I was thinking the camera guy in horror movies should get an award. I mean honestly he is the scariest villain in all of Hollywood. Think about what I'm saying, for a moment. The scene shows some one get onto the elevator. The camera man looks around to show you no one else is one it, except the person about to die and the guy holding the camera. Then when the elevator opens only the camera man is alive. Who did it? 45 minutes later they bring in some guy who you get to see do something that is blatant and thats who they pin it on.
Wouldn't it be really messed up if just once at the end of the movie the camera guy put the camera on a table and walked in front of it and told you it was really him and proceded to destroy whomever you thought was the hero/heroine. That would be a twisted ending that people would never guess.
Let me know what you think.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Some timers
I forgot what my great idea for a blog post was.....
I think I have a form of writers bloc
Was it about a dream I had? nope
Was it about some revelation of my inner soul? nope
Was it about how I havent written anything here in like 6 months, because I never write down all my good ideas and them forget them after I go home ? Yep
Did I accomplish this mission? yep
Done.
P.S. I figure if I start with random baby steps I should be alright by Christmas :)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The New Bloggers Dilemma (NBD)
In the fast paced world of blogging, just like nascar you build a following and hold on to them. If you don't you fall to the wayside and wither away. There are a lot of people who claim you should not promote your own website or submit your own stories to digg. The majority of those people have fallen to the wayside and are withering away. Promote your website, it is not SPAM, it is something you have worked hard to produce. Let quality determine if you succeed.
The new bloggers dilemma (NBD) is a catch 22. Those without exposure will not have a user base. However to get exposure you need a user base. You also need to provide quality content to retain a following. Again you need a following to ensure your content is quality. The last statement is a bit counterintuitive, so I will restate it. Having a consistent user base will offer contructive critisim on those thing which are good and bad, which will help create high quality posting and insights. This does not mean let everyone else hijack your site and opinions. It does however, allow you to gear your grammar, layout, and topics to those who use your site regularly. This in turn allows them to point others with the same interest to your site, which expands your user base.
The second NBD is what do you talk about. Talk about everything and anything, screw niche blogs. If you find one you love, great, one thats not over run with established persons, even better. But as a whole people have many interests and many subjects they know something about, talk about them. There is alot of expertise languishing in the minds of people who only write about one topic. IT WANTS TO BE FREE, so let it go!
The new bloggers dilemma (NBD) is a catch 22. Those without exposure will not have a user base. However to get exposure you need a user base. You also need to provide quality content to retain a following. Again you need a following to ensure your content is quality. The last statement is a bit counterintuitive, so I will restate it. Having a consistent user base will offer contructive critisim on those thing which are good and bad, which will help create high quality posting and insights. This does not mean let everyone else hijack your site and opinions. It does however, allow you to gear your grammar, layout, and topics to those who use your site regularly. This in turn allows them to point others with the same interest to your site, which expands your user base.
The second NBD is what do you talk about. Talk about everything and anything, screw niche blogs. If you find one you love, great, one thats not over run with established persons, even better. But as a whole people have many interests and many subjects they know something about, talk about them. There is alot of expertise languishing in the minds of people who only write about one topic. IT WANTS TO BE FREE, so let it go!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
2.0? Whats next?
The internet has had a birthday! Apparently the web turned 2.0 at some point in time and everyone decided it was time to party. So, interactive web pages, fully customizable profiles, and more ways to stay connected than you can keep track of, are now running rampant. Its all about the user experience and user generated content. Wait a minute! You mean to tell me that 2.0 is the greatest thing since well the internet? No, this can't be right. I have a theory.... Bare with me for a moment.
During the early days of the internet, the whole motif was information quickly. The problem was the user had no way of interacting with the expert. It was a single sided conversation, a lecture if you will. The exception being in newsgroups. And to be quite frank most websites then looked like crap, no curb appeal.
Then the internet hit its teenage years where everyone became an expert. More people had ways of sharing their own expertise. The problem was still in the interaction, It was limited. People could have real conversations through Irc, chat, and Instant messaging. The problem there was SPAM. Web design took a good look at itself and began to improve. The big problem was Everyone being an expert always said they could do it better.
So, now we have v2.0!!! Where do I start...
