Hey all,
Back again, to bring you news of an awesome program I found. (Okay, someone on Ubuntu Forums technically found it, but whatever...)
I've been looking for a good lightweight programming editor lately, but was unable to find anything good. I posted on the aforementioned forums, and (as I should have expected) a VI(M)/Emacs war nearly started right away. I averted it, and followed up on the third link, and it was exactly what I was looking for. ("lightweight, but more Dreamweaver than Nano")
Anyhow, the program is called Geany, and although I haven't really used it yet, I am quite impressed with its features. It has syntax highlighting for a fair few languages, compiler integration, built-in terminal, program member recognition with jump-to (updated on save), etc. It's also pluggable, although most of the plugins that have been created already ship with it, and there aren't too many.
If you're looking for a program with an IDE's features, but a text editor's feel, I would strongly recommend Geany. Check the link above for screenshots.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Friday, December 07, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Linux Stickers Update
Hey all,
I finally figured out (e.g. a friend told me) that you have to SSH into the university's server and set the permissions appropriately on the pub_html folder. *slaps forehead*
Anyhow, now you can access my Linux case stickers here, as well as some other stuff (not much). Please note that most of the content on this site was hacked together in a text editor in about 15 minutes, so it's pretty lame. Once I actually have more real content (and time), I will make something better.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
I finally figured out (e.g. a friend told me) that you have to SSH into the university's server and set the permissions appropriately on the pub_html folder. *slaps forehead*
Anyhow, now you can access my Linux case stickers here, as well as some other stuff (not much). Please note that most of the content on this site was hacked together in a text editor in about 15 minutes, so it's pretty lame. Once I actually have more real content (and time), I will make something better.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Labels:
announcements,
linux
Monday, November 05, 2007
Palm Linux, and my ghetto charger
Recently, I was given a Palm Zire 72.
So... I looked at Palm OS, and my first thought was - "what a piece of junk!" Ok, I must give props to the Palm developers for making the PDA "the thing," and it does what it is meant to do pretty well - so no offence meant. But in my mind, any gadget with a 32-bit processor in it has but one purpose in life - being a new platform for Linux to be ported to.
So... I loaded Linux on it. Specifically, Angstrom Linux, with the Open Palmtop Integrated Environment (OPIE). Being in development for my model, it needed a fair amount of tweaking. (Editor's note: enabling other distros' repositories is not usually a good idea, especially when they contain things like APM. I don't know this from experience, of course...) The team just released a new version, v0.85, available here. I must say that it's a big improvement, and almost everything works perfectly now. The only exceptions are the camera, and the fact that switching betwixt headphones and speaker require delving into a whack-long config file. I've e-mailed one of the devs to find out how to do that - I'll post it here when he gets back to me. All in all, I'm quite happy with the project, and would recommend it to anyone with a Zire 72. There are also other projects going for other Palm models, although most of the established development is for HP iPaqs and the Sharp Zaurus. Oh, by the way, the wiki for the z72 can be found here. I would note that you should ignore the instructions there about the bootloader, Garux, and use the one that comes in the distro link above (Cocoboot), since it crashed my Palm, and my thus crash yours. In the event that you use it, or anything else crashes your Palm, this is what will likely happen:
-it will crash (duh)
-you will press the reset button on the back
-it will give you the Palm loading screen, but it will flicker, and not load
-you will try everything, and then start screaming and pulling out your hair
-you will read this post
-this post will tell you something that's on the line after this
-you will open the case (see instructions below), and pull out the battery plug - and then reinsert it
-everything should work fine
-you go back to being happy, with what hair you have left
Instructions to open:
-you will need to access a screw at the top of the sticker on the back. If you regularly pull your gear apart, you will be able to find it merely by running your forefinger over the sticker. If not, run your nail over the sticker.
-then either pull the sticker off and apply a Linux sticker, or neatly punch a hole in it with a screwdriver.
-unscrew the grille that surrounds the camera, and remove the screws beneath it.
-unscrew the other screws
-find some way to pop open the case - I've heard of guitar picks being used for this; I've never tried them, so I can't say whether they work or not, but they are your best bet for not scratching up your case like I did.
And finally, my Ghetto Charger:
I had to make this because the friend that gave me the Palm left his charger in Alberta... I think... He'll bring it back to university after Christmas, but my battery won't last that long. I used what I had around - namely, an old junky breadboard, a clipped-off barrel plug from an equally junky adjustable adapter (and when I say junky, I'm talking 17.5V on the 12V setting!), a barrel jack that I've had since I was about 8 or 9, and a 7805 voltage regulator.Then I realized that dissipating around 1.25 watts made it not so nice to touch, and also a potential fire hazard, if it fell on the wrong thing in the middle of the night. Not wanting to die in flames, much less get kicked out of Rez, I added a heatsink that makes it completely safe... and so much more ghetto. Behold! the wonders of the ghetto Palm charger!
The heatsink is just a random piece of metal I had lying around in my dorm - in this case, an old-skool port connector case. In case you were wondering, the extra red wire is there to jam the stranded wire on the white cable into the breadboard, and the black marks are to tell me where the Ground connection is, for when it falls apart. (My meter is having issues actually measuring anything right now - just hope it's under warranty!)
So, the upshot is that I can charge my Palm, and I also have quite a comfortable hand- (e.g. finger-) warmer for those cold winter nights.
until next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
So... I looked at Palm OS, and my first thought was - "what a piece of junk!" Ok, I must give props to the Palm developers for making the PDA "the thing," and it does what it is meant to do pretty well - so no offence meant. But in my mind, any gadget with a 32-bit processor in it has but one purpose in life - being a new platform for Linux to be ported to.
