Month of Doubt

lets see...still no power at my house. I dont mind being cold...thats totally not the issue. Its the fact when I go home I cant clean or do anything. Nobody talks to me there and I cant even get online to talk to anyone. This is why I think "death row" inmates should be given a cell with a window, no light other than natural, and no power. They cannot have contact except for cell maintenance (toiletry and such) and food. Its a real killer in itself. Seeing as this is America of course they will have to have heating and air...but thats it.

Imagine how much money that would save.

And I severely want to move...or need to. Since it will be me and some other person that is likely Adam, I probably cannot take rats. Its a hard decision but...its probably whats best. I mean I could take em...theyre only costing me like $30 a year to feed and with a job I could afford to get bedding which could be....$20 for 40lbs of bedding that can be kept in a cage for 3 weeks...theoretically I can keep em.

hah nevermind then

Animals arent even the biggest problem. There are quite a few places that wont charge me extra for them.

Biggest are utilities and rent lol.

The cheapest place in the entire city is $450 not including trash which most apartments include. It is a tiny studio downtown.

I wouldnt be so concerned about power if I lived alone. I mean if most of you have spent more than a day with me, youd know I never think of turning on the heater and only turn on the a/c when Im about to pass out. I dont watch tv so....

My dearest Adam loves xbox...a huge expense when it comes to saving cash. This means operating a tv and a system.

Dearest Adam will have to learn to love games a little less...spoils cant be kept up in a tight situation.

On top of me needing to move, my ID is lost. What can someone do with it? Well I dunno. I dont think anyone looks like me and Im under 21. My issue is getting a replacement...yikes! I dont have the money to do that plus will have family yelling about how irresponsible I am and always will be.

Even though my sister lost like...5 drivers license before she hit 18. This is my 2nd ID...my first expired.

Another reason why I need to move out. Im not a toilet and wont continually take all their shit.

By the way its settled. When I get rich I want a toto or some type of power flush toilet.

Totos now have a quiet lit so if it falls or someone tends to slam them down, instead it has a motor or something to lower it.

or a dual flush. We dont need that much water to flush urine.

or a power dual flush XDD

chea.

ANYWAYS.

Library card is also gone. The rest of my cards I dont think anyone cares about. A marrow donor card, a petco card, a petsmart card (both places I rarely shop at anymore), and a blood source card.

XD

Man I think stress is making me sick.

my biggest stress inducer right now...is my dearest golden. I feel like Im a tossed to the side toy right now. I know I shouldnt feel that way but I do.

=[

toto with heated seat and warm water wash if you get what I mean.

It takes your shit XD

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Out of the Darkness

These are all pics of the new band room area. Entrance, roof, walls, bathroom (which is incredible), and a hall. Totally not what this blog is about but will be what my tumblr is about.














Lol Thim. Pics were not supposed to include her but she got in em both. Sorry Thim XD




Bathroom sinks are extremely bright. Stainless steel sinks...are cool.



Anyway...still no power at my house. I dont mind the heater being gone...its the friggin not being able to see anything in my room.

And school stressing me out. Oh well.

Not having a good semester so far.

But hopefully I will get a job soon and fill up my black people frig haha. And get my dogs back. Then I will be to the extremes of happy =]

By the way still have google wave invites. Hit me up guys.

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Like Arduino Like Python Check Out Micro Python

My knowledge about electronics and microcontrollers (MCUs) leaves a lot to be desired. My knowledge about computer programming, and Python in particular, leaves even more to be desired. However, if you like MCUs and Python, you might want to take a look at Micro Python, as Im doing tonight.

Micro Python pinout (from Kickstarter)

A Design News article from July 17 that I saw gives a brief overview of Micro Python. One of points of interest for me on this board is that the MCU is from STMicroelectronics. The only other blog post Ive written about an STM board is the June 22 one about the $50 Lab-in-a-box. That board also had an STM32F4 MCU.

"The Micro Python board is based on the STM32F405 Microcontroller. It comes ready for Python programming...running 168MHz, with 1MiB Flash and 192KiB...The Micro Python board has a built-in interface for USB and functions much like a storage device. Programmers can write their Python scripts directly onto the battery-operated board and once stored, the Micro Python board will function entirely independent of a PC...the micro Python board comes pre-loaded with a micro SD slot, four LEDs, a clock that functions in real time, accelerometer, switch, and 30 I/O pins, including USARTS, SPIs, 12C buses, DAC and AC pins, and four powered servo ports...it functions right out of the box, as its pre-installed with Micro Python...What’s really unique about this board isn’t the board itself, but the program upon which it’s based...Python can write functions, execute string processes, write classes, create lists and dictionaries, read and write files, create a generation

Packing Micro Python for shipment (from Kickstarter)

system, execute closures, design list comprehensions, and deal with execution handling. The Micro Python software is a leaner, cleaner version of Python intended for the microcontroller, but it actually works for PCs, too...Micro Python software is already available to the public through the MIT open-source license..."