MySpace, FaceBook, and a slew of others. You said " I can design a better site than that." v2.0 says "You said you can design a better site, prove it."
Twitter, pownce, and a whole host of others. You said "Chat rooms have too much spam and bots." v2.0 said "I will block everyone to start, you unblock whoever you want." follow= unblock :)
Finally you said no interaction. v2.0 said "You asked for it!" Blogs, comments, twitter, qik, forums, wiki's, texting, expo's, and a vast array of way to get in contact or talk to whoever you want , wherever you want, how ever you want.
To be honest I know what the next step is in web evolution. its not 3 its 2.1.
2.1 differs from 2.0 in the how information is presented. v2.0 says you can create whatever you want and make it look how you want, but you have no control over how everything else is presented to you.
v2.1 changes that. User created content ,such as blogs, are transformed into simple text, link, and picture formats. The format and templates are defined by the end user not the creator.
This is the next natural solution, the information is then passed on more efficiently. As the end user I don't have to worry about your color choices or layout or template. I define them so information exchange is improved. If I don't like the choices then I can change them.
During the early days of the internet, the whole motif was information quickly. The problem was the user had no way of interacting with the expert. It was a single sided conversation, a lecture if you will. The exception being in newsgroups. And to be quite frank most websites then looked like crap, no curb appeal.
Then the internet hit its teenage years where everyone became an expert. More people had ways of sharing their own expertise. The problem was still in the interaction, It was limited. People could have real conversations through Irc, chat, and Instant messaging. The problem there was SPAM. Web design took a good look at itself and began to improve. The big problem was Everyone being an expert always said they could do it better.
So, now we have v2.0!!! Where do I start...
MySpace, FaceBook, and a slew of others. You said " I can design a better site than that." v2.0 says "You said you can design a better site, prove it."
Twitter, pownce, and a whole host of others. You said "Chat rooms have too much spam and bots." v2.0 said "I will block everyone to start, you unblock whoever you want." follow= unblock :)
Finally you said no interaction. v2.0 said "You asked for it!" Blogs, comments, twitter, qik, forums, wiki's, texting, expo's, and a vast array of way to get in contact or talk to whoever you want , wherever you want, how ever you want.
To be honest I know what the next step is in web evolution. its not 3 its 2.1.
2.1 differs from 2.0 in the how information is presented. v2.0 says you can create whatever you want and make it look how you want, but you have no control over how everything else is presented to you.
v2.1 changes that. User created content ,such as blogs, are transformed into simple text, link, and picture formats. The format and templates are defined by the end user not the creator.
This is the next natural solution, the information is then passed on more efficiently. As the end user I don't have to worry about your color choices or layout or template. I define them so information exchange is improved. If I don't like the choices then I can change them.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Twitter. What?
Twitter is a microblogging utility that lets you share little bits of information about whatever you want. Period.
I have been using it for a few months now and I have found it to be one of the easiest ways to keep informed and to de-stress. Twitter doesn't want a lengthy blog post or even something that has been researched and proofread. It wants to know one thing "What are you doing?" at least that is how it started. Now you can have conversations, polls, links, and opinions on virtually any topic that interests you. So you like underwater kniting of three toed socks, big deal someone will probably be interested in what you are doing. Or you might see someone who posts about the inner workings of lawn gnomes. Its all about you. It doesn't matter what when who or how, as long as its shorter than 140 characters.
Why 140? Too be honest I have no clue but it helps get to the meat real quick, no extranious words or flowery sentence structures. Its more of a get to the point quickly application. Twitter also lets you peruse alot at one time without getting too involved. For example say I like robots, linux, gardening, stocks, and music. Now where would I go to find out about all these things in one place? Twitter, I just choose to follow people who like gardening and some who like robots and some who like the same kind of music. Then anything they come across in any of those fields they share and I get to see what they do. I also get to know them a little better and they feel more like a person to me not just a website that wants to make money.
In effect I get to read about others who have the same interests I do, learn about different parts of the world, learn about people whom I have never met (and maybe become friends), read about things that interest me (from places that I may have never looked), get introduced to related topics and unrelated that I might possibly enjoy, all in 140 characters or less which takes about 10 seconds to write.
