Tuesday, April 30, 2013
This Windows Phone ad is pretty accurate! In a crowd of 200 only 2 people use Windows Phones, and they're...
This Windows Phone ad is pretty accurate! In a crowd of 200 only 2 people use Windows Phones, and they're there to serve everyone else.
I need to get this, or maybe two, for the living room, so we can store the zappers and stop having to...
I need to get this, or maybe two, for the living room, so we can store the zappers and stop having to refer to them as "the TV zapper", "the Cable zapper" (which is actually a DishTV zapper) and "the DVD zapper".
Monday, April 29, 2013
Information about ships' locations, available on the internet. +Doug Couch, this is cool. Via Ars Technica...
Information about ships' locations, available on the internet. +Doug Couch , this is cool.
Via Ars Technica.
Via Ars Technica.
Reminder - Lafayettech Labs Meeting tonight. 7pm at GLC. (http://goo.gl/maps/bV2dp) See you there!
The first real breakthrough in CAPTCHA design in years demoed on CRAPCHA. I feel safer already. http:...
The first real breakthrough in CAPTCHA design in years demoed on CRAPCHA. I feel safer already.
http://crapcha.com/
http://crapcha.com/
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Should've shared the article, not the tweet. Anyway, researchers have been looking into voice interfaces...
Should've shared the article, not the tweet.
Anyway, researchers have been looking into voice interfaces for decades, and nothing much has crawled out of the lab. Siri and Dragon are the two that have. I could not imagine using Dragon if there was anybody else around, and I only use voice commands on my phone is when I'm driving, and even that is rare.
Looking at your phone may be a somewhat antisocial thing, but holding a conversation with your computer while you're dealing with someone else is even worse.
So, an overlay of data, showing the things it's reading about your environment or whatever, that just tells you what you want to know. The more you have to talk to your headmount, the worse it is.
bdconf (Breaking Development)
Eric Schmidt Is Right, Using Google Glasses Is Weird – http://t.co/d24xe466v4 – UI/UX being the primary reason
7:51 AM Apr 28th via Zite Personalized Magazine
http://twitter.com/bdconf/status/328476670187155457
Anyway, researchers have been looking into voice interfaces for decades, and nothing much has crawled out of the lab. Siri and Dragon are the two that have. I could not imagine using Dragon if there was anybody else around, and I only use voice commands on my phone is when I'm driving, and even that is rare.
Looking at your phone may be a somewhat antisocial thing, but holding a conversation with your computer while you're dealing with someone else is even worse.
So, an overlay of data, showing the things it's reading about your environment or whatever, that just tells you what you want to know. The more you have to talk to your headmount, the worse it is.
bdconf (Breaking Development)
Eric Schmidt Is Right, Using Google Glasses Is Weird – http://t.co/d24xe466v4 – UI/UX being the primary reason
7:51 AM Apr 28th via Zite Personalized Magazine
http://twitter.com/bdconf/status/328476670187155457
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Just downloaded audio of William Gibson talking at the NY Public Library. Need to make a tool that takes...
Just downloaded audio of William Gibson talking at the NY Public Library. Need to make a tool that takes audio files I feed it and makes it into a podcast RSS, so I can feed it into my player.
http://www.nypl.org/audiovideo/william-gibson#.UXb3fb5p2v4.twitter
http://www.nypl.org/audiovideo/william-gibson#.UXb3fb5p2v4.twitter
Listening to Naked Movie Star by Cindy Lee Berryhill. She was a part of a wave of folk in the early 1990s...
Listening to Naked Movie Star by Cindy Lee Berryhill. She was a part of a wave of folk in the early 1990s. Imagine expecting to hear Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and putting on Blood On The Tracks, and that's about how it felt to hear this album. I lost my cassette and could never find it on DVD. Now on Spotify!
I love the first line of this. Last night I had a dream. I came home from school. _My parents left a...
I love the first line of this.
Last night I had a dream.
I came home from school.
_My parents left a note on the screen door, _
said "Dear son, we've moved"
Last night I had a dream.
I came home from school.
_My parents left a note on the screen door, _
said "Dear son, we've moved"
Science On Tap covers "Ubiquitous Analytics: Interacting with Data Anywhere, Anytime", 6pm tonight at...
Science On Tap covers "Ubiquitous Analytics: Interacting with Data Anywhere, Anytime", 6pm tonight at Lafayette Brewing Company.
