Flexible Glasses and TurboFlex Hinges

I'd really like some memory metal glasses.





They also have these 360 swiveling hinges called TurboFlex.

Laser Welding for Eyeglasses

I managed to break my eyeglasses *again*. I've got to stop doing things like falling asleep with my glasses on and waking up with them broken after I've rolled over on them a couple of times.

Apparently you can have eyeglasses laser welded. I thought this was a cool idea. You mail your glasses to them and get them back in a week.

I didn't have time to wait so I had them repaired locally with solder.


http://www.eyeglassrepairusa.com/lasereyeglassrepair

They might want to change the stock picture of the guy on this page though.


http://www.eyeglassrepairusa.com/serviceareas

My favorite plate - corelle pie plates

I love these corelle pie plates. They're great for soups or juicy stuff because they keep the juice from rolling off your plate. It's not a bowl, or a flat plate, but a fusion of the two.

I got a bunch of these at the corelle factory store. Who says you have to use them for pies?



http://www.walmart.com/ip/Deep-Dish-Plate-Winter-Frost-White/15065033

Kill a watt KWH display bug

I put one of those P3 kill a watt meters on my new refrigerator to see how much power it uses. I leave it in the KWH display mode because that's all I'm really interested in. What I notice is that when the KWH goes over 99.99 that it displays 1.00 instead of 100 and doesn't update the decimal point. I've got one of the newer kill a watts that computes the cost per year and it does the same thing in the KWH display mode.

Cycling through the display mode resets the decimal.

I know it's minor but just one of those things the designer overlooks.

ptouch pt-d200 7v or 9v

So I got a pt-d200 and was trying it with a 9v brother adapter and it doesn't light up. The plug is labeled 9v, it uses 6 AAA batteries (for 9v) but if I plug in a 9v power supply it plays dead.

Now if I plug in a 7V brother power supply, no problem. It's happy with 7V.

I see the same thing with the PT-1880. It's labeled 7-9V but it only lights up with the 7V power supply.

Go figure.

One day I plugged a 9v supply into a PT-1750 (which requires 7V) and it displayed "CHANGE ADAPTER" and shut itself off.

Just watched King of Kong Fistful of Quarters

Just watched King of Kong Fistful of Quarters and I have to say that it was really interesting.

I had no idea that setting the world record in Donkey Kong had so much intrigue and drama. It got pretty emotional at times watching Steve Wiebe try and try again to break the record.

Records were meant to be broken and there's a new rivalry, but the story of Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell was very entertaining. Good stuff even almost a decade later.

Jumpman Zero

Back in the day, one of my favorite games was Jumpman. About 10 years ago I found this game by Dave Campbell called Jumpman Zero and I really liked it. In fact I would say that it is one of the best games I've ever played.

What was cool is that you could run it from the command line and select which level you wanted to play (that way I could play all 30 levels without incessant restarts). The levels really had great design and inventiveness.

Here's a guy playing Jumpman Zero with German commentary (I have no idea what he's saying).

knoppix 7.6 released

Yay! the long wait is over for the next version of knoppix. I've gotta get my knoppix fix, so I downloaded it. I copied the iso to my flash drive and it failed because my flash drive is FAT32 and FAT32 has the dreaded 4GB limit. Unfortunately, knoppix7.6 is 4.1 gigabytes. Rats! So it looks like I'm going to reformat my flash drives to something other than FAT32, probably NTFS.

So bliss is postponed until then.

Looking at the actionprinter rom

I was curious what the ap2000 rom characters looked like so I wrote a crap qbasic program to draw them to the screen.


DECLARE SUB plotbyte (xpos!, ypos!, byte!)
DECLARE FUNCTION bitset! (nextbyte!, bit!)
DIM file%(0 TO 32700)

OPEN "ap2k~1.ic3" FOR BINARY AS #1

skipto = 13650
SCREEN 13


WHILE NOT EOF(1)
bytenum = bytenum + 1

a$ = INPUT$(1, #1)
nextbyte = ASC(a$)
IF bytenum < UBOUND(file%) THEN file%(bytenum) = nextbyte IF skipto <> 0 THEN
IF bytenum > skipto THEN
plotbyte xpos, ypos, nextbyte
xpos = xpos + 1
IF xpos > 256 THEN xpos = 0: ypos = ypos + 10
IF ypos > 190 THEN CLS : ypos = 0
LOCATE 1, 262 / 8: PRINT bytenum;

END IF
END IF
IF bytenum MOD 25 = 0 THEN LOCATE 1, 262 / 8: PRINT bytenum


WEND

FUNCTION bitset (nextbyte, bit)
x = nextbyte AND (2 ^ bit)
IF x = 0 THEN bitset = 0 ELSE bitset = 1
END FUNCTION

SUB plotbyte (xpos, ypos, nextbyte)
FOR bit = 0 TO 7: PSET (xpos, (7 - bit) + ypos), 15 * bitset(nextbyte, bit): NEXT
END SUB





What I notice is that most of the rom (at least half of the 32k is the character data). It's a 9 pin printer so to get the NLQ characters it makes two passes of the printhead for 18 dots vertically.

Each character is given as a draft, then italics, then the vertically interleaved NLQ character. Some characters have more than one NLQ version for different widths (pica or elite possibly). Capital A for example. Many only have one NLQ version.

Flavorings in my turkey

We had a big turkey for Thanksgiving and it was really good. A couple of hours later though, I got a big headache. I checked the label on the frozen turkey and sure enough, there's "flavor" listed as an ingredient. It's getting so you can't even buy chicken and turkey without getting some ridiculous "broth" with flavorings injected into it. I don't get it. The meat always tasted fine without all of these additives, why are they putting this into the food now?

I've really got to watch those labels.

Jurassic World

I watched Jurassic World yesterday and was amused at how the Indominus Rex got out of his cage. It's funny that with all of the technology in the park, they don't have a tracking screen at the cage itself. It can only be tracked from the main command center. Seriously? I guess they never heard of networking or smartphone apps like "find my i-Rex".

That Indominus Rex is sure smart, like Moriarty.

Good movie, despite all the illogic.

Joys of using a tv as a monitor

So I've got this 24 inch tv with HDMI that I'm using as a monitor. Mostly it looks pretty good, but there are a couple of things that are irritating. One is that it wants to overscan HDMI at 1280x720p so I can't see the full screen. I'm using one of those Displaylink USB to HDMI adapters, which after some searching has the option to shrink the available display down so that it fits on the monitor.

It doesn't move in increments smaller than 64 pixels though, so I'm using a resolution of 1216x656 and everything is visible with a small black border around it all.

The displaylink goes up to 1680x1050 but it's easier to read at the lower resolution. Interestingly, the higher resolutions aren't zoomed at all by the TV, just the one I want to use, 1280x720p.

Also the displaylink has kind of a weird "interlacing" effect when scrolling. I think it's saving up on the amount of data it's sending over the USB bus.

Which brings me to my next feature, cleartype. The text has a weird red/blue fringing not too unlike the old apple II graphical text. It's most noticeable when on a completely white or black background.

And then the most annoying thing is that the TV doesn't want to go into standby upon losing the signal. A regular monitor wants to go into powersave immediately, but TV's do not, happily telling you for the next 10 minutes that there is no signal. Then it will power off but won't come back on when you bring the computer out of standby, making you find the remote control so you can turn the TV back on.


Some more things about this tv. I put another system on the VGA input, and the VGA will only go up to 1440x900 even though the TV is full hd. If I use the HDMI input on this TV with the same computer, I can get 1920x1080 and it looks great. It identifies itself as a "Mars-Tech 26 inch" in ubuntu even though the brand is Haier. If you don't use the full hd and use the "stretch" aspect at 1440x900 it looks terrible with ugly horizontal blurry scaling and there's no ability to sharpen up the image. The menu option for sharpness is greyed out.