The development of Micro Python board was completed with funding from a Kickstarter campaign that was successfully funded on December 13, 2013. The campaign generated more than six times the initial funding goal of £15,000 set by its founder, Damien George, an Australian theoretical physicist at the University of Cambridge. In Damiens latest update on the Kickstarter site (June 21), he says they just finished sending out the last of the kits and boards to his Kickstarter supporters. The picture above looks like he had a pretty crowded apartment or house when they were packing everything up for shipment! An interesting Kickstarter side-note is that another campaign on there, SliceCase, leveraged the popularity of Micro Python by offering a case for that board as one of the SliceCase rewards. The SliceCase campaign only asked for £1000 and got 9X the original ask.

Micro Python SliceCase

The SliceCase / Micro Python synergy brings up a revenue opportunity that takes advantage short term trends. In my recent post about Spark.io, two principles I mentioned for the Humboldt tech, innovator, maker and entrepreneur (TIME) community to leverage are (1) focus on emerging technologies and trends (e.g. Python language and the maker movement) and (2) use Kickstarter and similar sites to launch products and gain visibility. In this instance, SliceCase no doubt benefited from the buzz that Micro Python had generated. It would be fun to launch a Humboldt Crowdfunding Entrepreneurs Meetup group, where half the purpose is to take an abundance economy approach (a rising tide floats all boats rather than I want my piece of the pie) to Kickstarter and Indiegogo and people in the Meetup group would help each other become more successful at crowdfunding campaigns. The other half of the groups purpose would be to monitor crowdfunding projects on Kickstarter, Indiegogo and elsewhere, and to quickly and efficiently build crowdfunding campaigns that leverage publicity and successful funding of other crowdfunding campaigns.

The Micro Python is open source. Heres the GitHub project site to check out if thats of interest to you. I was glad I took a look at the GitHub site because it showed me that at least one GitHub site has a wiki component. I know less about GitHub than I do about microcontrollers and Python (sensing a theme here??), but I have several reasons to learn how to use GitHub effectively. One of those reasons is because the Humboldt Laser Harp (HLH) project code repository is being put on GitHub. I like wikis for aggregating and organizing technical information, and Im looking forward to giving the wiki component of GitHub sites a look to see if has benefits for the HLH project.

In addition to finding out about wikis on GitHub, tonights blog post also made me aware of a tech acronym that I either havent seen before (which is hard to believe) or just dont remember. That acronym is MiB. And it doesnt mean "Men in Black." What it does stand for is mebibyte, where mebi is a binary prefix which means 2 to the 20th power. It is apparently used as a more accurate alternative to megabyte (MB). The Wikipedia entry for mebibyte says:

She turned me into a newt!

"1 mebibyte is 1048576bytes...The unit has been accepted for use by all major standards organizations, appears increasingly in scholarly literature and is part of the International System of Quantities. Many Linux distributions use the unit, but the unit has not been widely accepted in the computer industry or popular media."

Micro Python has enough visibility that it was written up in Wired in December 2013, and in June 2014 there was a blurb about it in InfoWorld. With Python currently being "the most popular language for teaching introductory computer science courses at top-ranked U.S. departments," and with a relatively active community on GitHub with 31 contributors, 2544 commits and 1082 stars, the Micro Python project stands a decent chance of building critical mass and being around for a few years. Lastly, if youre interested in learning more about the creator of Micro Python, theres a Hack A Day interview with him from November 2013.

If you want to play with a Micro Python board, you can sign up on the projects website, although I didnt see any estimated shipping date for people who werent Kickstarter supporters.

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Out of the Soviet Bears Cave

History books...arent they interesting?

I dont generally find history interesting unless you throw in science (such as in my college class Intellectual US History) or you hear it from someone else that was there.  Funny thing is, when you hear it from someone else, you will either do one of two things:

1. Think that person has the wrong facts
2. Think the history book is wrong

And Im not saying either is right or wrong but the thing about history is it is a story...his story.  Everyones story is different.

