rumpty-tumpty tumpcmcqdelicate slices of calamariSearchSearch this blog:Test ImagesTest.gif 120 x 150                                     Test.jpg 120 x 150Test2.gif  240 X 300Testcw.gif 150 x 120Testccw.gif 150 x 120Testm.gif 176 x 220 Testsm.gif 100 x  120 Testinv.gif 120 x 150    Bgcolor pagesMarch 19, 2009Suicide PactI found these two birds, four feet apart, just below my office window.Posted by  at  4:56 PM | Permalink| TrackBacks (0)New PlatesPosted by  at  4:44 PM | Permalink| TrackBacks (0)February  8, 2009Earthlink SucksWe've had Earthlink DSL and phone for about two years and everything was fine until the start of December. In the past we had noticed transient drop-outs in our DSL whenever there was a heavy rain but as the dropouts became more persistent we started to call Earthlink Customer Support.Each call could take from 5 to 7 hours. They never had any record of the previous call even though the issue was not resolved. The Customer Support reps could do nothing for you until you had performed all the steps in their script each time.After a month, we were able to persuade them that the phone line was at fault and a technician was sent to confirm this. A follow-up visit from a phone company tech fixed the line, but our problems still persisted. Finally, someone at Earthlink said, "Didn't you check our website? We've had problems with the NIDs in your area for weeks."The best offer we had from them was to give us a credit towards our next month's bill. We won't get that credit because we cancelled our contract last week, switched to Sonic and couldn't be happier.Posted by  at  4:15 PM | Permalink| TrackBacks (0)August  8, 2007iPhone AccelerometerAccelerometers have come of age. Not so long ago, they cost the earth (or around $30) and output either a voltage or a duty cycle which tied up an ADC channel or a timer.The LIS302, used in the Apple iPhone, is a much sweeter proposition. It has an SPI/I2C interface allowing you to read off the values directly. There are two configurable interrupt outputs which can be set to alert you when a certain threshold has been reached on the X,Y or Z axes, or when the device was tapped or double-tapped. It's a Wii controller on a chip and only $10 in ones from Digikey.Posted by  at  8:10 PM | Permalink
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June 18, 2007
Essential Reading
Some required reading that you're unlikely to come across in a bookshop.
The Self as a Center of Narrative Gravity, a compelling explanation of consciousness.
Vannevar Bush, As we May Think, astonishing prescience from 1945.
There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom, Richard Feynman ... which you've read already ... ?
Posted by  at  5:29 PM | Permalink
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June  2, 2007
Larry's Yard Sale
Serendipitously, passed Larry's house as he was having a garage sale. Not for sale were the contents of the actual garage: an immaculate E-type, an Austin Healey in the process of renovation, an early electric Volkswagen and a groovy dune buggy.
Posted by  at 10:36