Is You Geeked Up? | Technology Blog for the Computer Geek | isyougeekedup.com

Back in February, eBay decided to raise fees for all auctions. They didn’t outright tell us they were raising fees, they left that to fancy tables with percentages. What eBay did do, however; was convey the image that eBay was lowering insertion fees attempting to blind us from the obvious final value fee increase. See my post from January for more background information on this controversy.

Beginning on September 16, 2008, eBay is raising fees in the same manner, yet again! They attempt to blind you by first telling you that insertion fees are being lowered to $.35 and $.15 (depending on the category), but they left out the fact that final value fees are rising in the email they sent out to all sellers today. Nowhere in the email notification does it tell you that final value fees are rising. You have to do some digging to get to the charts. Here they are below:

You’ll notice that these fee changes are different from the changes in the past.  While eBay has somewhat decreased the final value fees by .5% for some categories, most categories are having their fees hiked up.  For example, look at the last row in the second table.  From 3.5% to 9% for the initial $50.01- $1,000!  That’s more than a 200% increase!

To dig even deeper, let’s take a look at exactly how much this will impact sellers.  For example, say I sell a digital camera on eBay with a price of $500.  Under the current fee scheme, the fees would be:

50 * .0875 = 4.375

450 * .0375 = 16.875

Total = $21.25

Now, if we sell the same $500 camera, the fees under the new scheme would be:

50 * .08 = 4

450 * .045 = 20.25

Total = $24.25

That’s a $3 increase between the new and old fee scheme.  $3 may not sound like a lot, but over time it all adds up.  Not only does it all add up, it adds up in eBay’s favor.  Even though they are losing a maximum of ~$.38 (cents) per auction closing under $50, they are making up for it with all of the higher priced listings.  Not only that, eBay also gets a second cut of the pie from Paypal, which is owned by eBay.  After Paypal and eBay fees, you’re looking at almost a 10% overhead just for fees!  When will the madness stop?

It’s only sometime until Google comes out with their own auction site and hopefully it is soon.  They already have Google Checkout, so hopefully they’re well on their way.  For now, I’m sticking to Craigslist and local social networking sites to get my stuff sold.  That way, I get cash in my hand and don’t have to worry about the outrageous fees from Paypal and eBay!

I recently go a hold of some of the new Magpul polymer magazines dubbed “PMags”.  These magazines are made out of an extremely lightweight, yet strong polymer and holds 30 rounds.  PMags were designed to be mass produced quickly without leaving quality behind.

One of the first things you’ll notice about a PMag is the shape and texture.  These magazines have slightly less curvature than their G.I. issue counterparts and are textured differently as well.  The strength is unbelievable; there’s no way I’m breaking one of these.  One person on YouTube has actually ran over a fully loaded PMag with a Chevy truck, then loaded the magazine, and fired every round without a hitch.  That’s got to say something about its strength.

Hand loading rounds into the magazine is much easier than with standard G.I. issue mags.  You don’t have to put nearly as much pressure on the spring to get it to compress.  With the G.I. mags, the spring is fairly strong and it can get tiresome or annoying after loading hundreds of rounds.  I also like the base of the magazine; it makes it easier to get a good grasp for removal/reloading purposes.

I haven’t fired any rounds out of these new PMags since I haven’t been to the range yet.  However, I beleive they perform flawlessly, at least that’s what many other people in the AR 15 community have observed as well.  With an internet price of about $13-15, PMags are fairly cheap to stock up on and a definite buy.

UPDATE: I have been to the range a few times and have tested these magazines.  Out of the 5 I received, all have worked flawlessly.  Due to the prices of .223, I haven’t put a ton of rounds through each magazine, but there’s still a good 300 rounds that have been fed by each magazine.

The "Big 3" is a very easy mod to your car’s electrical system that will help it maintain higher voltages for more power hungry amplifiers. If you’ve ever measured your voltage drop when playing music with the volume to the max with your engine running, you’ll see that instead of reading 14.4v or 13.8 (depending on car), your voltmeter will read 13v, 12v, or even lower! You can easily tell if you’re experiencing these voltage drops by watching your headlights. If they dim while playing your system, you most definitely have voltage drop going on.  This voltage drop could potentially cause harm to your amp if it is significant enough.  I had a Treo SSX 1500.1 blow because I was letting my voltage drop to about 9-10v, which the amp didn’t like very much.

