The reno continued this past weekend and this week, with a lot of smaller details being finished.

If you missed part one, read it here:
http://www.avbrand...oom_Reno_part_one/


1. The toilet had to come out again, so now you can use the commode while watching TV.

See the rest of this entry...

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I recently spent some time upgrading PopCARD!

Check out the full project page update here:
http://www.avbrand...ts/popcard/#update
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This isn't really something I'd ordinarily post here, but several friends have asked for a status update on the bathroom reno, so here are some photos.

1. Here's how the bathroom looked before. Ugh.

See the rest of this entry...

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Haven't posted here in a while so I thought I'd post a cute photo of Taiga:



He's waiting for the ball throwing machine to throw the ball... it's so cute
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Today, AvBrand.com is the Engineering Site of the Day on www.eeweb.com !





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Photo credit Hello Foto
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Last month we met two malamutes while out on a walk -- here's a photo of them with Taiga. Yay malamutes!




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I haven't posted a photo of Taiga in a while. Today, Annie and I took a nice hike at Rattlesnake point. Here is Taiga amidst the trilliums.




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I recently purchased the book Zer0 Day by Mark Russinovich. You probably don't know Mark, but that's mainly because he's not an author. Well, actually, he is an author. But his usual domain is authoring software, not books.

You see, Mark is the man who created many of the best Windows debugging and tracing utilities, such as Process Explorer, Process Monitor, and countless others. He published these as freeware under the name 'Sysinternals'. Microsoft loved them so much that they bought him out; he now works for Microsoft directly.

I've been reading Mark's blog for several years. The posts are infrequent but always interesting. He recently posted that he had written an actual novel! A thriller about cyberterrorism, etc. I downloaded the sample onto my Kindle and found it interesting enough to buy. (I was initially angered over the $2 price increase for Canadian buyers even though the US dollar is worth less than the Canadian dollar right now).

Reading through the book was slow. If I get my hands on a good thriller, I sometimes stay up hours past my bedtime because I just can't put it down. Unfortunately, this was not the case with Mark's book. I feel it took a long time to get going, featuring pages of scenes with nothing but dull background information and huge sections devoted to character analysis. Mark's characters also spend an awful lot of time in front of computers, and the jargon is heavy. Even I as a computer programmer felt a bit overwhelmed at times.

At a few points as I forced myself through the book, I was ready to throw the Kindle across the room and stab Mark in the chest. Specifically, any time any character had an online conversation, via IM, Email, or other, they spoke in bizarre short form that doesn't resemble any kind of common or well-known internet shorthand I've ever seen before. All characters did this, regardless of age, ethnicity, language, or technical prowess.

Here's a sample of a dialog occurring between characters "Daryl" and "Jeff", named "D007" and "JA33" respectively.

He opened ICQ, saw Daryl was online, and typed: JA33: Is thr any pln t leak t media? There was a short pause. D007: Hello t u 2. I hdnt gvn it any thot. Wht do u thnk? JA33: We arent mkng nuff headwa. I cnt see any hrm. Wht do u thnk? D007: Less I go off reservtn it wn’t b my cll. Th secrity vndrs knw abt it alrdy. At sum point I’d think 1 f thm wud issue prss rls. JA33: I ws jst thnkng we cld gt mre rsorcs t bear if th pblc ws invlvd, + it wld pt heat on t vndrs. r thy coprtng yt? D007: Its stll prtty lw n t totem ple so fr. I kp tryng. Rtkts mean mny vrss arnt detectd. JA33: Any nw dvlpmnts I shld knw abt? D007: More BIOS wipes, prmrly Dell and HP. Thy trnd th mchns to anchr wghts. JA33: How about chat rms? D007: Sphreak name sumtim bt no help. I dnt hv nuf staff t d t as mch as Id lke. JA33: Hv u pstd ny mssgs t sphreak? D007: We tlkd bot tht n dcdd gainst t. t wld alrt hm. He’d chng hs pttrn. No one knws mch abut t gy. We fond sm psts fr spreak frm otsde. JA33: Wh? D007: Smn usng t nme dragon lady. Mean nythng t u? JA33: Dragon Lady? Someone Chinese? could b lmst anbdy bt ths isnt cmmn knwldg yt. th IT mngr at t frm is prt Chinese bt sh ddnt sy nythng t m abot pstng. Wht do u thnk? D007: Id sy sphreak hs bn tippd off alrdy. If sh hsnt tld u anythng it cus sh ddnt lrn anytng. Jeff made a mental note to talk to Sue about it in the morning. D007: NYC tomrro. Will call to meet w u if ok. JA33: Snds good. Anytng els? D007: I think wer scrwd.

