Notice to youTube posters. We automatically delete videos that start with some dorkboy saying, “Hi guyzzzzzz”. Today’s snap is the gear needed for two-way wireless communication with the Arduino. At this time, I am the proud owner of one of these pieces. The pieces as shown here are, clockwise from the little red circuit on the left are:
1 x USB breakout board
2 x Arduino Uno
2 x XBee wireless transceivers
2 x Xbee shields (adaptor boards)
This is the minimum requirement if you want your robot sensors to talk back to your computer. The club has decided not to devote resources to building a simple robot, such as a line-follower or obstacle avoider. We are satisfied that we could do that but I believe I warned everybody that robotics is not a cheap hobby. This picture shows that, even if I cannot afford the equipment, I am personally satisfied to have gotten far enough to even know how and what the pieces do. Even this unsophisticated setup will tax my resources and brainpower to the limit. (So Patsie, I can only imagine how you must feel.)
Houston, we have a problem. I will not be able to afford to travel to Colorado in time for a real visit. The trip was always a matter of tricky timing and the Nashville delay has cost this critical and wasted month. There were also some people who failed to keep their promises and that slowed up the train. Anyway, the fact is, my best friend (Marion) is in ill health and will not be able to keep the house. It looks more like September as the soonest before I can travel because now I'll have to rent a room. Thanks, Nashville.
A new virus-like condition is hitting local computers. It is one I can’t fix. It runs something in the background that shuts itself down instantly when you open the task manager. The computer runs slow and sometimes the windows cascade like the old Russian virus of 2009/10. Time to call Fred and see what can be done. (Later, turns out he has not encountered it yet.)
The new band has missed an important deadline. That does it. No matter how badly I perform as a single, at least I don’t let myself down. They did not call for the same old reason which again is: when I join a band, I make it clear they must learn some of my music. This makes sure they put in enough effort to make it harder to quit over some little disagreement. Trust me, the small crap is what breaks up most bands.
They didn’t learn a thing while I learned 15 of their tunes. That is precisely the situation I set out to avoid. So by the third practice I hinted that I would not be learning any more of their material until they caught up to what they had agreed to. That broke the camel’s back. I’m not surprised because 100% of the bands I’ve joined in Florida did the same thing. They want a bassist to be a flunky who follows, meaning they don't have to learn anything -- and they cannot figure out why the last guy quit. Even if they call back, the momentum is gone.
And, Trent is out of circulation, at least in the short run. Those were the only rehearsals that were not a grind in the past few years. My backup plan decision is to go solo, although I’ve never had a strong enough act to do the better rooms. I have less experience at playing and singing than most beginners. I’ll work the angle there has to be some place out there for even a mediocre country-like show. The worse case is I have that three disk Karaoke machine I fixed up a few years ago. It still works real fine.
Ha, did you see the fuss between Wikipedia and the weirdo church? Seems the encyclopedia people have excluded Scientology from posting or editing anything on their web pages. I would side with Wikipedia for a number of strong reasons. First, whatever claims are made on freedom of speech, the Wikipedia site is private property they can exclude whoever they please. Second, when you use something for free, you tacitly agree not to abuse that privilege. Third, Wikipedia’s condition to publish is a neutral viewpoint, a condition which cannot not met by any religious advocacy group.
It seems whenever anybody posts an article critical of their Scientology, they set groups of editors using multiple IPs that make subtle changes (a process pioneered by myself on Craigslist back in 2006, except when they do it they are weirdos). The weirdos were also caught using fake accounts to establish phony references and links. And won’t tell me how they did it. I’d say getting the boot was their own fault. If everybody hates you, blame yourself.
ADDENDUM
It was 103 degrees in Denver this afternoon. For those who got this far today, yes, we are quite aware one does not “delete” youTube videos, but the phrase was chosen so that our policy would be clear to all. Here’s a development: Register4Less no longer has phone clerks. They have “Happiness Engineers”. Look left and cough.
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