Compass Rose

Very cool idea.  Although, having played hours of WOW at this point with my kids I’m not sure it’s so important to move even less than one does now while playing video games.  I’d actually like to see someone incorporate a wii-fit or some other sort of controller that REQUIRES more interaction.

Damn!  I am getting old.  TURN DOWN THAT LOAD MUSIC!

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/ocz_peripherals/nia-neural_impulse_actuator

  Some of the reviews are quite interesting.  The fact that a disabled person can perform “on par” with fellow gamers using this device is awesome.

I’m pretty sure I need one.  If for nothing more than to rip it apart and see how it works.  I’ve seen it for as low as $89 from Newegg.

Either that or check out the arguably more sophisticated and much more expensive one from NeuroSky.

http://www.neurosky.com/

When I first walked into a Karaoke bar  I was convinced that this was some form of torture arising out of Asian culture that westerners had completely misunderstood.

Now I’m sure of it.

http://www.wingmusic.co.nz/listen.html

A fabulous musician whose life was too short.  A good friend of mine introduced me to his music back in Kevin’s “Toy Matinee” days. 

People tell me he sounds a lot like Steely Dan.  I never liked Steely Dan.

http://www.kevingilbert.com/

It does amaze me though how long dead musicians can still release albums.  I’m kind of waiting for a compilation album that features Elvis, Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson and John Lennon.  Hmm…  On second thought I’m not really waiting.

All these years of doing my own laundry (and screwing it up).  I knew there was something I was missing.

BACON?

What a great concept.  Hells-to-the-yeah!

http://www.baconsaltblog.com/

Visited the Portland Sportsman show this year.  Great place to wander around for an afternoon.  By far, some of the best things I saw were in the parking lot.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE.  I believe it’s from a 1950’s issue of Popular Science magazine.

What exactly are the two "steering" type wheels used for?

This evening marked the last hours for my trusty 21" CRT InterGraph monitor.  The picture finally went out on this 75 lb beast of a monitor.  It’s only… um… 15 years old?  Now I’m stuck with this crappy 22" LCD monitor.  UGH!  How do people deal with these things.  What will I do with all the extra desktop space? 

I know LCD monitors are smaller, lighter, lower energy consumption and *much* better for your eyes, but I still like my CRT behemoths.

I’ve come across two packages that seem to excel at schematic capture and PCB layout. 

KiCad - a full featured schematic capture and layout program that has extensive libraries and is entirely free and open source under the GPL license.  It runs on Windows (XP, 2000, Vista) and Linux  and there are rumors of it being successfully built for Mac OS X as well.  I’ve tried the Windows XP version and it works great.  I’m still searching for a pre-built downloadable version for OS X.

Eagle (by CadSoft) - A commercially available package that has a limited version that is free for student and non-commercial use.  The Free version is limited to 1 schematic sheet, two signal layers per board and a board size up to 4 x 3.2 inches.  The libraries seem to be much more complete and because it’s a commercial product with a large following, some chip manufacturers provide libraries for new products.  It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. 

I like the looks of Eagle and I’ll probably play a bit more with it. The limitations aren’t really that crippling.  I had an intimate relationship with Orcad some years ago and really liked it.  I believe it’s around $3,500 for a single user license.  There wasn’t much it couldn’t do.  Eagle seems to be close in concept and functionality for a whole lot less money. 

However, I really don’t like limitations in software.  They have a tendency to sneak up and bite you when you really don’t need it.   As much as I understand and respect the fact that a company needs to provide a commercial product to generate revenue and I think it’s great that Eagle offers a low cost version for people like me, I think I will try a couple of designs in KiCad too…. just in case I need it one day.

If you’re looking for a program that just does PCB layout, then check out FreePCB.  It looks perfect for most small to medium boards.  In fact, it has maximum dimensions that are larger than any other freely available programs I’ve seen.  Although it doesn’t have a built-in autorouter, it is designed to interface with a free web-based autorouter. 

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours;  you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

(from The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy)

To you nay say-ers, “Towel Day” is a real holiday. 

Another great holiday is “Steak & BJ day” Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like.  Men, mark March 14th on your calendars for this male counterpart to Valentine’s day.