Modern Console

The house that I live in had a lot of built-ins from the previous occupant. One of the built-ins was a double-sided wall bookshelf unit, with an oversized floor console.

One of the first things that I did was to remove the bookshelves, that made the room look much bigger. However, I never did anything about the oversized floor console other than paint it.

One day I was looking at a magazine and saw a modern console with legs. I was going to get rid of the old console, so I thought why not see if I could reconstruct this behemoth.

Before I could reconstruct, I needed to deconstruct – so out came the circular saw. I cut off 12″ from each end, and reduced the height by 5″ as well.

Once re-sectioned, I glued, nailed, and clamped it all back together.

I purchased the legs for $5.00 each at a local hardware store. They came with everything needed to easily attach them to the underside of the console.

I selected a charcole grey gloss paint for the new finish. I left the legs with the “1950’s blonde” look, but did put a light coat of varnish on them.

The smaller size and 1950’s style legs really gives the console a mid century modern look. Total cost for the transformation was $35.00.

So happy that I decided to recycle and reuse, rather than add to the local landfill!

Cuttlefish Comm Board

Communicating with animals is something that has interested me for quite some time. Whether it’s dolphins, chimps, seals, elephants, whales or wolves – I am interested in what they have to say.

Not an easy subject to study unless one happens to be an academic or a scientist. However, I have an idea to study animal communication from my garage to a local aquarium.

I plan to learn more about how the cuttlefish communicates. Cuttlefish belong to the class Cephalopoda – same as the octopus, squid, and nautilus.

Cuttlefish communicate primarily with their skin cells. They have specially adapted cells (chromatophores) that can change color, pattern and shape. These displays communicate to other cuttlefish various behaviors – aggression, mating, territory, and more.

Here’s my idea: build a cuttlefish communication/display board that is equipped with a programmable LED display strip. The LED strip can be programmed to simulate known cuttlefish displays (very rudimentary), as well as present new ones to see how the cuttlefish behaves. I am not even sure if it will work?

Where would I test this – at an aquarium with cuttlefish of course. I’d have to obtain permission, but I would wear all dark clothing (less likely to be seen in the background) with the cuttlefish comm board hanging about chest high. The LEDs would be controlled via an app on my phone.

Okay, crazy, but so interesting to really try it.

This is a long-term project. At this time, I have the board cut out and the addressable LED strip.

I am working on obtaining an Arduino kit (microcontroller and software) so I can program using my PC (with help) the LEDs to display in specified colors, patterns, and rates. First, I will emulate known displays and then create some mixed displays.

Once I have a functional prototype, I will contact a couple of local aquariums to set up a demo.

I hope that I can clearly communicate to them what I am trying to do. Do you think that they will understand?