June 26, 2015

Yesteryear
One year ago today: June 26, 2014, Nova wasting time.
Five years ago today: June 26, 2010, I made 61¢ per hour.
Six years ago today: June 26, 2009, Jackson owed $500 million.

MORNING
           The fun early today was not this door-closer thingee, but the logic behind it. The main door was banging shut and the women didn’t know why. Ah, I looked and saw that oil was leaking out of the joint, see top photo. Now this presents a quandry, because the landlord is not only slow to make such repairs (it is too much like work), but there usually ensues an argument whether it is a repair, which he pays for, or a leasehold improvement, which the tenant pays.

           Problem solved. As you see in the lower photo, the problem has gone away. I didn’t say the mechanism was fixed. Just that the problem went away. Nice job, too, just six Phillips screws, all done so fast you’d think a robot builder must have done it. Let’s just say the problem was transplanted. You might say it jumped the border. You like it?

           Then, there is the Trump, who I have no use for. But I’d vote for him. Why? Because all the you-know-what media this morning was screaming that he was racist. Trump? So I looked what he had to say. That Mexicans are criminal thugs and such. That’s when I noticed nobody in the media is saying he is wrong, or that his facts aren’t true.
           They are just saying he is racist. That sounds like the wrong party is racist. The Latinos damn sure played the race card quickly on that one, did they not? A little too quickly. I don’t care if Trump or anybody else is wrong or racist if he is telling the truth. It appears certain people don't want to make that distinction.

           What’s more, he wants to build the fence and bill the Mexican government for it. Now you’re talking, Don, old boy. Myself, I don’t say yes or no, only that 70% of legal Americans have wanted that fence for fifty years. It is the most united and agree-upon issue in American votership.
           As part of my campaign to ward off future towing charges over what is basically a $15 flat, I’m heading out this afternoon to find, if I can, the best manual tire pump on the market. I want metal, not plastic. And I want a real gauge that tells me exactly how much air is in my tank. This is not going to be cheap, but at least it is not lost money like that $140 tow.

NOON

           “When talking to a man with a blog, remember he always has the last word.” ~C’mon, guess who said that.

           Now look at my awesome bicycle pump. Yes, that is a metal tube. The gauge goes up to 220 psi, but in practical usage, the limit is around 65 psi. That’s the pressure at which the object being inflated begins to push back on the pump around as effectively as you can pump the air out. Other than that, there is a reason my bicycle pump cost seven times more than yours, Ken.

           The heat drove me indoors, this is my last summer in south Florida if I can help it. They can break temperature records while I’m in Gainesville or something. Global warming doesn’t need my help. I decided to tackle one of the more complicated aspects of the Arduino microcontroller, the SPI. This stands for Serial Peripherals Interface. It is the method used for reading multiple sensors and as usual, there was is coordination between the people who build them and the programming.

           The already horrid C+ code gets into bit arithmetic with whacked-out commands like “while (!(SPDR(1”.

           Ho, ho, what have we here? The above code snippet got clipped. This blog would not print the sample command BUT it followed the command. Hmmmm. So, blogspot reacts to embedded C+ code. Now, just what do I make of that?

           You can’t really construct any sort of useful robot without reading sensors so you’d think it would be designed as one of the easiest commands. Wrong. Bit arithmetic is not the province of the idly motivated.
           And remember, in C+, you don’t declare variables. You “cast” them. I won’t go into much detail, but SPI is a system whereby you can hook up something like 100 sensors, each with its own internal address. Thus, your microcontroller can call any one of them at a time (very rapidly, mind you) and grab that reading.
           Much of the challenge is that these sensors usually do not work on 8 bit bytes. Some are 19 bits, some are 12, you get the idea. You can always divide the number and take your “resolution” down to 8 bits. But keep in mind you cannot multiply to increase resolution. Just like enlarging a picture, at some point things get blurry.

NIGHT
           That’s it. I went out and overspent. Shame on you if you have not done the same on occasion. Get a life. I slammed $12 on the jukebox and had my hand shook about that many times. There ain’t nothing like a steel guitar drown a memory. And these days, that is only 12 songs. Enough time to re-design the control column joystick and outline several ideas for an electronic seismograph.
           Seismograph? Yes, the technology has always drawn my attention. Years ago, in California, I stood beside an old unit and it could detect nearby footsteps. My idea is to dangle a pendulum bob. On the string are three magnets. This is an original design in the sense that I have never seen or heard of this system being used. The idea is the pendulum is not intended to swing, but to remain still if the support structure moves.

           I have failed several times in the past to build a seismograph. But this time I have tools and electronics, and 3,700 hours of intense study time on my side. There were seven earthquakes in the US in the past day. As usual, there is zero information on the Internet that is of any use when I want to do something. I can’t use any shallow Millennial-grade “knowledge”, where accuracy is determined by the number of hits. “Martians Invade Loch Ness!”
           So, I’ll start with certain assumptions. Such as the center of gravity of the Earth being a tiny point that doesn’t move around all that much. And that my existing equipment is sensitive enough to pick up low-order seismic events. I know I’ve got a voltage sensor around here somewheres.

ADDENDUM
           Just for the record, I’ve hacked a way to get into Craigslist that bypasses their entire log-on and account system. The animosity between us goes back a long way. I have never used this knowledge for evil, only to combat their insane policy of allowing unlimited flagging by the same people. I go after the flaggers, not Craigslist, so this morning I’m having an extra coffee to speculate what mischief I can cause them with this new knowledge.

           I won’t say the way, but there is a section of CL that you can directly type in the URL and the door is left wide open. Ideally, I would like once again to get at their code, but they are on to that. Remember how I used to redirect people who flagged my posts to the “best of” room. Hint, it is something like that.

           The intellectual challenge (of hacking Craigslist) has become irresistible over the years. They correctly bring in people to shut down certain loopholes, but seem to lack the wherewithal to anticipate anything but a frontal attack. They are constantly fighting the last war. Now, this google-like log on system where they insist on a phone number and some e-mail back and forth is, as far as I’m concerned, their inability and stubbornness to address the underlying faults of their system. Instead, they constantly side with those who contribute nothing.


Last Laugh
It’s amazing what they learn in prison.


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