I bet you couldn't even read past the 3rd line without feeling really irritated. Both of these characters are adult professionals (one is a government agent) who really should express themselves more clearly.

About 80% of the way through the book, the action finally started to pick up, with the appearance of an assassin. From there pretty much right through to the end, with a few brief stops along the way, it was full steam ahead right to the climax. I stayed up until half past two this morning finishing the book. I just wish the whole book had been like the last fifth.

For the first novel from a programmer-turned-author, I think Mark has made a good start. But there's a lot of room for improvement. If a second edition is published, the "leet speek" should be completely removed.


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So I'm working on some lighting control software to control stage lights via DMX. I just started this software Friday evening and here's what I've got done so far.




Right now I have four lighting fixtures: A scanning laser, a moving head unit, and two RGB LED "color wash" lights.

My software gives full control of all of their features, and lets you create sequences with any number of steps. These sequences are then assigned to buttons on a MIDI keyboard, allowing the lamps to be "played" as if they were an instrument.

My software's look and function are heavily inspired by Freestyler, an excellent piece of freeware lighting control software. Freestyler is great, but it didn't do exactly what I needed so I figured I would write my own software.
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So in the last week, I built a cash card system into my pop machine.

Video!


More details!
http://www.avbrand.com/projects/popcard/
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I just added a new project to my Projects section, take a look!

http://www.avbrand.com/projects/dogdish/




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saw this online today, thought I'd share...
------------------

TWITTER TO INCREASE TWEET LENGTH LIMIT
140-character restriction is too limiting
March 16th, 2011

Twitter Inc. (Based in San Francisco, CA; not publicly traded) announced Wednesday that the current 140-character length limit of its short messaging service would be increased.

"We've found that there is a great deal you can say in just one hundred forty characters," Jack Dorsey, one of the founders of Twitter, stated in a press conference this morning. "But there is also a great deal you can not say. So today we are announcing a plan to increase the limit to one hundred forty one characters."

"With 177 million tweets sent a day, an increase to 141 characters represents a significant investment of hardware on our end. It represents sixty (60) additional gigabytes of required storage per year." That's about equivalent to about 30,000 books, Dorsey estimated.

Many critics approved of the change. "I've always found Twitter to be a study in brevity," said Professor of English Studies James G. Snodgrass at Oxford University. "This length increase will cut down on the short form and allow people to spell words properly and express themselves clearly."

However, not all critics were satisfied. "It's not enough!" insisted dentist Mary H. Scrumple. "We've been asking for 145 characters for years. Isn't it time Twitter delivered?" Scrumple's sentiments were echoed by her peers in the dentistry community, many of whom disagree with Twitter's unjust 140-character limit.

Regular and heavy Twitter users alike are embracing the change. "I recently had to end a tweet without a period because I ran out of space," heavy tweeter Bram K. Largonester told us via Twitter. "With this upgrade, I can finally add that missing period or excla" Unfortunately, Largonester's tweet ended there, but his meaning is clear.

Dorsey revealed that the upgrade is scheduled to roll out starting in the third quarter of 2011, "Probably sometime around October." When asked about the possibility of a second increase to 142 characters or even more, Dorsey refused to comment, only shaking his head and making the "money" gesture with his thumb and forefinger.






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Haven't posted here in a while, just thought I'd share a quick pup photo.


Taiga poking his head around the edge of my stairs as I open a package of treats... I just love that little mushy face!!

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In the last week or so, I built my very own automatic, home-made car wash. It has two stages, a soap stage and a rinse stage.

