[Cross posted to
I thought you all would find this link from BoingBoing to be interesting: 1000 Arten ein Bier zu öffnen
That is, ‘1000 ways to open a beer’. I think. My German isn’t so great.
Still, it’s nifty.
It works.
I don’t know what else to say… What I started a few months ago (with a hefty break in between) as an idea for a single board MIDIbox SID, the SIDbox (photo gallery retired) has now become a whole, working prototype. It plays SID-type sounds via MIDI, or can also play .SID files when loaded with SID Player software which makes it compatible with the SidStation‘s ASID protocol.
Now it’s time for me to start working on what will hopefully become the MIDIbox SID-LC. That is, a for-sale kit based on a bunch of the uCApps.de designs, in my own implementation.
I only made a few mistakes in this design, even through they were pretty substantial, I was able to work around most of them. If you look at the back of the SIDbox board you can see a number of the hardware patches I made. Two of those aren’t needed, I just cut the wrong traces twice and needed to fix things. Oops. I *think* it is all fixed in the current schematic. That will be confirmed another day.
Anyway, here’s that sound file again. It is a SID version of the Airwolf theme, played via this piece of hardware right here. Maybe I’m just a dork, but I find these especially nifty. I spent a good part of the night just listening to old SID files from the massive collection at The High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC) sent to the SIDbox (photo gallery retired) by sidplay2/w.
(Just as a reminder / disclaimer, what I am currently calling the SIDbox (photo gallery retired) is based almost completely on the MIDIbox project. Thus the future name change, especially if I will be selling the boards…)
Today
I also figured out that I left out a component on the schematic, essentially prompting me to lay out the PCB in a manner which keeps the RST line on the SID at +5VDC all the time. Whoops. At least that would explain the weirdly stuck notes I was having… I’ve got a fix for it on the prototype boards, I just need to implement it.
I think that I’ve managed to identify the last bug in the current design. That means I can move on to laying out the next prototype (beta?) design for what I hope will become the MIDIbox SID-LC.
Oh, and about that bird feeder up above? Well, after the bit of hanging out and going to Ashoka for some lovely curry, Brian and I ended up at Home Depot at 26 Mile and VanDyke. I’ve been wanting a bird feeder for a while, and I was finally able to find one that I like.
It is now hung in front of the porch, in a location which can be seen nicely while I stand in the kitchen or sit in the living room. Hopefully birds will start visiting it.
I also took some new photos of the flowers. As you can see here, they are growing fairly well:
Purple and Red Salvia: Just Planted · Today
Violet Snapdragons and White Lobelia: Just Planted · Today
Margarita Orange Portulaca: Just Planted · Today
Herbs: Just Transplanted · Today
It’s amazing the things one can find in Canada at the Duty Free shop. Here is a photo of the back of the package, if you are interested. It even says on the edge that it is specifically made with Cuban beans. Hopefully it’ll be good.
Oh, today I went to Pinery, an Ontario Provincial Park about 45 minutes (maybe a bit longer) from Sarnia. I was bored. I took a good number of photos there, and many more around the Blue Water Bridge area. Those will be uploaded later.
I also need to upload the photos from Alex and Les’ wedding. I think they are okay. I think.
Hmm, so I’ve been thinking about a new camera lens. After reading reviews of the standardish zoom that I have, I’ve come to have the impression that it’s a pretty good lens, so I think I’ll stick with it.
That said, I’m thinking that it might be nice to get something a bit wider angle. Sigma offers the 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM which looks fairly promising. It runs US$500 or so.
Mind if I ask if any of you have opinions on it?
The other lens I’m thinking would be nice to get is the Tokina AT-X 840 AF-II. It’s a 80-400mm zoom, and with that I’d have just about everything covered with zooms. Nothing especially fast, but it’s reasonable. It’s $650 and not quite available yet.
