Safe Project Update

So I know I promised updates on the Safe Project, so here they are (albeit a bit delayed).

The first test safe is now completed, and the components are mounted and housed in their respective places inside the safe. There have been a few changes -- Namely the LCD is now a Serial instead of Parallel type, to save wires, and the mounting of the LCD has changed (at least for the initial unit)

I am busily running the safe and software through its paces to find bugs (and I have found a few, especially unexpected buffer overruns, etc).

The next steps are to construct 3 beta model safes and distribute them to a select few people whom I will choose for the task of playing with the safe, and identifying and reporting bugs.

I am also working on a PCB for this, if anyone has PCB layout experience, get in contact with me, as i have not done this since college.

Version 2.0 of the Software is already underway using some different logic -- for you computer nerds out there, the 1.0 version was well-functionalized, but not well thought out in the logic department, as it was sort of a haphazard effort as I implemented features.

Version 2.0 will include scrolling menus, increased setup options, and more linear flow of operations using a statemachine model of software.

Here are a few photos of the safe in action:

Thats it for now, stay tuned for more updates to this project.

Coming Full Circle

Recently I've decided to revisit a project I more or less put away about 3 years ago....

Those of you who know me will recognize from the pics what this is. For the rest of you here is some background:

In 2009 I was working a job that was beginning to go nowhere in terms of monetary compensation, and therefore i both had little motivation to do the work, and much motivation to find some other way to make money.

During this period I started working on a chastity/timelock safe project. I took an off-the-shelf battery operated safe, and gutted it. I installed an LCD, salvaged the solenoid and keypad from it, and got out my handy micro controller development kit.  Over the next 4 months I made SIGNIFICANT headway on this project, to the point that I was nearly ready to prototype boards for it and assemble the first models for my beta group. Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say this safe would do significantly more than just lock using a code you choose.

In December of 2009, just as I was getting ready to wrap up this project, out of the blue I got a job offer from a very reputable technology company, and based on my employment situation, I accepted it. Needless to say the learning curve of this new job, combined with longer hours than i had previously worked combined to partially (but not totally) derail this project.

For the next 4 months, I diligently put time into debugging code and hardware and nailing down the details of this project. Then in April of 2010, a very good friend whom I have blogged about before, Bodisama, passed away.

Needless to say, since I started this project, and was working on it with his continued encouragement, my drive to continue in this endeavor dropped to practically nil.

For the next 3 years, the project, which was 95 percent ready to go, sat under a desk in the office at my house and collected dust.

Some good friends recently have prompted me (purposefully or inadvertently) to pick back up where I left off with some of these technology projects. Today I am working on this project again with a renewed energy and hope to show some results in the next 2 weeks. My goal is an alpha model prototype in 2 weeks or bust.

So to those folks who have gently or not so gently prodded me back into action on these things, I just wanted to say thanks individually:

• bikermtl - Thank you for gently prodding me to get your safe done before we all die of old age.
• scubaccs/rocket - Thank you for being a catalyst for my creativity and a perverse outlet.
• johnnygear -  Thank you for being another to gently prod me, and answer my dumb software questions.
• rbrpissboy - Thank you for answering my hardware and software questions, and helping me fix issues that are making me want to smash things.

Also, and possibly most of all, thanks to all of the above, and every one else for your ideas, and for being there to bounce ideas off of when the need arises.

Here are some photos of the safe and some hardware as it sits:

-rf

Gearblast!

For those of you coming to visit Chicago for IML, the Gearblast party is a party you shouldn't miss.  This will be 5 years for the Gearblast party at IML, and it's gone a few places as well -- check out http://www.gearblast.com





Hope to see you there, and thanks to scubaccs / @rocket_pup for putting all of this together!

-rf

On the Soapbox

Ok -- this is likely to piss some people off (some people I would count as friends, or close acquaintences), but I'm going to climb up on the soapbox for a moment.

I have a regular number of blogs that I read with a varying regularity -- daily, weekly, monthly. Over the past several years I have noticed more and more that blogs that started out as a smattering of thoughts and experiences behind the person eventually became twisted and changed -- changed in a way I disagree with.

It seems when a blog gets popular or starts getting a lot of hits, the first thing that happens is that the porn and gear manufacturers jump all over it, and there is obviously some (however small, likely) kick-back for the blogger posting their content. Think about it -- you've seen this -- the blogs have been invaded by Bound Gods, Serious Male Bondage, Mr S Leather to name a few.

Now, I dont have a problem with this from the standpoint of the vendors, my beef lies with the people behind the blogs. Whenever I feel like i don't have enough content, i just remind myself that I would rather continue to draw on my own experiences and thoughts to create my blog posts. For me (and this is a preference), to simply regurgitate porn unto my blog is a waste of my time, and of the readers time.

While from time to time, I may post some images or video from porn productions that I think are particularly appealing, that is by not by any means going to make up the 'Meat and Potatoes' of this blog.

I apologize to the friends I may have offended, including the great guys at Serious Male Bondage, who showed me a great time when i was last in the SF Bay Area. This is just a matter of preference and not a personal vendetta, so please don't take it that way.


I am just tired of great blogs being diluted by cookie-cutter-content.

