|
 General: Another Nearly Pointless Update |  |
|
| Posted on 2010-01-27 @ 20:10:53 by r00t... |
| It's been a while since I last posted, if anyone out there cares and is reading this, read on, and you'll be filled in... |
| 1 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: It Can Be Done | |
|
| Posted on 2009-03-25 @ 18:42:35 by r00t... |
| I found this neat little website which opens with the line "Do not believe the naysayers who say it cannot be done". Apparently it is centered around an individual who goes by the handle of "rog8811"... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: Welcome, Nuts and Volts Readers! | |
|
| Posted on 2008-09-11 @ 00:04:51 by r00t... |
| Welcome to my website. Whether you arrived here via the link in the Nuts and Volts September 2008 issue, where it was announced that I won (new window) Vern Graner's Personal Robotics $100 Workbench Design Challenge (new window), or in another manner, I want to thank you for visiting.
Enjoy the website, and consider joining phoenixgarage.org's member list to post comments to this and other articles! |
| 1 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: Lately, I've Been Lazy... | |
|
| Posted on 2008-09-11 @ 00:02:17 by r00t... |
| I've been lazy about my site, and about my projects. Which is strange, because I have been working... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: Possible Breakage... | |
|
| Posted on 2008-07-06 @ 03:09:09 by r00t... |
| To all who visit: Please be patient, I am switching stuff over to mod_rewrite, and you may notice things breaking from time to time. This is normal. I will post a comment when everything seems stable. If you continue to have problems, please contact me... |
| 1 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: Reciprocality - An Archive | |
|
| Posted on 2008-07-03 @ 20:26:25 by r00t... |
| "This project began as a bit of practical industrial psychology, and ended up unfolding into an understanding of how most people in most human societies have a consistently distorted view of everything. Not everyone is caught in the confusion, and as the picture emerged, an alternative model of relationships between observable phenomena that seems to be experienced by creative programmers in software engineering, star diagnosticians in medicine, great physicists and mathematicians, so-called ADHD children, people who "Know Quality" in industry, poets, painters, sculptors and mystics became describable - but only in its own terms. The alternative picture is wholly rational, but not reductionistic. Best of all, it is scientifically grounded and experimentally testable. If the experiments fail we can junk it. If they work, we've learned something important." - Alan G Carter |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: Modern Mechanix: Yesterday's Tommorow Today | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-30 @ 23:03:39 by r00t... |
| This blog was recently recommended to me. If you are a fan of old tech magazines (Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Byte, etc), then you will love this site. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-20 @ 21:17:16 by r00t... |
| All I can say is "WOW!" - this is a great example of street art... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: Mr. Trent Franks: Why do you think I am stupid? | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-09 @ 19:41:35 by r00t... |
| I recently (like 5 minutes ago) sent an email to my Congressman, Trent Franks (new window), after I received one of his so-slickly-produced mailers. Even though I should know better by now, it still surprises me that he regards the citizens of this state to be so ignorant. Then again, maybe he is right? |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: America is China is America - The All-Seeing Eye | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-08 @ 17:35:47 by r00t... |
| Every day I seem to come across an article or comment that does nothing but solidify the idea, in my mind, that we are living in a dystopian nightmare as bad or worse than anything depicted in a fictional context. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: The Law of 150 - Otherwise Known as the Monkeysphere | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-08 @ 14:40:38 by r00t... |
| "One death is a tragedy. One million deaths is a statistic." -Sportacus
So begins David Wong's (new window) humorous and insightful article on Cracked.com. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: Daniel Quinn - The Human Future: A Problem in Design | |
|
| Posted on 2008-04-29 @ 07:48:29 by r00t... |
| Sometimes the jewels on the internet are hidden from you until that right moment and time comes along, when it somehow seems to hand you the treasure. I was recently handed such a gem, and I want to share it with you. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: FOSS Factory | |
|
| Posted on 2008-04-13 @ 13:03:36 by r00t... |
| FOSS Factory is the only website where the community collaborates on every aspect of free/open source software production, including design, funding and development. Our mission is to help accelerate the advancement of free/open source software. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: Ugly doesn't begin to describe it... | |
|
| Posted on 2008-04-06 @ 22:09:04 by r00t... |
| Of course, what I am referring to here is the look of the site, especially under Internet Explorer 7. |
| 4 comment(s) posted |
|