I have been using it for a few months now and I have found it to be one of the easiest ways to keep informed and to de-stress. Twitter doesn't want a lengthy blog post or even something that has been researched and proofread. It wants to know one thing "What are you doing?" at least that is how it started. Now you can have conversations, polls, links, and opinions on virtually any topic that interests you. So you like underwater kniting of three toed socks, big deal someone will probably be interested in what you are doing. Or you might see someone who posts about the inner workings of lawn gnomes. Its all about you. It doesn't matter what when who or how, as long as its shorter than 140 characters.
Why 140? Too be honest I have no clue but it helps get to the meat real quick, no extranious words or flowery sentence structures. Its more of a get to the point quickly application. Twitter also lets you peruse alot at one time without getting too involved. For example say I like robots, linux, gardening, stocks, and music. Now where would I go to find out about all these things in one place? Twitter, I just choose to follow people who like gardening and some who like robots and some who like the same kind of music. Then anything they come across in any of those fields they share and I get to see what they do. I also get to know them a little better and they feel more like a person to me not just a website that wants to make money.
In effect I get to read about others who have the same interests I do, learn about different parts of the world, learn about people whom I have never met (and maybe become friends), read about things that interest me (from places that I may have never looked), get introduced to related topics and unrelated that I might possibly enjoy, all in 140 characters or less which takes about 10 seconds to write.
Yahoo! I'm scared
In light of the whole merger/takeover that Microsoft has initiated towards Yahoo! I have become a little wary. Whilst I do not have any bad feelings towards Microsoft, I feel that after so long as the industry leader they have become a bit lacksidasical. Yahoo! whle once a superior service has slowly declined in into medeocraty. Hopefully this fight between the great behemoths will get the ball moving a little faster on both sides. However, after many years of using Yahoo! mail as my primary mail account, I have switched to Gmail. I found this to be prudent for two reasons, one Gmail is a little more flexible. Two, Google while being elitist and a bit arrogant, provides an excellent service and still has the drive to continue innovating. I still use Yahoo! don't get me wrong, I also still use Microsoft products. But as for being the one that I rely on I am thinking that both will be in for some net shattering shakedowns, that will cause more harm than good in the begining. I can't predict the future and it could all work out well in the end. I still feel that after this knock down drag out fight the greatest winner will be Google.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The fundamentals of throwing a baseball
After hours of scrounging around on the internet, I have still not been able to find a quality guide to the fundamentals of throwing a baseball. When I was younger, I read one on the mechanics of a perfect jumpshot, and it dramaticaly improved my performance. However, I should say it in no way made me a skill basketball player, it did improve my jumpshot by leaps and bounds. After many years I have forgotten where I read it, it may have been popular mechanics or science or something. I have now decided to write one myself using my own experience as my guide. Hopefully, this will be easy to understand and help anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of a correct throw.
Items you need:
1 Baseball
Fundamentals of a throw (baseball)
Step 1: Determine a target. Your target should be one that is about 20 feet away and approxamatly chest height. Throwing at a target is advised for two reasons: First, you have a good way to guage progress, and second to help with focus.
Step 2: Hold the ball in your throwing hand. The correct way to hold the ball is with your fingers, not against the palm. Two or three fingers on the top and thumb underneath the ball . All other fingers should be closed in a light fist. The ball should be held securely, not in a death grip nor too loosely.
Step 3: Stand and face your target squarely (feet and shoulders should be facing the target.) Turn your body one quarter turn in the direction of your throwing arm.
Step 4: Turn your non-throwing foot and head so that they face the target.
Step 5: Point at the target using your non-throwing arm. Position your throwing arm so it is slightly bent just behind your waist with your thumb in the direction of the target.
Step 6: Begin to move the ball from your waist to about eye level (in a comfortable circular motion) The ball should move away from the target at the begining. Shift your weight to follow the ball. Your wrist should bend naturally allowing for aluid movement.
Step 7: As the ball reaches eye level your back heel should rotate until your back foot is pointing directly at your target. Your non-throwing arm should also begin being pulled into your body.
Step 8: Relax your grip on the ball, and continue the motion until your are pointing at the target.