Thanks for listening
-rf

Back at It

After a fully eventful weekend, I figured I may as well write something up about the goings on of late. First off, to the people that were reading the blog, I apologize for the long absence -- I've been concentrating my efforts elsewhere for the most part.

That said -- here are the juicy details of the weekend.

I had been talking to divepup for a little while about making a visit and getting to meet, and it finally panned out and he was able to come down. He arrived on Saturday morning around 11am, so before we got down to business, we went out and got some lunch (For you Chicagoans out there, I took him to Portillos -- a staple of Chicago fast food).

Upon returning to the house, I gave him the grand tour, ending with the playroom, and after we chilled for awhile, decided it was time to gear up and get the show on the road. I won't go into excruciating detail about what we did, so here are the cliff notes:

On saturday evening I had him get in his nice tight latex catsuit. I then put him in the leather sleepsack and rubber puffy hood, strapped tightly to the table, and gave him his first electro experience. In my experience most people don't take very well to electro, but he didnt seem to have any issue -- at least judging by the sounds and body language. After he got some 'relief' that way, I left him for quite a bit that way, and then finally locked his catsuit on and let him up so we could grab some dinner.

After dinner I could tell he was still being the insatiable pup I would expect (and still locked in rubber, I should add). He was eager to try the strap table, so i put him on it in his catsuit and helmet and put the robojac to work on him. Those of you who have a robojac know that sometimes it works on a guy, and sometimes it doesn't. In this case, it definitley worked and in no time at all, it had done it's evil work. Seeing as the robojac hadn't noticed that he had gotten off, I left it to work on him for awhile yet (he made plenty of cute/hot noises at this point). Eventually I let him up again, by then it was time to wind down a bit and head to bed.

Note: He was still locked in his catsuit from about 2:00PM at this point.

Sunday I woke up early (most who know me, know that i rarely sleep very much). He was up along with me, and I could tell that he was sporting some morning excitement through his suit. So, off to the playroom I went to fetch a whole lot of restraints and straps. He soon found himself in a nice tight spread-eagle (again in his helmet), for yet more electro torture. After a good bit of tormenting I allowed him to get off again (#3 but who is counting, right?).

By then it was getting to be around lunchtime so i decided I should had to finally release him from his catsuit (as he had nothing to cover it with when we went to get some lunch -- a problem which will be rectified next time). I unlocked his suit, and sent him to get cleaned up so we could get some food and he could air out a bit.

He had been in his catsuit continuously for 22 hours at this point -- his previous record having been 6 hours. I'd say he shattered that quite nicely -- we'll go for 36 at IML I think.

After lunch we went to perv out at the Dainese store in Schaumburg for a bit, and then came back home.

His last experience for the evening was two-fold. The first was a suspension in a leather mr-s suspension harness, in wetsuit, MX boots, helmet, gloves. I kept him this way for about an hour or so, but sadly as the case usually is, he started to get a little numb from the harness. After that I put him back on the strap table very tightly for another session with the robojac. After another hour of torment he managed to get off for the 4th and final time of the weekend.

Since I had already kept him about 3 hours later than I should have, we said some hasty goodbyes, and sent him on his way (several hours of driving away). Hopefully he'll come back for another visit sometime, though admittedly I'll have to find some new rides to give him if he does....

-rf

Hiatus

I realize I've been away for awhile. Rest assured that i have not been idle on the creation front....

Some production has had to stop briefly while I waited for finances to come in line to order more supplies -- now that thats taken care of i need to consider what tooling i need to pick up next.

I have made a bit of headway on patterning, as i need to adjust the posture collar a bit, among other things. I also need to improve my skills with Illustrator or a like product for fast and easy pattern modification.

On the kink play side of things, i have now learned to cath myself, which means i can cath others (very evil grin). Rocket and I haven't managed to line up on tuesday as frequently as we would like, due to being busy, and bits of flu going around, but I expect we'll get back to it :)

Announcing My Intentions

I have had several people inquire about purchasing things that I have been making, and what my intentions are for my recent developments. To avoid any confusion or speculation I will go ahead and just answer it right here....

The short answer is yes, I do intend to start production, and put up a website.

The longer answer is yes, but I am not sure when yet -- there is still much to do. I need to develop the patterns further from what i have worked up so far, I need to order a massive amount of hardware and supplies which is going to take an injection of capital and I need to get a point of sale and distribution ready.

The site I can work up on my own, or with the help of JohnnyGear, who also happens to be my roommate's boy.

The pattern work just takes time, which is in short supply since I also work a full time job -- I do not plan on rushing this at all, I want my items to be of quality, though my pricing will likely be lower than some of the comparable items out there. If anyone has interesting ideas for gear creations, or pattern improvements/tweaks, I am always interested and willing to listen.

The capital ... that's a little harder, after all I have my bills to pay, and my other habits to support, such as my technology habit, and my gear habit (after all, i cant make EVERYTHING I use).

What do I plan to offer? Latex Gear - predominantly catsuits, sleepsacks, straitjackets as well as custom gear. Additionally heavy rubber gear like the muzzle, cuffs and collars you have already seen.

My intention is to get the site up (in the dark, so to speak) in the first half of this year, at the latest, so it is ready to go.

Perhaps you will see me vend at MIR this year as well, though thats a bit of a way off, and a lot can happen between now and then.

-rf