11/03/13 09:21 - ID#58238

arduino nerdiness

so (e:Paul) got a few arduinos and a raspberry pi for his work projects. If you hadn't seen them before, they're basically small, embedded all-in-one computers that are designed to be low-power and expandable. The Arduino can only run compliled programs under 32k using very little pwoer, while the raspberry pi can run a full fleged version of Linux with expandable storage, using slightly more power.

Over the past couple of weeks, we've been playing around with them to get used to them and test out their capabilities. We were able to rig up an Arduino Uno to respond to a button press, and post a test post to the estrip website. The programming logic itself was pretty basic, but I am not experienced in web stuff and it took a lot to learn how to craft a good POST header. Paul definitely did though and we were able to work through it. I love nerding out with him, he knows so much.

I can see for larger projects working on the arduino might be frustrating because the storage is so limited, and there aren't tons of libraries available because of it. Also, doing anything object oriented is a pain because you have to go through all these steps to make every new class a library. The Arduino IDE isn't too great either. It's basically a text editor with no other features although you can use an external IDE like Netbeans or Eclipse if you set it up right. But for super simple projects like sensors or little displays, I can see a good use case.

Kind of looks dangerous...

I want to start playing with the raspberry pi and maybe some other sensors to see what projects we can do with some more power.

Permalink: arduino_nerdiness.html
Words: 297
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 11/03/13 09:37

Category: halloween

11/02/13 11:19 - ID#58233

holla-ween pics

pic dumppp

Permalink: holla_ween_pics.html
Words: 22
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 11/02/13 11:20

Category: halloween

11/02/13 11:06 - ID#58232

dbgb halloween

on Wednesday, (e:Paul), (e:terry), (e:xandra), the infamous (e:lilho) (who I met that night), went out to dbgb's for the "we're taking plowed" Halloween party. The music was kind of lame but the night was pretty fun.

I went as a slutty farmer to go along with the slutty nerd, and the gay nerd.

Permalink: dbgb_halloween.html
Words: 62
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 11/02/13 11:06

Category: programming

11/02/13 05:17 - ID#58229

Hello World from the Arduino

This is being posted from the Arduinooo, (e:Paul) is awesome!

Permalink: Hello_World_from_the_Arduino.html
Words: 11
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 11/02/13 05:17

Category: drugs

10/29/13 12:02 - ID#58203

NyQuiling

It hits you hard after a long day.

Permalink: NyQuiling.html
Words: 9
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/29/13 12:02

Category: politics

10/28/13 11:40 - ID#58202

Delaware North Extortion

So Delaware North and Uniland want to knock down the serviceable and occupied Delaware Court building at Delaware and Chippewa to build a new headquarters/hotel. I could almost understand this being done with completely private money, even though I sympathize with the preservation argument. There are plenty of vacant lots even a block or two away that I'm sure Uniland could leverage a good deal out of.

(Although I still don't understand why the collapsed Erie Fright House was rejected by the preservation board to be relocated for condos - it's now being left to rot with no further use. Did developer Savarino not grease the right palms on the preservation board?)

But now Delaware North is demanding tax breaks to fill a $10 million dollar gap in the project budget, plus Uniland is looking for $5 million more from the Empire State Development Corporation. Allegedly, they need a new HQ here otherwise they'll head to their Boston or California offices - because I'm sure they'll save so much in operating costs by moving there. So they need $10 million for a *potential* of 65 new jobs? Oh, and we'll have a half vacant Key Center to go along with an empty HSBC Tower (also being emptied by subsidies - . Why should we pay to shuffle the deck between offices? What does anyone gain out of this, besides the developers that get picked as winners?

This is corporate extortion, and I'm absolutely sick of it. Every company seems to play this game now, because no politician wants to even think of having a company HQ leave on their watch.

I call any claims of job growth and relocation a bluff. If you need to look to nearby examples, this happened in Ohio with American Greetings getting $93.5 million for a new headquarters, before laying off 300 workers. Same thing with Diebold and their $55 million Ohio tax break.

Permalink: Delaware_North_Extortion.html
Words: 312
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/28/13 11:43

Category: partt

10/28/13 12:45 - ID#58197

Strange Party

While we were at craving on Friday, (e:Paul) got a text from a number he didn't know inviting him to a Halloween party that night. he managed to get more details about the party and we invited (e:Mike) and (e:libertad) along in case we were about to get murdered.

We got home and quickly threw together costumes from whatever we could find in the closet. Terry was a farmer, Paul was a costume box slash Indian bling bear, and apparently I was the green lantern in an skanky-tight costume.

Next we met up at Mike and Dave's since they lived right around the block from the party. It was sort of awkward at first because we still had no idea who Paul allegedly knew there, until he came to the party after us. It turned out to be someone we met months ago at sky bar for Mike's bday. A

Actually it still was awkward after that but there was tons of booze and delicious pudding shots, which is all you need, right?.

First attempt at a costume before Paul decided it was too cold

Peacock Mike and the bling bear

Hegla and the farmer

Helga, the farmer and our connection to this party

Helga Pataki and me, uh uh

Permalink: Strange_Party.html
Words: 220
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/28/13 12:53

Category: food

10/28/13 12:36 - ID#58196

Restaurant Week at Craving

Friday night after helping (e:paul) prime the bathroom a little, paul, (e:terry) and I headed out to restaurant week at Craving. I got the handkerchief pasta, which was arugula pesto, asparagus, mushroom and Parmesan, and house salad with fried polenta.

Everything was amazing but definitely on the greasy side. That's okay since I was super hungry. It was way more than I like to spend at $20.13 for restaurant week, but I guess getting the salad and pasta individually would have been way more than that normally.

Permalink: Restaurant_Week_at_Craving.html
Words: 91
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/28/13 12:53

Category: going out

10/25/13 10:24 - ID#58188

Healthcare at Fugazi

last night (e:Paul), (e:Terry), (e:xandra) and (e:Mike) headed out to fugazi for cheap dranks. Terry and I ended up in a drunk discussion on healthcare and the need for a single payer system. I always love drunk nerdy conversations like that. We also came to the conclusion that we still could be the 1% profiting off our current system if we started the right company. should we be commie pinkos or capitalist pig dogs?

next up was cathode for a big ass drink. We got our dance and on and I made a bunch of new friends to invite to the Halloween party. we'll see who is true blue and shows up.

So cute

Paul wants a 666 tag

Permalink: Healthcare_at_Fugazi.html
Words: 123
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/28/13 11:51

Category: movies

10/24/13 01:43 - ID#58184

Gravity

After the errands, (e:Paul), (e:terry) and I went to see Gravity out at the Transit IMAX with Holly and Brian. First we went to Korea House in Williamsville for dinner, which was really good. Terry had an amazing kimchi pancake thing, and I had the soonbudu jjigae tofu kimchi which was just as awsome.

I hadn't been to an imax movie in a while but the tickets were outrageous at 16 bucks each. The movie itself was alright plot wise, filled with bad science but I was just being a nerd. The 3D was amazing, the satellite debris looked like it was flying right at you enough that I was flinching. We sat so close to the screen that you actually had to turn to see things, including the Sandra Bullock's costars, Sandra Bullock's badonk and legs.