# Spylandia - Closed



## Spydro

I'm starting a thread to use as a "catch all" for some of my general thoughts, ideas, tips, etc to keep them organized for future reference.


*DIY*

The common ground between premade and DIY liquids is that they are both made up for consumption. Beyond that there are endless variables. Vendors have to try to come up with juice recipes that a wide range of people with an even wider range of gear will like, while with DIY you can tailor your liquids to your own personal tastes in your own gear for your own vaping style. Some mixologists that sell their own premade liquids are very good at their craft, or at least have some stellar liquids to offer on their list of premade. But many are not. 

Cost to make starts off as relative to the quantities the ingredients can be bought in. Buying bulk always nets a way less expensive per ml end product than buying in smaller volume. So vendors can buy at various levels of bulk depending on their resell customer base, and almost all of them at way less cost per ml cost than the home DIYer can even with their other overhead costs added. IE, if they have a B&M, employees, a real lab and all the tools/equipment they need to make/package them in bulk they also have overhead that adds considerable additional cost to make and market their liquids. The fly in the soup is there are many very greedy liquid vendors, including some that have almost none of those extra costs because they mix at home, in their garage, etc, often with the help of their family members, do not have clean lab conditions yet still sell their wares at market prices that net them very exorbitant profit margins. That is all a big red flag about the quality and safety of their ingredients used as well. What they say on their web site, if they have one, may not all be truthful. If they are cryptic about anything they are hiding something. Many on line vendors won't even tell you where they are (state, providence, natal, country, etc). So it is essential to get to know the vendors personally that you buy premades and DIY ingredients from to be sure that you will not be vaping cow piss. In most cases I do that by calling them, when overseas via email to get to know them, but either way as many times as it takes to get a feel whether they are someone I trust enough to deal with or not. I know of far more liquid/ingredient vendors that I would never do business with than those that I will with regularly.

Having done DIY for over 3 years I get it right for my uses, and at far less cost than buying premades from any vendor. I use so much juice vaping pretty much all day and all night anytime I want to that I can buy my ingredients in fairly large quantities. I also make some of my own extracts for almost no cost compared to what those bought from flavor companies cost. 

IMO DIY learned and done the right way takes putting in the time yourself, a lot of it over months/years, and keeping extensive notes along the way. I'm still leaning new things that sometimes improves on what is already known, so when they do I adjust my methods to incorporate them. For DIY done right you have to learn to crawl one flavor or additive at a time before you can walk to simple recipes with only the flavors/additives that you already know well, then walk some more trying something new in them one thing at a time for a time before you run with trying more complex recipes. In time you know what each flavor/additive does to liquids, what compliments and what doesn't when used with specific other ingredients, how much to use, etc so learn what to add to get that something extra you want in a new recipe. There are no shortcuts to the perfect DIY vapes for your own personal tastes because in the end no two people have the exact same tastes. And its even better if you learn how to build for each flavor and device it will be ran in, then with your recipes to get the most out of them. Every juice recipe has it's perfect place it likes to be vaped at to get all it has to offer "to your personal taste". Unfortunately most folks do take shortcuts from the start and continue to do so all along the way. By doing so they are cheating themselves out of what would be their perfect vapes if they had done it right from the start and stuck with it. My recipes work very well for me because I earned ever one of them myself instead of taking free rides on the work done by others. 

Bottom line, if you are thinking of trying DIY, take the time to do the research, take notes, make your own plan and wade in. It won't happen overnight, but is well worth the time and effort if you want your own personal best vape experiences instead of just settling on what someone else's idea of them are. And have fun with it.

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## Silver

Awesome post @Spydro 
Thanks for sharing it with us
Am watching this thread

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## Spydro

Thanks @Silver. Just a way to cut down the endless rewrites of ideas, opinions, etc so common on forums because most folks are too lazy to use a search engine when they want the ideas, opinions, etc of others about something. After being "on line" since the mid 80's for endless interest specific reasons on far too many places over the years, now days less typing would be nice. It would be much easier to just answer with a link to a post here if it fit's the basic question.

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## Neal

_"that you will not be vaping cow piss."_

I think I have had a few bottles of this already...

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## Spydro

I drove 600 miles to get Bandit as soon as he was winged from the nest, and hand reared him.




Happy 10th Birthday Bandit.