Buddy personal robot

I like the telepresence/watchdog capabilities. It would be good to have a sentry robot around the house.

Transparent Car

http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/03/check-out-this-amazing-transparent-car/

I thought this was awesome. Since we don't have transparent aluminum cars yet, this is the next best thing.

Howabout a transparent lexus made out of acrylic?

Movies with car accidents

One of the trends I'm noticing is how many movies revolve around car accidents as a major element of the plot.

I just watched Human Capital where a speeding SUV hits a bicyclist in a hit and run.

Bella has a man haunted by running a child over in the street.

In "The Lookout", Joseph Gordon Leavitt plays a man who has a tragic car accident that leaves him with brain damage and kills two of his friends.

Separate Lies has a car sideswipe a bicyclist and kill them.

Felony has Jai Courtney pursuing Joel Edgerton who ran over a child and covered it up.

Another one is Cake with Jennifer Aniston where she plays a woman whose son is killed and she left in terrible pain after a crash.

Arbitrage has Richard Gere killing his mistress in an accident.

Another Earth is a story about a woman who wants to atone for a tragic accident she caused.

The Machinist, Rabbit Hole, Stuck, Margaret, What Lies Beneath, Monster's Ball, Snow Cake, If I Stay and Premoition are a few others.

Just something that I was thinking about. In the future, these storylines will disappear with the advent of self driving cars. Until then, we'll have art imitating life. And vice versa.

Find your doppleganger

Twin Strangers gains 500,000 users in six months helping strangers find their doppelganger online.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/family-friends/twin-strangers-gains-500000-users-in-six-months-helping-strangers-find-doppelganger-online/news-story/f9df889dc0209d21a7818776f7c46042

and while we're on the subject, how about some paranormal doppleganger stories.


http://paranormal.about.com/od/Doppelgangers/a/doppelgangers.htm

Playing with ap2000

After reading about the Action Printer 2000 in mess I have been fascinated with actually seeing it run. I finally was able to get mame 167 compiled in ubuntu. I don't know what I'm doing so it's been pretty frustrating trying to get everything set up.


First, I tried ubuntu 15.10 and I was getting video corruption with the Intel 4 series integrated graphics. Then I tried ubuntu 14.04 and I got the same corruption. I read a post where the problem lies with an uneven amount of memory. 3GB created corruption. After pulling a 1GB stick, 2GB seems to be run fine with no problems.

I found Ramiro Polla's dummy centronics driver and was able to get it compiled with:

make SUBTARGET=dmcntr

https://github.com/ramiropolla/mame/commits/dmcntr

https://github.com/mamedev/mame/issues/350

and after the magic invocation (how I struggled to figure this out) I got to see it run. Yay!

./messdmcntr64 dmcntr -centronics ap2000 -window


First came up a layout that filled the screen, but after fiddling with the video options I could see the printer output.

I had to change the /dev/lp0 to just plain old lp0 and do a "mkfifo lp0" and then I could pipe stuff to see it print.

Fantastic!

Man rigs the lottery

"I've gotta go into the server room to update it for Daylight Saving Time"

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/07/inside-the-biggest-lottery-scam-ever.html

The $48,000 tow truck bill

I think that's more than the jeep probably cost new.

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/28/tow-company-charges-massachusetts-man-nearly-49000-to-pull-jeep-from-mud-pit.html

Uninsured and Unlicensed Motorists

Here's something to think about the next time you're on the road. There's a lot of uninsured and unlicensed motorists driving around.

There's a lot of "winking" going on regarding uninsured motorists I think. They could get the uninsured off the road if they wanted to.

Mississippi has an estimated 28% uninsured motorists according to the IRC.

"Mississippi, however, has no way for police to determine whether a driver has coverage, says insurance commissioner Mike Chaney. He says he worries about privacy and entrapment if data are misused, and his state doesn't require proof of insurance. "The legislature has never had the fortitude or the backbone to do it," he says."

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-11/uninsured-drivers/50363390/1

http://www.autoinsurance.org/how-many-drivers-dont-have-auto-insurance/

Unlicensed drivers are a real problem as well. In Youngstown, Ohio it's epidemic.

“The No. 1 crime in the city of Youngstown is people driving without a license, absolutely without a doubt,” said Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly of Youngstown Municipal Court. It’s a crime she deals with “at least 10 times a day.”

Police Chief Rod Foley calls the problem of unlicensed and uninsured drivers an “epidemic.”


http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/sep/02/epidemic-unlicensed-uninsured-drivers/

Terminator Genisys wasn't half bad

I watched Terminator: Genisys today after it came out on Redbox and I must say that it was pretty good. I was expecting something awful after reading some reviews but it was surprisingly decent.

Here's a interesting tidbit: According to this article at slashfilm, despite grossing $440 million worldwide, the picture lost money.

http://www.slashfilm.com/terminator-sequels-on-hold-indefinitely/

Honest Trailers came out with a perfect Trailer for Terminator Genisys. It's totally spot on.

Wargames PC 1998

I remember this old PC RTS strategy game from 1998. It's kind of obscure but I really liked it years ago. It didn't age well, and the 3d graphics look clunky now. To save cpu resources the infantry are sprites instead of 3d.

It did have its charm and some of the levels were pretty clever. There was one mission I recall where I didn't bother to listen to the briefing. Not knowing what I was supposed to do I figured that I'd try to build up my base and defend it. After failing miserably a few times, I found out that I had to get my forces on the move.

It's also notable for being the only game I ever bought that came with a virus on the cd. The program that registers you is infected. If you never run the registration program, the virus will never bother you. I don't think I've ever registered a game anyway.


http://www.ign.com/articles/1998/08/14/wargames-plagued-by-virus

Bolivia RFID tags on cars

"The startlingly simple solution is for gas stations to check the RFID tag of every car that pulls into the station. In a pilot program, the country identified 12,000 vehicles using illegal duplicate plates."

http://www.informationweek.com/it-life/rfid-chips-in-windshields-simple-way-to-catch-bad-guys/d/d-id/1320713

Ship of the imagination or Space Avocado

I was eating an avocado and was just noticing how much it reminds me of the ship of the imagination from Cosmos.

Complex cars

http://www.caranddriver.com/flipbook/10-cars-that-made-complexity-a-virtue

Furious 7 networking

I was watching Furious 7 a couple of days ago and was amused at the high tech networking gear that was in the Billionaire's building.

"It's gonna be a 350 megahertz CAT5e cable."

I guess they cut a few corners and didn't use Category 6 cable...

"but this will be the bonded pair with the plenum coat."

Elevators without cables

Here's an elevator design that doesn't use cables, running on tracks instead.

http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/thyssenkrupp-unveils-model-multi-vertical-mass-transit-system.html

Shoe production

I got a new pair of shoes out today and was curious what the acronym EVA meant on the info tag. According to wikipedia, EVA is ethylene vinyl acetate. So I started looking for EVA injection or EVA moulding on youtube.

It's interesting to watch the workings of a factory that makes shoes. It's quite an elaborate process from start to finish.

The amazing Do Nothing machine

Taurus "for us" commercials

I always got a kick out of the Taurus "for us" commercials. It's interesting how excited and high energy these commercials were. Most commercials today don't seem to have that "over the top" quality. It's not merely a car. It's a TAURUS! For us!

Come sailing in a Land Barge - 1975 ninety eight

I like the sound of it idling. He can just get it out of the garage without hitting the ground on the slope.