So... I loaded Linux on it. Specifically, Angstrom Linux, with the Open Palmtop Integrated Environment (OPIE). Being in development for my model, it needed a fair amount of tweaking. (Editor's note: enabling other distros' repositories is not usually a good idea, especially when they contain things like APM. I don't know this from experience, of course...) The team just released a new version, v0.85, available here. I must say that it's a big improvement, and almost everything works perfectly now. The only exceptions are the camera, and the fact that switching betwixt headphones and speaker require delving into a whack-long config file. I've e-mailed one of the devs to find out how to do that - I'll post it here when he gets back to me. All in all, I'm quite happy with the project, and would recommend it to anyone with a Zire 72. There are also other projects going for other Palm models, although most of the established development is for HP iPaqs and the Sharp Zaurus. Oh, by the way, the wiki for the z72 can be found here. I would note that you should ignore the instructions there about the bootloader, Garux, and use the one that comes in the distro link above (Cocoboot), since it crashed my Palm, and my thus crash yours. In the event that you use it, or anything else crashes your Palm, this is what will likely happen:
-it will crash (duh)
-you will press the reset button on the back
-it will give you the Palm loading screen, but it will flicker, and not load
-you will try everything, and then start screaming and pulling out your hair
-you will read this post
-this post will tell you something that's on the line after this
-you will open the case (see instructions below), and pull out the battery plug - and then reinsert it
-everything should work fine
-you go back to being happy, with what hair you have left
Instructions to open:
-you will need to access a screw at the top of the sticker on the back. If you regularly pull your gear apart, you will be able to find it merely by running your forefinger over the sticker. If not, run your nail over the sticker.
-then either pull the sticker off and apply a Linux sticker, or neatly punch a hole in it with a screwdriver.
-unscrew the grille that surrounds the camera, and remove the screws beneath it.
-unscrew the other screws
-find some way to pop open the case - I've heard of guitar picks being used for this; I've never tried them, so I can't say whether they work or not, but they are your best bet for not scratching up your case like I did.
And finally, my Ghetto Charger:
I had to make this because the friend that gave me the Palm left his charger in Alberta... I think... He'll bring it back to university after Christmas, but my battery won't last that long. I used what I had around - namely, an old junky breadboard, a clipped-off barrel plug from an equally junky adjustable adapter (and when I say junky, I'm talking 17.5V on the 12V setting!), a barrel jack that I've had since I was about 8 or 9, and a 7805 voltage regulator.Then I realized that dissipating around 1.25 watts made it not so nice to touch, and also a potential fire hazard, if it fell on the wrong thing in the middle of the night. Not wanting to die in flames, much less get kicked out of Rez, I added a heatsink that makes it completely safe... and so much more ghetto. Behold! the wonders of the ghetto Palm charger!
So, the upshot is that I can charge my Palm, and I also have quite a comfortable hand- (e.g. finger-) warmer for those cold winter nights.
until next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Labels:
disassembly,
electronics,
ghetto electronics,
hacks,
howto,
palm,
projects
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Just Say "No" To Microsoft... with your stickers
Wow! It's been a while...
I must admit, the title comes mainly from personal bias - all operating systems have their pros and cons... I just happen to think that Linux is better overall.
Anyhow, I was looking at my computer the other day (an HP Compaq nc6120 business notebook, given to me by the nice people at HP with extra upgrades included), and I realized that I still had the case sticker proclaiming "Designed For Microsoft Windows XP" on it. Then I thought to myself: Self, why am I giving free advertising to a company that I don't like, use, or otherwise support? Then I said to myself: Self, why don't I fashion a much more generally awesome sticker that I can wear proudly (wear on my computer, that is)? So I did...
This is the result:

SVG link: http://www.sfu.ca/~jgm3/TuxSticker.svg
(opens in Inkscape (free/open source) and probably Illustrator, although I haven't tried)
PDF link: http://www.sfu.ca/~jgm3/TuxSticker.pdf
(note: this image is not tiled, because I haven't worked out why tiling it increases the PDF size dramatically. This is a problem because I'm using my university hosting, and I haven't found out what their hosting limit is yet. I'll try to fix that and repost the file.)
For those of you who don't know what SVG is, it's a vector image format, which means you can scale it without making it look like junk. If you download Inkscape, you can tile it as much as you want, and then convert it to PDF for printing. This ensures that it comes out at the right size (as determined by me). I tried to make it roughly the same size as the original Windoze sticker.
You can distribute this freely as far as I'm concerned, but please take into account this cavea on the usage of Tux himself:
In the same spirit, please acknowledge me (Jeffery MacEachern) and Inkscape for the creation of this sticker.
Enjoy, and share around
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
I must admit, the title comes mainly from personal bias - all operating systems have their pros and cons... I just happen to think that Linux is better overall.
Anyhow, I was looking at my computer the other day (an HP Compaq nc6120 business notebook, given to me by the nice people at HP with extra upgrades included), and I realized that I still had the case sticker proclaiming "Designed For Microsoft Windows XP" on it. Then I thought to myself: Self, why am I giving free advertising to a company that I don't like, use, or otherwise support? Then I said to myself: Self, why don't I fashion a much more generally awesome sticker that I can wear proudly (wear on my computer, that is)? So I did...
This is the result:

SVG link: http://www.sfu.ca/~jgm3/TuxSticker.svg
(opens in Inkscape (free/open source) and probably Illustrator, although I haven't tried)
PDF link: http://www.sfu.ca/~jgm3/TuxSticker.pdf
(note: this image is not tiled, because I haven't worked out why tiling it increases the PDF size dramatically. This is a problem because I'm using my university hosting, and I haven't found out what their hosting limit is yet. I'll try to fix that and repost the file.)
For those of you who don't know what SVG is, it's a vector image format, which means you can scale it without making it look like junk. If you download Inkscape, you can tile it as much as you want, and then convert it to PDF for printing. This ensures that it comes out at the right size (as determined by me). I tried to make it roughly the same size as the original Windoze sticker.
