“Whether I’m playing Super Smash Bros (N64 of course) or watching a movie in my room, projectors have always been the superior television option in my opinion.”

While in college, I bought a projector and have never looked back. Whether I’m playing Super Smash Bros (N64 of course) or watching a movie in my room, projectors have always been the superior television option in my opinion.

Which brings us to now. I live on the third floor of a house in Philadelphia with a bedroom, bath, and study to myself. Working full-time at Car-Tel Communications means I can finally afford to attempt a true home theater system rather than the hodgepodge Craigslist setup I used previously. Only one problem, the study is 10ft x 20ft and I can’t use the longer side since I want to keep my desk and easel up there. So I need to figure out how to wire a 5.1 channel speaker system to a projector that throws to fill a 84″ drop down screen in under 10 feet. And I need to fill the space with furniture, that too.

Furniture and speakers came first. I was tempted to order the projector and screen, but thought it better to be comfortable and screen-less than cross legged on my wood floor. I ordered a loveseat and a rug and was gifted a glass coffee table from my roommate’s grandmother (RIP Barbara). So with the room accessories taken care of I was able to focus on my master tech plans.

Being fully immersed in sound is important to me. Whatever I am doing, I want to have sound directed at me from all corners of the room. That means that a simple sound bar or 2.1 stereo system (where the .1 stands for the sub woofer, which I did not know until fairly deep into my speaker research) just won’t do. I needed a 5.1 system that I could mount and wire myself but didn’t take my budget and Judo-Chop it in the neck.

After hours of research and way too many amazon reviews, I went with the Onkyo HT-S3700, a 5.1 home theater speaker and receiver all in one as well as two 100ft rolls of 14-gauge speaker wire from MediaBridge.

In this instance and with the help of Captain Hindsight, buying 14-gauge speaker wire was downright stupid. I had to trim the copper wires down to fit it into the L-R ports in the receiver! Which is extremely counterproductive when you buy the 14-gauge wire because it’s thicker (and thicker wire transmits signal better). So anyway, just buy the 16-18 gauge stuff; it’s half the price and easier to work with. Also, if you’re wiring along the baseboards of your room like I did, then do yourself a favor and double-down on how much wire you buy. Just for a small 10×10 space I used roughly 150ft of speaker wire! And when you run out mid-way to the receiver splicing two different speaker wire rolls together is a headache.

Once wired, the speakers and receiver worked flawlessly. With Bluetooth connectivity, 5 HDMI inputs, and even an L-R-Video input for my beloved Nintendo, I could not have asked for anything more. Receivers like the one that comes with this 6-piece speaker set can cost anywhere from $150-$300 dollars by themselves; which is why I am so impressed with the pricing for the Onkyo HT-S3700. I was disappointed, however, to find that Bluetooth connections only transmit 2.1 sound (stereo) rather than full surround sound (5.1), but that is no fault of the Onkyo system.

Next up is the projector and drop-down screen, which had to wait due to financial constraints (AKA they cost a little more than I was expecting.)

The post Creating a Home Theater in Tight Spaces: Part One appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Remember Oregon Trail? Of course you do (unless you’re just now in high school, and I say to you “Get back to studying!”), I for one played it on an old green-screened Mac in elementary school. I always got dysentery (in the game), and have never heard of anyone beating the game and reach Oregon, but holy hell were those good times!

I always figured (in my 11yr old brain) that this was just another computer game from one of the first game studios to pop up. Apparently I was stupid, as this new video that’s currently making the rounds explains. Oregon Trail was a passion project for 3 friends and was shared with the world just for the lulz.  Check it out:

And now I bet your world feels just a little less dark and gloomy. So go forth, create your passion project, and distribute it to the world and brighten all sorts of childrens’ days. I’m sure they would rather be playing your game than actually learning in class.

The post The World is Ending, So Relax and Remember Playing Oregon Trail appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Hearing Kayla laugh at the fact that I searched up my old car only inspired me to actually find one. I did not end up searching very long, because a deal jumped out at me immediately. “400 OBO BMW 318ic 5 speed m42 engine” I sat there thinking, “Oh, a nice engine for sale. Woohoo!” and moved on accordingly. We searched through several other high-priced BMWs ranging from Miami to North Carolina before finding ourselves back at this one in Jacksonville. I opened the post this time and noticed, near the bottom, three interesting catches:
1. “It needs a trailer. ”
2. “It’s not running, but I drove it into the garage. ”
3. “All parts included. ”

Having rebuilt an E30, E24, and an old E12, I was immediately ready to buy this car. The only real catch was that my wallet was empty (isn’t it always?). I looked over, laughing, and asked Kayla “Hey, you want to buy my PS4?” She looked back seriously and said a nice, stern “Yes.” The kind of “Yes.” that makes it clear that the idiotic words that just left my lips could not be taken back. Well, less gaming time meant more wrenching time. My deal with Kayla seemingly struck in blood, and my visions of Halo glory already fading I typed a to-the-point email stating:, “I can come up today. Tell me what’s wrong with the car, I’m ready to buy it.” We waited fifteen minutes to hear back from this guy, worried because it was an “email only” post. Guh. “He may never respond..” we both started thinking. BOOM. To our surprise, his response came: “what time?”

Kayla and I were amazed that he responded. I told him to send his phone number and sent him mine. We then waited another grueling forty-five minutes. A little let down, we set out to the adult candy store “Total Wine” and wandered the spirit filled isles in hopes to lift ours. My phone then vibrated and I jumped up to answer. It was the car.

“Yeah the oil pan busted. I bought it because it had a hard top. I sold the hard top and made my money back, so this convertible’s been sitting in my garage for two months. I don’t want to fix it!” Kayla and I immediately left the store and grabbed my trailer, her truck, my straps, and set course for Jacksonville. Five hours, a wayward trailer that fell off on the way, and one PlayStation exchange later, I had another baby in my driveway. I knew I would miss my dear and very regularly used gaming console; but alas, I was ready to start my next project, After all, the new oil pan was already in the trunk…

The post How I Traded a Playstation for a Car appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.