Lincoln Continental cook book

"Like the 1978 Diamond Jubilee edition, 1979 Collectors Series featured leather wrapped tool kit, owners manual, umbrella, and even a cook book."


http://www.classiccarstodayonline.com/2012/04/19/a-look-back-at-a-true-american-classic-the-1977-79-lincoln-continental-mark-v/1979-lincoln-mark-v-coll-navy-j/

http://www.classiccarstodayonline.com/2012/04/19/a-look-back-at-a-true-american-classic-the-1977-79-lincoln-continental-mark-v/

"Every new owner was given the special car keys and could request a Ford created cookbook entitled "Ford Diamond Jubilee Recipe Collection"."


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Continental_Mark_V

http://www.lincolnmarkv.com/LincolnMarkV/Diamond_Jubilee_Cookbook/Pages/DJ_COOKBOOK.html

SAM - Software Automatic Mouth

I thought this was awesome back in the day. Here's an online version that works in your browser. (Warning: turn your headphones down before you click on say)

I thought it was quite clever how it was translated to C: https://github.com/s-macke/SAM "This program was converted semi-automatic into C by converting each assembler opcode."

http://simulationcorner.net/index.php?page=sam

Mustang on the Roof

Kaboom! There's a Mustang on the roof!

http://gawker.com/driver-loses-control-of-hot-red-mustang-and-ends-up-on-1739304456

Folding Electric Tricycle

I like the way this folds up and expands at the touch of a button.

Sitting Ducks - people behaving badly

I get a kick out of these Stanley Roberts "People behaving badly" videos. Here's one about license plate readers finding stolen cars.

Man writes story for 10 cents on $5 typewriter

The doctor is in.

Miles Davis impression by door

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2015/08/26/Chicago-parking-garage-door-does-Miles-Davis-impression/5431440602502/?st_rec=1761440605132

Short yellows for red light cameras

Red light cameras in Chicago were ticketing drivers with yellow light times under 3 seconds.

"It's showing 2.9, it records 2.9 on the data bar as you see on the violation," Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld said in a recent interview. "But that actual performance is probably 2.998 — or something like that — where the variation is in the hundredths or thousandths of a second, which is imperceptible."

"City officials said the yellow light times being rejected by judges as too short are in fact valid because they fall within an allowable variance that is caused by fluctuations in electrical power."

Yes, variations in electrical power, that's definitely it...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-red-light-camera-yellow-timing-20141009-story.html



‘Entrapping drivers into running red lights’

Together, the yellow light and the all-red interval add up to what’s called a “change period.” That “change period” at the intersection where Gigov got his ticket equals the three-second yellow light, plus one or two seconds for the all-red interval -- a total of four or five seconds. Engineering practices would yield a nearly similar result: a 3.7 second yellow light, followed by 0.47 second all-red interval, totaling 4.17 seconds.

The difference is, Chicago shortens the yellow portion of the change interval, and lengthens the all-red portion.

“So from a safety standpoint, it’s probably OK, but the thing is they’re misallocating the times,” said Warren, “and so they’re basically entrapping drivers into running red lights.”

http://www.wbez.org/news/are-chicagos-shorter-yellow-lights-unsafe-or-just-unfair-110955

Traffic Tickets going sky high

"When Sgt. Eddie Chan makes traffic stops, the San Jose officer makes it a point never to tell drivers how much their ticket will cost. He's afraid they'll go ballistic.

Fines on traffic tickets have surged in the past five years as the state has added fees and penalties that can raise the cost of most infractions into the hundreds of dollars. Running a red light: $446. Driving solo in the car-pool lane: $445. Speeding at 81 mph on most freeways: at least $331. Ignoring a "don't walk" sign: $173.

Why the fine inflation? Lawmakers are seeing traffic tickets as a relatively easy source of revenue in tough times..."

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14821297

Why drive an old car?

"Reason #2: I Love to Eat - After a certain number of years pass, you just stop caring about keeping the carpets spotless. I’ll eat anything and everything while driving. If it falls on the seat or floor, I’ll still eat it. And never for one moment do I worry about stains."

I guess the 5 second rule applies here...

http://cashcowcouple.com/lifestyle/why-driving-an-old-car/

Tank on empty

Help solve a mystery that has puzzled mankind for years...
How far can you go after the gas light in your car comes on?

It's probably not the greatest idea to run your car completely dry...

http://tankonempty.com/viewstory/dont-use-your-reserve-fuel-it-protects-your-pump,71

http://tankonempty.com/

Secrets of UPS drivers

“Most UPS drivers are attacked by dogs,” says one former New Orleans-based UPS driver. “What you do is jump on the hood of the nearest vehicle and don’t move. There were some drivers that sat on the hood of a car for an hour or more.”


http://mentalfloss.com/article/60556/19-secrets-ups-drivers

Japanese vertical parking

Reminds me of a vending machine where the food goes around until you get to the one you want. What could go wrong?

World's largest railroad track layer

Here's the world's largest track layer.

Replacing Railroad Ties

These machines that replace the railroad ties are amazing.

Upside down truck

Man builds 747 replica cockpit at home

Pretty cool. He even makes 3,000 pounds a month hiring the simulator out.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2609512/Man-forced-dream-pilot-spent-15-years-20-000-building-replica-cockpit-home.html

Telephone Registration Systems

I remember how we used to call up the university's telephone registration system. I can do a perfect imitation after all these years it's been so hardwired into my head.

On the first day of registration it was impossible to get in...

This particular telephone registration system is from Newfoundland.

The Ultimate Garage Queen (or maybe Barn Queen)

Don't wash that car. We're saving the dust!

The Audichron - time and temperature

That is really old school.

Dodge Daytona Talking Dashboard

Pretty stylin' for 1987. Sounds like the Ti Speak and Spell.

GM digital dashboard commercial from 1985

I always loved glowing VFD displays.

Chinese man makes his own Lambo-Volkswangini

Kitt replica cars

I came across this KITT replica and I was really impressed. It's amazing how many people want to have their very own Knight Rider car.

This one has a pac man game built in. I wish I could understand the Italian.



and another one.

ActionPrinter 2000 in Mess - awesome work by Ramiro Polla

http://blog.arrozcru.org/?p=11
http://blog.arrozcru.org/?p=38

So I started fiddling around with MESS. It already had some incomplete drivers for the Epson LX-800 and Epson EX-800 printers. I used them as a basis to get my head around the MESS codebase and add support for the ActionPrinter 2000. It shouldn’t be so hard, right? (whenever I ask “right?”, the answer is “wrong”).

...

I got a few more instructions being run and the firmware would hang again. At this point it was getting complicated having to read the assembly all the time, so I started manually decompiling the firmware. It is a 32 KB firmware. It shouldn’t take too long, right? (remember: the answer is “wrong”)

...

At this moment we take a little pause. We need to realize that the work up to here has already taken me many months. It may seem simple when being read in a blog post, but it was a lot of hard work.

I love it. I wish I had the skills to do hardware hacking...

Darth Vader Car

http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-darth-car-12-things-you-need-to-know-about-hot-wheels-life-size-150-mph-darth-vader-car/

Smart Label Pro - QBasic rendering

Finally got my Qbasic program to render the Smart Label protocol correctly.

I found a driver for the SLP440 and that uses the same basic protocol so it was just a couple of modifications to get it to work with that driver.

QBasic is so much fun to fiddle with. I like the immediacy and how it won't crash on you (most of the time).

It has some severe limitations though. Strings can only be so long and you can't declare massive arrays (I think 32767 is the limit of an integer array). I wanted to scroll the screen using GET and PUT but it wouldn't let me define an array large enough to hold a 640x480 16 color VGA screen. So I had to break it into smaller pieces.

If you're curious, here's the program.

SLP3.BAS.TXT

SLP_QBASIC.ZIP

Everything old is new again

First there was Frogger and Activision's Freeway, now it's crossy road.



and hold your breath for these Ducks crossing the road.