I made a video here that showcases it:


Make sure to watch in HD!

There's basically two 24VAC irrigation system valves that are activated via remote. One valve opens a direct water flow, for the rinse, and the other valve opens a flow that passes through a siphon mixer. The siphon sucks soap out of a bottle and mixes it with the water to provide a soapy wash.

Check valves are used to keep the two water flows from interfering with each other. After this initial part, the water splits out into an 8-foot-wide section of plastic piping with small holes cut into it. There are angled sections to spray the sides of the car.

I'm planning on upgrading this with an underbody sprayer as well at some point. But for now, it is super fun!
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Sorry, not a real flamingo My Secret Santa gave him this toy as a gift:


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I got him a cute little santa hat!




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I emailed my recent blog post about my bad experience with Wicked Lasers to all the addresses I had on file for their company. I wasn't really expecting much, but it did make me feel better.

A man named Jim from Wicked Lasers started a conversation with me. He apologized for the delay, explaining that his company had just been completely overwhelmed by the orders, as you can see in this email.

I really wish there was something we could do. Our company just exploded with sales. None of our departments were able to handle the number of orders. Nothing like this could ever have been anticipated. Granted we could have handled things better but hind-site is 20/20. Our intentions were good. It just happened too quickly. We thought we could come closer to keeping up with demand. We want to make this right with all of our customers. What would it take to make this right with you?

The service I received from Jim in the last few weeks has been hugely more helpful than anything anyone at the company has done for me before. I'm still waiting on the Western Union telegram to clear, but Jim said he would send me my order anyway, as a sign of good faith. I wasn't holding my breath. In my most recent email to him (December 7th), I wrote:

If you can manage to actually get an Arctic to my door, I would be impressed. If you can get it here in less than 6 months, I would be even more impressed. And if you can get it here before Christmas, I'd say it was a miracle.

A scant two days later, a UPS package arrived at my door. It contained my complete original order: The Arctic laser and the extra optics kit I ordered. Two days, from China! It really was a Christmas miracle.

I still think that Wicked Lasers could have handled this whole process a lot better. I'm still not sure if I would order from them again. But, their efforts in the last few weeks to "make this right" have shown me that there are good people working there. Maybe they just made an honest mistake.

Anyway, if you are having trouble receiving your order, contact Jim K at Wicked Lasers: jimk@wickedlasers.com
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UPDATE:
Wicked Lasers has come through. Read about it here.



I mean it. Wicked Lasers, a company I once believed to be a high-end player in the portable laser field. Their lasers cost three to four times as much as similar lasers on cheap Chinese sites. "They must be good!", I believed. How wrong I was... read on to find out why.

Alright, set your wayback machine to June, 2010. An article is posted on Gizmodo about the new Spyder III Pro Arctic blue laser, being offered by Wicked Lasers for only $200.



"What a deal!" I said, along with about a million other people. I immediately rushed to the Wicked Lasers website and placed my order. June 11th was the date of my order.

A few days later, I noticed that the page had been updated -- they were now offering safety glasses and an optics kit as an option for the laser, at a discounted price. I emailed their support staff to ask if I could add it to my order. "No problem", I was told, and they asked me to send $79 to their PayPal email address. I did immediately. This was June 23rd.

Weeks went by, with no sign of the laser shipping. After a month, I inquired as to the status of my order. I was told that there were delays, they couldn't meet production, but shipping would begin soon. I continued to wait.

Weeks turned into months, and every now and again I would ask for an order update. Finally, I was told that my credit card was declined (it wasn't), so I provided the details again. Nearly at the end of September, my order finally shipped, and I received a tracking number.

Naturally, I checked my credit card statement and they had overcharged me by $80. I figured I'd deal with it when the laser actually arrived.

Skip ahead another month, to the end of October, and I still haven't received my laser. According to the tracking page it's been stuck "in customs" since the beginning of October, and there's nothing either the postal service or Customs can do about it. "Only the shipper can initiate a trace" I was told.

I contact Wicked Lasers one more time. I explain the situation, and they decide to refund my order. "Not what I wanted", I thought. But, oh well. Except the refund didn't come, and neither did the laser. Fed up, I called my credit card and filed a fraud claim on the charge. They accepted the claim and as of today, November 22nd, I have my $307 back.