You can distribute this freely as far as I'm concerned, but please take into account this cavea on the usage of Tux himself:
Permission to use and/or modify this image is granted provided you acknowledge me lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP if someone asks.(Taken from the Wikipedia page)
In the same spirit, please acknowledge me (Jeffery MacEachern) and Inkscape for the creation of this sticker.
Enjoy, and share around
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Friday, April 20, 2007
Dental Hygiene with an African twist
Looking on BS's recent list, I found quite possibly the most random thing I have ever seen. Take a look for yourself:
It's a toothbrush:

And another toothbrush:
But... interlace the bristles, and you get... A ZEBRA!!!

no further comment on my part is required...
Gallery
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
It's a toothbrush:

And another toothbrush:

But... interlace the bristles, and you get... A ZEBRA!!!

no further comment on my part is required...
Gallery
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
My perspective on Time Travel
Today's post is a bit random, but it's just something I've been thinking about today - probably due to the fact that last time I went to the library, I took out almost exclusively sci-fi books...
I was reading a book called "Singing the Dogstar Blues," by Alison Goodman, which involved a girl who was conceived in a lab with an anonymous father going back in time to save the records containing her father's name from being incinerated. (The plot was a lot more complicated than that, but I'm not here to do a book report!) Anyways, the head of her university was cheated by her father, who founded the time travel department there, and then her father died... before she found out about him... She was the heir, and so the university dean hired a hitman to get revenge. Anyways, the thing I wanted to bring up was that the hitman was told not to kill her until after she returned from her time voyage... more on that later.
To the point:
The subject of time travel is fraught with paradoxes, although some of them are not quite as paradoxical as they seem at first. That being said, there are still some major problems. I will state right now that I do not believe it is possible to travel backwards in time. There. I've said it.
As I see it, the only way to make sense of travel backwards in time is to realize that the past is... the past. That of course is obvious, but this is what I mean: Say for example, someone travels backwards in time to 1000 years previous. Then, essentially, they existed before they were born; the person spontaneously erupted into existence many years before their parents even met, then winked out of existence after a while, to be born several hundred years later. I think Douglas Adams said it best in his Hitchhiker's trilogy (of 5 books) (and I paraphrase, because I can't be bothered flipping through my copy to find the quote): "...it is impossible to change the past, because all the changes happened before the things that they were supposed to change, so it all works out in the end." This, unfortunately, puts a halt on things right away. I admit that the Hitchhiker's books are absolute nonsense for the most part, but Adams does say some pretty profound things underneath his ridiculous [il]logic from time to time. If you accept this - and indeed, it's the only way it can make sense - and also believe that you can travel back in time ,then you are forced to adopt a rather twisted, fatalistic point of view. Let me give an example:
In the book I was reading... wait... I already said this... the hitman thing... So, could the hitman bump off the girl before she travels back in time? Let's think about it... The dean only knows that she is the heir because she went back in time - the hitman cannot kill her beforehand, because that precludes the dean's knowledge that led him to hire the hitman in the first place. But then, if the hitman cannot kill her, that would mean that the future (from the point of view of the past) is set, which kind of kills the whole "free will" thing. Except for one thing - if no one ever went back in time, the whole "free will" thing wouldn't be violated. So if someone 100 years from now makes a time machine, would we instantly be set - retrospectively - into a pre-ordained course? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But of course, it wouldn't be retrospectively, because the guy used the time machine before he invented it. See what a mess this gets into?
One thing science tells us (good old Einstein) is that time is essentially another dimension. We just happen to only be able to move along it one way - thus, we inevitably age. I don't claim to be an expert on these matters, but here's a few things as I see them. If it's just another dimension, and we move back, wouldn't we get younger? If Joe walks across the room, he is now... across the room. Likewise, if Joe is 20, and he travels back 10 years, it is now ten years ago, so Joe is 10 years old. I can see nothing that would point to a copy of 20-year old Joe appearing 10 years ago with all his memories and experiences of the future.
So... that's about it. Just my thoughts. Feel free to leave [intelligent] comments on this post - I'd appreciate it.
(I guess this extra-long post makes up for all the missed ones in the last few months) ;)
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
I was reading a book called "Singing the Dogstar Blues," by Alison Goodman, which involved a girl who was conceived in a lab with an anonymous father going back in time to save the records containing her father's name from being incinerated. (The plot was a lot more complicated than that, but I'm not here to do a book report!) Anyways, the head of her university was cheated by her father, who founded the time travel department there, and then her father died... before she found out about him... She was the heir, and so the university dean hired a hitman to get revenge. Anyways, the thing I wanted to bring up was that the hitman was told not to kill her until after she returned from her time voyage... more on that later.
To the point:
The subject of time travel is fraught with paradoxes, although some of them are not quite as paradoxical as they seem at first. That being said, there are still some major problems. I will state right now that I do not believe it is possible to travel backwards in time. There. I've said it.
