haumana

That sounds like it's going to be an awesome adventure. Feel free to comment on homemade jerky! http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,12434.0.html

What size LP do you have? Like HySpeed suggested, make sure that any/all pinch rollers that you are using are coming down on the traction part of the bottom rollers, if you seat the pinch roller elsewhere you could get some disastrous results (speaking from personal experience). If you are using a large roll of vinyl and have the stand for you LP, then you can pretty much pull the vinyl minimizing any slack and it should be pretty close to being on the money. If using a loose piece, I found it easier to try to line up the edge (provided that the edge is straight) with the lines on the yellow and black sticker. scroll back and forth and make minor adjustments from there. When making my minor adjustments, I generally only lift one roller and move it a smidgen to correct the alignment. If you are seating the pinch roller on the traction bar and still get sketchy results, take a look at the pinch roller itself to see if the rubber wheel is cracking or if it looks like something is wrong, that might also cause misalignment. The wider the vinyl the greater the chance of the vinyl "tenting" between two pinch rollers. So make sure that then those two pinch rollers come down, the vinyl is flat as possible across the cut strip. Good luck.

Mahalo Jen & Knuckle. I will definitely take your advice and check out those recipes! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. I guess cereal is out for breakfast - jerky here I come! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I'm going to load up on protein Hahahahaha.

Pinball machines and arcades are awesome. I can only imagine how much money I've blown 'back in the day' going to all the different game places here. My favorites were always Black Knight pinball, Beer Tap, and Star Wars. Wish I had the money and space to have them now ... but then I would instantly become unproductive

So here are my results. The first batch which took forever in my little convection toaster oven came out the best. I will look for leaner meat or cut away as much of the gristle and fat before I start drying it out the next time. The second batch was in a killer teriyaki marinade over night, but turn into a bad batch of burned jerky in less that 30 minutes. I started it in the kamado (Big Green Egg) and everything was going really great for the first 2-hours. The fire and heat were really low and there was even some macadamia wood chips in there for more flavoring. During the last check it went from something tasty and savory (because I needed to conduct taste tests during the process) to black, charred meat briquettes. I guess during the last rotation, somehow the fire and heat must have flame and just scorched it (sigh). Does anyone know what the shelf life on homemade jerky is? I mean since, there are no preservatives and all. And yes, the jerky will last a while because everyone knows not to never touch my jerky, taro chips and molinari salame. A girl has to have her comfort food you know?

Aloha e Sandman - No need to worry about how often you run SBE in trial mode. The "trial" mode is the same as the regular SBE, it just has the nag screen in the beginning asking if you want to run the app in trial mode, or if you have an activation number. It's not time bombed either so you will always have it to use. The software developer recently passed away last year, and his company went into litigation limbo in the Australian court system. No one knows for sure what the out come will be, but for now, SBE is out there for everyone to use free of charge. If you decide to continue use of the software, I highly recommending upgrading to v.6.0.24. This update fixes the little ".pvw" issue that many of use were complaining about before. It's definitely worth the upgrade. http://signblazer.net/signblazer/updates/uscutter/setup_250208.exe

Aloha e Mitch - Welcome to the highly addictive forum! Sign Blazer Elements (SBE) can vectorize, however, it will only vectorize monochrome stuff (straight black & white with no anti-alias smoothing allowed). I find that it's a bit to rigid for vectorizing purposes. A lot of users here have Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw which are capable of drawing in vector format. If you're like me and many others, then you might find yourself "borrowing" images here and there, but you can only obtain it in raster format (.jpg, .bmp, .tif, etc.), then I would recommend Inkscape. It's an open source software, but don't let that fool you. It's awesome and free! You find a video tutorial on You Tube that forum member, MalibuDragon (former Scion Dragon), posted. It's a very simple process and if you check the Inkscape bulletin board on this forum there are a LOT more questions and answers about it.

http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,12589.0.html

I've tried it with the depth just right as to not cut through the backing with the pressure set at 120, but it was still causing perforating cuts the vinyl. What finally worked for me was to dial back the pressure. http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,12391.0.html

Mahalo for the updates Jen! I'm sure it's a little load off everyone's minds that the surgery is done and over with. Make sure that you're taking good of yourself too now!

Is this what you are looking for? west virginia.eps west virginia.eps

ditto.

Now, now kids .... we all know the truth here ... I win. I win!

+1 I'm just like that too. It's my greatest strength, and my greatest weakness. You've persevered and like Sandy Jo (MMM) said - you're no longer a victim. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." There were times in my life that I've had to remind myself of that ... along with a few more cliches and quotes that provide some inspiration in my times of need. Jude, you are a phenomenal woman, so never forget that. Hang tough - you have the strength and fortitude to overcome more things than most people. You're an awesome and powerful individual, don't let anyone or anything tell you or make you think differently. There is strength in numbers and just remember that you have a family here that are almost 4,000 strong. Hold your head high, kick @ss and take names! -j.

to my knowledge, yes.

Hey Rodger ... Yes it was/is John! ... it's in his signature.

Keep fighting the good fight John! We will be (and have been) thinking about you and sending you good vibes!

SBE is in the hands of new owners, but is unclear whether or not this product will continue or have support. So it's just us user's trying to do what we can.

"The fonts are converted to vector shapes..." <- My point, it is being converted. I can't say that I use SBE exclusively for all my cutting needs, but if there are any text that needs to be done, I know (for myself) that text done in SBE produces the sharpest, cleanest cuts. I often tweak things in PhotoShop and Illy, but those would be graphics, unless a text is not available to me. Drawing in vector is going to get you the cleanest cuts, you asked about fonts, and I've tried to provide an alternative for you. Do whatever you want to do, your way. You came, asked for help, I've tried - but it sounds like you're pretty resistant, so good luck.

I need to run out and get me a dehydrator! Okay, for those out there with a dehydrator, what do y'all have and would you recommend it? I can't really seem to a food dehydrator in any of my local stores, so eBay (or Amazon) it will be. Any one have any suggestions or recommendations?

[like where's Waldo?] Hey - anyone heard from Joe lately? I haven't seen him lurking around. Hope everything is okay and that he's not here because he is too busy making money (versus just ignoring us )

Maybe now John will others help to pick up the slack on his work. I'm a little way out here, but if there is anything I can do, please let me know.

Just for those who want to d/l straight from the source, being as you will need an activation key, just all other fabulous Microsoft software ... http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx

Sorry about the thread Hi-Jack All I can say is that pitching what we can for John is the least that we can do for all that he's done for us.

Law of Attraction works, whether you believe it or not. Positive vibes baby, positive vibes!