Rik's Ramblings

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:03:00 +0000

Google's Android operating system may be one of the great success stories in tech, but the search giant apparently lost money with its mobile platform in 2010

Reuters via PCMag

I guess Palm was just collateral damage in the war between Google and Apple then.

Bike to Work Day 2012

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:34:00 +0000

Route on Google Maps

View Bike To Work Day - May 10, 2012 in a larger map

Hardtop Vidcast

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 06:29:00 +0000

Working on my first vidcast.

Thinking was this would be quicker than writing up a tech note for the design ... maybe I misjudged the effort involved in creating a video :-/

Bombay Mix

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:25:00 +0000

The Bombay Mix at New India Bazaar is not spicy enough! I expected Bombay Mix in the Indian shop to be spicier than the Bombay Mix in the British shop (certainly not less spicy).

And, no offense, but, why is it still called "Bombay" Mix? I can understand the British shop still calling it Bombay mix, but shouldn't the Indian shop call it something else ...

I know, I know, I have better things to do with my time than complain about snack foods!

User interface designers invade Silicon Valley ... WTF!

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:34:00 +0000

... Facebook, for example, has begun assigning a designer to consult with a team of engineers led by a project manager.

The Verge

Excuse me, I think we've always done it that way! Some journalist apparently has never worked in the real world.

Save The Date: Armadillo Willy's, April 24 2012

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Dartmouth Bands Fundraiser at Armadillo Willy's

Give the kitchen the night off on April 24. Go enjoy some tasty Texas Style Barbeque.

You don't need to be a band member, or a Dartmouth student, or even know a dartmouth student! Just print out the attached flier (or mention Dartmouth Bands at the register) and 20% of the proceeds will be donated to Dartmouth Middle School Bands.

Download the Flier

When
April 24, 2012
5pm - 9pm

Where
Armadillo Willy's
2071 Camden Ave
San Jose

View Larger Map

Dartmouth Bands Pops Concert 2012

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:30:00 +0000

Featuring Ben on French Horn

Excuse me Google!

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 01:16:00 +0000

How does important Monarchy news get relegated to the section on "Entertainment".

A travesty! And a hearty orf with their heads to Google.

Give you kitchen the night off - March 6, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:25:00 +0000

Dinner Night in support of the Dartmouth School Bands

Buy dinner tonight from Panda Express on Meridian Ave and they will donate 20% to support Dartmouth Middle School's band program.

You don't need to be a parent or student of Dartmouth Middle School.

Remember your flier: Download the PDF here

Boot To Gecko

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:49:00 +0000

Like it. Of course, everything he's saying, you could just substitute "webOS" for "B2G", but hopefully they'll have more success than we did.

HTML+CSS+Javascript for app development: It's the way to go.

Madonna to Bamber Gascoigne

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:12:00 +0000

Madonna, isn't as interesting as Mount Madonna State Park
which has a Deer Pen
containing Fallow Deer.
In Crop Rotation a field is left fallow one year in four.
"Crop rotation in the 14th century became considerably more widespread after 1172" is a quote from The Young Ones, during an episode in which they compete in University Challenge.
Bamber Gascoigne presented University Challenge.

That's how my mind got me from Madonna to Bamber Gascoigne.

Listening to Tony Bennett in the Rain

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:21:00 +0000

After Tony Bennett's performance on the Grammys last night, I popped this on today while in the gym.

http://Sagar.org/cgi-bin/rd/amazon/B00004Z3SC

There's something very calming about listening to Tony with the rain pouring down around me.

Happy Day - surprisingly so for a Monday.

Roll over little donkey...

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:37:00 +0000

Democrats announced Wednesday night that they would support the Republican-sponsored version of the bill in order to move it through the legislative process, but expressed hope that the final version would be closer to the Senate bill.

STOCK Act passes in House - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

When Obama uses the word "HOPE" in his campaign, I don't think he intended it to be used in a sentence like that.

We democrats HOPE republicans will change their mind and do it our way if we cave in now and agree to do it their way...

I think I'll vote republican this year. Just so I can be on the winning team!

Protesters March Toward Apple Stores ...

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:17:00 +0000

How will Apple maintain their affordable low prices if they have to start paying their manufacturers more than a penny per device.

- Protesters March Toward Apple Stores On The Heels Of A Foxconn Hack - TechCrunch

Geeks talk to Eliza Dushku

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:35:00 +0000

Wow, this is cringe worthy! Have these guys never seen a woman before.

http://cnettv.cnet.com/eliza-dushku-drops-404/9742-1_53-50118171.html

The heavy ginger guy looks particularly uncomfortable.

Wow, did you know that some ants have pets!