Mobile, Ubiquitous, Analytics -- this hits all of my buttons, doesn't it?
Mobile, Ubiquitous, Analytics -- this hits all of my buttons, doesn't it?
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Internet! Why did you tell me Web SQL Databases a week ago, when you knew the W3C had deprecated them...
Internet! Why did you tell me Web SQL Databases a week ago, when you knew the W3C had deprecated them?
Monday, April 22, 2013
Purdue's IEEE Computer Society now offers 3D Printing on their Makerbot. https://docs.google.com/forms...
Purdue's IEEE Computer Society now offers 3D Printing on their Makerbot.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IBFkk5skpvEQakLiN9FhjxUnD9WHvu6Ri59bCaLZr8w/viewform
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IBFkk5skpvEQakLiN9FhjxUnD9WHvu6Ri59bCaLZr8w/viewform
Sunday, April 21, 2013
I got the case for my phone because the arms of this started to scratch my phone. But the case died and...
I got the case for my phone because the arms of this started to scratch my phone. But the case died and I still needed to mount the phone. So, instead, pieces of straws.
I think an interesting project would be to get many of the Lafayettech Labs folk to get Zigbee kit and...
I think an interesting project would be to get many of the Lafayettech Labs folk to get Zigbee kit and try to set up a mesh network.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Got the How to Weld page up now with the video embedded, in case you didn't see how it goes! ;-)
Got the How to Weld page up now with the video embedded, in case you didn't see how it goes! ;-)
The Size M is what plugs into an Arduino. I have several 9volt snap connectors. My assumption is that...
The Size M is what plugs into an Arduino. I have several 9volt snap connectors. My assumption is that it's "just that easy" to solder red to power and black to ground and get my Arduino powered by 9-volt. Before I do something wrong, is that a correct assumption?
I need to make a computer, and I think I like this for a "case" http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...
I need to make a computer, and I think I like this for a "case"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353001
Not really our project, but these are photos are from the Stein Building, future home of the co-working...
Not really our project, but these are photos are from the Stein Building, future home of the co-working space.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
"RaspLogic is a piece of software currently being developed by Italian programmer Dario Tolio, that offers...
"RaspLogic is a piece of software currently being developed by Italian programmer Dario Tolio, that offers a cheap, simple and effective way to control every aspect of home automation in one centralised system."
But where's the fun in that?
But where's the fun in that?
Was thinking about ordering this shirt. Then I looked at shipping and handling costs that doubled the...
Was thinking about ordering this shirt. Then I looked at shipping and handling costs that doubled the cost of the shirt and said "Maybe later..."
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
These designers were inspired to get into 3D printing because that was the only way to get the bird-bone...
These designers were inspired to get into 3D printing because that was the only way to get the bird-bone-inspired lattice structure which gets the strength to weight radio
I gave something like this to a friend, years ago. With his glasses and facial hair, he looked like Gordon...
I gave something like this to a friend, years ago. With his glasses and facial hair, he looked like Gordon Freeman in Half-Life.
I hope he found some practical use for it.
I hope he found some practical use for it.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
This is higher on the techno-evolutionary chain than we normally talk, but right now, you can get Android...
This is higher on the techno-evolutionary chain than we normally talk, but right now, you can get Android tablets for $40 each, or $30 each in lots of 50. I can see the day when tablet computers are given away with the Happy Meal, and when that happens, it's a given that some people (like us?) will have fully-networked tablets mounted in place of light switches, on the fridge, etc.
What happens then?
What happens then?
Monday, April 15, 2013
Thanks to Randy, I have a working circuit for the Atari Punk Console, and now need an enclosure and some...
Thanks to Randy, I have a working circuit for the Atari Punk Console, and now need an enclosure and some 100k pots.
Plus, Randy explained relays. Even if the attendance was slight, it was a good night.
Plus, Randy explained relays. Even if the attendance was slight, it was a good night.
When Doug shows up, Lafayettech Labs is standing room only. When Doug is gone, only the die-hards come...
When Doug shows up, Lafayettech Labs is standing room only. When Doug is gone, only the die-hards come.
Years ago, I was creating a suite of modules relating to the lab's Second Generation sequencing, mostly...
Years ago, I was creating a suite of modules relating to the lab's Second Generation sequencing, mostly having to do with the collecting and disseminating the metadata. So I made lots of modules like SecGenTools::Accession, SecGenTools::Request, SecGenTools::CV, etc.