Smart Label Pro - something recognizable

OPEN "COM1:9600,N,8,1,CD0,CS0,DS0,OP0,RB65535" FOR RANDOM AS #1
SCREEN 12
LINE (0, 0)-(639, 199), , B


LOCATE 2, 2: PRINT "Smart Label Printer PRO"
LOCATE 4, 2: PRINT "0x04 print data"
LOCATE 6, 2: PRINT "0x09 tab"
LOCATE 8, 2: PRINT "0x0c formfeed"

FOR xpos = 0 TO 639 STEP 1

PRINT #1, CHR$(9); CHR$(90); ' need to tab to position 90
PRINT #1, CHR$(4); CHR$(200 / 8);
FOR ypos = 199 TO 0 STEP -8

nextbyte = 0
pixelnum = 7
FOR ypos2 = ypos TO ypos - 7 STEP -1
IF POINT(xpos, ypos2) <> 0 THEN nextbyte = nextbyte + 2 ^ pixelnum
pixelnum = pixelnum - 1
NEXT ypos2

PRINT #1, CHR$(nextbyte);

NEXT ypos
NEXT xpos
PRINT #1, CHR$(12); 'form feed

CLOSE #1

Smart Label Pro - first steps with QBasic

I'll just make a recognizable pattern of some bytes with gaps in between.

CHR$(9) sends the CMD_TAB followed by how many pixels to tab across.
CHR$(4) sends the CMD_PRINT followed by the number of bytes to follow.


OPEN "COM1:9600,N,8,1,CD0,CS0,DS0,OP0,RB65535" FOR RANDOM AS #1


FOR t = 80 TO 150 STEP 8
FOR k = 1 TO 10 'repeat this pattern 10 times, if just 1 line it's hard to see
PRINT #1, CHR$(9); CHR$(t); 'tab bytes
PRINT #1, CHR$(4); CHR$(8 * 3); 'do 24 bytes of data


FOR i = 0 TO 7:
mybyte = 0
FOR j = 0 TO i: mybyte = mybyte + 2 ^ j: NEXT j
PRINT #1, CHR$(mybyte); CHR$(0); CHR$(mybyte);
NEXT i
NEXT k
NEXT t

close #1


and this adds lines between the patterns.




OPEN "COM1:9600,N,8,1,CD0,CS0,DS0,OP0,RB65535" FOR RANDOM AS #1


FOR t = 80 TO 150 STEP 8
FOR k = 1 TO 10
PRINT #1, CHR$(9); CHR$(t); 'tab bytes
PRINT #1, CHR$(4); CHR$(8 * 3); 'do 24 bytes of data


FOR i = 0 TO 7:
mybyte = 0
FOR j = 0 TO i: mybyte = mybyte + 2 ^ j: NEXT j
PRINT #1, CHR$(mybyte); CHR$(0); CHR$(mybyte);
NEXT i
NEXT k
NEXT t

'make a horizontal line - use 254 so there's a one pixel gap in the line

PRINT #1, CHR$(9); CHR$(80);
PRINT #1, CHR$(4); CHR$(220 / 8);
FOR m = 0 TO (220 / 8)
PRINT #1, CHR$(254);
NEXT m


close #1

Smart Label Pro self test page

So if I hold down the feed button while turning it on I get the self test page.

I like the Macintosh Chicago font.



Here's the label a bit darker so you can see the borders of the label.

Hal Lasko pixel painter

So you thought pixel painting was just from kids of the 80s. Hal Lasko discovered Microsoft Paint upon retirement and was amazed at what a creative tool it was. It reminds me of me discovering DeluxePaint on the Amiga.

Welcome to the world of Hal Lasko.

Better known as Grandpa, he spent his entire working life as a graphic artist, back when everything was done by hand.

When he retired his family showed him the computer. He didn't find much use for it until he discovered Microsoft Paint. He was hooked. Since then, Grandpa spent ten hours a day placing pixels around his computer paintings. His work is like a collision of pointillism and 8-Bit art.

https://vimeo.com/108682589
https://vimeo.com/user19668988

http://hallasko.com/

knoppix 7.5 and testing memory

So I decided to put together a new system with 24gb ddr3 memory and I wanted to test the memory. Unfortunately, the knoppix 7.5 memtest boot option crashes on the AMD 760G motherboard.

Why not make a huge file in the knoppix ramdisk and run a badblocks on it?

dd_rescue /dev/zero ~/gigafile -m 20G

to make a 20 gigabyte file, but it fills up the memory before it gets to 20GB.

badblocks -w -s ~/gigafile

to run a check on the big file.

Nota Bene: be careful with dd_rescue and badblocks. I remember this time I was a little careless with the parameters and wiped my hard drive...good thing I had a backup.

Man, do I love having lots of memory. I think it was processing at around 2.5 GB/sec.

My first attempt at making a huge file was in the temp directory /tmp/gigafile but it wouldn't let me make a file larger than about 2GB in /tmp.

Now if I can figure out how to put this thing in standby. "sudo pm-suspend" suspends it but it comes out of suspend immediately...

Seiko's drivers for the Smart Label Pro

With some detective work with web archive, I was able to find a page that gives me a good idea of the drivers that I want. How hard is it to just leave your old drivers up on the web?

This is what used to be at:

http://www.siibusinessproducts.com/usa/support/slpdiscsoft.asp

Talking to the Smart Label Pro with QBasic

So let's fire up a QBasic program to talk to the SLP Pro printer.

I open the serial port and then just do an nextbyte$=INPUT(1,#1) to fetch the next byte.

The thing about INPUT(1,#1) to get a byte is that it blocks until the next byte is received. So we need to check LOC(1) which tells you if there's bytes available if we don't really want to block.

IF LOC(1)>0 then we've got bytes, else there's no bytes yet so I'll set nextbyte="".

When I turn the printer off and then on, it sends 17 and 80. 17 is DC1 otherwise known as XON. 80 is the status byte indicating 64 (status byte base value) + 16 (STAT_IDLE).

When the printer starts printing it sends you an updated status code of 64 (STATUS_BYTE) with STAT_IDLE clear.

When it's done it will send you an 80 again (STATUS_BYTE+STAT_IDLE)

So far so good...

Smart Label Pro command codes

I managed to find a web page with a listing of the smart label pro command code protocol. It looks pretty simple, so the next step is to write a little QBasic program to pretend to be the smart label pro.

CMD_NOP 00 No operation

CMD_STATUS 01 Request printer status

CMD_VERSION 02 Request firmware version

CMD_BAUDRATE 03 nn Change baud rate to nn

CMD_PRINT 04 nn dd ... Print literal (binary) data

CMD_PRINTRLE 05 nn dd ... Print compressed (RLE) data

CMD_MARGIN 06 nn Image offset (in mm from left edge)

CMD_TAB 09 nn Tab nn dots to the right

CMD_LINEFEED 0A Feed label one line (one dot)

CMD_VERTTAB 0B nn Feed label nn lines (dots)

CMD_FORMFEED 0C Feed to top of next label

CMD_DENSITY 0E nn Set print density to nn

CMD_RESET 0F Reset printer

CMD_CHECK A5 Check for correct baud rate

CMD_CHECK (A5h) - check for proper baud rate

This command is used to detect if the printer and the host are communicating at the same baud rate. If the printer receives this command, it always responds with a response byte which has the value of C9h.


Status Byte Definitions

The status byte always has a base value of 40 hex. The following values may be added to the base value, as appropriate:


STAT_PAPER_OUT 01 Out of labels

STAT_PAPER_JAM 02 Label is jammed (feed error)

STAT_HARD_ERR 04 General hardware error

STAT_COMM_ERR 08 Invalid command or I/O error

STAT_IDLE 10 Printer is idle

STAT_UNUSED 20 (in later smart label printers, used for STAT_PLATEN_OPEN)

Seiko Smart Label Pro printer and support

The other day I got a new toy: a new-in-box Smart Label Pro (from circa 1992). Seiko's website didn't have any drivers for that model so I emailed their tech support.