What causes this problem are the stock, small gauge wires used to connect various electrical components. The stock wire is usually 8 gauge, which is sufficient enough for roughly 50 amps. Large amplifiers can pull up and over 200-300amps, so now you see the problem.

When doing this mod, 3 runs of wire will need to be installed. They are:

1. Battery positive (+) to alternator - From the positive terminal on your battery to the alternator positive (+) post
2. Engine block to chassis ground - From engine block to chasis. This is to strengthen the ground.
3. Battery ground (-) to chassis ground - From the negative terminal on your battery to your car’s chassis.

Here’s a picture of the "big 3" when completed. The colored lines correspond to the colors of the description listed above.

I recommend using 1/0 gauge wire. You could use 4 gauge wire if that’s all you have laying around, but you might as well use 1/0 the first time so you won’t have to go back if you decide to upgrade your system later on down the road. The wire I used was Knu Konceptz 1/0 Kollosus Kable You will also need 1/0 ring terminals to terminate the ends of the wire.

Before you do anything, make sure to be safe. Disconnect the wire from the negative terminal of your battery before you begin. This makes an incomplete circuit and keeps you safe from sustaining electrical injuries.

First, measure a length of wire to go from your battery positive (+) terminal to your alternator.  Make sure to leave a little bit of slack, around 6 inches, so you’ll be able to position the cable freely.  Terminate the ends of the cable with ring terminals, then connect the wire from battery positive (+) terminal to your alternator.  There may be a plastic tab on the alternator post.  If there is, go ahead and break it off; it’s what I had to do.  If you don’t remove the plastic tab, you won’t be able to remove the nut off of the terminal post.  Here’s a closeup pic of the run of wire at the alternator.

Adding a fuse to go in between the battery positive (+) and the alternator is highly recommended, but not necessary.  There is a small chance that the wire will come lose and short out, but it’s a chance some people do not want to take.  On the contrary, I have had no problems in the 2 years I’ve had the big 3 installed while running an unfused wire.

The next step is to run a wire from your engine block to your car’s chassis.  This step may be difficult because you may have a hard time finding a place on the engine block to attach your wire.  Look for a non-essential bolt; do not use a bolt that holds fluids back.   Below is a close up pic of where I attached my run of wire to my engine block:

From there, you then need to attach the other end of the wire to your chassis ground location.  This ground can be anywhere on your car’s chassis/frame, but make sure that you have metal-to-metal contact with the terminal and your ground location. A good start is to follow your stock ground wire back to its grounding location.  If there is paint on the ground location you have chosen, you must sand it off until it is bare metal to ensure minimal electrical resistance.  Below is another closeup picture, this time it is showing the ground point I used for both the engine block, as well as the battery ground.

The location is a little rusty, but you can see how I sanded off the paint until it became bare metal.  The rust is because of time; I did this big 3 installation about 2 years ago.  To prevent rust, use a rust inhibitor product around the contact points.

Lastly, the final step is to run a wire from your battery’s ground (-) terminal to the ground location on the chassis.  Measure the wire and be sure to leave a little slack in case you need it.  Then terminate the ends with ring terminals and attach one end to the negative terminal and the other to your grounding location on your chassis (as seen above).

Once you have made the new, beefier battery ground, you can cut off, disconnect, do whatever you want to the stock ground wire because it is not needed anymore.  When you think you’re finished, go ahead and double check all of your connections making sure that they are snug and tight.

That’s it!  The "Big 3" is now finished.  You should notice a difference in voltage when playing your system at max volume.  Before I did this upgrade, my voltage was at about 10v under heavy load.  After doing the "Big 3" upgrade, my voltage under heavy load was stabilized at about 11v.  Quite a large difference for how much you spent on the wire and terminals.  That’s why the "Big 3" is considered the first electrical upgrade you should do to ensure consistent power to your amplifiers.

If anybody has any questions, leave a comment and I will leave a prompt answer.

In my experiences, many newbies think they need a capacitor installed along with their amplifier and subwoofers because of the reason that a capacitor will provide power when the amp needs it. Here’s the problem: The amp always needs power, and whatever “extra” power it needs will be sucked out of your capacitor in milliseconds. After you have discharged the capacitor due to heavy power draw, the capacitor will need to recharge.

How does it recharge? Well, the capacitor sits in between your battery and your amplifier. Once the capacitor is discharged, it will attempt to charge itself by drawing power from your battery. Then, when the amp needs power, the capacitor will supply current from the battery as well as any “extra” current it has saved up. Once its discharged, the vicious cycle continues.