As I see it, the only way to make sense of travel backwards in time is to realize that the past is... the past. That of course is obvious, but this is what I mean: Say for example, someone travels backwards in time to 1000 years previous. Then, essentially, they existed before they were born; the person spontaneously erupted into existence many years before their parents even met, then winked out of existence after a while, to be born several hundred years later. I think Douglas Adams said it best in his Hitchhiker's trilogy (of 5 books) (and I paraphrase, because I can't be bothered flipping through my copy to find the quote): "...it is impossible to change the past, because all the changes happened before the things that they were supposed to change, so it all works out in the end." This, unfortunately, puts a halt on things right away. I admit that the Hitchhiker's books are absolute nonsense for the most part, but Adams does say some pretty profound things underneath his ridiculous [il]logic from time to time. If you accept this - and indeed, it's the only way it can make sense - and also believe that you can travel back in time ,then you are forced to adopt a rather twisted, fatalistic point of view. Let me give an example:
In the book I was reading... wait... I already said this... the hitman thing... So, could the hitman bump off the girl before she travels back in time? Let's think about it... The dean only knows that she is the heir because she went back in time - the hitman cannot kill her beforehand, because that precludes the dean's knowledge that led him to hire the hitman in the first place. But then, if the hitman cannot kill her, that would mean that the future (from the point of view of the past) is set, which kind of kills the whole "free will" thing. Except for one thing - if no one ever went back in time, the whole "free will" thing wouldn't be violated. So if someone 100 years from now makes a time machine, would we instantly be set - retrospectively - into a pre-ordained course? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But of course, it wouldn't be retrospectively, because the guy used the time machine before he invented it. See what a mess this gets into?
One thing science tells us (good old Einstein) is that time is essentially another dimension. We just happen to only be able to move along it one way - thus, we inevitably age. I don't claim to be an expert on these matters, but here's a few things as I see them. If it's just another dimension, and we move back, wouldn't we get younger? If Joe walks across the room, he is now... across the room. Likewise, if Joe is 20, and he travels back 10 years, it is now ten years ago, so Joe is 10 years old. I can see nothing that would point to a copy of 20-year old Joe appearing 10 years ago with all his memories and experiences of the future.
So... that's about it. Just my thoughts. Feel free to leave [intelligent] comments on this post - I'd appreciate it.
(I guess this extra-long post makes up for all the missed ones in the last few months) ;)
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Friday, February 16, 2007
HDD Speakers!
Hello to my readers...
Today, I bring you the most awesome thing mankind could contrive! (Note that technically, I did not contrive it, but I'm pretty sure the guy that did was human - so it still stands)
I found this project on Afrotech Mods (warning: language and content...), and I knew I had to do it.
What I have made is a speaker... out of an old hard drive! "It can't be done," you say? Well, think again. Here is my speaker, complete with a prototyped lame-o amp that I made in about 5min.
All you have to do is:
1) crack open an old HDD so the platters are exposed.
2) find the connections to the movement coil on the Read/Write head.
3) carefully, solder flexible wires onto those connections, giving enough length (and flexibility) to allow the head to move easily.
4) make an amp of any sort - apparently 8Vrms (?) out gives the best results.
5) connect the amp to the two wires you soldered on (polarity doesn't matter), and then connect an audio source to the amp.
6) save up lots of money and buy a 7.1 surround sound decoder, just so you can make more of these.
More pics:
Anyone who has an old HDD lying around, and even the most basic of electronics skillz, should definitely try this out.
EDIT: check out the audio clip (albeit recorded by a junky, ancient mic).
'til next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Today, I bring you the most awesome thing mankind could contrive! (Note that technically, I did not contrive it, but I'm pretty sure the guy that did was human - so it still stands)
I found this project on Afrotech Mods (warning: language and content...), and I knew I had to do it.
What I have made is a speaker... out of an old hard drive! "It can't be done," you say? Well, think again. Here is my speaker, complete with a prototyped lame-o amp that I made in about 5min.
![]() |
| From HDD Speakers |
All you have to do is:
1) crack open an old HDD so the platters are exposed.
2) find the connections to the movement coil on the Read/Write head.
3) carefully, solder flexible wires onto those connections, giving enough length (and flexibility) to allow the head to move easily.
4) make an amp of any sort - apparently 8Vrms (?) out gives the best results.
5) connect the amp to the two wires you soldered on (polarity doesn't matter), and then connect an audio source to the amp.
6) save up lots of money and buy a 7.1 surround sound decoder, just so you can make more of these.
More pics:
![]() | ![]() |
| From HDD Speakers | |
EDIT: check out the audio clip (albeit recorded by a junky, ancient mic).
'til next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Labels:
audio,
electronics,
hacks,
hard drive,
hdd,
mods,
projects,
speaker
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
USBCell Rechargeable Batteries
I just found this on ThinkGeek and I had to blog it right away.
They are now selling NiMH AA batteries - but not any rechargeable batteries... Just pop the top to expose a USB connector; plug them into your computer to charge 'em up to a full 1300mAh - that's 4680 Coulombs of negatively charged goodness! (not the highest capacity out there by a ways, but hey - what other batteries can you charge from your computer... aside from your laptop battery...)
check them out here.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
They are now selling NiMH AA batteries - but not any rechargeable batteries... Just pop the top to expose a USB connector; plug them into your computer to charge 'em up to a full 1300mAh - that's 4680 Coulombs of negatively charged goodness! (not the highest capacity out there by a ways, but hey - what other batteries can you charge from your computer... aside from your laptop battery...)
check them out here.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Friday, December 01, 2006
All I want for Christmas is a Video Watch...
If you've ever wanted to flaunt your Geek, while still being "cool"...
If you've ever wanted your gadgets to be the envy of all your friends'...
If you've ever wanted 2GB of MP3/WMA/Colour Video on your wrist...
...Then this is for you:
Currently on pre-order at ThinkGeek, this multimedia player watch is AWESOME - and not bad on the style department either. (Likely a first for a watch that's this geeky). Rest assured that if I can get my hands on one of these, I will definitely do so!
The watch sports a 128 x 128 px, new-fangled OLED screen, and includes a voice recorder. The only catch is that videos have to be run through a proprietary converter first, but hey - you'd have to shrink it anyways, and if you can play video on a watch in the first place - who cares?!
$99.99USD for 1GB
$129.99USD for 2GB
Get it.
You know you want to.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
If you've ever wanted your gadgets to be the envy of all your friends'...
If you've ever wanted 2GB of MP3/WMA/Colour Video on your wrist...