This is what I got:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting the Seiko Instruments Technical Support Team.

I am sorry, that model has been discontinued for over 15 years. We generally offer software/driver development for 10 years after which such support often does not continue.

We are offering a 10% discount on a new printer (which is faster and easier to use) plus free, secure, and ethical recycling of your legacy printer.

http://sii-thermalprinters.com/email/slp600-recycle2save/email.html

Please note that these instructions assume you are in the USA as you are contacting tech support for the USA. If you are not in the USA, please let us know where you are located by replying to the email and telling us.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you follow the link above and go to place an order, please be aware that the terms of the discount are for buying one 600 series printer AND one box of labels, any Seiko label part number from our website. If you do not have both one 600 series printer and one box of labels added to your cart, the code for the 10% discount will not work.

Also, please note that we are still in the process of testing with Windows 10. At this time, even for our 600 series printers, we have not confirmed Win x compatibility or developed new drivers for Win X.

Thank you,

Seiko Instruments Technical Support Team

========================================

No, thank you for not supporting your products. Brother still has drivers on their website for the PT-PC which has been around forever.

The box contained 720k floppies with drivers for Windows 3.0 (how's that for old) which installed under win98 but didn't actually install a proper printer driver. The label program talks directly to the printer via com port.

Now I'm still looking for drivers...

Michael Pollan talk "in defense of food"

Michael Pollan gave a talk at Google in 2008 titled "in defense of food." It's very interesting. He says to stay away from "food-like substances" and eat real food.



http://michaelpollan.com/books/in-defense-of-food/

Air New Zealand's Skycouch

This looks kinda cool. The legrests come up to make a flat area. Now all I need is an empty row...

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-are-airlines-making-economy-class-flights-more-comfortable-2015-6

https://player.vimeo.com/video/89352263

Family buys no stuff for a year

I thought this was interesting. It helps though when you already have a lot of stuff. I notice it didn't stop them from going to Disneyland.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3240832/The-family-decided-buy-year-two-young-children-didn-t-notice.html

The million mile Lexus LS400

"I get a call from Rob Ferretti of Super Speeders, who is also the devil when it comes to fun ideas."

"A quick note on the LS’s 1UZ-FE V8 engine: The 4.0L V8 has a six-bolt main and is the only automotive engine of the era to be FAA rated."

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/09/18/what-million-mile-cars-really-tell-us-opinion/

http://www.thesmokingtire.com/2014/matt-just-bought-a-900000-mile-lexus-ls400/

VW caught rigging emissions tests

Wow. This is really shocking that they would go to those lengths to fool the test.

"It totally goes against all of the marketing they have had of a clean diesel," Sullivan said in an interview. "That’s one of the biggest selling points for Volkswagen."

And I thought it was sneaky when video drivers would detect when benchmarks would run and behave differently.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/09/18/epa-accuses-volkswagen-audi-evading-emission-laws/72400018/

Star Trek the computer game

If you're really old school, you'd remember the Star Trek game where you typed in angles to shoot Klingons.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/03/antique_code_show_star_trek/

Do your own passport pictures

Do your own passport pictures. Sure you can pay $13 but where's the fun in that?

Step #1: take a picture. It's best if you're in front of a white background.

Step #2: crop your head and upper torso. Most paint programs will allow you to select a square area by holding down the shift key while you drag the selection rectangle. If your head isn't centered, just make another selection.

Step #3: after cropping, resize to 2000x2000 pixels. That makes it 1000 pixels per inch for a 2" by 2" print.

Make sure that the head isn't smaller than 1000 pixels and isn't bigger than 1375 pixels. (Between 1 and 1 3/8" inch) If it's too large or small, recrop it.

Step #4: duplicate the picture 3 times horizontally and 2 times vertically. You may need to add some canvas area to the picture to do this. You should now have a 6000x4000 picture (3 pictures across and 2 down).

Step #5: go to the 1 hour photo place and print it as a 4x6.

Step #6: cut out the picture. I have a nice little mini "Creative Memories Personal Trimmer Paper Cutter" that works pretty well.

Some of the Kodak photo kiosk machines have a special function to do most of these steps, I remember using that a long time ago.

I'd like it if my digital camera could do this all "in the camera." It'll do all these other fancy things like panoramas etc, why not passport pictures? Have a mode with an overlay circle to frame your head in and then do an automatic crop.

One of these days I'm gonna figure out how to write a HTML5 canvas javascript application to do this.

Nick Saban's Signature Benz Sprinter Van

Got $200,000? Nick Saban's got just the van for you.

"Saban told guests he didn't design the vehicle; he left that up to the experts."

http://www.campusrush.com/campus-clicks-draymond-green-nick-saban-1342424842.html

http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2015/09/nick_saban_collaborates_with_a.html

Drive Thru Robot Prank

I like the way it lights up red when it's angry.

"That's new technology right there y'all. We're about to have it driving and everything."

BlaBlaCar a French car sharing service

“If we can fill empty car seats when people are driving, then we can change transportation globally,” said Nicolas Brusson, a co-founder of BlaBlaCar, whose name is based on how chatty people are when sharing journeys.

If passengers do not want to talk during the trip, they can mark in their profiles that they are only “Bla,” to indicate that they are not looking for much conversation. Or they can go a full “BlaBlaBla” when they are happy to chatter throughout the trip.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/blablacar-a-french-ride-sharing-start-up-is-valued-at-1-4-billion/

The End of Absence by Michael Harris

"Harris notes that we are the last generation that will have known life both before and after the digital revolution, with its promise of instant connection with anyone and everything, anywhere."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-the-end-of-absence-whats-lost-in-a-connected-world-by-michael-harris/2014/08/15/8ff0721c-05e7-11e4-bbf1-cc51275e7f8f_story.html

Atari Lynx Development System "Pinky and Mandy"

I love to see "digital archaeology": technology that was cutting edge at one time and is now largely forgotten. Here's a writeup about the Atari Lynx development system Pinky and Mandy and the Amiga software that worked with it.

https://atarilynxdeveloper.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/epyx-development-kit-part-2-pinky-and-mandy/

https://atarilynxdeveloper.wordpress.com/

Stealth B52 bomber electric bike

This electric bike is really fast, able to keep up with cars at 80km/h top speed (49.7 miles per hour.) I don't recommend copying how he rides the bike, sooner or later he's going to get into an accident. It sure looks like fun. (Warning: some bad language in the video)



http://www.stealthelectricbikes.com/stealth-b-52-bomber/

Smart Basketball for your smart phone

For only $200, you can have a smart basketball.

The ball has a Bluetooth radio, low-power processor, and three-axis accelerometer inside of it, and it uses machine learning and some proxy processing by the cloud and a connected phone to calculate shot percentage and the shooter’s distance from the hoop.

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/wilsons-new-smart-basketball-magically-tracks-stats/

It's ben modified - electric motorcyle with pedals

I guess you'd call it an electric moped. Pretty awesome. I'll bet it's the fastest moped ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_RY1_ptw2E

Volvo Electric Bus - Route 55 in Gothenburg

I like the driver's cab where they sit in the center.

http://www.busandcoachbuyer.com/volvo-electricity/

http://www.gizmag.com/electricity-gothenburg-volvo-electric-bus/37406/

Museum of Obsolete Media

Pretty soon, everything's going to be obsolete...

http://www.obsoletemedia.org/galleries/rom-cartridges-and-cards/

http://www.obsoletemedia.org/welcome/about/

Electric Bus goes 258 miles

Electric bus made by ex-Tesla employee drives 258 miles on a single charge

“The purpose-driven Catalyst design affords the best efficiency rating ever for a 40-foot transit bus, at 22 MPG equivalent.”

http://www.treehugger.com/public-transportation/electric-bus-made-ex-tesla-employee-drives-258-miles-single-charge.html

Toroidion electric hypercar from Finland

A small Finnish automaker is producing an electric car that has so much horsepower that it makes a Tesla look like a go-cart.