I was doing a lot of database calls with this, so I created a library, SecGenTools::DB, which exported three modules: db_hashref , which takes an SQL query and returns the data requested in a hash reference; db_arrayref, which takes an SQL query and returns the data requested in an array reference, and db_do, which is used for putting data into the database.
And I found that this was useful, and so, when I started making modules for other tasks, I copied it over, so we have Agilent::DB and PCR::DB.
We're in-process for moving servers, and this is leading me to bite the bullet and try to hang everything off lib/DB.pm instead, so there's one implementation. I've also set it up so that lib/DB.pm doesn't have hard-coded test-and-production
But, the institutional decision is that the libraries must work on the server-to-be-shitcanned and for our bright-and-shining future.
So, I need to write the code such that, if it exists in the old servers, it works like:
use lib '/home/foo/lib' ;
use Fmep::DB 'all' ;
if ( $params->{ 'test' } { $Fmep::DB::Database = 'test' ; }
and on the new, it works like:
use lib /group/gcore/lib ;
use DB ;
$DB::Database = "dbuser" ; # where the real dbuser is something I'm not telling you.
Except, no, there has to be a hook that tells me which system it's on, then say 'dbuser1' or 'dbuser2' depending. Of course, the system which would use 'dbuser2' doesn't exist yet.
I was doing a lot of database calls with this, so I created a library, SecGenTools::DB, which exported three modules: db_hashref , which takes an SQL query and returns the data requested in a hash reference; db_arrayref, which takes an SQL query and returns the data requested in an array reference, and db_do, which is used for putting data into the database.
And I found that this was useful, and so, when I started making modules for other tasks, I copied it over, so we have Agilent::DB and PCR::DB.
We're in-process for moving servers, and this is leading me to bite the bullet and try to hang everything off lib/DB.pm instead, so there's one implementation. I've also set it up so that lib/DB.pm doesn't have hard-coded test-and-production
But, the institutional decision is that the libraries must work on the server-to-be-shitcanned and for our bright-and-shining future.
So, I need to write the code such that, if it exists in the old servers, it works like:
use lib '/home/foo/lib' ;
use Fmep::DB 'all' ;
if ( $params->{ 'test' } { $Fmep::DB::Database = 'test' ; }
and on the new, it works like:
use lib /group/gcore/lib ;
use DB ;
$DB::Database = "dbuser" ; # where the real dbuser is something I'm not telling you.
Except, no, there has to be a hook that tells me which system it's on, then say 'dbuser1' or 'dbuser2' depending. Of course, the system which would use 'dbuser2' doesn't exist yet.
"Out of the approximately 10,000 news stories you have read in the last 12 months, name one that – because...
"Out of the approximately 10,000 news stories you have read in the last 12 months, name one that – because you consumed it – allowed you to make a better decision about a serious matter affecting your life, your career or your business."
I am in a CGI-DBI rut in terms of my Perl usage, so the well of topics I can present to Perl Mongers ...
I am in a CGI-DBI rut in terms of my Perl usage, so the well of topics I can present to Perl Mongers has run dry. Any ideas?
I am a ringleader for our PM, Purdue Perl Mongers. And, I am not really doing anything new with Perl...
I am a ringleader for our PM, Purdue Perl Mongers. And, I am not really doing anything new with Perl. My lab, the Genomics Core Lab, is a Perl shop, and my part is to set up the web interface to the metadata, which means that I do the web from SQL to CSS, and while we occasionally try to play with putting in Dancer as our MVC, what I code most every day is Perl using the CGI module, and everything I could say about that, we said years ago.
So, we're running out of ideas for topics for Mongers talks, so in general, we have "Let's talk about tech" times instead of informative Perl-related talks, and even that's becoming boring.
So, what can we do to develop better ideas for talks?
So, we're running out of ideas for topics for Mongers talks, so in general, we have "Let's talk about tech" times instead of informative Perl-related talks, and even that's becoming boring.
So, what can we do to develop better ideas for talks?
I like the idea of functional languages, but somehow got my CS degree without really learning about them...
I like the idea of functional languages, but somehow got my CS degree without really learning about them. So, I've signed up for this and I'll be driving. I could take three others, if they're interested.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
+Mikel Berger willful be opening up the Stein Building, where we hope to be part of the cunning co-working...
