Atomic Fireballs

Atomic Fireballs

A website dedicated to All Things Important... to me.

A website dedicated to All Things Important... to me.

01 28 08 11:29The meaning of "versus" and "with"; a lesson for the kids

"Versus" generally means "opposed to" or "against", while "with" generally means "and" or "in partnership".

Therefore, a porn movie called "Savannah versus Peter North" would be fairly inaccurate, as the featured performers are not engaged in traditional adversarial behavior. Nor would "Ludacris versus Kris Kross" be remotely accurate unless the two rappers started shooting at each other during the recording session. It isn't a battle, it isn't even a competition of skill, it's a fucking rap song, niggaz! You wanna be stupidly "modern" just for the sake of sounding different? Why not "Ludacris + Kris Kross"? I really hate the misuse of a mathematical symbol to mean "and", but it is better than "versus"! Oh yeah, I forgot, that fucking teen emo version of Shakespeare's "Romeo + Juliet" (the movie that started me on my long path of hating Leonardo DiCrappio) pretty much fucked that up for everyone.

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

01 19 08 19:22Pretty RAD after all

I received the first of my two RAD 2.0 robots, and I must say I am impressed. I can see why so many people snap these up for robotic platforms, as the track drive and arms/waist are very functional and there is a ton of space inside to cram electronics. In this installment of the on-going saga I detail the basics of a stock RAD, and discuss where I might go from here. Read all about it here in Chapter Two: Pretty RAD after all.

Don Stratton - three comments - § ¶

01 18 08 15:45When I am 75 years old...

I will still be unable to hear certain spoken numerical sequences without breaking into gansta rap. I could be sitting in the community area of my nursing home, a UPS driver could come in and ask someone where room 187 is, and I will be muttering under my breath "yeah, and you don't stop... cuz it's one eight seven on a undercover cop..". A guy could be having a heart attack at a mall while people are screaming "CALL 911!", to which I will be muttering "...nine one one is a jokey joke now!".

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

01 08 08 15:21I Can Has A Robot!

I have finally found something to inspire another serious long-term static entry; my ongoing story of buying/fixing/hacking a couple of old Toymax RAD 2.0 toy robots. Read the first chapter of what is sure to be a ridiculously long process of turning an old toy into a modern marvel: Chapter One - I Can Has A Robot.

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

12 07 07 22:18Why stupid people shouldn't be allowed to vote, or How Kurt Vonnegut Was Mostly Right

The danger of implementing "the will of the people" is that the people are frightened lemmings who not only don't understand virtually all of the issues they vote on but actively REFUSE to learn about them in any detail. So maybe these people shouldn't be allowed to vote. Maybe, if you REALLY want to vote, you should have to PROVE you are capable of making intelligent and informed decisions and not just regurgitate what you heard on FOX News.

...read more

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

09 18 07 11:39Goodbye, Catherine

After a drawn-out illness that only took about a week but somehow felt like a month, my dog Catherine died last Sunday morning. I have never eulogized anyone or anything before, but the days leading up to her death really tweaked my melon and for some reason I felt like I really wanted her to have... I don't know... recognition. It was surprisingly easy to write, although I did have to stop a few times and choke back the tears. As old as I am I cannot imagine ever having a dog like her again, and I will miss her.

My final thoughts about Catherine will be permanently kept in the "Static" section under "Stuff" in the article "Goodbye, Catherine".

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

08 14 07 12:04"Thought for the day" (or "What was old is new again")

Every once in a while I have decided to post a quote I think is really good. Not just a cute Walt Whitman quote about fuzzy bunnies and sunny days, but quotes that (in the words of C+C Music Factory) "make you go HMMMM". Here is my inaugural zinger:

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." -- Thomas Jefferson

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

07 10 07 22:37Product review: Aoyue 850++ hot air station

I bought a nice hot air station off eBay for pretty damn cheap, and was so impressed I wanted to share my experience with anyone who might be in the market for a hot air station. Hakko may be the big name but they command a big price tag, so I bought a Hakko clone for 1/3rd the cost of a real Hakko and I could not be happier. Read the happy story for yourself.