Yesterday I left my house, got a cheese sandwhich from Jimmy Johns, some gas, and a bit of cash. Then I headed east down 23 Mile Road to I-94 and up to Port Huron. Once in Port Huron I headed north / west along M-15 until I reached Port Austin, at the tip of the thumb. After that I wound my way south, eventually ending up near home. Then I grabbed some Thai food and went home. Not long after that it was time for bed.
So, let’s see… While that description was short, what sort of things did I see yesterday…
· The longest pedistrian suspension bridge in Michigan. (photo gallery retired)
· White Rock, which in 1807 indicated the furthest northeast point where non-native people could settle.
· What had once been a seagull.
· The Port Hope Chimney, a memorial to the original town.
· A true two-hole outhouse. (Yes, they really exist.)
· The Point Aux Barques Lighthouse.
· Huron City, an old logging company town which is now a National Historic District. (photo gallery retired)
· A Gadsden Flag flying on a museum.
Oh, and of course, lots of Lake Huron. It was quite a nice day. Despite both suddenly having a sore throat (which has lingered throughout today) in the middle of it and walking into this window† and hitting my head pretty hard I had a great time. It’s really nice to just get away and wander like that. I haven’t done such a thing since… Last weekend (in London) and the weekend before. And before that. Hmm. I think I notice a trend here.
Anyway, if you’d like to see all of the photos, they can be seen here: Thumb Area (June 4, 2006) (photo gallery retired)
† I was walking through this small room of vending machines, looking at them, and not really thinking. When in the room the glass appears pretty clear, and being floor to ceiling there was nothing to catch one’s eye. Also, the glass is in a location where one would typically locate a door. All of this together with my inattentiveness caused me to walk into the glass panel, solidly hitting the side of my head on it. Heh.
Well, the photos of my Nintendo DS lite (photo gallery retired) are up. Like the phoot above there are also comparisons to the original DS. The screen is amazingly better. There’s almost no comparision… Oh, and the form of the device itself is much improved. The new one is so, so, so much nicer.
Also, last night I got that SID-based synth (which will hopefully become the for-sale MIDIbox SID-LC) to make its first sounds. At first I made this sample which has some background noise due to what I think is a bad SID. So, I then replaced the SID with a newer version one, supplied it with appropriate power, and got it to work. However, before I applied the proper firmware there was all manner of nifty glitchyness going on. Listen to this file right here for all the wonderful glitch: midibox_sid_first_-2.mp3
That was made by triggering a MIDIbox SID-LC prototype (stuffed with a MOS 8580R5) with an x0xb0x set to ‘Random’, occasionally switching back to keyboard mode and hitting a few keys.
After some calling around,
I think I’ll wait until I get home to open it, though… I want to take step-by-step photos of the unboxing. For some reason.
Now, what to do with my Mario Kart DS…
Oh, and yes. That is
Well, the SIDbox / whatever MIDI problems are sorted. I’m also able to load apps and things like that… The problem now is that it’s not making any sound. I’m not sure why yet, but that’s okay. At least one half of the device appears to be functioning as designed.
No, my UK photos still aren’t uploaded.
Yesterday I took the time to (finally) plant flowers out front. I’d been wanting to wait until I returned from the UK so that I didn’t have to worry about finding someone to water them for me. I also planted the Chia Herb Garden thing which I’d had growing in the kitchen. I don’t know how well they will continue to grow outside, but it can’t hurt.
There are more photos of the flowers planted in 2006 here (photo gallery retired) if you would like to see them.
As a quick summary, I planted Vista Purple Salvia, Vista Red Salvia, Margarity Orange Portulaca, Liberty Lavender Snapdragons, and Regatta White Lobelia in the various flower holding spaces around my front porch. I also doubled the number of salvia plants in the rectangular planters on the front porch as opposed to previous years. Each box now has six plants, three each of red and purple. Hopefully they’ll grow well and provide some nicely mixed colors.
Now, back to more work… I just finished balancing my checkbook, which it was definitely needing. One and a half weeks of mixed currency charges, scheduled debits, and a few other things need a good bit of sorting out to handle. Fortunately I was sitting on a conference call for the better part of the morning, providing plenty of time to handle this.