The Toroidion 1MW, billed as a 100% electric "hypercar," boasts 1,341 horsepower, butterfly doors and a retro design.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/06/autos/toroidion-1mw-electric-car/

“A car cannot just sit in a garage or in a collection, then it’s like a caged animal,” states Pennanen. “It should be driven.”

http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/feature/finland-s-one-of-a-kind-electric-hyper-car/

Cars so unique there is only one

http://www.odometer.com/rides/3942/17-cars-so-unique-there-is-only-one

Star Wars Poetry

The symmetry of scenes in the Star Wars movies

http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/11/9309335/see-the-star-wars-scenes-shared-between-the-two-trilogies

And from the Mr. Plinkett reviews of Star Wars Episode 2 part 9 regarding similar scenes
(warning: Plinkett reviews are R-rated due to bad language and content)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0wv2ossJU

Smartphone controlled shoe inserts

Just what everyone needs: temperature controlled shoe inserts. Freezing cold? These will heat your toes up to 104 degrees.

http://www.cnet.com/news/smart-insole-promises-to-stop-stinky-feet/

Your very own Batcave

I don't know if Batman would wait 2 minutes for the garage to open...

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/mansions-garage-is-basically-an-underground-batcave/

Smartphone autorefractor

An autorefractor based on a smartphone.

https://smartvisionlabs.com/

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/revolutionary-new-smartphone-based-autorefractor-expedites-optometry-practice-flow-and-expands-community-reach-300139571.html

2016 leaf now gets 107 miles per charge

The new 2016 Leaf can go 107 miles on a charge with a 30 kwh battery.


http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/10/9300693/2016-nissan-leaf-electric-range

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2015/09/11/the-ev-evolved-2016-nissan-leafs-107-mile-range-vs-2016-chevy-volt/

The shifter on the Leaf is kind of interesting.

2016 prius

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/09/09/2016-toyota-prius-official-photos/

The new prius looks like it's squinting.

I swear I must live in the prius capital of the world. I see those things everywhere.

The rabbit who wants to fall asleep

"I can make anyone fall asleep."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11803484/Bedtime-phenomenon-scientist-develops-book-to-send-children-to-sleep-in-minutes.html

Moving sidewalk to replace train?

Architecture company NBBJ thinks it can replace the 17-mile Circle Line loop running beneath central London with a moving sidewalk that would have three lanes, with the slowest moving at around 3 miles per hour and the fastest track moving at about 15 miles per hour right in the middle.

I kind of like the moving walkway (or Travelator) at SFO.

At 15 mph, what could go wrong?

http://bgr.com/2015/09/08/london-subway-circle-line/

This scientist thinks that moving walkways actually slow you down.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/5836445/Using-the-airport-moving-walkways-actually-slows-you-down.html

Patriots and suspicions

Interesting read.

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/09/08/patriots-cheating-suspicions-bill-belichick-tom-brady

Officer I.B. Gettin

Every time I think about the name "I.B. Gettin" it makes me laugh.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Officer-B-Gettin-a-new-job-after-buying-2128033.php

Awesome LED keyboard

I want it...

http://techreport.com/news/28996/quick-fire-xti-backlit-animated-keys-ensure-no-work-gets-done

Petcube

The petcube. A 2 way camera and speaker that allows you to monitor your pets from afar. It's even got a laser so they can chase a laser dot.

And even if you don't have a petcube camera, you can use the app to play with someone else's pets, all over the world.

"It's pretty much the best thing ever created."

"You are solving a real problem, because there are not enough cat videos on the Internet."

What's next? The people-cube?

https://petcube.com/

P2P car sharing service Getaround in Chicago

Most privately owned vehicles in the U.S. sit parked more than 90 percent of the day, according to a study by the Transportation Research Board. There are far better uses for the land occupied by idle vehicles, urban planners have long said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/hilkevitch/ct-car-sharing-getting-around-met-0810-20150810-column.html

Nitrosomonas Eutropha instead of a shower

The chairman of the company’s board of directors, Jamie Heywood, lathers up once or twice a month and shampoos just three times a year. The most extreme case is David Whitlock, the M.I.T.-trained chemical engineer who invented AO+. He has not showered for the past 12 years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/magazine/my-no-soap-no-shampoo-bacteria-rich-hygiene-experiment.html

Woman lives on train - modern day nomad

Leonie buys a £240 monthly season ticket to travel on any train, which is slightly cheaper than the £290-a-month rent she was paying.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3208621/Woman-23-sick-landlords-gives-permanent-abode-live-TRAIN-says-s-like-vacation-time.html

Super tiny TV box

Incredibly small TV box. It looks more like a USB charger than a tiny computer.

Amlogic S805 quad-core ARM Cortex-a5 processor with Mali-450 graphics

http://liliputing.com/2015/09/cx-s500-is-an-incredibly-compact-tv-box-and-a-mi-box-mini-clone.html

FCA wants to merge with GM

Fiat-Chrysler would like to merge with GM. GM not so thrilled about the idea.

"There are varying degrees of hugs. I can hug you nicely, I can hug you tightly, I can hug you like a bear, I can really hug you."

http://www.autonews.com/article/20150830/INDUSTRY_ON_TRIAL/308319981/marchionne-puts-the-squeeze-on-gm;-gms-response:-why-bail-out-fca?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2015/08/30/would-fcas-sergio-marchionne-really-try-to-force-gm-into-a-merger/

"Cool Dad" lets 15 year old drive - tragedy results

Prison for ‘cool dad’ who let 15-year-old daughter drive SUV in deadly crash


http://nypost.com/2015/08/20/prison-for-cool-dad-who-let-15-year-old-daughter-drive-suv-in-deadly-crash/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/20/dad-sentenced-prison-unlicensed-daughters-crash/32070221/

Student loses license, gets a Barbie Jeep

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/students-new-ride-after-dwi-arrest-a-barbie-jeep/

How an insurance company is trying to craft eyewear of the future

How an insurance company is trying to craft eyewear of the future

He removed a small black panel, revealing to me what he said are the brains of the Genesis. This included an accelerometer, a Bluetooth chip, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, a CPU and a small 32mAh battery that's said to last about three days between charges. Right now, all it does is track your steps, calories burned, activity time and distance traveled, similar to what a Fitbit and other activity trackers already do.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/04/vsp-project-genesis/

Car stereo theft : a dying crime

Car Stereo theft: a dying crime

Washington, D.C., police officer Mark Lakomec has seen a dramatic difference on the street. For 10 years, his job has been to spot stolen cars, which he does two to three times a night. In the 1990s, he said, every stolen car was missing the stereo. These days, he says thieves will take just about anything — umbrellas, sunglasses, even motor oil — but they leave the radio.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101998015

And how about this story about a guy who decided to steal his friend's VCR...

I like this comment from "Dr. Emmett Brown":

"This joker could have disrupted the whole timeline by going back to 1985 to steal that VCR."

http://wtvr.com/2014/01/01/va-man-arrested-for-stealing-friends-vcr-food/

World's biggest arcade machine

It makes me laugh seeing him try to reach the controls.


https://www.yahoo.com/tech/the-worlds-largest-arcade-machine-is-taller-than-128219514694.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/technology-video/11840502/Gaming-giants-huge-arcade-machine-and-highest-paid-gamer-feature-in-Guinness-World-Record.html

Mad Max Fury Road spray

Finally saw Mad Max Fury Road yesterday and was baffled by the part where the Warboys spray themselves with what looks like spray paint and yell "Witness!"