However, I had paid separately via PayPal for the additions to my order. I called and emailed, and I was told that they "no longer have PayPal". This is the last message I received, from today:

We no longer have paypal, I need to check with shipping and find out the status on your laser. Best regards, Colin Customer Support Wicked Lasers

I wrote back:

Hi, I'm not interested in whether or not you have PayPal. You had it in June and that was your preferred method of payment when I asked to add to my order. The tracking number for my order is [redacted]. You can see that it was never delivered, and has been stuck in customs since October 6th, over a month and a half. The package has obviously been lost. I used to think your company was great. "One day, I'll be able to buy one of Wicked Lasers' awesome lasers", I used to say. No joke. I truly believed that you were the best laser company out there. Your prices were very high, but I believed the quality was on the level. The last five and a half months have broken down that (undeserved) high regard bit by bit. First, my order doesn't ship. Then, my emails and phone calls and tickets are ignored. Then, four months later, my credit card is overcharged by nearly $90. The order is shipped but never arrives. My attempts to get it reshipped or investigated are ignored. I'm told that my payment has been refunded, but it wasn't (I had to file a fraud claim with my credit card to get my money back). I don't care about the laser anymore. I've already ordered a similar laser from DragonLasers, for only $30 more than I was to originally have paid, and guess what? It showed up in less than 2 weeks. It works great, and it's everything I wanted. You've wasted my time. You've taken my money. And you've ensured that I will never, ever do business with you again. The least you can do is give me back the last $80 that you stole from me and let me get on with my life.

I'm posting this here, now, after nearly six months because I want to make sure that people know to stay away from Wicked Lasers. Even if they end up giving me back my $80, that won't even come close to making up for the hassle and the pain they've put me through.

I've included the complete text of my support conversation with them (personal details redacted). Click to see all of it.




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Lately, I've been seeing an annoying series of banners on every Wikipedia article, featuring founder Jimmy Wales in a thought-provoking pose, appealing to you to give him a minimum suggested donation of $30.

These ads always bothered me, and I recently decided to do some research to confirm my suspicions. I basically wanted to find out how a site that should have very few expenses needs so many millions.

Here is Wikimedia's financial report from 2008.
http://upload.wiki...ia_20072008_fs.pdf

In 2008, they received 4.4 million in "contributions" and spent 3.5 million. Interestingly, the internet hosting cost was only $537,000. So where did the remaining three million dollars go? A third of it was spent on salaries and wages; another third was spent on "Operating" (whatever that means) and the remaining third was spent on wishy-washy things like "Travel" and "In-Kind Expenses".

So, here's why I believe it is a bad idea to donate to Wikipedia:

1. All of Wikipedia's content is created at no cost to them. The editors are volunteers. The administrators are volunteers. So, your money won't go to the people that actually make Wikipedia worth visiting.
   
   
2. Instead, your money will go to paying Wales's high salary and allow him to gallavant around the world on your dime.
   
   
3. WikiMedia claims that some of the money goes for paying programmers to maintain the Wiki software. I think there are tons of volunteers that would do this for free, since it is open-source. Paid programmers are not necessary.
   
   
4. You won't actually be "saving" Wikipedia. Wikipedia will never go away, even if they ran out of money.
   

That last one is the key point for me. Assume that nobody donated to Wikipedia, and the website closed up shop tomorrow. It would probably take less than a week before a big company like Google or Yahoo or Microsoft opens up a copy of Wikipedia, with all the same content. $537,000 in hosting? They can afford that in their sleep. Maybe they'll need to throw some simple ads on the page to make it profitable, but what webpage doesn't have ads these days, anyway?

Simply put: The WikiMedia foundation is expendable. Wikipedia will live on. There's already a ton of sites that mirror every page on Wikipedia, for free.

I know I'm simplifying the issues here, and that the WikiMedia Foundation does a lot of things that can't be easily replicated by Google/etc. I'm just saying, they could probably do the same thing with a lot less money (and a lot less whining for money).

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