Bandit is a Meyers Parrot, a species from central Africa with a soft voice that chirps and sings like a song bird instead of having the loud, sharp, squawk like most parrots. He has endless personality and a little devilish streak that earned him his name while still a baby. Bandit makes many long hours shorter.







This species commonly lives for 50+ years, so soon he will have to go live with someone else.

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## Mahir

Spydro said:


> I drove 600 miles to get Bandit as soon as he was winged from the nest, and hand reared him.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Happy 10th Birthday Bandit.
> 
> Bandit is a Meyers Parrot, a species from central Africa with a soft voice that chirps and sings like a song bird instead of having the loud, sharp, squawk like most parrots. He has endless personality and a little devilish streak that earned him his name while still a baby. Bandit makes many long hours shorter.
> 
> View attachment 96866
> View attachment 96867
> View attachment 96868
> View attachment 96869
> 
> 
> This species commonly lives for 50+ years, so soon he will have to go live with someone else.



That is one beautiful bird. I always wanted a parrot, considering selling all my vape gear to fund one

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## Spydro

Mahir said:


> That is one beautiful bird. I always wanted a parrot, considering selling all my vape gear to fund one



I've had pet birds since I was fairly young, and breed them for pet aviculture back in the 70's. Also breed/reared tropical fish from the 50's to 70's (and Lepidoptera for over 50 years). 

Two of the other recent birds in my life that I raised from the nest but have passed on... a Sun Conure (Binks) from NE South America that dies at 12YO and a White-eyed Conure (Skipper) from South America that died in August 2015 (Skip was 31 years old).

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## Christos

Spydro said:


> I've had pet birds since I was fairly young, and breed them for pet aviculture back in the 70's. Also breed/reared tropical fish from the 50's to 70's (and Lepidoptera for over 50 years).
> 
> Two of the other recent birds in my life that I raised from the nest but have passed on... a Sun Conure (Binks) from NE South America that dies at 12YO and a White-eyed Conure (Skipper) from South America that died in August 2015 (Skip was 31 years old).
> 
> View attachment 96876


Most amazing creatures if you treat them right.
I have a Senegal parrot which I aquired on his youth.
Many years ago there was a bird ban and this bird was for export purposes only. At the time a Senegal in za was hard to come by. The ban on birds due to bird flu allowed me to get my hands on what I believe to be the most comical parrot and also the most affectionate although any bird that is hand reared will love you provided you make it known it's the only bird in your life.

I present Koko which is short for George.


Bugger still wakes me up before the crack of dawn and also I can hear him whistling for me while I'm still about 200m away from my house. He seems to recognise my presence in the suburb and goes beserk when I'm close to home.
My wife says she knows I'm almost home based on the birds noises and behaviour.

Interestingly my mother in law aquired one for some obscure reason and the bird only likes me. It bites everyone else bit will only come out of the cage and only my hands when I am around. Her bird has also never bitten me or shown any agression to me.

Fantastic creatures that I one day hope to pass onto my son so that the bird can wake him up at the crack of dawn 
Edit: also even though the bird only responds well to me and is agressive to others I have often found my 4 year old giving the bird some scratches with the bird hanging it's head ti be scratched. This I find very intriguing as the bird knows the child means it no harm and allows it to continue. My wife on the other hand has had no luck whatsoever with a few bloodied fingers!

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## KB_314

My little guy, Calvin.. A Hahns Macaw - smallest of the Macaws.
He now lives with his mother, my ex. Still only likes the two of us, bites everyone else. 
Amazing animals - no turning back after you have bonded with a Parrot.

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## Spydro

Christos said:


> Most amazing creatures if you treat them right.
> I have a Senegal parrot which I aquired on his youth.
> Many years ago there was a bird ban and this bird was for export purposes only. At the time a Senegal in za was hard to come by. The ban on birds due to bird flu allowed me to get my hands on what I believe to be the most comical parrot and also the most affectionate although any bird that is hand reared will love you provided you make it known it's the only bird in your life.
> 
> I present Koko which is short for George.
> View attachment 98322
> 
> Bugger still wakes me up before the crack of dawn and also I can hear him whistling for me while I'm still about 200m away from my house. He seems to recognise my presence in the suburb and goes beserk when I'm close to home.
> My wife says she knows I'm almost home based on the birds noises and behaviour.
> 
> Interestingly my mother in law aquired one for some obscure reason and the bird only likes me. It bites everyone else bit will only come out of the cage and only my hands when I am around. Her bird has also never bitten me or shown any agression to me.
> 
> Fantastic creatures that I one day hope to pass onto my son so that the bird can wake him up at the crack of dawn
> Edit: also even though the bird only responds well to me and is agressive to others I have often found my 4 year old giving the bird some scratches with the bird hanging it's head ti be scratched. This I find very intriguing as the bird knows the child means it no harm and allows it to continue. My wife on the other hand has had no luck whatsoever with a few bloodied fingers!



