Nick Prosch online

Putting my Android hot-water bottle to use

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011 | Gadgets, Tech-savvy | 1 Comment

I would say that tablets are the most overrated and useless inventions of late (okay, wify is quite happy fiddling with it …).

Yet now I finally found a use for my tablet that justifies its existence. Thank you, Jack!

Tags: android, jack, samsung galaxy tab 10.1, tablet

Building a 1337 Kitteh Loo

Monday, May 17th, 2010 | Gadgets, Misc, Tech-savvy | 3 Comments

I tend to like building stuff. Even though I never thought I was especially skilled my projects quite often succeed.

My latest home furniture improvement was a top notch luxury cat litter pan. First, I didn’t like the look of the old plastic boxes, second my kittens have big paws, big enough to carry quite some litter spreading it all over the bathroom floor. You can’t keep the area clean, even if you clean it on a daily basis – the evil cat will soil the floor just before your mother in law comes ’round for an unannounced visit.

So I though of a way to keep them paws clean. Or at least assure that they are clean as soon as they touch the bathroom floor. The solution is quite simple: use a doormat The cheap green plastic mats would do just fine. Now I only had to convince my beloved fur bundles to use it. I thought of a box that has a single entrance and a designated path to the pan. This path had to be carpeted by cut doormat parts thus cleaning the cat’s paws on their way out of the contraption. I was sure I could build such a thing, even though I got quite some mockery along the way (“Yeah, right, a doormat.” “Your kittehs will use your laundry basket rather than accept a maze for a loo”) – but I proved them all wrong

First I tried to draw a sketch of the thing I wanted to build, but I just couldn’t get it done. Too many details, too many options that made me want to experiment on sizing and positioning I could not accomplish the task using only pen and paper (or whiteboard respectively). So I thought about a 3d modelling tool. Asked Google and found SketchUp – developed and provided by Google I like Google software, even if Google is becoming the big brother of modern times they provide frickin’ kewl software for free (remember the first time you played with Google Earth?). So I downloaded SketchUp and tried playing around with it. I miserably failed. It felt like the first time I opened Photoshop or Gimp. I just wasn’t able to handle the tool. I did so one more time before I actually decided to watch some tutorials. After watching only the 4 basic tutorial videos (~15min) I was good to go and create the first blueprint of my development proposal. Hmm, felt like the first time I used the brush tool to retouch a pimple in Photoshop – a convincing outcome with minimal effort

From here it was only a short way. I watched a few more tutorials, built the model, wrote down the shelves sizes, went to a big do-it-yourself store and put my 1337 Kitteh Loo together.

We were quite happy to hear the first scratching noises from inside the box. Jack and Lily used it right away and the litter-floor problem is pretty much solved as well.

Tags: jack, lily, lolcat, pets, sketchup

Om nom nom chomp

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 | Gadgets, Misc | No Comments

Ah, my kittehs just make my life so much more enjoyable. I recently ordered some sisal rope that arrived today to build more cat toys. Jack had to check it out immediately:

Tags: jack, lolcat, pets

Xmas spirit – we has it (grammar pun intended!)

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 | Misc | No Comments

I am finally becoming a grown up, first the marriage, now my first Xmas tree. The cats seem to adapt pretty perfectly to the cosy mood the smell of cookies, burning candles and fir needles are spreading:

My first Xmas tree

Jack's fur seems to be glowing in the dark

Merry Christmas!

Tags: jack, my first, xmas

… seems I am accommodating an animal rarely seen in Europe …

Saturday, November 8th, 2008 | Misc | 1 Comment

Jack? Lily? Tiger!

Tags: jack, lily, pets, tiger