What is that stuff? It's some kind of food spray.

http://nerdist.com/mad-max-fury-road-fans-leave-the-best-reviews-for-wiltons-edible-silver-mist/

You can also see it in the Honest Trailer review of Fury Road.

Stop Drinking Thai Ads

Disney's Magicband

Disney’s $1 Billion Bet on a Magical Wristband

It’s amazing how much friction Disney has engineered away: There’s no need to rent a car or waste time at the baggage carousel. You don’t need to carry cash, because the MagicBand is linked to your credit card.

Everything's frictionless when your wallet is open...

http://www.wired.com/2015/03/disney-magicband/

Somehow, this makes me think of a dystopian future, where your location and activity is known at all times:

25 terrible design elements of great cars

http://uk.complex.com/sports/2013/05/25-terrible-design-elements-of-great-cars/

This list made me laugh. 10 points if you understand the reference to the "lollipop guild".

Remote Control Lawnmower

There's a cool remote control lawnmower on hackaday.



This reminded me of the movie "Maximum Overdrive."



According to wikipedia, the lawnmower in the movie went out of control and injured the Director of Photography. One of the comments on hackaday warns about RF interference from the gas mower ignition systems. So be careful with your remote control power tools!

Rear Windows that don't roll down - 1983 malibu

Back in the 80s, GM made the Malibu without rear windows that roll down. Instead, you had to use a small vent window. What a great idea!

And don't forget the "Iraqibu", a Malibu taxi made just for Iraq.


http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1983-chevrolet-malibu-hope-you-dont-have-claustrophobia/


http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/automotive-history-snapshot-1981-chevrolet-malibu-iraqi-taxi/

Basketball kids from China

The Hubble XDF eXtreme Deep Field

Hubble Goes to the eXtreme to Assemble Farthest-Ever View of the Universe 9/25/12

Called the eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, the photo was assembled by combining 10 years of NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken of a patch of sky at the center of the original Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The XDF is a small fraction of the angular diameter of the full moon.

The new full-color XDF image is even more sensitive, and contains about 5,500 galaxies even within its smaller field of view. The faintest galaxies are one ten-billionth the brightness of what the human eye can see.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/xdf.html

The Pokewalker

I came across the Pokewalker recently and was curious how it would work as a pedometer device. According to an Iowa University study, it's one of the most accurate pedometers.

I thought it was kind of cool how you'd have to walk to unlock some of the game's features. Sadly, I don't have Pokemon Soul Silver so I can't really configure the pokewalker to set the time or anything else. Apparently, there's an IR sensor built into the game cartridge.

So how'd it read after a day of use?

Omron HJ-720IT: 11682
Pokewalker: 14224

I like the concept of "unlocking" game play using exercise. How about a game console or a TV that doesn't work unless you walk 10,000 steps per day?

Of course, there's always a way to cheat.


http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9walker

http://archive.news.iastate.edu/news/2011/apr/Pokewalker

Have a fall guy handy

So you're a rookie in the NFL? Take some advice from a veteran: Have a fall guy ready when you get into trouble.

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/08/23/cris-carter-fall-guy-rookie-advice-league-inappropriate

Fans injured by baseballs

One of the recent stories in the news is about fans getting hit by baseballs. Apparently, 1750 fans get hit every year. And someone wrote a book about all the people killed by baseballs and baseball related activities. Who would've thought that baseball was so dangerous? Maybe fans should be the ones wearing the helmets.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-foul-ball-fan-wrigley-20150823-story.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-09/baseball-caught-looking-as-fouls-injure-1750-fans-a-year

https://deathattheballpark.wordpress.com/

http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/2015/06/liability-bob-gorman-and-baseball-news/

Lamborghini Huracan Crash at 208 mph

"In short, the guy was doing 208 miles per hour on public roads."

http://jalopnik.com/video-shows-lamborghini-huracan-doing-208-mph-on-highwa-1680367973

Developing the same part over and over

An interesting story in AutoNews.com about the massive redundancy and cost in developing the same thing over and over.

By his calculations, every four years, on average, automakers invest in product development a sum equal to what their companies are worth.

"In principle, Marchionne is right. The auto industry develops the same things 10 times over."

http://www.autonews.com/article/20150817/INDUSTRY_ON_TRIAL/308179997/duplicating-vehicle-engineering-pushes-costs-and-prices-higher

Top Gear electric car evaluated by Autocar.co.uk

"Can I get out now while I'm still alive?"

Top Gear builds an electric car

"You built a car that will only do 10 miles an hour?"

Garbage Trucks with License Plate Readers

So how long before you have self driving cars running around the city reading all the license plates? I wouldn't be surprised if they put RFID tags in license plates soon.

San Jose, California, America’s 10th largest city, isn’t just content to put license plate readers on police cars anymore—rather, it now wants to deputize garbage trucks to be an additional tool in its ongoing surveillance.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/08/forget-license-plate-readers-on-police-cars-how-about-on-garbage-trucks/

And look out for fake cactuses.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/9/8577559/paradise-valley-arizona-license-plate-readers-fake-cactus

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/screen-plate-club-how-license-plate-scanning-compromises-your-privacy-feature

Watched the Cosmos series on DVD

Somehow, when the new Cosmos series was broadcast last year I couldn't get into it. I just watched it on DVD and I thought it was pretty good. I rather enjoyed it and was able to get into a rhythm that you can't get watching it once per week.

I wonder if it's any better on blu-ray.



Whenever I see the logo, I keep thinking of the eye of Sauron.

Man drives Tesla 120,000 miles in 2 years

Let's see: If he drives 120,000 miles in 2 years that's about 164 miles per day every day or around 2.7 hours per day (assuming 60 mph). When he says "I'm always in the car" he means it.

http://evobsession.com/120000-miles-tesla-model-s-2-years-happy-customer-shares-story/

Segway owner dies riding a segway (2010)

This isn't new being from 2010, but I just read about it today. The owner of Segway, Jimi Heselden died after falling off a cliff riding his Segway. Apparently he was walking his dog and backed up to let a fellow dog walker pass.


http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/segway-owner-dies-in-segway-crash/


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2015120/Segway-boss-Jimi-Heselden-fell-death-let-dog-walker-pass-Boston-Spa-West-Yorkshire.html

Self driving stroller

Just what every parent needs, a self driving stroller. What could go wrong?

http://elitedaily.com/news/volkswagens-self-driving-stroller-video/1179623/

Lexus LX 570 - looks like Cylons are here

Just saw the new Lexus LX 570. All I can say is that it looks like the Cylons.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1099586_refreshed-2016-lexus-lx-570-suv-bows-at-pebble-beach
http://www.thecarconnection.com/image/100522009_2016-lexus-lx-570

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/2016-lexus-lx-570-and-gs-unveil-their-corporate-126667595567.html

1500 square foot condo in LA

I thought this condo was kind of cool. 1500 square feet is approx 39x39 so I wouldn't exactly call it small. If that's a small condo I'd like to see a big condo. Interesting to have a full size organ, that's pretty old school.

I'm trying to decide if the fireplace on the wall is real or not.

http://www.ce.org/Blog/Articles/2015/July/A-Small-LA-Condo-Packs-a-Big-Smart-Home-Punch.aspx

Imcdb for cars in movies, impdb for planes in movies

How cool is the internet? There's a website dedicated to identifying cars in movies and I just discovered one dedicated to identifying planes in movies.

http://imcdb.org/

http://impdb.org/

50 things you didn't know about New Balance

I only wear New Balance shoes. The 608 cross trainers are the best shoes ever. Why do I like New Balance? Because you can get them in widths. I can't think of any other company where you can get a 4E width shoe. I remember being so frustrated not being able to find shoes that fit until I found New Balance.

http://www.complex.com/sneakers/2013/06/50-things-you-didnt-know-about-new-balance/steve-jobs

Ford CEO says they could build a Tesla if they wanted to

Now that Tesla has proven that it can be done Fields comments sound a bit like “Okay yea, I guess you could build a car like that if you did it that way.” And “We could have built one like that if we wanted to, we just didn’t want to.”

http://www.tgdaily.com/mobile/129016-ford-ceo-says-they-could-build-a-tesla-if-they-wanted-to

Porsche 918 spyder crash

It's always a good idea to launch your car with nowhere to go.