Senegal's are very common in American aviculture, arguably the most popular of the Poicephalus parrots here.

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## Spydro

KB_314 said:


> My little guy, Calvin.. A Hahns Macaw - smallest of the Macaws.
> He now lives with his mother, my ex. Still only likes the two of us, bites everyone else.
> Amazing animals - no turning back after you have bonded with a Parrot.
> View attachment 98340



The pint sized Hans and its slightly larger cousin the Nobles are well established in American aviculture thanks to their being prolific and easy to breed. 

Way back from very early in the 70's a Military Macaw was one of my buddies. It had been collected from a wild nest near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela about 40 years before then, and could talk Spanish and English well with an all too clear voice. It's Spanish got me in trouble a few times around latina ladies though... it's Spanish was mostly swear words and he often used a term when approached by a lady that applied to ladies and was very derogatory. I even got my face slapped by a lady I didn't know once because of him.

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## Spydro

Computer Crashed early last week. It is still 99% down, rarely works long enough to do tasks on it before it crashes again. No idea when or if I'll get it back up.


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## Silver

Spydro said:


> Computer Crashed early last week. It is still 99% down, rarely works long enough to do tasks on it before it crashes again. No idea when or if I'll get it back up.



Oh no @Spydro - i hope it somehow comes right

Reactions: Can relate 1


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## Spydro

Silver said:


> Oh no @Spydro - i hope it somehow comes right


Thanks.
Just finally managed to get it to boot up again, but for how long until it crashes again I don't know. I can only run a couple to a few things and it crashes again, then will not boot up again for hours on end. It will not run long enough to try to fix the problem, that I now know is a performance problem due to a resources attack that locks up the computer. Have the tools to fix it downloaded finally, but it won't run long enough to use them. Son is due back from vacation tomorrow but probably won't have time to help me until after next weekend (a 4 day holiday for July 4th). If he can't fix it, it won't get fixed. I have far more important to me things to deal with. Later, maybe....


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## Alex

Spydro said:


> Thanks.
> Just finally managed to get it to boot up again, but for how long until it crashes again I don't know. I can only run a couple to a few things and it crashes again, then will not boot up again for hours on end. It will not run long enough to try to fix the problem, that I now know is a performance problem due to a resources attack that locks up the computer. Have the tools to fix it downloaded finally, but it won't run long enough to use them. Son is due back from vacation tomorrow but probably won't have time to help me until after next weekend (a 4 day holiday for July 4th). If he can't fix it, it won't get fixed. I have far more important to me things to deal with. Later, maybe....



Hey @Spydro, something you can check in the meantime is to make sure it's not overheating. Open it up and make sure the cpu and psu fans are running, also check for lint that accumulates between cpu heatsink and cpu fan which can/does impede airflow.

In my experience everything you mention points to an overheating problem.

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## Spydro

I partially have it back up, but only for short periods. 

Heat is already on the list @Alex, thanks, but lower down it. Most likely it is based on an attack that somehow got past my firewalls undetected, or components that are failing. Tonight it will be dug into thoroughly to check all the boxes and try to pinpoint any and all problems, then make a decision whether to fix or scrape it. After dealing with computers since 1971 and running on-line since the 1980's I'm getting pretty tired of them. Might be a good time to just move on.

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## Spydro

Computer suddenly died for good last week. With my sons help we finally got the new one up and running earlier tonight (it's currently about 1:20AM here). My son has a new one at home as well. Now the much hated learning curve of all the updated programs starts... with most of them upgraded, some as much as an seventh or eighth newer version of what I was running. It's like starting over completely with many of them that have changed so drastically that I recognize very little of the newer versions. And the rebuilding of all my databases into the newer versions, rebuilding all my preferences, and finding again all those lost programs that couldn't be retrieved from the old computer. I've said it before, but this WILL be my last computer. I deplore how dependent my everyday personal life has become on personal computers since my first one in the 1980's.

