25 03 06 08:40Get me in a room with these assholes...
I typically spend about 10 minutes a day cleaning trackback and comment spam out of the blog section. I have tried using my blog's basic IP blocking tool, but that is like covering your face in a sandstorm by holding your outstreched hand in front of you. I broke down and found some good third-party spam protection, and after figuring out how to set it up and doing a little testing I feel semi-confident that they aren't getting back in at all. ...read moreDon Stratton - No comments - § ¶
24 03 06 14:12Trials of a n00b firmware programmer part 2; Progress is made!
In this installment we find I made an unbelievably stupid code error in the last installment, and upon fixing it everything worked! Yes, my LEDs blink! When I tell them to! The code has been extended with a tad more functionality, particularly some conditional loops that set individual LEDs on and off under desktop software control. Bask in the glory that is chapter 2
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22 03 06 10:11Trials of a n00b firmware programmer; a USB project in PICBASIC
I bought the Proton PICBASIC system, played around a little with some LED blinkies, then dove in to USB. Oy gods. While the PICBASIC commands may look as simple as USBIN and USBOUT the details are a bitch, so I thought I would create a tutorial as I learned the answers.Using PICBASIC and USB
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21 03 06 20:22The most fun you can have with a white screen
I needed a slide sorting table, or at least a lightbox, but I haven't owned one in many years. Some pondering insued and I ended up realizing my new 20" Samsung LCD monitor was a surprisingly good substitute for a lightbox. The color is good, and it saved me from having to scour eBay for a friggin' slide sorting table. ;)Using an LCD monitor as a makeshift lightbox
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15 03 06 17:48RFID tags are now in $20 bills!
I don't know why these things surprise me, but they constantly do. The US has started putting RFID tags in EVERY SINGLE $20 made! The claim, of course, is not that it is for tracking money but instead to "foil conterfeiters". Bullshit. RFID tagging is a almost ubiquitous technology, and no serious criminal would have ANY problem coming up with any number of functional and non-functional solutions, so the idea that it would prevent anybody but a total dumbass trying to print $20 on an Epson Photo Stylus is a complete crock of shit. What brought all this to media attention is the fact that some people with large amounts of new $20 in their wallet started noticing they were setting off those theft detectors that are in most large stores, and then the judicious application of a microwave oven to nuke the tag confirmed the truth of it when the $20 burst into flames.As with most science fiction, it would appear that George Orwell's "1984" was set a little too bit early to be realistic, but only by about 20 years.
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06 03 06 17:12Notable quote of the day
Sometimes it is ALL in the phrasing. My wife summarized what she has learned about pollen thusly: "Pollen is trees fucking your EYES. While screaming 'take the bukkake, bitch!'Now you see why I married her.
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01 03 06 17:58Shuttles and shizzle
I have been sitting on the text for my nod to the anniversary of the Shuttle disasters for a month, but thanks to building a new computer I didn't get around to posting it until now. In unrelated news I added an image of my US Festival ticket to the dissertation in the Stuff section, just for chuckles and because I appear to be the only one on the web who has one. w00t!The Shuttle disasters
Addition to US83 page (scroll to bottom for image)
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