Caught a showing of “Uncle Jimmy’s Dirty Basement” on Saturday night at Bowery Poetry Club. A hot rock ‘n roll set that’s one part performance art, two parts nasty puppets and far more entertaining than a Broadway show with just as many cues. Highlights were the Chuck Bob Marley improv and the scary puppet of Jimmy’s dead grandmother swooping down to …

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In class today we discussed a project that created an audio link between the distant apartments of two close friends. Even though they were located in different cities, hearing the ambient audio from the other’s apartment created a connection that in some ways simulated the person being in an adjacent room. I wonder how creating a similar audio link from a …

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A new battery charger for a new semester at ITP. The LaCrosse Technology BC-900, doesn’t just have a cool name, it also features a display that shows complete information on the batter charging process. It can handle both AA and AAA NiMH rechargeables in four totally separate banks. That means while one batter fast charges, another can be refreshed while a …

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midiDim Originally uploaded by Professor Shiny. We now have the basic sensing and dimming functions completed, using the MIDI dimmer and three photosensors over TCP/IP. The effect is excellent when the refresh rate is high. If we decide to go with a less frequent refresh rate, then a smoothing algorithm will need to be added so that the light levels do …

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XPort Twins Originally uploaded by Professor Shiny. Here’s the two XPorts mounted on a single breadboard. One communicates with the other over TCP/IP and it finally works. Things I learned that I’d like to remember next time: Instead of sending inverted serial like we send to the computer from the PIC, the XPort is expecting non-inverted serial. The code for this …

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New York doesn’t have the same kind of great outdoors that you’d find in or near other cities. Instead there’s a motley collection of concrete playgrounds and corporate plazas, interspersed with vest-pocket parks of all kinds. I grew up near the East Village back before the cafes and art galleries. Back then the buildings didn’t have windows, just smoke stains rising …

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