| General: Republican Presidential Nominee McCain Responds!!! | |
|
| Posted on 2008-08-26 @ 00:40:25 by r00t... |
| I recently received this email response from John McCain. Note the distinct lack of reference to what it is regarding. This man and his staff are considered "presidential material"? A wookie from the planet Endor makes more sense than this... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
 Projects: Helping to Preserve the Past: Paladin's Legacy | |
|
| Posted on 2008-09-16 @ 22:08:26 by r00t... |
| I am currently involved in a project to help preserve an interesting RPG for the Color Computer - Paladin's Legacy... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Projects: Making SSH and OpenSSH Play Nice | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-06 @ 19:27:47 by r00t... |
| Towards the end of the development of the new "look and feel" for this site,
I ran into an interesting issue when I attempted to implement an automatic
authentication scheme between my development server and and the virtual
server my site is hosted on. The issue turned out to be easy to resolve, but
learning how to do so required me to perform many Google searches before I
had the correct answer. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
 Personal: Housefire - A little too close for comfort, this time! | |
|
| Posted on 2009-06-18 @ 05:14:20 by r00t... |
| Thank $DEITY, not our house; unfortunately, it was our neighbor's house. Nobody was living there, fortunately... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
|
| Posted on 2009-04-15 @ 23:47:11 by r00t... |
| Laziness got the better of me, which is why I probably shouldn't tackle a project as large as building a fence, because it would never get done! Anyhow, I took all of these pictures on Saturday, April 4th, showing what the new fence with the gates and view panels installed looks like... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Personal: Radio Shack Color Computer Frappr Map | |
|
| Posted on 2009-04-09 @ 08:16:59 by r00t... |
| Interesting Frappr Map of TRS-80 Color Computer owners worldwide... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Personal: Our new fence: The blocks are up - beautiful! (Read Parent) | |
|
| Posted on 2009-04-02 @ 22:38:24 by r00t... |
| The block arrived early this morning...by the end of the day, our fence was complete; all that is left is the "ironwork"... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Personal: Our new fence: A work in progress... (Read Parent) | |
|
| Posted on 2009-04-01 @ 23:44:13 by r00t... |
| Well, with several phone calls, a few estimates, one insurance adjuster, and a pittance insurance check later, we are now well on our way to a new fence... |
| Read complete article... |
|
| Personal: #$%@!! Our fence blew down! | |
|
| Posted on 2009-03-25 @ 08:33:09 by r00t... |
| Yesterday I came home from work thinking "Ah, a relaxing evening", never imagining anything outside of what my wife and I now define as "ordinary" (things get weird when you have your mother, who has dementia, living with you). Never did I think this would be here to greet me when I got home... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Personal: My Busy Life... | |
|
| Posted on 2008-11-18 @ 22:13:15 by r00t... |
| It's been a while since I last updated this site, so I thought I would post something to let everyone know what is going on, where I am at with things, and how I am doing... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Personal: A Beginner's Guide to Welding | |
|
| Posted on 2008-09-10 @ 23:37:36 by r00t... |
| I originally released this guide back in October of 2003, and several people enjoyed it. All of them said it was helpful and interesting. When I updated my site, the welding guide went away. After looking at my site statistics, though, and noticing people trying to find it, I thought I would dust it off and bring it back. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Personal: Tasty...? Morton_toes' BBQ Bacon Breasts | |
|
| Posted on 2008-07-09 @ 21:42:37 by r00t... |
| I found this recipe today on Fark (new window) - I haven't made it yet, but I thought it sounded tasty:
Morton_toes' BBQ Bacon Breasts (new window)
Read on for locally-hosted version of the comments and recipe... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Personal: A Public Apology to the Cox HSI Support Staff | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-15 @ 16:53:53 by r00t... |
| First off: I apologize, for both my attitude and demeanor during our email conversations. Yes, the issue was at my end, but one can easily see how I was mistaken - it wasn't so much that I was wrong (which I was), but that I didn't have all of the information, either. Read on... |
| 2 comment(s) posted |
|
| Personal: Cheap and Cheezy Mac and Cheese | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-07 @ 21:35:08 by r00t... |
| Tonight, my wife and I prepared a cheap meal, part of which was a simple box of mac-n-cheese. But a little improvisation went a long way... |
| Read complete article... |
|
 Sciences: Genes, Memes and Turing Machines: A Replicator Primer | |
|
| Posted on 2008-09-13 @ 03:30:07 by r00t... |
| The following is a list of books I recommend, that when taken as a whole, can serve as a primer for understanding the what, how, and why of self-reproducing bits of information known as "replicators"... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Sciences: The McMaster Engine: An Engine for Our Time | |
|
