Tech Advice for all, and for all subjects

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:59 pm

Have you figured this one out yet? Arduino might be what you're looking for.

Ok - I FINALLY figured out how 64 LEDs can be independently controlled with only 16 outputs. I could do inputs the same way. Arduino looks like the ticket - one $35 board can control 64 LEDs or 64 inputs, or if I take the leap and build a board with its own LED controller (MAX7219?) it could handle 128 LEDs and not quite as many inputs, but I don't necessarily need as many of those. I might actually be able to pull this off!

Oldguy · Post by **Oldguy** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:47 pm

I have some old lamps I want to bring this year. Besides kerosene, white gas ,and lamp oil what can i burn in them? I have veg oil, corn oil, and olive oil: will these burn O.K. or will they smoke too much?

Post by **mdmf007** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:54 am

Try em out before hand - best way to find out.

BitterDan · Post by **BitterDan** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:55 am

Oldguy wrote:I have some old lamps I want to bring this year. Besides kerosene, white gas ,and lamp oil what can i burn in them? I have veg oil, corn oil, and olive oil: will these burn O.K. or will they smoke too much?

What about Parrafin oil? It's smokeless and odorless.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:03 pm

So this is my "mom" character taking over - burning oil lamps are very dangerous in a tent city subject to high winds and awkward inebriated humans - so please be vigilant! You would be better served to use battery powered lamps or propane.

With that said - I have used oil lamps on the playa but I won't do it again because of the hassle. I found them to be messy, and comparatively fragile.

One of my favorite things in the world now are the "puck lights" that are battery powered led's roughly the size and shape of a hockey puck. (Almost indestructible, very bright, compact, use anywhere.)

Yeah, I know they don't have the "ambiance" of old oil lamps, but ........

BitterDan · Post by **BitterDan** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:14 pm

I don't think paraffin wax will burn outright like other oils will. That makes it a little bit safer but the mess part, yeah, that could get messy if you spilled.

Oldguy · Post by **Oldguy** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:04 am

ok folks , I did some experimenting today. Get this . The best fuel for a kerosene lamp is kerosene! I tried my thickest oil first, corn oil. It was not volitile enough. The flame off of the wick was low. The wick burned too fast. I had to trim or adjust the wick height almost constantly, there was low gassing from the wick end. I then tried my most volitle fuel :alcohol. Too hot ,too bright . I was afraid that I had a Molotov Cocktail on my hands. Alcohol in the tiny lab lamps with the cord wicks may be O.K. but not in a full sized lantern, just too much surface area gassing from large broad wicks. I did not try my white gas (Coleman fuel) or gasoline.

Later in the day, after fixing my mother's lunch, I meantioned this experiment to her. She asked if I could use her kerosene supply. Out in her garage was a 5 gallon can half full. Great. There were also 3 marine deep-cycle starting batteries. Great. the batteries took 12 volt charge. I already have several cigarette lighter plug device I can use in my tent: sixpack refrigerator , spotlight, fan, and radio/ TV. I suppose with an inverter I could use 110 volt appliances. I saw one in an auto parts store that puts out 2500 watts. I plan to hook up my storage batteries in parallel to an inverter, then to hotplate or skillet or coffeepot. Yeah! Electric kitchen...now we're cooking with gas- er- batteries! I have a solar battery charger to top off my bank. I only intend to cook once a day- or less. Man, I'm pumped now...can't wait to go. I think I might build my own lampstand ,similar to the Lamplighters.

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:55 am

Awhile ago I posted something for K. about some modification firmwares for routers.
Some new articles have come out recently I thought I should share.They are interesting and are a better read then what I've posted.

Wired also has an article though it says about the same thing the first article does called Supercharge Your Wireless Router With Open Firmware
It also talks about IPV6, something I have been advocating on eplaya now for 4 years. The article is in the image link below.

Ooops, sorry for disturbing the flo there ol' guy.

Oldguy · Post by **Oldguy** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:16 pm

An interesting Tomato article there. I still use dialup at 56K. Yep, I'm a dinosaur- strictly lowtech and thrifty...

Post by **mdmf007** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:50 pm

Once you go DSL - you never can go back.

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:04 pm

Boy........DSL meant something totally different when I was a wee lad.

I thought High Speed Cable was faster ?????

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 1:11 am

Oldguy wrote:An interesting Tomato article there. I still use dialup at 56K. Yep, I'm a dinosaur- strictly lowtech and thrifty...

mdmf007 wrote:Once you go DSL - you never can go back.

oneeyeddick wrote:Boy........DSL meant something totally different when I was a wee lad.

I thought High Speed Cable was faster ?????

Here's a little secret,

Try IPV6 on dial up and up.

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 1:44 pm

DVD Burner wrote:
Try IPV6 on dial up and up.

We got rid of our landline .

Probably never gonna have one again.

I, however, only pay $20/ month for my comcast/broadband connection.
don't let those pricks push you around, push them around instead !!!

I will pass that on to a couple of peeps I know though.......thanks !!!

Post by **mdmf007** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:52 pm

Ive never sued VOIP. is it comparable in quality to the traditional?

Box Burner · Post by **Box Burner** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:28 pm

mdmf007 wrote:Ive never sued VOIP. is it comparable in quality to the traditional?

If you sue the voip providers they probably won't let you use their service.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:45 pm

http://www.comcastmustdie.com/
This was on Nightline tonight along with a youtube of a tech asleep waiting for comcast to come on the line.