...Then this is for you:
Currently on pre-order at ThinkGeek, this multimedia player watch is AWESOME - and not bad on the style department either. (Likely a first for a watch that's this geeky). Rest assured that if I can get my hands on one of these, I will definitely do so!The watch sports a 128 x 128 px, new-fangled OLED screen, and includes a voice recorder. The only catch is that videos have to be run through a proprietary converter first, but hey - you'd have to shrink it anyways, and if you can play video on a watch in the first place - who cares?!
$99.99USD for 1GB
$129.99USD for 2GB
Get it.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Labels:
gadget,
mp3,
mp3 player,
multimedia player,
ThinkGeek,
video,
watch,
wma
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Don't flip "That Switch"!! AKA experiments with the Big Red Button appeal
You know that Big Red Button, that you're not supposed to push? Yeah - of course you do... Well, what about the Big Red Safety Flipcover Toggle Switch - the one that always launches rockets, detonates explosives, and generally makes things go bang in a cool sort of way...
All this has been leading up to the fact that I have found a place in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada that sells said flipcovers (RP Electronics) - and because of the amazing "cool factor" associated with them, I've decided to replace my bedroom's lightswitch with one of them, together with a big fat toggle switch.
If you haven't seen these before, check out the link for a picture. The basic idea is that the cover (which happens to be a nice red color) is spring-loaded so that it is kept in the closed position normally. This locks the switch in one postion (on or off, depending on orientation) until you manually flip up the cover and flick the switch.
I'll post pictures when I have it done...
EDIT: I scrapped it because it would have been about $20 for the switch and cover - which I figured wasn't worth it when $20 was all I had at the time ;)
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
All this has been leading up to the fact that I have found a place in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada that sells said flipcovers (RP Electronics) - and because of the amazing "cool factor" associated with them, I've decided to replace my bedroom's lightswitch with one of them, together with a big fat toggle switch.
If you haven't seen these before, check out the link for a picture. The basic idea is that the cover (which happens to be a nice red color) is spring-loaded so that it is kept in the closed position normally. This locks the switch in one postion (on or off, depending on orientation) until you manually flip up the cover and flick the switch.
I'll post pictures when I have it done...
EDIT: I scrapped it because it would have been about $20 for the switch and cover - which I figured wasn't worth it when $20 was all I had at the time ;)
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Monday, October 02, 2006
This Blog is not dead
I will start posting again - believe me!! I've just had a few hectic weeks leading up to school, and then I've had school.
This Blog is not dead...
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
This Blog is not dead...
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Mini Racers in a Bag!!
Okay, I know I'm not the first to do this, but I had to show off...
/* No Comment */
Here is a #8643 - Power Cruiser - IN A SEALED BAG!!
it took me roughly 25min, 50.94s, although there is really no point in that high of a precision, since it implies a fair amount of inaccuracy.
I bought it from David at the VLC, of which I am a member - he bought 40 of them at a bargain - $2.50CAD each, for Lego B-Day parties and such. I managed to wheedle one from him for $3.00, mainly for the purpose of building something in the bag.
Try it - it's fun!
'till next time,
~ The Geek
it took me roughly 25min, 50.94s, although there is really no point in that high of a precision, since it implies a fair amount of inaccuracy.I bought it from David at the VLC, of which I am a member - he bought 40 of them at a bargain - $2.50CAD each, for Lego B-Day parties and such. I managed to wheedle one from him for $3.00, mainly for the purpose of building something in the bag.
Try it - it's fun!
'till next time,
/* No Comment */
Saturday, August 05, 2006
I've been slacking off with my blog
Hey, all 3 of my readers ;-),
I haven't been posting much lately - I've been busy working on a website with some friends. That is to say, I've been coding the website, but it was their idea, and they're planning it. I'll announce it when it's up - it's a public information service of sorts... that's all I'm authorized to say at the moment.
I'm over on Vancouver Island right now - that's off the coast of British Columbia, for thos who may not know... and for those who are really out of it, BC is on the west coast of Canada.
I was at a community festival today, and they had a "kid's" lego area - score! (I guess the "kid's" part was because they've never heard of AFOLs, or, for that matter, TFOLs). Anyways, I made an upgraded version of my Red Sun mini-cruiser (Gallery Page). I'll get pics uploaded when I get home. (This computer doesn't have any USB ports, it has a 56k modem, and it freezes if you open more than four browser windows)
Oh well...
Btw, my hit counter is looking very pitiful, so if you like this blog, please, by all means, tell your family, friends, and people you meet at the grocery store! I submitted it to the directory at LegoFan.org, but it didn't get accepted. Maybe they just saw the Tech article at the top and wrote it of as not relevant... Apparently Lugnet doesn't like announcements of this sort of thing - when I tried, the post was deleted almost instantly. Oh well...
'til next time
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
I haven't been posting much lately - I've been busy working on a website with some friends. That is to say, I've been coding the website, but it was their idea, and they're planning it. I'll announce it when it's up - it's a public information service of sorts... that's all I'm authorized to say at the moment.
I'm over on Vancouver Island right now - that's off the coast of British Columbia, for thos who may not know... and for those who are really out of it, BC is on the west coast of Canada.
I was at a community festival today, and they had a "kid's" lego area - score! (I guess the "kid's" part was because they've never heard of AFOLs, or, for that matter, TFOLs). Anyways, I made an upgraded version of my Red Sun mini-cruiser (Gallery Page). I'll get pics uploaded when I get home. (This computer doesn't have any USB ports, it has a 56k modem, and it freezes if you open more than four browser windows)
Oh well...