Items you need:
1 Baseball
Fundamentals of a throw (baseball)
Step 1: Determine a target. Your target should be one that is about 20 feet away and approxamatly chest height. Throwing at a target is advised for two reasons: First, you have a good way to guage progress, and second to help with focus.
Step 2: Hold the ball in your throwing hand. The correct way to hold the ball is with your fingers, not against the palm. Two or three fingers on the top and thumb underneath the ball . All other fingers should be closed in a light fist. The ball should be held securely, not in a death grip nor too loosely.
Step 3: Stand and face your target squarely (feet and shoulders should be facing the target.) Turn your body one quarter turn in the direction of your throwing arm.
Step 4: Turn your non-throwing foot and head so that they face the target.
Step 5: Point at the target using your non-throwing arm. Position your throwing arm so it is slightly bent just behind your waist with your thumb in the direction of the target.
Step 6: Begin to move the ball from your waist to about eye level (in a comfortable circular motion) The ball should move away from the target at the begining. Shift your weight to follow the ball. Your wrist should bend naturally allowing for aluid movement.
Step 7: As the ball reaches eye level your back heel should rotate until your back foot is pointing directly at your target. Your non-throwing arm should also begin being pulled into your body.
Step 8: Relax your grip on the ball, and continue the motion until your are pointing at the target.
The intent of this guide is to help explain the motions of a correct throw.
This guide is not intended to replace a real coach or to be used as an end all be all training guide. I am not liable for any injuries or damage as a result of using this guide.
My New Livingroom
Last month, I got my very first flat panel flat screen tv.It is a Phillips 42" w/ Ambilight 2. I decided to go with a 42" because of the layout of my livingroom (its positioned about 8ft away from the couch). A few things I have figured out since buying it:
1.) It does not have VGA or DVI inputs (so connecting a Home theater PC: htpc: is a
bit more difficult.
2.) Three HDMI ports are easy to fill once you get them.
3.) Some older technologies don't look good on a big screen. (i.e Laserdisc)
4.) Ambilight is cool but sometimes you want it off. (video games, horror)
5.) A flatscreen tv can make a room appear larger than what it is, so even if you have a
small room, it could still work well.
Now I know someone is going to say LaserDisc, WTF? Well, I got it from my grandpa, and it looked good on an old analog tv, so I figured why not. My mistake.
After I got the tv I found I needed to get a few more things to make it feel a bit more comfortable in its new surroundings. WalMart had just what I needed.
Summit mountain TV stand and Summit mountain audio pier
After a few hours of putting it all together, my 42" Philllips had a new home. Then I decided it needed neighbors. Out came the Xbox 360 and modded Xbox, the Ps2, the sony home theater system, and I bought a Ps3. After another few hours and wiring everything up. It was time to watch something wonderful it was a toss up between The Boondock Saints, Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King, and Spiderman 3 (blu-ray it came prepackaged in the Ps3 and it was the only blu-ray movie owned at the time.) Right before I started the movie I realized I was still missing a few things one was a place to store DVDs and the other was a way to hook up a computer. I said screw it I'll do that after the movie. In the end, I watched Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The king, It was amazing. Movie theater experience!! At home, it was awesome.
After the movie I looked around and found
After the movie I looked around and found
I also bought a s-video cable and 3.5mm to rca adapter and an Adesso wireless keyboard w/ built in track ball to hook up my 
girlfriends laptop and it works well not extremely crisp but it works for general intertube surfing.
girlfriends laptop and it works well not extremely crisp but it works for general intertube surfing. This has been one of the most satisfying experiences in a long time and it will be something me and my girfriend will enjoy for a long time to come.
*All pictures were used from the respective places where the items were purchased
Update: Wheres the robots
In my last post, which was a long time ago, I said new projects coming soon. Well I've run into a bit of a problem. I have three things I want to build but no time. Spring is here and there is lots to do around the house and yard. Spring cleaning is a time consuming task and hazardous. Organizing, rearrangeing, packing, unpacking, dusting, and a myriad of other things. And thats just inside. Then theres mowing, rakeing, mulching, gardening, seeding, and a plethora of other -ings. Unfourtunatly, these preclude BUILDING. Oh, and there is also baseball and softball practices for the young ones. So I'm still peicing all the parts together as I can and when I start buildin one of the robot masterpieces I will post lots of pictures and maybe even video.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
New robot projects. Coming Soon!!!