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

Linkdump

04 26 06 21:01Proton Geeks: the site all Proton users must see

When I was researching my purchase of a PIC micro BASIC compiler I discovered the Proton Geeks web site dedicated to the Crownhill Proton compiler, and thanks in part to the efforts of users like this it gave a lot of weight to my decision to go with Proton's complier. While the site is not flush and laden with every code frag you could ever dream of, what is there is carefully crafted and extremely well done. There are projects and tutorials on some remarkably sophisticated subjects like playing back WAV files from an SD card, or using a PIC as a MIDI controller, and they have some software available in the form of system plugins or standalone apps that can really make development a breeze, such as the GLCD bitmap creation tool or the code frag library manager. All in all, absolutely must-see stuff for anyone using Proton.

Proton Geeks

Don Stratton - Only one comment - § ¶

04 12 06 17:44Homemade PCBs done very well

I remember my first PCB, made with press-on traces and a Radio Shack etching kit. Rough work, but by the 3rd board I got pretty damn good. Today, I couldn't imagine drawing or pressing traces on a PCB since there are so many better ways, but I still can appreciate etching my own board. I have been looking for a cheap and effective way of doing limited production prototyping, and this is the best looking method I have ever found short of photoetching.

Toner Transfer System

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

11 30 05 08:00Homebrew 3D laser scanner

Man, the extreme teknohacks just keep coming. This guy made a 3D laser scanner system out of a line laser, a webcam, a PC-controlled stepper motor system and a little homebrew software. He does not give you construction plans or firmware, as he wants to encourage people to make the system better by doing it themselves. He explains the theory and his general construcion in great detail, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone takes him up on the challenge.

Homebrew 3D laser scanner

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

11 21 05 09:43Someone modded the iTrip LCD!

I love stuff like this, especially when it is on one of "my" products. This is your basic "crack the case and extend the antenna" mod. Not at all technical, and fun for all ages, so all iTrip LCD owners should take a peek.

iTrip LCD mod

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

11 17 05 08:54Now you know the horrible truth

I love those guys at Despair.com! Back in the day that Griffin was cool I spent an evening with Paul ordering about $300 worth of posters for the office (some of which we never did have the guts to display). This is one of their newer posters. Very cool joke about engineers. Everyone go buy one.

Inspiration poster

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

10 20 05 10:02Another Google Map thingy

This one plots census data from 2000 over top a given region.  Note that it starts centered on southern California, so just zoom out and recenter on the location of your choice.  Shows demographical info for a 1, 3 and 5 mile circle.  Note to self, after viewing my neighborhood: move, soon.

http://65.39.85.13/google/

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

09:44Google map + war driving = free WiFi in Nashville!

This is a great application of the Google Maps API; users submit locations where they have found WiFi access and this site plots it on Google Maps.  Informative, if for no other reason than I found out that all local Krystal burger joints have open access points.  I still don't want to EAT there, but now I know it is cool to just hang out in their parking lot.  ;)

http://www.nashville2600.org/wifi.html

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶

10 17 05 20:13Of course it was a pr0n link... BabeEngine.com!

Figures my first link would be to a porn site... sorta. This is a fascinating search engine that appears to take user-submitted links to web sites with free content, and allows you to search for said free content by a lot of specific parameters. Like em' with "big tits", a "choker" and a "lollipop"? Three checkboxes and a "Find Babes" press later and you've got what you want! Well, no, not really. That didn't get any hits the day I tried it, which I only did for the sake of accuracy in this link report. :) But hey, more common yet uncommon parings like "fishnets" and "kitchen" got me two hits! w00t! Here's hoping they drive Google right out of business. ;)

http://www.babeengine.com

Don Stratton - No comments - § ¶