+Mikel Berger willful be opening up the Stein Building, where we hope to be part of the cunning co-working space.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
I've walked 500 miles with my FitBit. I mean, since I got one. My ankles only feel like I've walked 500...
I've walked 500 miles with my FitBit. I mean, since I got one. My ankles only feel like I've walked 500 miles today.
I apologize for my contribution to the Dave-to-Girl ratio. http://dev.null.org/blog/item/20030522213...
I apologize for my contribution to the Dave-to-Girl ratio.
http://dev.null.org/blog/item/200305222135_dave2girl
http://dev.null.org/blog/item/200305222135_dave2girl
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Tomorrow is Purdue's Maker Fair, which, as it doesn't end with an "e", and we at Purdue are "Makers All...
Tomorrow is Purdue's Maker Fair, which, as it doesn't end with an "e", and we at Purdue are "Makers All" without connection to Make, is an okay appropriation of the concept. I guess.
Anyway, 12-5 in the Union Ballroom.
Anyway, 12-5 in the Union Ballroom.
Watched part of this video this morning, talking about law enforcement and your electronic data. Fascinating...
Watched part of this video this morning, talking about law enforcement and your electronic data. Fascinating.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Shodan: The scariest search engine on the Internet. "Unlike Google), which crawls the Web looking for...
Shodan: The scariest search engine on the Internet.
"Unlike Google), which crawls the Web looking for websites, Shodan navigates the Internet's back channels. It's a kind of "dark" Google, looking for the servers, webcams, printers, routers and all the other stuff that is connected to and makes up the Internet."
"Unlike Google), which crawls the Web looking for websites, Shodan navigates the Internet's back channels. It's a kind of "dark" Google, looking for the servers, webcams, printers, routers and all the other stuff that is connected to and makes up the Internet."
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Saturday, April 6, 2013
I've been listening to startup pitches recently, and when you listen to startup pitches in a college ...
I've been listening to startup pitches recently, and when you listen to startup pitches in a college campus, you see students dealing with their problems, including this one: generally, grocery stores are miles away and schools discourage students from having cars, which makes the process of buying food a pain. Pizza delivery, I believe, started in a campus, and it certainly thrives there.
(If there was a good solution that scales enough to make it worthwhile after graduation, there would be an established solution. There isn't. Anyway.)
This piece from the Evernote blog covers just that point. The tech sector has skills and gifts, which serve also as blinders.
I serve as web team/social media guy for TEDxPurdueU, and we're starting to gear up for the event, and we have a core group party line set up with GroupMe, which behaves like an IM client for those with smart phones and sends and receives SMS to those with old school phones. Coolness, right? I've done some work with XMPP and Twilio. I could have written something like that. Didn't. Didn't think about it, because I've just hit the need to use a tool like this right now.
Anyway, a great reiteration of my point that some folks like me are better with how than what.
(If there was a good solution that scales enough to make it worthwhile after graduation, there would be an established solution. There isn't. Anyway.)
This piece from the Evernote blog covers just that point. The tech sector has skills and gifts, which serve also as blinders.
I serve as web team/social media guy for TEDxPurdueU, and we're starting to gear up for the event, and we have a core group party line set up with GroupMe, which behaves like an IM client for those with smart phones and sends and receives SMS to those with old school phones. Coolness, right? I've done some work with XMPP and Twilio. I could have written something like that. Didn't. Didn't think about it, because I've just hit the need to use a tool like this right now.
Anyway, a great reiteration of my point that some folks like me are better with how than what.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Always looking for an excuse to repost "Wat". But the behavior isn't the same in node.js anymore.
Always looking for an excuse to repost "Wat". But the behavior isn't the same in node.js anymore.
We're having a hack day at 1:30pm on Sunday in GLC http://goo.gl/maps/OvCby https://plus.google.com/...
We're having a hack day at 1:30pm on Sunday in GLC http://goo.gl/maps/OvCby
https://plus.google.com/events/cm058oelqt12hmr4v84tcsa6bb4?authkey=CPqahYmLz7PRVg
(Shared as Administrivia so it goes out to Twitter)
https://plus.google.com/events/cm058oelqt12hmr4v84tcsa6bb4?authkey=CPqahYmLz7PRVg
(Shared as Administrivia so it goes out to Twitter)
I love it when I can say "I need to be able to do this", then an hour later say "I have a module to do...
I love it when I can say "I need to be able to do this", then an hour later say "I have a module to do this". It feels like winning.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
I love the useless device, and a spidery metal finger taking control over several switches is even more...