Btw, my hit counter is looking very pitiful, so if you like this blog, please, by all means, tell your family, friends, and people you meet at the grocery store! I submitted it to the directory at LegoFan.org, but it didn't get accepted. Maybe they just saw the Tech article at the top and wrote it of as not relevant... Apparently Lugnet doesn't like announcements of this sort of thing - when I tried, the post was deleted almost instantly. Oh well...
'til next time
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Plen Humanoid Robot
If you haven't heard of the Plen robot yet, check this out. It's a humanoid robot (~20ish cm tall) that has amazing capabilities. You can watch two videos of it doing its thing on YouTube here and here. The Plen can walk around on two legs, pick up, throw, and kick objects... but it gets better...
You can attach roller skates to its feet, and it will then skate around - even backwards! The Plen assumes a hands-behind-the-back posture while skating, but can also lean forwards or backwards almost horizontally. It can get up from a fall - even on skates. This thing is nuts! It can also ride a mini skateboard (I think it's the larger evolution of the fingerboard, whatever that's called), pushing itself along, and then pulling up its leg onto the board to ride. If you haven't watched the videos yet, do so now! Then be amazed.
The company site for it is at http://www.plen.jp/. (mostly Japanese) If anyone wants to translate it for me - at least the page with purchase info ;) - that would be appreciated; I'll post the translation on my blog.
'til next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
You can attach roller skates to its feet, and it will then skate around - even backwards! The Plen assumes a hands-behind-the-back posture while skating, but can also lean forwards or backwards almost horizontally. It can get up from a fall - even on skates. This thing is nuts! It can also ride a mini skateboard (I think it's the larger evolution of the fingerboard, whatever that's called), pushing itself along, and then pulling up its leg onto the board to ride. If you haven't watched the videos yet, do so now! Then be amazed.
The company site for it is at http://www.plen.jp/. (mostly Japanese) If anyone wants to translate it for me - at least the page with purchase info ;) - that would be appreciated; I'll post the translation on my blog.
'til next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Lots of Lego MOCs!!
Hey readers!! I'm finally posting again! Aren't you excited!
...Okay, It's not that exciting...
I've got a bunch of Brickshelf stuff to talk about today - all from user Arvo. When I first saw the thumbnails of his motorbike, I couldn't believe it was Lego - it looked way too smooth and curvy - this is studless building at it's best. I was impressed at the size as well. Notice that the wheel hubs are X-Pod lids and bottoms.
Here's a nice photo effect, showing the rear shocks:
The windshield is in keeping with the large scale, and it looks good - you'd be hard pressed to find one that worked as well on a smaller scale.
Arvo has lots of other vehicles, which you can find at the link at the top ("Arvo"), but I would especially like to highlight to other MOCs on Arvo's folders:
This camera has to be one of the nicest micro scale MOCs I have seen in quite a while. It's incredibly well done - the scale and shape are perfect - something that can be hard to do when you're making something this small. Overall, I'm very impressed with Arvo's work.
'til next time
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
...Okay, It's not that exciting...
I've got a bunch of Brickshelf stuff to talk about today - all from user Arvo. When I first saw the thumbnails of his motorbike, I couldn't believe it was Lego - it looked way too smooth and curvy - this is studless building at it's best. I was impressed at the size as well. Notice that the wheel hubs are X-Pod lids and bottoms.
Here's a nice photo effect, showing the rear shocks:The windshield is in keeping with the large scale, and it looks good - you'd be hard pressed to find one that worked as well on a smaller scale.
Arvo has lots of other vehicles, which you can find at the link at the top ("Arvo"), but I would especially like to highlight to other MOCs on Arvo's folders:
This camera has to be one of the nicest micro scale MOCs I have seen in quite a while. It's incredibly well done - the scale and shape are perfect - something that can be hard to do when you're making something this small. Overall, I'm very impressed with Arvo's work.'til next time
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Monday, June 05, 2006
Vex Robotics Servo Hassles
When I was in Oregon last month, I picked up a servomotor from Radioshack for $10 (quite a good price - I have a friend who remembers when they were $1000 each, and they're still usually at least $15-16). It's part of the Vex Robotics Kit, however, I just wanted it for my Basic Stamp 2. But Man! has it been a pain - well worth it, but a pain. The first thing I did was phone Vex tech support, and they, at least, did their best - no runaround or policy statements, just a "yes, it should work with other systems - it's probably a standard servo." When I asked for a datasheet, however, I found out that their system was "proprietary," and they therefore did not even have access to the datasheets themselves - which was ridiculous, especially since I later found out that the Vex servos are actually Futaba servos in a different casing. (which is precisely what I had thought). I then started experimenting, and, not knowing the first thing about how to operate a servo, I Googled it. It is unbelievable that there is almost no technical data on these servos! You would think that for $10 at Radioshack, people would be buying them just to tinker with, but it seems almost everyone is using them with the kit. Argghh!!
On a further note, the box said they have a 100 degree range of motion, with the PWM pulses between 1-2ms. However, as I have now discovered, it actually can turn 180 degrees (roughly - I haven't actually pulled out a protractor, but it's pretty darn close if it isn't 180), and the control pulses range from 0.5-2.4ms. It seems to have a linear relationship, as far as I can tell - which is a huge relief - I really did not want to have to analyze each and every code!
To Summarize:
- only $10 - get one!
- range of motion is 180 degrees - NOT 100, like it says on the packaging
- control pulses range from 0.5-2.4ms - NOT 1-2ms
- apparently linear relationship between pulse width and angle - I will edit this if that is incorrect
Hopefully this rant has been helpful in some way, and you will soon be able to make lots of servo stuff really cheap.
Out.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
On a further note, the box said they have a 100 degree range of motion, with the PWM pulses between 1-2ms. However, as I have now discovered, it actually can turn 180 degrees (roughly - I haven't actually pulled out a protractor, but it's pretty darn close if it isn't 180), and the control pulses range from 0.5-2.4ms. It seems to have a linear relationship, as far as I can tell - which is a huge relief - I really did not want to have to analyze each and every code!