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## Silver

Wishing you well with the new computer @Spydro 

I too understand the massive pain one feels when changing over to a new system. 
Mine is due for that pretty soon and I am not looking forward to all the tweaking and settling....

Funny how one often looks back after its settled and says "now why didnt I do that a long time ago..." lol

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## Alex

Spydro said:


> Computer suddenly died for good last week. With my sons help we finally got the new one up and running earlier tonight (it's currently about 1:20AM here). My son has a new one at home as well. Now the much hated learning curve of all the updated programs starts... with most of them upgraded, some as much as an seventh or eighth newer version of what I was running. It's like starting over completely with many of them that have changed so drastically that I recognize very little of the newer versions. And the rebuilding of all my databases into the newer versions, rebuilding all my preferences, and finding again all those lost programs that couldn't be retrieved from the old computer. I've said it before, but this WILL be my last computer. I deplore how dependent my everyday personal life has become on personal computers since my first one in the 1980's.
> 
> View attachment 100392



Wow, it looks like an awesome setup there @Spydro, Windows 10 is brilliant once you get the hang of things. But you are right about just how dependent we have all become on technology. Remember a time before cellphone's... ..Ahh the peace and quite.

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## Christos

Nice to have you back @Spydro !

I often go with the latest software or redo machines every 2 to 3 months.

This sounds counterproductive but it helps with keeping solid backups and recovery plans as well as never being too reliant on any particular system. 

I prefer the fresh systems anyways!

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## Silver

Christos said:


> Nice to have you back @Spydro !
> 
> I often go with the latest software or redo machines every 2 to 3 months.
> 
> This sounds counterproductive but it helps with keeping solid backups and recovery plans as well as never being too reliant on any particular system.
> 
> I prefer the fresh systems anyways!



Lol @Christos - 
Latest software or redo machines every 2 to 3 months!!!! 
I think I would just shrivel up and weep if that were the case on my side...

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## Alex

Christos said:


> Nice to have you back @Spydro !
> 
> I often go with the latest software or redo machines every 2 to 3 months.
> 
> This sounds counterproductive but it helps with keeping solid backups and recovery plans as well as never being too reliant on any particular system.
> 
> I prefer the fresh systems anyways!



In the age of *Ransomware *that we now find ourselves in, having updated full system backups is an absolute necessity.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Silver

Alex said:


> In the age of *Ransomware *that we now find ourselves in, having updated full system backups is an absolute necessity.



@Alex - if they want a ransom, I am gonna call you!
I do have external backups of my important "own created" files - but not the full system

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## Alex

Silver said:


> @Alex - if they want a ransom, I am gonna call you!
> I do have external backups of my important "own created" files - but not the full system



I only charge 1 bitcoin.

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## Christos

@Silver I'm currently running the same system from Jan wich is a record for me.
I've been mostly busy so haven't had a chance to redo yet but I've been waiting for a cetrain software to get the 2017 version release to market ready before I switch.

Most of my important stuff is stored in the cloud and backed up in 3 places locally so I should be able to do a full recovery in the event of any issue.

@Alex I have never had issues with viruses or spy/ransom ware in the last 10 years but that may just be my suspicious personality. I think most issues can be avoided if one follows some basic guidelines on what not to do!


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## Alex

@Alex I have never had issues with viruses or spy/ransom ware in the last 10 years but that may just be my suspicious personality. I think most issues can be avoided if one follows some basic guidelines on what not to do![/QUOTE]

Yeah that's very true, but for many people out in the interwebs it's like the wild west.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## SmokeyJoe

Just put Linux on

* Waiting for all the slaps to come*

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Spydro

Alex said:


> Wow, it looks like an awesome setup there @Spydro, Windows 10 is brilliant once you get the hang of things. But you are right about just how dependent we have all become on technology. Remember a time before cellphone's... ..Ahh the peace and quite.