I remember someone some point in my life telling me that the Japanese history books had some things scratched out.  I dont blame them.  The US books probably have a bunch scratched out as well.  Many things are explained in short...many MANY things.  How many people know that Thomas Jefferson actually got to know his slaves?  How many people know that he also wrote about Africans being more efficient in their work due to things like them not having to use the restroom as much (scientifically speaking, Africans retain water due to their native environment not being so water friendly.  This is a hereditary trait much like how a person has pale eyes or a dog has short fur...all due to climate.)  How many people thought that this could further feed racism?  My history books talked about camps for the Japanese and others that looked Japanese, but it was only about a paragraph long.  I imagine a Japanese book really touches on it much like how we really go on about Pear Harbor.

But Im not here to bag on anyone.  I have another story.  Yay for story time!

I have a lot of friends that are either first generation American or that were born outside of the US.  I sort of befriended an older lady named Natalya and I love love LOVE her to death.  She is possibly one of the nicest people I know.  Anyway, Natalya came to the US from Russia probably around 5 years ago with two of her kids.  She has a son and a daughter that still live in Russia.  She grew up in the Soviet Union...oh yes she did.  Of course it isnt the same Soviet Union we hear about in US history books though.

She told me that when she was little, everyone went to school and everyone was forced to keep up and learn (which is why today Russias literacy rate is extremely high.  Even though the US requires children to go to school, were not as strict and our literacy rate is very low.)  Nobody was poor but nobody was rich either (generally speaking.)  Everyone had what they needed and nothing more.  According to her, now there are tons of homeless and starving.  "I love my new home," she would say "but western culture is ruining everywhere else."

Funny story, most of the people I know from outside of the US were poor...poor as in didnt have much money.  However their life stories are so interesting.  Take another friend of mine from Ukraine.  She showed me a picture of her old house with her dogs and her grandmother and aunt (both decided to stay.)  Yes it was small but their yard?  HUGE with lots a fresh fruits and veggies everywhere!  They didnt have much at all but they had one cow and a couple of chickens.  They had what they needed which would be poor according to western standards but well off according to other standards.  Another girl I know, Lyudmila, grew up in Uzbekistan and was also considered poor according to western standards.  What did they have?  A large garden with fruits and veggies, a cow, dogs, cats, chickens, and so on.  Again...well off in some standards!  Of course I know many more from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Thailand, and so on...most which had a way and seem corrupt by another.  Most of the people I know are young so they were often considered poor, even by their country even though they had the basic essentials...food, water, a house....

Tell me...whats so wrong with just having what you need?

Dont get me wrong, I know they had to work for what they did have and I know they had to get some money to cover what they didnt have.  Here in the western world, you are considered poor if you cant buy a new $100 TV without starving.  Why is that?

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Life by the Books

My sophomore year of high school, I realized that I liked school...but HATED it.  It is a joke.  It is a place to hang out with friends, get picked on, and, in most cases, deal with teachers that are terrible or just tired of dealing with you.  Yes there are some schools that are absolutely wonderful and some teachers are awesome but in general...public schooling is a gamble.

Sophomore year, I told my mom that I wanted to go through independent study and start on college on the side or a catholic school (mind you Im pagan) but I didnt want to go through with public school one bit.  When I found out my college courses would be free (and my mom did some really stupid things and made some really beyond stupid mistakes) I went nuts.  I didnt talk to my dad and completely flipped out at my mom.  Why not look at alternatives to get me ahead?  They dont cost more with he exception of private school!  Why do you hate me??

In the end, it did cost me more to finish public school.  We were forced to buy a cap and gown or we wouldnt walk (and we were not allowed to rent or buy used.)  Those didnt come cheap...around $70 for the entire get up.  All of those college classes I could have taken for free were now no less than $75 (not including books and supplies.) The class I need the most was free...now is $175 without supplies at a community college.  Financial aid?  If only the government went by my wages alone instead of my wages plus my parents.  I do not live with them and they do not support me in any way, shape, or form.  I dont qualify for any waivers or grants.

Of course they wanted me to do the whole go through high school, college, get married, have kids, buy a house, blah blah blah.  I have never been that kind of person.  I have always preferred slaving over something I love instead of simply working on something I hate.  Id rather get up at 2 in the morning and shovel horse poo and do farm chores for 12 hours in the middle of summer than work 4 hours in a deli like I do now.  So it shouldnt come as a surprise when I suddenly disappear off the face of this planet...not literally of course.