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:20:00 +0000

Well, OK, they don't keep them as pets, they keep Livestock, 7 minutes in:

... they carry their partners to new parts of the plant where the sap is sweeter, just as humans herd their domestic animals to new pastures ... moving with their domesticated mealibugs from plant to plant ... they even corral their flocks under large leaves when they sense the approach of a storm...

- Documentaries Online

Those tree ants are cool too.

Zippered face

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:44:00 +0000

Nice!

Pointless consumer product fuels pointless consumerism

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:48:00 +0000

I always thought tablets were pointless. Never saw the appeal of these underpowered, overpriced, input-mechanism-challenged laptop alternatives. Give me something with a keyboard would ya!

But now this!

Modern tablets have only been on the market for less than two years, but they have quickly become potent shopping tools that generate an outsized effect on online commerce.

- via Digg/GigaOm

This really makes me hate them even more! But it actually confirms my belief. Think about it ...

You're sat on the couch with your $500 toy, you should be happy right? Well, apparently you're not, but why? Well, you're unsatisfied and depressed, but why? You're unsatisfied and depressed because you are holding a pointless toy in your hands, which you wasted $500 on and doesn't really allow you to do anything fulfilling. And what do modern Americans do when they're depressed? go shopping!

So to summaries:
tablets and shit and make you depressed.

Bre Pettis (aka Make/Makerbot) on TWiT: Don't get much geek-orgasmtastic than that!

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:41:00 +0000

Triangulation 36 | TWiT.TV

Bre talking about the newer, bigger, more colorer maker bot. Talking to my old buddy Leo on TWiT.

Make and TWiT in the same video stream - it don't get much geekier than that eh!

Dinner Night, Chevy's, Jan 18

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:08:00 +0000

Take the family out to dinner next Wednesday and support the Dartmouth Middle School Band program. Invite some friends and neighbors too!

Download this flier and hand it into your waitstaff when you pay for your meal.

When
Next Wednesday
January 18, 2012
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Where
Chevy’s Almaden Plaza
5305 Almaden Expwy,
San Jose,
95118

View Larger Map

See you there!

Troubles with typedef on the Arduino

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:17:00 +0000

Why doesn't this work on the Arduino!?

typedef struct {
   int a;
   int b;
} TTallywag;


void DillyDally(TTallywag *tw){
// stuff...
}

In short, I don't actually know! But I know how to get around it!

To make it work, you have to change how you use your new data type - infact, your function parameters can't use types that you've typedef'ed, but you can use the type if you do so thusly:

typedef struct _tallywag {
   int a;
   int b;
} TTallywag;


void DillyDally(struct _tallywag *tw){
   // stuff...
}

According to the following page that I found, you should be able to use the TTallywag if you define it in a header file and including that into you sketch.

Beware the Preprocessor

Note to self: Google 'Using headers in Arduino sketches'

I suppose technically defining types in header files is the right thing to do, but when you're dealing with a sketch that's only short, it seems such an overkill.

Now, the following does works fine. You can use the types inside functions no problemo. Which is partly why I spent so much time tearing out my hair last night!

typedef struct _tallywag{
   int a;
   int b;
} TTallywag;


void *ShillyShally(int alpha, int beta){
   static TTallywag tw;

   // stuff...


   tw.a = alpha;
   tw.b = beta;

   return &tw;
}

Must be some namespacing, or name mangling going on.

So it's not a huge problem, but if you're planning to share code modules between two devices, say one half in Linux written using GCC and the other half Arduino: Define your functions the latter way! That will work on both sides.

Video Game Shield

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:49:00 +0000

Amazing stuff! We've been playing with a video game shield over the Christmas break.

At first, I assumed the board contained some kind of TV controller chip to generate the analog TV signal. The reality the whole TV signal is created with two Arduino output pins, a couple of resistors and some rather fancy interrupt service routines!

I'm very impressed!

Most of electronics on the shield is actually only needed to interface with the Wii Nunchucks.

Schematic:

Click for full-size

Original at http://www.wayneandlayne.com/

Happy New Year Arduino Sketch for LOL Sheild

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:19:00 +0000

Download Sketch/LOL Template

Christmas Tree Safety - public information video

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:55:00 +0000

No fucking way!

They managed to find someone called Tannenbaum to talk to us about Christmas Tree safety! Awesome work CPSC!

Yeah, ok, she spells it slightly different and technically 'tannenbaum' means Fir Tree not Christmas tree. But I'm still calling this a hoax. Staged at the very least!

My big fat gypsy wedding

noreply@blogger.com (UK Dive Boy) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:31:00 +0000

Well, if I had my life over again, I think I'd be better off quitting school at 12 and evading taxes for the rest of my life.

Just watching this show "my big fat gypsy wedding" on TV. Based on the number of limos and diamond encrusted 17 year old brides on the show, there's good profit to be made from a life of selling pegs and laying tarmac.

Http://sagar.org/cgi-bin/rd/google/my+big+fat+gypsy+wedding