to Arusha, Tanzania via Kilimanjaro International Airport. 5 days of work, 6 days of Safari, then 2 days of wrap-up in Africa will put me back in the US on the 2nd...That's if I survive the 20 hours of travel on the way home :-)

Much love,
Stephen

On the road again!

Hey all,

I will be away from the internet from Thursday morning until Sunday evening. I might go to an internet cafe while I am away...so leave me comments here, on facebook or via email (stephenmhodges@gmail.com)

During this time, I will be first traveling to Lichtenstein for an afternoon...then to Venice. I will spent Friday-Sunday in Venice exploring and relaxing. It should be nice weather and we have a native Italian going with us...so we are bound to not die! We get to take the CLS the whole way through some nice Swiss roads, and I get to drive too :-)

Venice is going to be great! After Venice, I come back to Karlsruhe for Sunday night and Monday; then leave Tuesday morning for Rome...

I get to see some friends who are coming to visit me before I leave Germany for good. It is strange knowing I have no future plans to come back (at least for a few years.) For the past 3 years I have always known I was going to be in Germany soon. Now that I am leaving, I am not sure when I will be coming back here to see my friends I have met here. The hardest part about this whole trip is saying goodbye to all my coworkers and friends I have met. Its awesome to meet people and revisit them, even if you only get to meet them a few times, but it is always hard to say "see you later this decade." Germany has been a very good place to me, and Karlsruhe finally feels like home. I know the streets, where good bars are, where to eat, etc.

Germany, I think you are amazing. I will miss you.

I miss my friends in Oregon too. But Germany will always have a special place in my heart.

Auf Wiedersehen,

Stephen

PS For photos, here are the links to my facebook albums. You do not need an account to view them:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2139238&l=f1902&id=19711067

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2134545&l=369e8&id=19711067

My Project is DONE! *Warning, long post!*

With 4 days of work left at Daimler AG, I have finished my work. I have three more days here to have ‘essen partys’ and to spend time with my friends who have helped me learn so much about German, life, and working in the real world. These weeks flew by and I cannot believe I am done! I worked very hard on my project and I hope it helps improve the communications for all the people I promised it would J

This weekend was one of the best of my life! On Friday, I traveled with Lesley to the Lugswiegburg castle just north of Stuttgart. It was pretty even though we were too late to walk in. After this, we had Chinese food on the main walk of downtown Stuttgart. I knew it was going to be a great night after the first things I saw where 2 Mercedes McLaren SLR’s, several AMG CLS, CL, and G classes at the parking structure we were in.

I had contacted everyone I knew who was going to be in Stuttgart a few weeks before I was there to see if I could set up a fun filled night. I invited some friends I had met in Spain, some friends from OSU, and some other family friends. My two friends Scott and Tim from OSU who were traveling in the area from Sweden arrived, along with my friend Julian who I had met while traveling in Granada. And, of course, none of the ladies who I invited showed up!

The night started at an outdoor bar where we spent several hours being too shy to go up and talk to people. We then tried to find a club to get in to, but we found nothing who would allow us in, so we went back and finally met some people! We then went to a bar that let everybody in and just hung out and listened to ‘Oldies American Music.’ Haha! It was a great night for certain.

Then on Saturday, I achieved Nirvana in the Mercedes Museum of Stuttgart. I believe it was seeing the T80 top speed car that made my life complete! Check my facebook for pictures, or email me if you want the link to the photo album. It was amazing though!

That night, after being out the night before until 5am, I decided to head home early. Too bad my family here had other plans for me! Another 2am night just hanging out and being rained on…

Then Sunday, I went to Europa Park themepark and rode their Silver Star roller coaster that is supposed to imitate the ride of an SLR. It sure did! It was a bit stressful seeing as I was with non themepark professionals as myself who wanted to take their time between rides, walk slow, and shop. I really enjoy utilizing the money I already spent to get in rather than spending more, haha. We ended up going on a nice group of rides and such…it turned out to be sunny too so that was excellent!
THEN
We had dinner in France! I drove there too. Such small effin’ roads for a R class to navigate. Especially in the parking lot in the center...wow my bomb parking skillz really came in handy for sure! We found a nice restaurant near their Cathedral (My second favorite in the world) and had some amazing food! It was strange to see signs that I could understand and read instead of the confusing German ones. I spoke French a few times, but it was terrible of course…but at least I tried! It was one of the most relaxing nights ever…

Now I have two day of work this week, followed by my trip to Venice (seeing Lichtenstein on the way, Zurich on the return trip) until Sunday, then I have my last day of work next Monday, then I fly to Rome for two day, Florence, Cinque Terre, Rimini, San Marino…

Then Amsterdam, meet with Don and Jenny, then TANZANIA. Its getting so close that I have to start taking my anti-malaria meds.

I am very excited to ship home half of my cloths and my computer and just backpack with the few things I need for Africa and my other travels.

…and to get rid of my effing computer. It decided that it likes to give me the Blue Screen of Death now…but not just any screen, a very specific screen that says

‘***Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity check /Memory parity error
***The system has been halted***’

I love computers. After this error, it does not turn on at all. I found that if I take the battery and the BIOS battery out for 5 minutes, it will think its okay again. Very easy short term solution…good thing I have a work laptop!