Hellcat V8

By now, you’ve surely heard about Dodge’s prodigious supercharged Hellcat V-8—that it takes 80 horsepower just to run its supercharger, which can suck the air from a 10-by-13-foot room in one minute, and that its fuel injectors can fill a pint glass in six seconds. Oh, and that it produces 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, which turn the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat from a mere muscle car into a ballistic, five-seat supercar capable of hitting 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and passing the quarter-mile in 11.7 seconds at 126 mph, according to our first test, with a claimed top speed of 199 mph.

Totally ridiculous. Not quite insane or ludicrous though.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2015-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-first-drive-review

Finding Bigfoot in a Bundt cake

http://technabob.com/blog/2015/08/10/bigfoot-bundt-cake/

This is a travesty - smashing an apple 2

This is a travesty, smashing a poor old apple 2.

I remember they had this "car bash" at the fair where you could take a baseball bat to a car. 2 hits for a dollar or something like that. I thought it would be a good idea, but after hitting the car twice I felt really sick. I just don't feel good destroying things. Somehow it just felt wrong.

Son sets fire on car to upgrade to new model Ferrari

In a bizarre case out of Europe, a 20-year-old Swiss man reportedly set fire to a Ferrari 458 Italia given to him by his father in a half-baked scheme to use the insurance money to upgrade to a new model. Incredibly, the spoiled brat is said to have had 14 other cars (including a Lamborghini) at his disposal in addition to a property portfolio worth close to $30 million and a monthly allowance that fluctuated between $5,000 and $10,000.

Once you pass a certain threshold, you focus on the things you don't have instead of the things you have.

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1025515_spoiled-son-sets-fire-to-gifted-ferrari-in-order-to-upgrade-to-new-model

Typewriter Review

Ah, the venerable typewriter. It's been sadly disappearing in our new technological age where people dispose of anything that wasn't made in the last year.

This website has some nice photos of these modern relics. It's amazing how many variations there are. Who says typewriters aren't beautiful?

I remember the day I won a fancy electric typewriter in a school typing contest (back when typewriters were awesome) and I brought it home. My grandma tried it out but she was trained on manual typewriters and was smacking the keys terribly hard. Thwack! Thwack! Pow! Pow! "Grandma! You're killing it!" I exclaimed.

http://typewriterreview.com/

Bike car hybrid called the "ELF"

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bikecar-hybrid-combines-functions-of-both-makes-commute-fun/

Parkour at 40 stories high

Paul Smith art

I always liked Paul Smith's art. His characters were sleek and lean with clean lines. Most importantly, he could draw attractive women. I remember his run on the X-men years ago. I would go to the comic shop every weekend and eagerly looking for the next issue.

It's fun to browse the gallery on his website.

http://www.paulmartinsmith.com/content/gallery

Starstream #4

I remember this sci-fi comic from the 1970s. Ahhh, memories! I thought the story about Ben Franklin, Martian was pretty good. (Ben Franklin was supposedly an alien and upon his death he gets graded and receives an F, if I remember correctly).

All this sci-fi goodness for 79 cents!

One of the awesome things about the internet is that you can find info about all of the things you had as a kid.

STARSTREAM #4 - Adventures in Science Fiction; (Whitman Pub, Original USA Color comic);

CONTENTS -

"Call Me Joe" by Poul Anderson. (A strange symbiosis existed between the Jovian colonist and his human controller. But which was really the master?);

"Ben Franklin, Martian" by Pamela Eckard. (When the shot 'heard round the world' was fired, was an alien intelligence listening in ? A Streamstream original.);

"Does a Bee care?" by Isaac Asimov. (Hammer, the Chief Engineer, designed the ship down to the last detail. But is held a secret even he could not know!);

"The City" by Stephan Goldin. (The city was a dream world that had swallowed sixteen of JV-10's comrades! Would this nightmare metropolis claim him too?);

"Report to the Planetary Council" by Roger Elwood. (Man's ancient cousins evolved into an advanced civilization. Now they had a grudge to settle withus!);

"And the Blood Ran Green" by Robert Bloch. (An alien infection turns a routine exploration mission into a nightmare in this thriller from the author of 'Psycho');

Why we should switch to base 12

"...eight, nine, ten elv, unqua."

http://io9.com/5977095/why-we-should-switch-to-a-base-12-counting-system

Arcade Game Studio by Bruno Marcos

Today I came across this game maker called "Arcade Game Studio" by Bruno R. Marcos.



It looks just like 1980s arcade games.

He's got other neat stuff too at his website.

http://www.bruneras.com/index.php

http://www.bruneras.com/arcadegamestudio/index.php

DeluxePaint early source code released for Amiga

DeluxePaint always had a special place in my heart. From version 1.0 (which I remember had to be launched from a command line with "dpaint lo" or "dpaint hi"), to DeluxePaint II and DeluxePaint III, I spent so many hours with it.

The interface was absolutely groundbreaking. And every version got better.

The first time I saw DeluxePaint running on an Amiga I was gobsmacked. That's what got me to buy an Amiga. The color cycling waterfall. 4096 colors. 32 colors to choose from. 320x200 graphics. Wow. At the time, it blew everything else away.


The animation tools in DeluxePaint 3 were fantastic. I would wait hours to have a full screen perspective plane render an animation. Now, 3d hardware can do perspective planes in real time but back then what you could do with DeluxePaint 3 was friggin amazing. And on a stock 7.16 mhz Amiga.

Electronic Arts has released the source code for version 1.0 to the Computer History Museum.

I remember reading somwhere how difficult it was for Dan Silva to program the early Amiga, dealing with all of the bugs in the Amiga OS and the development tools at that time. But the end result was absolutely worth it.



http://www.computerhistory.org/_static/atchm/electronic-arts-deluxepaint-early-source-code/

Doctor Octopus Tesla charger

Tesla's got a new charging system: A robotic arm that reaches out and finds the charging socket. Probably not the greatest place to drop your keys...



http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/15/08/06/2149251/teslas-creepy-solid-metal-snake-robotic-charger-slithers-its-way-into-model-s

http://hothardware.com/news/teslas-solid-metal-snake-robotic-charger-slithers-its-way-into-model-s

A gym in your car

It's what every car needs: A built in gym.

And the included fridge should have plenty of sports drinks to replace all those electrolytes you use up after a big workout.

http://www.signaturemagazine.com.au/technogym-car/

Ork Attack: the Return for Amiga

One of my favorite games of all time is Ork Attack: the Return for Amiga.

It's a PD/Freeware game written by Ian West and Jonathan Eggleton. One of the cool things about it is that it was written in AMOS Basic.

The graphics and sound are perfect. I get a kick out of the ending screen where the Ork King says "You can never defeat my kind!"

The play mechanic is genius and has this magic combination of panic and frustration that keeps you playing.

I came across a video by someone who can really play this game. I never even knew there was a dragon.



It's a remake of another game called "Orc Attack"



JimBob liked it so much he made a remake:

http://www.acoders.com/software/ork-attack-107



There's even a tribute page to Ork Attack.

http://www.monroeworld.com/orkattack/

http://www.lemonamiga.com/?game_id=1894