Work on the mdportal elite machine is progressing nicely. I've replaced the interior x-mas lights and I am going to add some new fans for quieter operation. The back panel has been cut away to allow easier access to ports. I also want to replace the x-mas lights in the front panel with nifty blue LED's.

I also managed to put the modular shelves up this weekend. They look sharp, but I need to redesign the brackets to make them easier to install. Whew! So much to do! At least all the new design work will keep me busy over the winter.

If anyone was wondering what happened to the site over the weekend, I reinstalled Red Hat 8.0 and all the server software. I was running into problems trying to upgrade Apache (web server), so I decided build and install everything from scratch so I know where all the source files and programs are- easy upgrading :)

As for any 403 errors you may have seen recently, when I uploaded the content to the server I had to fix all the file permissions. I think I have all of them worked out, but if you find any bugs just drop some comments.

Its been a solid week of work here at ultrascience labs. I am working on a modular shelving design. I'll have the results posted soon, and it should look fairly sharp. If the design proves solid, I'll start tracking down materials supplies. Prototype ETA: End of the week?

As long as the current warm snap stays, I will have the chance to complete the wood finishing. Aside from that, just a little metal fabrication, and finally, assembly and testing. Please give me any feedback once I post photos. Please keep it constructive, tell me what is cool and what isn't. I'll have some more details concerning any material or design changes once I have the protoype built (it's easier to explain with pictures.)

Also, I am going to enlist the services of some critical peers to provide user feedback. I will probably use a simple decision matrix to produce ratings that are weighted. For example, one user might find the product's end cost more importance than another user, so his or her review would be more helpful for a user that felt similary about the price tag.

Contact: bruce42@netins.net Pricing information will be posted when the design is refined and formalized and I have material and labor costs figured.

Parts finally arrived for the server upgrade. I replaced the 475MHz AMD K6-2 CPU, motherboard, and RAM with an Abit KT7-A motherboard, an AMD AthlonXP 1800+, and 256MB of PC133 RAM.

The Public DNS Service at www.granitecanyon.com seems to back up and running. For everyone's future reference, the main site at www.ultrasciencelabs.com can still be accessed at 12.216.41.16. This IP will change soon when we (hopefully) get new ISP service with increased bandwidth and a static address.

Currently, we have one client site at moonbass.ultrasciencelabs.com, but another will be posted shortly- LilDevilNoizelab.ultrasciencelabs.com. www.D3F1L3.com will also be appearing on the site in the near future.

I am in the process of designing and building a project log, or plog for the case mods. I'm thinking of calling the section mod plogs. An archive version of the ultrasciencelabs site will be posted soon, too. You can see my first 3 case mods there. All three mods will be undergoing a rework soon. Rei & Asuka require an almost entire rebuild, but the overall style should remain. The dragon case needs a lot of work, too. The elite machine just needs a bit of refinement and it'll be ready to rock.

My new shop is under way, and I am going to buy the rest of my tools this week. New work should be quick to follow.