Most common car audio capacitors are rated at 1 farad, while I’ve seen some reach as high as 5, 10, 20, and higher. No matter how high the rating, a capacitor will still hamper performance. This is because capacitors cannot supply the needed current for any extended duration of time. When your amplifier needs current, it will suck the capacitor dry in less than one second, leaving your capacitor to use your battery to charge up again. Once the capacitor is charged, that extra current can then be transferred onto the amp.

See where I’m going now? If a capacitor can only hold a charge for less than one second, while drawing substantial amounts of current from your battery in an attempt to charge back up while delaying power the amp, then what is the point? There is none. Capacitors are known in the car audio community as a marketing ploy to make people think they need something, when in reality, they really don’t. Take your money and invest it in a second battery. A capacitor these days runs between $50-$80. Add a few more dollars and you can get a second battery, which will supply your amplifier with much more power than a capacitor ever could, while not straining your electrical system.

After seeing a deal posted on Slickdeals.net for the 24″ Soyo Pearl LCD monitor for $229, I immediately ran out to Office Max. They had this monitor in stock, so I picked up two.

At first, both monitors had one stuck pixel each. After about a week, some random pixels (hundreds of them) started to “spaz” out and only flash a teal color. I ended up exchanging those two monitors for another two monitors, hoping that I won’t have this same problem again.

I got home and immediately hooked them up via DVI cable. The Soyo’s ended up being perfect. No dead or stuck pixels anywhere, although one of them has a small amount of back light bleeding at the bottom of the screen, but it is not apparent unless the screen is completely black.

For the price I paid, I cannot complain at all. The colors are absolutely beautiful once you adjust the color settings. Both monitors were a little too bright out of the box, so I turned down the birghtness about 5-10 notches. Another thing I noticed was that both monitors (and the previous two I returned) had too much red in the picture, so I had to turn down the red about 10-15 notches. Once the adjustments were made, the quality blows my old Westinghouse 22″ LCD monitor out of the water. Not only is the response time noticeably quicker, but the colors are not as dull. Oranges are extremely vibrant while the greens have a much “deeper” look. The Soyo 24″ has an advertised 2ms response time, which I believe is true. When playing Call of Duty 4, the difference between 8ms (my old Westinghouse 22″) and 2ms (the new Soyo 24″) is so noticeable, it took me a few days of getting used to and it has improved my game play by a slight bit.

Having two 24″ LCD monitors helps out productivity immensely. Rather than having one monitor and trying to put two windows side by side, use two monitors which will allow you to view both windows in their full size. One caveat of trying to view multiple windows with one monitor is that the resolution is too low. You’ll find your screen getting cramped and even if you do have a large LCD, such as a 22″ which displays 1680 x 1050 resolution, you still won’t be able to view multiple items without cramping the windows and therefore, messing up the formatting (such as web pages).

Now, even though the Soyo sports a TN panel, I wouldn’t shy away from it just because of that. My Westinghouse 22″ LCD also used a TN panel and with the continuing development of technology, it’s blatantly apparent that the TN panel has improved. I’ve seen top quality Dell MVA and IPS panels and I have to say, the TN panel in the Soyo comes extremely close. With the fact that the Soyo is about 50% cheaper, the choice is clear.

I received my CMMG AR-15 14.5″ midlength upper receiver this past Saturday from Evil-Black-Rifles.com. Don’t worry, the website looks a little shady/primitive, but the service is good. I received the upper in a little over a week after I had placed my order. They also seemed to be the only one to have the particular model I wanted in stock. This upper is a complete upper receiver, which means it has all the parts already installed and all you need to do is pin it to your lower receiver.

The main reason I chose the CMMG upper was because of its features and price. The complete upper ran $550, not a bad deal and right at the price point of other close mid-level competitors such as Bushmaster, Stag, DPMS, etc. What sets CMMG apart is its mid-level price with high-end features. Here is the one single thread that helped me the most in deciding exactly which brand to get:

“So you want to buy an AR-15, huh” @ Officer.com forums

Some of the more notable features include:

Chrome lined barrel, 4150 steel
1:7 twist
M4 Feedramps
5.56 Chamber

The chrome lined barrel helps in preventing rust and prolonging the life of your barrel, with the disadvantage of reducing accuracy very subtly vs a stainless steel barrel. On the flip side, chrome lined barrels are very easy to clean and don’t need to be cleaned as often. 4150 steel is higher grade, mil spec steel used in combat rifles given to our troops in Iraq. Some mid-level brands use 4140 steel, a slightly lower quality.