I love the useless device, and a spidery metal finger taking control over several switches is even more wonderfully useless.
I went to CVS entirely to try out Google Wallet but I couldn't get it to work. I guess the future is...
I went to CVS entirely to try out Google Wallet but I couldn't get it to work.
I guess the future is still insufficiently distributed.
I guess the future is still insufficiently distributed.
Next week is busy. Monday: Lafayettech has a CMS comparison talk. Tuesday is Verge West Lafayette. Wednesday...
Next week is busy. Monday: Lafayettech has a CMS comparison talk. Tuesday is Verge West Lafayette. Wednesday is dress rehearsal for TEDxPurdueU and also +Greater Lafayette Open Source SYmposium (GLOSSY) . Thursday is BoilerWeb and the TEDx speakers' dinner. Finally, Friday is TEDx.
Saturday, I rest.
Saturday, I rest.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
I saw Eric Topol talk about reinventing health care on CSpan and, while I agreed and was inspired by ...
I saw Eric Topol talk about reinventing health care on CSpan and, while I agreed and was inspired by his ideas, thought his delivery made him come off like d-bag. He comes off better here.
This is what I need to build: A wedge like this, about four inches wide, that I can stick my trackball...
This is what I need to build: A wedge like this, about four inches wide, that I can stick my trackball on and get it in a better angle. I'd like to give it another half-inch clearance, a softened top edge, and LRF to stop skid, but I think my wrist would like me better if I made that.
This is what I need to build: A wedge like this, about four inches wide, that I can stick my trackball...
This is what I need to build: A wedge like this, about four inches wide, that I can stick my trackball on and get it in a better angle. I'd like to give it another half-inch clearance, a softened top edge, and LRF to stop skid, but I think my wrist would like me better if I made that.
I've hooked the "Administrivia" section to our Twitter feed (@laftechlabs), so that important announcements...
I've hooked the "Administrivia" section to our Twitter feed (@laftechlabs), so that important announcements (like Maker Faires, Hack Days and Meetings) get pushed out to users who don't use G+.
I have also hooked up the "Interesting Links" section, which contains links to talks, projects and other things of interest to the Lafayette Making community.
Let us know how it works.
I have also hooked up the "Interesting Links" section, which contains links to talks, projects and other things of interest to the Lafayette Making community.
Let us know how it works.
I forget where I saw this, but the idea of grabbing content from URLs in C is somewhat repellent to me...
I forget where I saw this, but the idea of grabbing content from URLs in C is somewhat repellent to me. The next idea, using string.h to parse the strings, makes me run to the shelter of my camel books.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
It just struck me that Google's namespace is corrupted. Drive had nothing to do with the car. Goggles...
It just struck me that Google's namespace is corrupted. Drive had nothing to do with the car. Goggles has little to do with the head-mounted setup. Google has a device that can be used as an e-reader and that has nothing to di with Reader.
Each month this year, we’re exploring a different electronic component, delving into what it is, how ...
Each month this year, we’re exploring a different electronic component, delving into what it is, how it works, and how you use it in projects. This month, we’ll tackle the resistor, the job of which is to limit the flow of electricity and thereby control it, guiding it toward one component while protecting another. As always, we’ll start things off with an introduction to resistors via an edited excerpt from Charles Platt’s essential Encyclopedia of Electronic Components: Volume 1. http://bit.ly/XBUncn
Adam Savage on inexpensive basic toolkits. Worth thinking through for +Lafayettech Labs , too, I think...
Adam Savage on inexpensive basic toolkits. Worth thinking through for +Lafayettech Labs , too, I think.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Time was, there was little enough Javascript about, engines were inefficient enough and processors were...
Time was, there was little enough Javascript about, engines were inefficient enough and processors were single and wimpy enough that most people I know just turned Javascript off, just to make those pages that used it usable.
Now, speed's up and the engines are mostly together, so, now very few people do. Enough sites do what they do through JS that the web without JS would be fundamentally broken.
Now, speed's up and the engines are mostly together, so, now very few people do. Enough sites do what they do through JS that the web without JS would be fundamentally broken.
Victor Wooten is one of the greatest musicians I know, and he's holding a clinic at Sam Ash Indy on the...
Victor Wooten is one of the greatest musicians I know, and he's holding a clinic at Sam Ash Indy on the 23rd.
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