After building my rudimentry BUGbot last weekend, I find I can not stop looking for more projects to build. I think I may have single handedly increased the ranking of the keywords: Robot and robotics. Since I was looking for some pretty specific things and ideas to see if they had been published. I went over a lot of sites with a fine tooth comb, and certain places seemed to have a very good reputation. So I have included links to them in the bottom of the post.
Although I was looking for a very specific project to build (which I didn't quite find), I found a few other projects that looked like a lot of fun. These projects have pretty detailed instructions and have been built by a lot of people, I intend to do them with the help of my girlfriend and her two children, which I think will help them as an introduction. As I said they are well documented so any problems we run into should be pretty easy to solve and we have something to show for it after a few hours worth of work (important for small children). Ok, ok, and me too.
Now the first robot we built was the BUGbot which is here. For the second robot, I was thinking of the Sandwich robot created by David Cook. Which unfortunately means I have to buy his book Robot Building for Beginers, but I'm a good sport so I'll pick up his other book, Intemediate Robot Building, also. David Cook also hosts Robotroom.com, and that is where I saw his Sandwich robots to begin with.
Another place where I found the $40 and $50 robots was societyofrobots.com. Both have step by step tutorials online as well as parts lists. I almost decided to do these two before attempting Sandwich, but decided that I could probably learn a few things when I read the aforementioned books, and since I am going to buy them anyway, I figured I might as well read them too.
Now the other project I want to build is the Twittering Plants project. It can be found here at the Botanicalls.com. This project seems like alot of fun because it will, hopefully allow my plants to live longer and provide a voice to an inanimate object. I figure if I can actually get this one too work then the possibilities are endless. This one uses Twitter. If you have twitter you can follow me here.
Well now that I have a bit of an outline. I will post more as I begin and during these projects.
See you then.
Recomended Parts suppliers:
sparkfun.com
digikey.com
mouserelectronics.com
robotpower.com
More robot links:
robots.freehostia.com
mcmanis.com/chuck/robotics/tutorial
tedlarson.com
tlb.org/scooter.html
ridgesoft.com/articles/balancebot/buildingabalancingrobot.pdf
teamhassenplug.org/robots/legway
ben.jellybaby.net
geology.smu.edu/~dpa-www/robo/nbot
Although I was looking for a very specific project to build (which I didn't quite find), I found a few other projects that looked like a lot of fun. These projects have pretty detailed instructions and have been built by a lot of people, I intend to do them with the help of my girlfriend and her two children, which I think will help them as an introduction. As I said they are well documented so any problems we run into should be pretty easy to solve and we have something to show for it after a few hours worth of work (important for small children). Ok, ok, and me too.
Now the first robot we built was the BUGbot which is here. For the second robot, I was thinking of the Sandwich robot created by David Cook. Which unfortunately means I have to buy his book Robot Building for Beginers, but I'm a good sport so I'll pick up his other book, Intemediate Robot Building, also. David Cook also hosts Robotroom.com, and that is where I saw his Sandwich robots to begin with.
Another place where I found the $40 and $50 robots was societyofrobots.com. Both have step by step tutorials online as well as parts lists. I almost decided to do these two before attempting Sandwich, but decided that I could probably learn a few things when I read the aforementioned books, and since I am going to buy them anyway, I figured I might as well read them too.
Now the other project I want to build is the Twittering Plants project. It can be found here at the Botanicalls.com. This project seems like alot of fun because it will, hopefully allow my plants to live longer and provide a voice to an inanimate object. I figure if I can actually get this one too work then the possibilities are endless. This one uses Twitter. If you have twitter you can follow me here.
Well now that I have a bit of an outline. I will post more as I begin and during these projects.
See you then.
Recomended Parts suppliers:
sparkfun.com
digikey.com
mouserelectronics.com
robotpower.com
More robot links:
robots.freehostia.com
mcmanis.com/chuck/robotics/tutorial
tedlarson.com
tlb.org/scooter.html
ridgesoft.com/articles/balancebot/buildingabalancingrobot.pdf
teamhassenplug.org/robots/legway
ben.jellybaby.net
geology.smu.edu/~dpa-www/robo/nbot
