it’s coming to that point where we are working on the little things on the home to make life better. after replacing our chandelier, i decided that we really need a dimmer switch to operate the new track lighting.

after checking out home depot’s dimmer switch selection, i must say that i’m pretty disappointed with the design of dimmer switches. a lot of the designs require two different methods to operate the switch. there’s a method to turn it on and off, another for dimming operations. some of the dimming switches were really awkward to operate. i just wanted a simple dimmer to turn on and off the lights. is that too much to ask for?

i finally found one and installed it last night. this time, i turned off the power to the switch before changing it. i didn’t want to get shocked again. =P

i love it when a plan comes together.

one of the biggest challenges that i’ve faced after moving into the house is figuring out how i was going to handle the networking needs of my house. this poses a much greater problem than one would think after your consider a few things:

1) the house is not wired for ethernet.
2) the house is on a concrete slab so you can’t wire under it.
3) i don’t want to tear up any walls.

so, the painful, but obvious choice after these considerations is to have a wireless network. the next big choice was how to set it up. 802.11b, 802.11a/g, 802.11g, pre-802.11n? these were all good questions. the stylings of the pre-802.11n devices are probably the best these days, but they are also pretty expensive. the biggest concern i had about a wireless network as the primary network for home was speed. i do video streaming on the home network quite often so it was essential that the home network could support this.

the problem gets worse. the access point is going to be in a different room from my desktop which is in a different room from my media centers. nothing will be wired into the router! i could run cable everywhere, but that seemed messy…and i don’t like messy.

i settled on getting an 802.11g network. mostly this was cost-based. you can get cheap routers for the 802.11g standard and it SHOULD be fast enough for streaming. large file copies are going to be slow, but i’ve accepted that.

so the hardware that i ended up getting:
buffalo whr-hp-54g wireless router
buffalo ethernet converter
edimax pci wireless card

a new router, a new wireless ethernet converter/gaming adapter, and a new PCI wireless card. the important things to look for when buying each of these products varies, but if you want something that gives you the best performance, here are some things to consider:

router
make sure it has the feature set you want. WPA security is more secure than WEP. this particular router, for you hacker-types, can be flashed with a dd-wrt firmware. if you know what that means, you’ll think it’s cool. if you don’t, then don’t worry about it.

ethernet converter
the ethernet converter/gaming adapter looks like a 4 port switch, but what it really does is give you ethernet ports that are wireless connected to your router. so if you have devices that you want to connect to your network, but don’t want to string cable everywhere, this is the way to go. setup is relatively easy for this device, the instructions that come with it are good.

PCI wireless g
i also got a PCI wireless network card. it’s weird to see the wireless icon on my desktop, but this lets my desktop connect to the wireless router. you should get one that has an external omnidirectional antenna. it’s worth every penny in the improved range and connection quality that you get.

so at the end of the night, i had my desktop set up in the office, the router set up in a different room, and my ethernet adapter connected to my media center downstairs. i was watching a downloaded tv show streaming from my desktop to the router to the media center all wirelessly with no issues. it was great.

i haven’t done any raw speed tests, but the video ran just fine.

i have recently purchase a new house and with that comes a slew of responsibilities and needs that i have never thought of before. i’ve been doing a ton of research on all sorts of things that i never cared about and for all of that time spent i want to have something to show for it. so, i’ve decided to chronicle the entire process. this is probably only going to be really relevant for people who want to buy new stuff for their home, but hopefully it won’t be too dry.

vacuums are probably one of the most misunderstood appliances you can purchase. i mean, if they work well, they suck, and if they don’t suck, then you don’t want it. so, which vacuum sucks the most?

that’s actually a loaded question. as with any purchase, you really have to consider a few things. the first thing to consider is budget. set a budget for yourself on how much you want to spend on a certain item and see what’s available in your budget.

for me, i figured that i would spend around $150-200 on a vacuum. a great resource to check out is the vacuum wizard. they have a lot of valuable information on different types of vacuums for different needs.

if price is not an object, it seems to be the popular opinion that the dyson vacuums are the way to go. i personally like the dyson ball, but i don’t own a dyson myself. these vacuums mean serious business and if you don’t object to buying a $500+ vacuum, go for it! even my mom, the consummate penny pincher, recommends it. “worth every penny,” she says.

for me, i wanted a powerful vacuum but didn’t want to pay the price. i also wanted an upright vacuum, not a canister. these are really personal preferences. after having gotten the vacuum, i thought that i could use the hose attachments to clean the stairs, but the vacuum i got doesn’t fit comfortably on a stair, so it makes cleaning the stairs difficult.

oh yeah? which vacuum did i get? i got the eureka boss vacuum. it’s supposed to be the most powerful vacuum in its class, the packaging says that it is more powerful than a dyson. it is pretty powerful and it is good at what it does. not good for stairs, the hose attachment is shorter than i would have preferred. but it cleans the floors well. this is a heavy vacuum, though. don’t be fooled by its stylish looks, it’s heavy!