I'm looking at skype myself.
I'm open to suggestions.
It does seem you can use different protocols with it and one is stereo with good quality.
You can use voip person to person without using any company.

I've used comfortel for rebuilt Plantronics headsets and companders for land lines and been exceedingly pleased with their service.
They have voip sets too.
http://www.comfortel.com/index.html

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:03 pm

I used to get my connection for free. A business nearby did have their wireless secured. I told them about it and they said they didn't mind.

Nice people! Now I'm on a coop wireless getting almost 3,000kbs for $10. Almost as good as free!

AIIZ

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:21 am

I used to think that DSL sucked...and that Roadrunner (cable modem) was the way to go. But now that I'm out here in the stix DSL is my only affordable broadband option. And it's actually been much more reliable and stable than Roadrunner ever was.

Also I love the router firmware updates and the ability to turn up the transmit power which effectively turns my old router into a wireless jammer for experimental testing purposes only. For me DD-WRT is the only way to go...easy to install, good online forum/wiki support to figure out any minor concerns, and in the end it just works.

And as for IPv6 I didn't give it any attention until DVD mentioned it a couple of years back...and I'm glad he did.

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:59 am

gyre wrote:http://www.comcastmustdie.com/
This was on Nightline tonight along with a youtube of a tech asleep waiting for comcast to come on the line.

I'm looking at skype myself.
I'm open to suggestions.
It does seem you can use different protocols with it and one is stereo with good quality.
You can use voip person to person without using any company.

I've used comfortel for rebuilt Plantronics headsets and companders for land lines and been exceedingly pleased with their service.
They have voip sets too.
http://www.comfortel.com/index.html

I have my own VOIP over IPV6 network that spans from here to Palestine and it is by far the most efficient I have ever built.
I plan to put it online for business soon.
As far as just making free long distance calls, one can also try talkster.com

as far as VOIP is concerned, anyone can make a better network than Vonage or Skype if one is willing to take the time to install what is needed in the home.

Linksys makes routers that are VOIP ready called ATA's.
They were originally made by Sipura but Linksys bought them about 2 years ago. An ATA is a module you hook up to your computer, a brodbad line and a regular phone to make long distance phone calls with.
It's what Vonage uses. In fact, Vonage also has a deal with Linksys implementing their software in the new linksys routers.

Anyhoo, the main reason why I do VOIP over IPV6 is long distance phone calls in HD. Video and audio..

If you want to experiment with your own VOIP get an ATA, (if you can find a Sipura, that is one great way to go.) and here are some links:

http://www.freeworlddialup.com/
http://www.ipkall.com/

Good luck.

Post by **mdmf007** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:27 am

LOL - these big hands mashing keys. anyways - thanks for the info on USING VOIP and not filing Suit.

later

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:09 pm

As a rule VOIP blows over anything under 756K DSL if you expect to download anything or do online gaming or things like that at the same time. It's great with cable modem or higher-speed DSL, but that's a problem I've really started to notice since we gave Verizon the finger.

Unfortunately, I work in this screwball industry for another eight weeks or so and see these sorts of complaints pretty frequently.

-c

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:00 pm

ZaphodBurner wrote:As a rule VOIP blows over anything under 756K DSL if you expect to download anything or do online gaming or things like that at the same time. It's great with cable modem or higher-speed DSL, but that's a problem I've really started to notice since we gave Verizon the finger.

hence VOIP over IPV6. the sending and receiving of the packets is more efficient and secure than IPV4.

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:34 pm

Dork wrote:
Have you figured this one out yet? Arduino might be what you're looking for.
Ok - I FINALLY figured out how 64 LEDs can be independently controlled with only 16 outputs. I could do inputs the same way. Arduino looks like the ticket - one $35 board can control 64 LEDs or 64 inputs, or if I take the leap and build a board with its own LED controller (MAX7219?) it could handle 128 LEDs and not quite as many inputs, but I don't necessarily need as many of those. I might actually be able to pull this off!

Well? give us more...did you build it? Does it work?

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:50 am

Wow do you shrink GIF pictures ?

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:36 pm

I had an interesting event here on eplaya.

When I right clicked on a link to open it in a new tab it kept opening my default email program. Then it stopped when I just left clicked on the link.

weird shit happens on Eplaya links

Mudaphukka

AIIZ

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:28 pm

Oops...

How do you shrink GIF pictures ?

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:59 pm

oneeyeddick wrote:Oops...

How do you shrink GIF pictures ?

You need a program to do it with.

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:53 pm

You can use "The Gimp". It's a free open source photoshop wannabe.

http://www.gimp.org/

Post by **mdmf007** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:21 am

Anyone know of a program shareware or fee that you can use to resize photos enmasse?

I am trying to upload a ton of photos to a website with size and resolution constraints and am tired of doing them one by one. Was hoping to drop whole folders.

thanks for any thoughts

BitterDan · Post by **BitterDan** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 12:11 pm

MikeVDS wrote:You can use "The Gimp". It's a free open source photoshop wannabe.

http://www.gimp.org/

That's awesome, I never even knew it existed and the name is classic.

"I need to edit this photo" says the winged burner.
"Bring out the gimp" says Zed.

Tech Advice for all, and for all subjects

what fuels can burn in a kerosene lamp?

Re: what fuels can burn in a kerosene lamp?

Comcast Must Die!

Re: Comcast Must Die!