To Summarize:
- only $10 - get one!
- range of motion is 180 degrees - NOT 100, like it says on the packaging
- control pulses range from 0.5-2.4ms - NOT 1-2ms
- apparently linear relationship between pulse width and angle - I will edit this if that is incorrect
Hopefully this rant has been helpful in some way, and you will soon be able to make lots of servo stuff really cheap.
Out.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Spacefaring Monkey
This is pretty cool. I was checking out Brickshelf, as I usually do, when I came across "Ham the Space Monkey," in the folders of "Y-Bros-K". Here are some pics:
Standing - Front View:
Check out the detail in the face (nice teeth and eyebrows), and the hands. Both excellent!


The Brickshelf folder is here. Enjoy!
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Standing - Front View:
Check out the detail in the face (nice teeth and eyebrows), and the hands. Both excellent!


The Brickshelf folder is here. Enjoy!
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Saturday, May 27, 2006
A little Random...
Don't say I didn't warn you that there would be some random stuff on this blog!
I just returned from Oregon last week (I love no sales tax!!) - I had a great time. While I was there, my friends mentioned a street sign that was too good to miss, so we pulled over and took a picture.
...That's right - Burnt Limb Lane... I hope they're talking about trees!
'til next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
I just returned from Oregon last week (I love no sales tax!!) - I had a great time. While I was there, my friends mentioned a street sign that was too good to miss, so we pulled over and took a picture.
...That's right - Burnt Limb Lane... I hope they're talking about trees!'til next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Sunday, May 07, 2006
A Plug for Myself
I don't/won't normally do this, but I wanted to show off some of my latest models. Some of you may have seen my Quasar I:
I found out after I made this (at school), that some parts were never made in the colors that I used in this model, namely the black binocs, and the blue curved slopes. I guess that's what you get when you CAD something without looking at the pieces first! I'm sure they'll soon make the slopes in blue - they only came out in 2005 - and the binoculars color isn't too vital. Oh, well.
Also, I'd like to show off my jet plane - the Flying Fish, racing edition.
If you come to the aforementioned show in Surrey, BC, you can see this model first hand.
You can find more pictures of these, and other models at my Brickshelf Folders.
'till next post,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
P.S. Ever notice that the contraction of "until" gains an "l" to become 'till? Weird...
I found out after I made this (at school), that some parts were never made in the colors that I used in this model, namely the black binocs, and the blue curved slopes. I guess that's what you get when you CAD something without looking at the pieces first! I'm sure they'll soon make the slopes in blue - they only came out in 2005 - and the binoculars color isn't too vital. Oh, well.Also, I'd like to show off my jet plane - the Flying Fish, racing edition.
If you come to the aforementioned show in Surrey, BC, you can see this model first hand.You can find more pictures of these, and other models at my Brickshelf Folders.
'till next post,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
P.S. Ever notice that the contraction of "until" gains an "l" to become 'till? Weird...
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Surrey, BC Lego Show
Hey y'all,
if you live in the Lower Mainland, BC, in jolly old Canada, come check out the show the Vancouver Lego Club is putting on this summer. I don't have the exact dates yet, but you can check out vlc.ca for more info. The main attraction is a large 50s layout. I won't reveal exactly what is going to be in it, but it should be really cool! I've made a 1930 Model AA Ford pickup for the layout, which you can find here. I'm exceedingly sorry for the webcam pics, however, I don't have a decent camera, I don't have money to buy a decent camera, and I haven't finished modeling it in MLCad.
They don't do it justice, but they'll have to do for now.
Hope to see you there!
(even though I won't know who you are)
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
if you live in the Lower Mainland, BC, in jolly old Canada, come check out the show the Vancouver Lego Club is putting on this summer. I don't have the exact dates yet, but you can check out vlc.ca for more info. The main attraction is a large 50s layout. I won't reveal exactly what is going to be in it, but it should be really cool! I've made a 1930 Model AA Ford pickup for the layout, which you can find here. I'm exceedingly sorry for the webcam pics, however, I don't have a decent camera, I don't have money to buy a decent camera, and I haven't finished modeling it in MLCad.
They don't do it justice, but they'll have to do for now.
Hope to see you there!
(even though I won't know who you are)
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Giant SW minifigs
I wrote "giant" in the title for those who less enlightened about Lego, however, I believe this scale of minifig is referred to as "Lego Friends" by the folks at Legoland.
Anyways, Potato, on Brickshelf, has made a plethora of Star Wars figs - here's the root directory address.
And here's a few samples of the figs:
A good job on Admiral Ackbar:
adios,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Anyways, Potato, on Brickshelf, has made a plethora of Star Wars figs - here's the root directory address.
And here's a few samples of the figs:
A good job on Admiral Ackbar:
adios,~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Self-assembling chair
In a post from Engadget, they've mentioned a robotic chair that falls apart, then re-assembles itself. It's pretty crazy to watch, albeit quite slow. No info on how it works, or what types of sensors it uses, though. Here's a video clip(WMV) that shows it in operation.
Now if only Ikea would make furniture like this, things would be a lot simpler - and more fun!
'till next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Now if only Ikea would make furniture like this, things would be a lot simpler - and more fun!
'till next time,
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Lego Space/Minis
I was just checking out Brickshelf's random folder list - which I would recommend checking out, if you haven't already. It's usually old stuff, but with 1.2million files on the site, chances are that you won't have seen most of it before.
Anyways, Moko has some pretty cool stuff. There's a lot of mecha, which I'm not usually too keen on (and thus will not often blog about), but there's also a good scattering of mini-models and a few space items, both of which I will be highlighting today. So without further ado...
Ok - some "ado" first - what does "ado" even mean??
