Update: Biznass Boombox

Added more photos and build descriptions, check it out here!

Various workshops online

Follow this link to access materials for various workshops I have done with UMIEEE.  I hereby decree them published under the CC BY-NC-SA license

Stuff you will find:

• MSP430 tutorial materials
• C language programming tutorial
• a shoddy linux primer

Enjoy!

MOSFRUIT

For my Digital Systems Implementation class, I was tasked with making a MOSFET out of something that is not a MOSFET.

I was scratching my head over what to make this thing out of while grocery shopping, and came across some small watermelons.  The delicious result:

It operates as such:

• Watermelon N-channel
• Kiwi P-Channel Wells
• Pineapple insulation layer
• Canteloupe Gate/metal connections

MOSFRUITs let you control a large amount of deliciousness with a small amount of effort.

Biznass Boombox

In preparation for the Decentralized Dance Party, I decided to make a business-themed boombox most righteous and true.  Find below the buildlog...

First, I set out with the plan to construct this out of the following:

• A solid briefcase (not soft-leather)
• A battery-powered boombox
• Speakers of some variety
• Some sort of stylish speaker cover

Finding a briefcase for cheap was not an easy process... but I eventually haggled one out of a local flea market regular for $30.  Kind of steep, but not horrible.  The boombox was a donation of a former roommate, and the speakers were picked up at a local thrift shop

Here we see a dry fit of the speakers on the briefcase, as well as a collander to make a slick speaker-cover.

Apartment finding script

Need to find an apartment?  Turnover times got ya down? Throw this bash script on a cron job and never miss a posting again!

Requires: *nix, mailx, cron, an apartment agency that lists their vacancies online.

Click "Read more" for the code listing

Webcam mouse interaction in X11

After taking a class in Computer Vision not so long ago, I often find myself straining to think of a cool project that takes advantage of what I have learned.  Finally, after a solid week of banging my head against other schoolwork, I decided I should take a break and code up something fun.  In other news, I have no idea what fun is.

My initial goal was to take input from a webcam, track the users finger, and use it to move the mouse cursor.  Pretty ambitious!   Although the finger is still a long ways off, I have it tracking red rings.  Code available here.