Recently replaced the battery in my Nexus 6P smartphone. The process is kind of a pain and there is a lot of great info out there if you plan to try this on your own. Here are a few quick tips from my experience:

• The most difficult part for me was removing the glass piece that is glued over the camera. Several videos I watched recommended using an X-Acto knife but I ended up breaking …

Excellent YouTube channel this week.

Videos:

• How To Make Everything - Andy, the host of this channel, shows how various everyday objects are made from raw materials. He tries to recreate the objects with varying degrees of success. The videos are funny and educational.

Ugh. So I tried to repair a large screen LED TV recently. I've never worked on a TV before so this was definitely uncharted territory. The issue was that the LED backlight would not stay on, they would briefly flash when starting the TV and the logo would show but then the screen would go dark.

Ultimately, I was able to repair the backlight but did end up breaking the screen in the process.

:-(

You …

I recently added a new project to GitHub: Ubuild

This project addresses something I've wanted for a long time: a way to unify the build process for various software projects. It shouldn't matter if the project is a C++ native application or a web app, there should be a simple interface that takes the guess-work out of the build process. Ubuild provides this unified interface.

A user can review the build options by running the …

One of my favorite podcasts is the pick this week.

Podcasts:

• Not Another D&D Podcast - An excellent comedy D&D podcast with great characters and an intriguing story. This quickly became one of my all time favorite podcasts after listening to a few episodes. I introduced it to my wife and we are both hooked.

The pick this week is a project with great intentions.

Software:

• HospitalRun - Free and open source software intended to help administrate hospitals in developing countries. This project is currently looking for maintainers!

Some random picks this week.

Podcasts:

• JRE #1123 - Kevin Smith - Great talk covering various topics from owning pets to ancient Egypt. Kevin shares some interesting views on life and death following his recent heart attack.

Products:

• Intex Challenger K1 Inflatable Kayak - Admittedly, I was super skeptical about inflatable kayaks but these things are awesome! My wife and I bought two when they were on sale for about $50 each. They are light, portable, and durable …

Took a short summer break from picks but I'm back with two goodies.

Podcasts:

• .NET Rocks!, Episode 1548, Life on Other Planets Geek Out - Interesting episode covering the science of detecting life on other planets and the current status of the field.

Videos:

• DOOM's Development: A Year of Madness - Great talk given by John Romero summarizing the year of development for the original DOOM.