I have always had my mind set on a county home.  I was checking out some properties with lots of land (to frolic and garden in of course) but no house.  I know by moving, Im probably going to put myself in some sort of debt.  Oh well...at least I will be mentally happy and with only monetary worry which is something I dont have now.  Of course now I worry about where to lay my head because of psychotic landlords (I must be a psychotic landlord magnet.)  Have kids?  Of course but Id much rather home school.
Anyway.  I have always been the forest type person.  Well I found the perfect plot somewhere (yeah I forgot where it was) that keeps coming back to mind.  One side is wooded with a creek nearby but the other side has a field that blooms with wildflowers in the spring.  At certain spots, you can see the city lights at night.
The more I stress here, the more country I get.  Just last week, I told myself the only "farm" animals Id want were chickens (and dogs and cats but you see those just as much in the city.)  Now that I think about it...Im very much considering some cows and/or some goats.  I dont care for pork so no pigs.  It wouldnt break the bank to just buy butchered pork at the store when I want some.

So...there ya have it.  Im just not cut out for that whole planned life.  Id like to just chill and take life how it comes...smell the sweet air of not-the-city.  Wish folks would just let me be.

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Contests Saving Money RFduino Road Tests Special Buys And Reduced Prices

Tonights post has four items that may be of interest to someone who wants to build something cool or save a few dollars on parts for MCU projects. First, we have two build something cool opportunities.

RFduino

Symmetry Electronics and their ecommerce division, SemiconductorStore.com, are sponsoring a design-build contest called "We Know RFduino." The idea is to design and build something with RFduino, make and upload a video about your project, then promote the heck out of your project to get a lot of people to watch your video. The video with the most views in September 2014 wins $1000. There are also 2nd and 3rd place prizes. Everybody who participates gets a $25 store credit at SemiconductorStore.com when the contest finishes. (Heres a link to their Kickstarter campaign for a little background on the component.)

Four reasons for Humboldt microcontroller users to consider entering this contest are:

1. Just for participating, youll get a $25 store credit at the SemiconductorStore.
2. If you win 1st, 2nd or 3rd place, you could win some cash.
3. If youve been wanting to build an MCU project with wireless, this could be a good excuse.
4. Having Humboldt people participate in this contest is a good way to promote the microcontroller community in the area. Even if you dont win, you might meet one or a few new people from Humboldt who are interested in MCUs.

The second contest type MCU activities are the Road Tests at element14. The Road Test webpage at element14 says:

"RoadTest is a group dedicated to testing and reviewing new products. RoadTesters are chosen from element14 members who apply to test equipment and volunteer to write a review. The equipment provided to reviewers is mainly development or evaluation kits for microprocessors from manufacturers such as Texas Instruments, Freescale and Microchip. Test equipment is also occasionally featured with equipment from Agilent, Fluke, TTi and Tektronix. More recently the reviewers have been given other demonstration boards from traditionally analogue manufacturers like Analog Devices, Linear Technology and Maxim."

For more details, go to the Road Test webpage, look over the different Road Tests that are currently open, and if none of them sound right for you, keep an eye on new ones that come up.

Ed Smith made a good comment to me when we were talking about one of the MCU-related contests. He suggested that before you enter a contest, make sure the benefit you can get from participating in it is worth the cost. If you get a free $20 part and end up spending a bunch of additional money and / or time that you otherwise might not have spent, maybe the contest wasnt worth getting into. Caveat emptor.

In the saving money category for tonights post, the first item is Jamecos Special Buys Outlet. I got an email today from Jameco promoting their Special Buys. I looked at some of the stuff in their outlet, but I havent done enough electronics to know if those are good prices for things lots of people actually want, or if its clearance racks for items which have very narrow appeal. Check it out and see if there are any items you cant live without...

The other saving money item for tonights post is another element14 item -- their reduced prices on popular development kits & evaluation boards special deals. John H sent me a link to this, so I wanted to pass it along to others who might benefit from it. The primary items I thought may be of interest to people in the Humboldt Microcontrollers

TI HAP-TOUCH BoosterPack

Group are the two Texas Instruments (TI) BoosterPacks. At least Ed and Nick have worked with the TI MCUs and these might be good prices for the HAP-TOUCH and Fuel Tank BoosterPacks if theyre something theyve been wanting to get. Again, my lack of electronics buying, or at least price-watching, means I dont know if these are super deals or just ok prices.

If you know of other MCU-related contests or good component pricing that you want to share, please send links to arcatabob (at) gmail {dott} com. Thanks!

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