Yeah I am coming from Windows 7 Home Premium to 10. I'm Old Skol from the 1940's that since I retired from the real world of working the high pressure rat races of life in 1990 have stayed with OS everything in my life since until I am forced to upgrade something. That mainly came about because I didn't have a need for state of the art computers as time moved on, and would rather spend my time researching for my current interests than relearning new versions of something that I don't have a valid need for. Over the last 4 years the vaping/DIY knowledge base I learned on my own started giving me total independence from the vaping industry. Through that self reliance I know have that total independence from any and all outside vaping resources and can do everything myself in house... so nothing, not even my government can ever take vaping away from me. 

My first relatively basic home computer with current top of the line upgrades 30 something years ago was what by today's standards could actually do very little power, speed or storage wise. A glorified electronic typewriter of sorts for $3.2K US, that had to be upgraded many times for many years at ever increasing costs. I constantly upgraded to next "best" (that four letter word I hate) top of the line gear and programs (in the days when you had to pay for them) that is outdated by the time you get it home and setup.... until several years ago when doing personal research, maintaining all my interest specific personal databases and forums was about all I needed a computer for at home. Now days it's mainly for personal research and my data bases. After over 30 years on line constantly helping folks on interest specific forms who wouldn't help themselves for my many hobbies, the forums have fallen to the wayside to where this has been the only one I've ran for well over a year, and vaping related forums only for over 4 years. It's someone else's turn to help others.

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## Rob Fisher

Oh wow @Spydro you have my sympathies... while it's awesome to get new stuff that is way faster and slicker I feel your pain... the whole family around me has upgraded to Windows 10 etc and I have avoided it like the plague... the only problem is I own an IT Company so everyone thinks I should be in charge of everything "wired"... I'm fine on my PC but Windows 10 is a whole new ball of wax... 

But the main thing is you are back with us!

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## Spydro

No doubt I'm probably way too set in my ways to want to deal with change in any form anymore @Rob Fisher, let alone tolerate being forced into dealing with it by a hunk of gear with a mind of it's own. How far I'll go dealing with the new updates remains to be seen, but at best it will be dealing with only the small part of what they offer that I will still bother to use at all. As long as I can access my data bases up to a point I'll put up with it. But I am tired of computers and the latest greatest anything that I don't need or want. IE, no smart phones have ever been owned here, and the last whiz bang popular flip cell phone I had was discarded many years ago. I have not even had a regular home phone for 13-14 years... IOW I have no need for phones at all. 
Back off and on maybe. I played along on the forum for over a year even though the forum and the vast majority of the folks here move in a direction away from the path I choose to follow and support in vaping. Some don't respect that, their choice. But with such a small number of folks here who do follow some similar paths that I will stay on, I don't see having much future input on the forum that the majority might not care about. Lots of good folks here though, so a place to stop in at sometimes maybe.

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## Christos

Spydro said:


> No doubt I'm probably way too set in my ways to want to deal with change in any form anymore @Rob Fisher, let alone tolerate being forced into dealing with it by a hunk of gear with a mind of it's own. How far I'll go dealing with the new updates remains to be seen, but at best it will be dealing with only the small part of what they offer that I will still bother to use at all. As long as I can access my data bases up to a point I'll put up with it. But I am tired of computers and the latest greatest anything that I don't need or want. IE, no smart phones have ever been owned here, and the last whiz bang popular flip cell phone I had was discarded many years ago. I have not even had a regular home phone for 13-14 years... IOW I have no need for phones at all.
> Back off and on maybe. I played along on the forum for over a year even though the forum and the vast majority of the folks here move in a direction away from the path I choose to follow and support in vaping. Some don't respect that, their choice. But with such a small number of folks here who do follow some similar paths that I will stay on, I don't see having much future input on the forum that the majority might not care about. Lots of good folks here though, so a place to stop in at sometimes maybe.


Always welcome IMHO and also @Papa_Lazarou .

It's very refreshing to have seasoned folk around and also international folk.

Your contributions have not gone unnoticed.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Spydro

Christos said:


> Always welcome IMHO and also @Papa_Lazarou .
> 
> It's very refreshing to have seasoned folk around and also international folk.
> 
> Your contributions have not gone unnoticed.



After deserting this forum without much of a goodbye, Bill now days regularly runs the Lounge Lizards forum on the old site.

Any further contributions to this forum would go mostly unnoticed. I have many other more pressing things to deal with, so that's fine with me.

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