Here's a great spaceship made by Moko: (it doesn't seem to have been given a name)
(Brickshelf Folder Link)
I'm very impressed with the ship's overall design. Excellent SNOTwork all over!
You've got to love that rear cannon - wonderfully designed, and its mounting is perfect - it looks very realistic (well... as realistic as something like a futuristic spaceship can be!).
The aft portion is good - I particularily like the engines. Oh yeah, and the stand, while not too complicated, is amazing. The model actually looks good on its stand.

Here's a neat feature of the thrusters. It appears to be held together solely by the lever pieces - quite an ingenious idea.
Well, after saying that I would talk about the minis, I've actually decided to leave that to the next post.
so long for now!
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Anyways, Moko has some pretty cool stuff. There's a lot of mecha, which I'm not usually too keen on (and thus will not often blog about), but there's also a good scattering of mini-models and a few space items, both of which I will be highlighting today. So without further ado...
Ok - some "ado" first - what does "ado" even mean??
Here's a great spaceship made by Moko: (it doesn't seem to have been given a name)
(Brickshelf Folder Link)
I'm very impressed with the ship's overall design. Excellent SNOTwork all over!
You've got to love that rear cannon - wonderfully designed, and its mounting is perfect - it looks very realistic (well... as realistic as something like a futuristic spaceship can be!).
The aft portion is good - I particularily like the engines. Oh yeah, and the stand, while not too complicated, is amazing. The model actually looks good on its stand.
Here's a neat feature of the thrusters. It appears to be held together solely by the lever pieces - quite an ingenious idea.

Well, after saying that I would talk about the minis, I've actually decided to leave that to the next post.
so long for now!
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Friday, April 14, 2006
Technic Boeing 737 Jet
This is old news in the sense of being somewhat old, however, the negative connotations of that phrase are not implied here.
Marius Postma has created a [read the title - I don't feel like wasting time being redundant]. It is 4ft 4in long (for you Americans), and about 1-1/3m, for the rest of the world.
#Begin FYI#
"...the eleventh CGPM defined the metre in the new SI system as equal to 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red emission line in the electromagnetic spectrum of the krypton-86 atom in a vacuum." (Wikipedia article)
#End FYI#
Anyways, the airplane is complete with movable flaps and airbrakes, retractable landing gear with doors; it seats 100+ minifigs, and is controllable with a three-axis joystick, and various pneumatic valves.
Here's a pic:
and here's a link to his Brickshelf Gallery, where there are lots more pics, as well as some more specs.
well, that's all for now. Tune in with your aggregator whenever I next post :-)
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
P.S. sorry about my ramblings - you'll have to live with them.
Marius Postma has created a [read the title - I don't feel like wasting time being redundant]. It is 4ft 4in long (for you Americans), and about 1-1/3m, for the rest of the world.
"...the eleventh CGPM defined the metre in the new SI system as equal to 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red emission line in the electromagnetic spectrum of the krypton-86 atom in a vacuum." (Wikipedia article)
#End FYI#
Anyways, the airplane is complete with movable flaps and airbrakes, retractable landing gear with doors; it seats 100+ minifigs, and is controllable with a three-axis joystick, and various pneumatic valves.
Here's a pic:

and here's a link to his Brickshelf Gallery, where there are lots more pics, as well as some more specs.
well, that's all for now. Tune in with your aggregator whenever I next post :-)
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
P.S. sorry about my ramblings - you'll have to live with them.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Robot Wars in Space
This has to be both the sweetest thing ever, and the biggest waste of money ever. The organizers of the Japanese Robo-One bipedal robot fighting competitions are planning to launch a satellite on which to have robot matches! Yes - we're talking an open arena, with jet-pack equipped robots, from the promo video they have out. It's planned to launch on October 10, 2010 - "planned" being the operative word!
Check out the promo video here
You can visit the website at this link, or, if you can't read Japanese, here's the Google translation
Check it out.
That is all.
You are dismissed.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Check out the promo video here
You can visit the website at this link, or, if you can't read Japanese, here's the Google translation
Check it out.
That is all.
You are dismissed.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Lego Vignettes and SW Minis
This just in...
...well, actually, I found it the better part of a month ago...
Graviton at Brickshelf has some great vignettes, including a sweet 3-level vig called "Under Earth"
Here's a pic of the top level - you'll have to follow the link to see the rest:

Also, Obijon at Brickshelf has Star Wars minis from every movie, and the Expanded Universe, as I recall, and - unlike most people - he has documented most (if not all) of them with LDraw. I wish more people would do that - I know it's a fair bit of work (I have to do all of mine that way, and then render them with LPub, because I don't have a decent camera - read: disposable 35mm), but it's really nice, especially with complicated models.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
...well, actually, I found it the better part of a month ago...
Graviton at Brickshelf has some great vignettes, including a sweet 3-level vig called "Under Earth"
Here's a pic of the top level - you'll have to follow the link to see the rest:

Also, Obijon at Brickshelf has Star Wars minis from every movie, and the Expanded Universe, as I recall, and - unlike most people - he has documented most (if not all) of them with LDraw. I wish more people would do that - I know it's a fair bit of work (I have to do all of mine that way, and then render them with LPub, because I don't have a decent camera - read: disposable 35mm), but it's really nice, especially with complicated models.
~ The Geek
/* No Comment */
Friday, April 07, 2006
Welcome to "The Blog"
Welcome to "The Blog." (Or at least that's what they tell me that it's called.)
Anyways...
I'll be blogging about Lego stuff and Technology news as it comes to me, however, I'm running out of time at the moment, so I'll have to cut this post sho -
Anyways...
I'll be blogging about Lego stuff and Technology news as it comes to me, however, I'm running out of time at the moment, so I'll have to cut this post sho -
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)