Also, I freakin’ told HP that there was a hardware error last winter when I got the sucker. They said software. I rock. I really hope the hard drive does not go because I have stored about 4 GB of photos on it so far…

Anyways, later all!

-Stephen
Author of ‘the longest blog ever’

Final travels this summer

Here is my final travels before I come back to Oregon:

August 1-2: Stuttgart to visit OSU and German friends and see the Porsche and Mercedes Museums and a castle along the way.

August 7-10: Drive to Venice and see possibly Zurich and Liechtenstein on the way...

August 12-17: Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, San Marino, Rimini

August 18: Amsterdam

August 19-September 2: Arusha, Tanzania and Safari...

:-)

Prayers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7527971.stm

"Deadly gun rampage in US church"

Some things in life I will just never understand.

Unitarian churchs are very respecting institutions that welcome everybody no matter who they are or what their customs are. Apparently somebody did not like Christians loving ALL PEOPLE as God instructs specifically.

Jesus answered, The first and principal one of all commands is: Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord; And you shall love the Lord your God with all your soul (your Life) with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment. The second is like it and is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

Mark 12:29-31

Love your neighbor as yourself. Everybody; always.

Please pray for those who have passed during this shooting and also for acceptance of differences over all the world

Football and moving

So it is official! I want to get back into playing football again (soccer) I played today twice with Germans and Italians and I kicked some serious tail :-) Doesn't matter that they were still in high school...but hey! I didnt know I still had it in me! Time for more rec-league at OSU!

So the Nardini's (the family I live with) and I are moving out of the house and into a hotel for the last remaining weeks here in Germany. I can't believe my time here in running out. The movers come tomorrow morning and we leave on Tuesday from an empty house. I hope the hotel has internet!

I am officially leaving Germany for the last time for a long while on August 12th, 2008. It will be weird knowing that I wont come back to any of this ever again. It will be weird knowing I wont come back to Germany anytime soon. After finding my own way home from the main station yesterday, I feel like this place is finally feeling a bit like home.

I am going to meet up with my friends from OSU in Stuttgart on Friday! That should be fun. I also have a friend who I met in Spain that lives there that will join us. Its going to be one great night and I get to see a castle on the way there and the Mercedes muesum on the way home! Should be a nice weekend! Then after my final week of work, I might fly to Finland...we will see how things go!

August 12th, I fly to Italy to see friends in Rome, then go to Florance, Cinque Terre and Venice. August 17th back in Amsterdam, then August 19th to Africa! Time is just flying...

So thats my life! Much love from here...

Randy Pausch and my bad luck

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7526743.stm

RIP Randy Pausch

I did not know Professor Pausch, but I did see his famous lecture that he shared over his personal webpage and over youtube. Look for it...its called "last lecture" and it is an amazing piece of broadcasting that touched my life.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nwO7EnM0zWM

Randy was an incredible man who lead a nice life but was sadly killed by cancer today, July 25th, 2008. He was only 47. He did nothing except for help people and teach not only computer science, but good moral ethnics and life lessons. It is people like Randy that remind me to stay up all night working for the Relay for Life, and do my part to stop cancer once for good.

Otherwise, I am in a pretty good mood from having a nice relaxing weekend. I saw another technical museum and seeing a very nice town called Speyer, and also see the castel of Heidelberg. More english than german there...

I have the worst luck when it comes to social gathering planning. There have been so many times here in Germany, and even a few times in the USA when friends have a party or something planned for an evening then I try to come along and it NEVER happens. Something weird happens that prevents such party from taking place, or prevents me or my friends from joining. Tried to go out tonight, and of course, I was on my way home before I could even hear the dance music...

Anyways, Party on!

My office, Alps, Italy

Hey look...its my office! Nice the nice window view, the 2 L water bottle, the excellent organizational system and the double monitors! w00t Okay, so thats what I stare at all...more the window and not my colleague Hanspeter! I have two more weeks left as of next week and I cannot believe it! Time has flown by but I finally have some closure to my project...and I get to start that on Monday!

As for this weekend, my plans for the Alps have been cancelled because the weather is too unpredicible and I want to hang around here to help the Nardini's move. I get to hang out with Marc-Andre again, so that should be fun! We are going to another technik museum and then Heidelberg to the day on saturday. Should be fun!

Nice and relaxing weekending is just what I need. After this weekend, I am going to see some friends in Stuttgart (both from OSU and my other European travels) then see the Mercedes museum and a castle. Then the last weekend probably just say goodbye to friends and lounge...

But THEN I am going to Italy! August 12-17 I will be in Rome, Florance, Cinque Terre, and Venice. Then I fly straight to Amsterdam to meet with Don and Jenny then to Tanzania...w00t

Good day all!

Daily routine and pictures!

Hey again...

So I finally have a daily routine that is keeping me busy through these days here in Germany:

630-wake up
730-drive to work
800-start work
1215-lunch
1540-drive home
1800-go on at least 5km run through the hills
1930-dinner
2100-top gear
2300-sleep

then do it all over again!

I would like to make a shout out to Eric Lider and his coaching skills helping me to keep in good running shape for all these years. Ran a really hilly 5k today in just over 20:00...not bad for an old timer like me :-)

And here is a link to pictures on my facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2134545&l=369e8&id=19711067

or just click here

Enjoy!

Stephen