The 1:7 twist allows the rifle to shoot heavier rounds. The original M16 had a 1:12 twist which would only stabilize rounds up to about 55gr. A 1:9 twist barrel (like most mid-level companies offer) could allow you to shoot heavier 75 and 77gr rounds, but the stability is iffy from brand to brand. However, the 1:7 twist will stabilize the heavier rounds just fine which makes it perfect for anti-personnel/home defense rounds.

M4 feedramps are debatable as seen in the forum post I linked to. I’m right on target with the author of the post, “if they will prevent one stoppage in 1k rounds, and cost ME nothing extra, I want them.” However, if you end up finding a good deal on an upper without M4 feedramps, don’t let it be a deal breaker. Many people have reported no problems without M4 feedramps, but if you’re getting a new rifle, why not get the latest tech?

A 5.56 chamber will let the AR-15 shoot .223 as well as hotter 5.56 rounds. On the contrary, you should not be shooting 5.56 out of a .223 rifle. This is because 5.56 rounds are loaded to higher pressures than standard .223. If you were to shoot 5.56 out of a .223 rifle, you could potentially damage the weapon. The advantage of 5.56 vs .223? For the most part, accuracy is slightly better with the 5.56 and the velocity is slightly higher. Bottom line: I want to be able to shoot hotter loads should I need the stopping power in case of emergencies like a home invasion, WWIII, 2012, zombies, etc Better to be safe than sorry and better to have it and not need it rather than to need it and not have it.

The linked forum thread at Officer.com should help you a whole lot in deciding which upper to get. I’d advise you to look through the different brands, weigh the pro’s and con’s, price and performance, then make your decision. However, if you’ve got tons of cash and want the best, just get a Colt.

Here is my completed AR-15 rifle

DPMS lower receiver with DPMS lower parts and DPMS 6 position stock
CMMG 14.5″ midlength upper receiver with permanent phantom flash hider
YHM A2 flip up rear sight (known as a BUIS - backup iron sight)

Lately, I had taken up a growing interest in firearms and decided to purchase an AR-15. I’m kind of a cheap-o, so I went with the DIY route. Basically, the AR-15 is divided up into two parts - the lower and upper receivers.

The lower receiver is made up of 3 main items:

1) Stripped lower receiver - basically a hunk of metal with holes and openings, no moving parts
2) Lower Parts Kit (LPK) - contains all the parts you’ll need to complete the lower and assemble the trigger, trigger guard, hammer, magazine catch, and bolt catch
3) Stock - these all vary in styles, from fixed A2 style to 6 position collapsible stocks

I found my DPMS stripped lower receiver at a local gunshow. I would strongly recommend that you check out a gun show before ordering online/locally. Usually, there are some decent deals around and you won’t have to pay the FFL transfer fee as you would if you bought it online. By the way, the only part that is regulated by the government is the stripped lower receiver. This means that background checks and laws apply to lower receivers the same way they apply to fully completed rifles, pistols, etc. On the plus side, once you have the stripped lower receiver, you can order/buy all the other parts without any hassle and have them shipped directly to your door.

For the lower parts kit and stock, I went with DPMS. This was because I got a good deal at SportsmansGuide.com on the parts and I was trying to keep things as cheap as possible. I ended up paying $50 shipped for the LPK and $50 shipped on the 6 position stock.

Putting the lower receiver together is not very difficult, but it can get frustrating at times. I used this guide from the AR15.com forums from start to finish. I recommend that you print out the guide first, lay your parts out as shown in the diagram, then begin assembling the lower. No special tools are needed, however, you will want to have some punches to punch in the roll pins. You can just get the standard pin punches, no need for specialized roll pin punches if you want to save some cash.

I started putting together the lower without any punches, but when it came time to punch down the trigger guard roll pin, I was wishing I had one. Trying to improvise, I used my Swiss Army multifunction tool to hammer in the pin. After at least 15 minutes, I had finally gotten the pin in, but left the trigger guard all scratched up from my barbaric hammering. Not only that, but when you have to drive the bolt catch roll pin in, you will wish you had a punch. There is not enough clearance between the pin and the rifle to McGuyver something to drive the pin; you must use a punch!

Other than that, the rest of the process went fine. Only thing is, I’ll need a CAR wrench to tighten down the stock, but it should be too big of an issue. Here are some pics of the completed lower: