Progress Post

So we have hit 2000 views since the start-up of this blog. Not a large number but a milestone either way.

Progress on the new website has been slowed down. The release was meant to be last week however we encountered set backs that could not be explained. Our call-out calculator randomly started messing with the entire site and stopped working after a couple days of testing and optimizing.

The issue has been resolved but our next task has become a challenge.

We would like our specials page to be dynamic based on your postcode to display current offers filtered by location. We will not give up completely on this feature but it has caused us to slow down the overall development of the site and left us with an unknown completion date.

Our server is also awaiting an upgrade to provide customers with the option of hosting with us, however our local internet network has been slowed due to the construction of the NBN. We are hoping the release of our new website will coincide with the completion of the NBN network at our data-center so we can offer a more stable connection to our site.

Here are some screenshots of the progress so far:

New Website under development

About a week ago it was announced that Mildflame Technology will be creating a new website and make better use of blog integration.

Recently a client of ours needed their WordPress website fixing up. This meant we needed to learn more about WordPress in order to deliver a service to our standards.

Prior to this we always considered WordPress to be outdated and limited however with the use of custom themes and handiness of plugins I can now understand why it is so popular.

So the past few days we have been adapting our current web server to support WordPress and we currently are developing our new WordPress site with a built in blog. This means we will be making a transition away from Blogger sadly.

We now offer WordPress support to all clients and soon we hope to provide affordable hosting for client websites.

We hope to see our new website near completion and available publically within the next two weeks.

Our address will remain the same and when it's all completed we hope to find a way to transfer old blogger posts to the new blog on our website.

As always your input is welcomed.

IT Repair Service - Laptops, Desktops, Tablets, TV's, Networking and more...

So over 6 months have passed since the announcement that Mildflame would be establishing a Mobile IT Repair service for the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills and Northern Suburbs areas.



During this time frame we acquired a Van to improve productivity. The van was a Mitsubishi Express L300 and had done over 300,000km's. At first we believed we could still make use of its great cargo space and air conditioner however we had major overheating issues in the middle of Autumn. The van has now been sold to a new happy owner as a project.




Around the same time as purchasing the van we began developing and hosting our own website. This prove to be difficult to do because the goal was to spend as little time and money on the website as possible. As a result we had lots of site errors and it was a slow process. Google also couldn't crawl our website because it was hosted on a cloud instead of a server, therefore we weren't going to appear in search results... Ever!

Since the sale of the van we developed a new logo for Mobile IT Repairs; as well as a flyer that has been delivered to a few local areas. We now have a good listing on Yellow Pages and are starting to use our Facebook page.


We now have a small stock to take to clients that consists of cables and adapters, antivirus and networking gear. We plan to increase the variety of stock we carry as we develop more clients.


Over the next 6 months we hope to:

•  renovate our website and blog to be more attractive and easier to find as well as easier to navigate.
• Get our new logo printed on some shirts.
• Provide remote assistance to save customers money and us time.
• Post a monthly update on the blog as minimum.
• Provide web development and management.
• And lastly, allow customers to reduce their invoice by accepting trade-in equipment.

Some of these things may be a challenge but it would be nice to see them accomplished.

That's all for this post. Feel free to check out our past posts, make requests on what you would like us to post about, like us on Facebook or check out our website dedicated to IT Repairs and Support.

Foreverprint Jewlery

Since Christmas is coming up I'd like to do a shout out to my cousin Esther at Foreverprint Jewellery.
She's currently looking at getting a new website for her new business through Mildflame.
If you're having trouble thinking of gift ideas for your partner or loved ones then maybe check out her Foreverprint Facebook page!
Good luck and Have fun!

Mildflame Technology, Businesses, Website and MORE!

Good News!

Mildflame Technology is now a registered business!
A new website will be coming in the new year at our new domain of: mildflame.tech
Also new business cards will be ariving next week.
Over the next year I hope to build up Mildflame Technology to be a neat and friendly small business providing tech services throughout the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills and Northern Suburbs. 

Meanwhile if you want to receive Mildflame's services you still can via the repair tab on this website.

BitTorrent making a move to become mainstream?

A lot of people in Australia have heard of Torrents. Most people consider Torrents to be related to criminal or piracy activity because of the difficulty to filter what content is shared between users. Other people see BitTorrent clients to be secure and private since files are not stored on company or shared servers.

BitTorrent Client, Maelstrom (Browser), Sync, Shoot, Bundle, Bleep.
Icons of the products BitTorrent are currently supporting.

These icons represent the products that BitTorrent currently support:

BitTorrent Client is a user to user file sharing program.

Maelstrom is a browser BitTorrent are currently developing, still in beta.

BitTorrent Sync is similar to their client in the way it sends files from one device to another but is designed to keep folders synchronized over the internet.

Shoot is for easily sharing images and videos between mobile devices as easily as possible.

Bundle provides you with content to download, subscriptions are available as a free or paid option and an option to buy content is provided. Many users of torrent clients prefer to use them over any other download service because it can provide much faster speeds and gives the flexibility to pause and resume downloads anytime, even after a restart or shut-down.

The last service listed is Bleep. Bleep personally reminds me of Skype's instant messaging service before Microsoft took ownership, why? Because it's a peer to peer messaging service, meaning both sender and recipient must be online at the same time for the messages to be successfully delivered. The main thing I disliked about Skype before Microsoft's ownership.

Skype Translator

There has been rumor going around that the online video calling service, Skype, will become a piece of software no one will want to go near.
Why?
Because of it's unreliability and slightly better competitors such as Apple's Facetime and Google's Hangouts.
However if Microsoft have developed anything worth while for Skype since they bought it in 2011 for $8.5Billion, than this is it: http://blogs.skype.com/2014/12/15/skype-translator-preview/


This newly developed piece of software for Skype allows for real-time speech to text, then translation and then text to speech. So simply it reduces the language barrier in communication.

Do you think this development from Microsoft will help Skype? or might it's competitors still have a chance in taking over?

Personally I believe the only money Microsoft could make from this is by selling this software to governments or military's, but what do you think?

Samsung Galaxy Note EDGE!

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge hit Australia not that long ago. It features a curved edge display allowing for more multitasking options. This new feature might be the next big thing... Or a flop just the the Galaxy Beam was...

Anyway this short video quickly shows how the display could operate on a daily basis to show you whether or not you think you need one.

Why it's better to PRETEND to not know ANYTHING about Computers.

Want a laugh? Check this out: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers
I couldn't stop laughing.

Two new tabs!

If you haven't already noticed, we now have two new tabs! Repairs and Websites. As the tabs say, I am now beginning to build websites for small businesses and have been doing a few iPhone repairs lately. So feel free to check out the pricing online or email me if you have any questions mildflame@live.com.au

Blender Progress

It has been a long while since I last posted and I think it's time I update you with my latest blender work.

(3D Moddeling software website.)

You saw my first Cycles (render system) tutorial I followed a while back and since then I learnt more about the material properties after following this tutorial containing glass.

I expanded on my knowledge of cloth collisions, From what I learnt from those two tutorials I decided to go ahead and challenge myself by making a scene containing a glass cup and water collision.

I modelled the cup and got the texture correct for that, then started messing around with the water domain however my laptop kept crashing. I transferred this project onto my video editing PC with more RAM (Memory) that allowed me to do the liquid simulation at a low resolution. I turned up the resolution as high as the computer could handle simulating before setting up the texture.
As you can see the water does look quite 'blocky'.

My next idea was to create an animation so I used my dodgy modeling skills to model a wineglass and wine collision.

I gave up and got bored on that project, moving onto a bigger one.





As I was searching for previous tutorials, for documentation purposes, I came across this teddy bear tutorial that interested me and had techniques I hadn't learnt before so I did it.

For full resolution version, click here.

And to push this further I have attempted to make this bear look as unloved as possible:

Windows 8.1 update! (KB2912355)

Loving the new windows 8.1 update! (KB2912355) So much more user friendly for the pre-windows 8 users! Amazing!

For those of you who haven't got the update yet it features;
-a close and minimize button for full screen apps,
-power button in the start menu,
-right click features in metro mode,
-open apps appear in start bar as well as app switcher and heaps more.

More info and manual downloads here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2919355

Mildflame, Sr. Pinball Sale

Mildflame Photography spent all day Saturday photographing Mildflame's Dad (Studley67)'s Pinball Machine collection. Studley67 would like to sell his entire collection before he moves interstate.

I appologize if this post is too large to view, there are over 100 photos and browsers and slow internet connections don't seem to like that much. I have had some viewers saying they can't view the photos. Some ad blockers block the photos coming through so you may need to disable your ad blocker or click "View album" on the image placeholder.

6 Million Dollar Man (1978) Info

Baywatch (1995) Info

Cheetah (1980) Info

Cleopatra (1977) Info

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1978) Info

Cue Ball Wizard (1992) Info

Doctor Who (1992) Info

Earth Wind Fire (1981) Info

Flash (1979) Info

Frankenstein (1995) Info

Galaxy (1980) Info

Genesis (1986) Info

Goldball (1986) Info

Gorgar (1979) Info

High Roller Casino (2001) Info

JackBot (1995) Info

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) Info

Magic Castle (1984) Info

Mata Hari (1977) Info

Maverick (1994) Info

Phoenix (1978) Info

Playboy (1978) Info

Road Show (1994) Info

Soccer Kings (1982) Info

Star God (1980) Info

Street Fighter 2 (1993) Info

Strikes and Spares (1977) Info

Supersonic (1979) Info

If you are located in Australia and are interested in any of the above machines comment below or e-mail me at mildflame@live.com.au. I can provide more info on request.

Blender

Blender Website

If you've never heard of blender before it's basically free 3D Animation and Modelling software available for Windows, Linux and Mac. I have been forever interested in this program however it can be a little difficult to learn. A few days ago I stumbled across a tutorial on modeling a coffee cup. I'd never attempted modeling before and I really wanted to learn, besides the tutorial didn't look too long. So I watched the tutorial and then tried it out for myself.

If you'd like to give this a try for yourself why not check out the tutorial here: http://youtu.be/y__uzGKmxt8

And feel free to get a copy of blender from the official blender site: http://www.blender.org

New Video Editing PC

I am proud to say I am happy with my new computer. Most powerful PC I have ever built! All set for more video editing. Its running but not very stylish at the moment. It gets hot in that tiny case. Custom case for this one is this in design stage. Can't wait to get it water cooled!

Staring:

Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD

3x WD Blue 250GB 2.5" HDD (in RAID0)

ASUS M5-A99X EVO R2.0 motherboard.

AMD FX-8320 CPU (8 core, 3.5GHz with boost 4Ghz)

2x Kingston 8GB 1600MHz RAM (Total of 16GB Memory)

GIGABYTE nVidea GTX 560 (1GB graphics)

Antec power supply 620W

Pinball

Hello readers. One hobby of mine is Pinball, as in the Pinball Machines that were once found in bars, pubs, fast-food stores and arcades but have now mostly disappeared from the view of the public.

Photo of personal collector's collection (August 2009)

Most machines have been moved into personal collections (may contain 1-3 machines) or collectors (who usually have more than 3) such as this one:

Photo of personal collector's collection (August 2009)

These machines were once part of my dad's collection, some have been sold and others he still has. He collected them and could repair them with his understanding of electronics and many, many hours.

Over the years my interests increased, I learnt more and more about how these machines worked and how to fix them just like my dad. I eventually learnt about Photoshop to try and restore artwork on the machines.

Playfield art for Wild Fyre 1978 restored in Photoshop by Mildflame

Scanning the damaged artwork.

It was always an interesting adventure!

I eventually got to the point where I wanted to test my skills and knowledge. I had learnt all this information and I wanted to see what I could do with that I knew. My dad gave me his worst machine for my birthday. I asked for a challenge and I sure got one! For my 14th birthday I got a 1979 Williams Flash and to this day I still haven't seen a Pinball Machine in worse condition, at-least not in person.

I had to learn how to airbrush in order to touch up all the paint that had flaked off the playfield and paint any areas I could get or make decals for. Luckily I could buy a decal for the worst part and stencils for the cabinet. If you are interested in how I did these stages in detail I have it all posted on a forum however the forum requires you to be a member to view the thread. If you really badly want to see the rest of the thread register here and you can find the thread here: http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=6396.0

Taken September 2013

However after painting the cabinet and playfield, applying according decals, spraying the playfield with a clear for protection, assembling the machine and re-populating the playfield it has become to look like this: 

The machine still has some things it needs doing such as touching up the paint on the backglass and some minor electrical work but I'm proud to say I took on my biggest challenge yet and came out with my biggest success.

How it came to be, FRANKENSTIEN

About two months ago my laptop broke and I needed something to use to finalize my assignments. I bought $60 worth of old computer parts from a mate as he just upgraded. So for $60 I got an AMD AM3 socket GIGABYTE branded motherboard containing an Athlon II dual core CPU clocked at 2.9GHz that came with 2x sticks of DDR2 2GB. I also got an ATI Radeon 4000 series graphics card (I don't remember what it was)

I used a power supply, case and old 80GB IDE (PATA) hard drive from the shed, all thickly covered in dust.

I used this to get me by. Games weren't playable on the crappy graphics card and there was no space to install games on the hard drive anyway. I then realised I had a spare 250GB laptop hard drive laying around waiting to be converted into an external hard drive. I put that in, formatted it and used it for all my programs and games. I later had a nVidea GT430 given to me which replaced my old graphics card and I also needed a DVD drive to install Mafia 2 on it so I found one laying around.

Thats how it became Frankenstien. My mates and I joked about how it's so dodgy looking and how shocking it is that it performs well with Windows 8 and all games playable at 720p resolutions...

We were organizing a LAN party and I kept saying everyone will get to meet Frank. It then later came to me that I had 100's of LED's and decided to hook one up... Then another. 

I liked how it looked so the next day I found some green paint in the shed and went mad. Frankenstien was finished. I did a dodgy paint job to add character and it worked!

Post by Mildflame.

I was considering making a 4-5 minute long video explaining most of what I explained in this post and show more of the beast. If you think it sounds like a good idea like either my G+ post on it or this Facebook post:

Post by Mildflame.

If you have suggestions for the video comment and let me know please.

New Blog

Hello everyone. I've never had a blog before so I hope this doesn't become too messy.
Thanks for any support! Feel free to follow me on YouTube, G+ and Facebook.

Now I have to go and post all my other work here to catch you up.
Happy Following! -M