| Posted on 2008-07-02 @ 23:00:43 by r00t... |
| In this time of expensive gasoline, any gains in fuel usage efficiency can only be taken so far using ordinary Otto-cycle engines as found in most cars. What is needed is a more efficient engine. Engines with complicated arrangements of cranks, cams and pistons have a lot of moving parts: parts which induce friction, parts which have to be cooled and lubricated, parts which can easily fail. Enter the McMaster Engine... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Sciences: Need Alternative Fuels? Find a Station Here! | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-29 @ 11:25:58 by r00t... |
| I recently received the occasional email newsletter sent from Knowledge Publications (new window), my favorite alternative energy book publisher. I am just a customer, but I have found that even what they offer for free is worth way more than what they charge. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Sciences: High Fuel Prices? It's The Investors, Stupid! | |
|
| Posted on 2008-05-30 @ 23:46:46 by r00t... |
| As a resident of Arizona, I recently heard about Senator Jon Kyle's opinions on why we have high gas prices. The following URLs shed light:
'Cause-and-effect' behind high gas prices (new window)
Dollar Value Down, Gas Prices Up (new window)
I disagree with this, and if you continue reading, you'll see why... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
 Robotics: A Computer Controlled Tank | |
|
| Posted on 2010-02-16 @ 19:24:39 by r00t... |
| Ever play with (or own) a Milton Bradley Big Trak? Ever wanted to control it with a computer? Want to interface your Arduino with one? Read this "future past" article to find out how! |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Robotics: I was an 18-foot robot! | |
|
| Posted on 2010-02-16 @ 19:07:01 by r00t... |
| So begins an interesting article found in a scan of a fairly old copy of Popular Mechanics; in this article, you quickly learn that the science and art of "Giant Robots" is much older than you think... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Robotics: Some Interesting Sites for the Homemade UGV Project (Read Parent) | |
|
| Posted on 2008-11-18 @ 22:50:34 by r00t... |
| This article serves to document some of the interesting and useful sites both I have found during research - read on for more! |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Robotics: Our Homemade Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV): A New Direction (Read Parent) | |
|
| Posted on 2008-11-18 @ 22:13:54 by r00t... |
| Well, it's official: I am going a new direction in the development of the UGV. A friend from my work, Jared Hurn, has decided to assist me in the development and programming of the robot. We hope to eventually be able to enter it into the Robo-Magellan contest, if not the one next year, then the year after. Read on for more about this exciting new direction the project has taken! |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Robotics: Homemade UGV/ROV Pan-Tilt Mechanism in Action! (Read Parent) | |
|
| Posted on 2008-09-23 @ 22:16:49 by r00t... |
| I made a small, low-quality video of the pan-tilt mechanism of my UGV/ROV today. The servos are currently controlled via an R/C transmitter; in the future everything will be controlled with a Basic Stamp 2. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Robotics: Programming the Parallax BASIC Stamp 2 using Linux (Read Parent) | |
|
| Posted on 2008-08-26 @ 00:19:23 by r00t... |
| Those of you following along know that my current project is the design and construction of a homebrew UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle). I intend to control it using a BASIC Stamp 2 OEM microcontroller module I constructed (see my assembly primer (new window) for more details). So, once I had the module built, I then needed some way to program it... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Robotics: Status on my ROV, err - UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) (Read Parent) | |
|
| Posted on 2008-08-25 @ 22:19:21 by r00t... |
| I just wanted to post a short "status update" on where my ROV project stood. First off, I am sure you notice the name change... |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Robotics: The Basic Stamp 2 OEM Assembly Primer (Read Parent) | |
|
| Posted on 2008-08-25 @ 21:49:35 by r00t... |
| I wrote this primer for those out there who may need some extra visual and written explanation to the assembly manual which is included with the Basic Stamp 2 OEM kit (new window) from Parallax. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Robotics: Robot Intelligence: An Interview With A Pioneer | |
|
| Posted on 2008-06-06 @ 19:28:20 by r00t... |
| I recently had the pleasure to conduct a short and informal email interview
with a pioneer in the field of hobbyist robotics, David L. Heiserman. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|
| Robotics: A Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) Project | |
|
| Posted on 2008-05-29 @ 23:32:04 by r00t... |
| THE CONCEPT:
In the early part of 2005, I began the design and construction of an ROV based
on the chassis of a 1/6-scale radio-controlled toy monster truck. Utilizing
this and other various items, I managed to implement a working - if not very
elegant - ROV system. Though I never obtained any video of it in operation, I
did manage to document its construction with a series of photographs. |
| 0 comment(s) posted |
|