John Tiernan – Blog

Science!

Indeed, science! Not just any science, back yard science! Or atleast rented warehouse science. In recent news has been the story of a man who, when not working as a web developer, has developed a fusion reactor. Yes thats right, a nuclear reactor, in a warehouse in Brooklyn. The DIY project itself cost over $39000 with the majority of the bill funded by the amateur scientist. You can read more at your news outlet of choice, including the BBC.

Technology!

If you haven’t heard, it is element-14 first birthday. Happy birthday to them!
As part of this they have been running some trivia quizzes, and guess who won one. The prize was a high quality element-14 t-shirt. Some of the best packaging so far. Compressed down to a smaller t-shirt brick.

Blogs!

Messy Carla’s facebook page has reached 100 fans, I’m sure one or two of you may be interested in making that number higher.
If you are interested in a fashion blog, check out Carla’s at http://messycarla.blogspot.com

Everything Else?

Attention Scum!

No, I don’t just mean that as a greeting, I mean the TV series by Simon Munnery, Stewart Lee and friends (Including Kevin Eldon…). Really, why did it have to end? It was a work of genius. If anyone knows whether it can be found on DVD I’d love to know!

Short blog is short, if theres anything you want to see here next time, speak up. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the weather.

Rant Time.

Todays topic of ranting is dating websites. Don’t want to read? Don’t look.

(continue reading…)

If you haven’t already seen around the interwebs, Steam, the popular gaming software for PCs, has made its way to Mac. Is this a good thing? Yes! Despite the common misconception, Macs can be used for gaming (Yes yes shock, awe etc. etc.). With the release of Steam, the number of games you can easily find has just gone up. As a result of the recent release, and it being for Mac, the number of games available is limited and currently hangs around 63, and that is just the New Releases. What does this mean for Mac users? Simple. Fun. The current available games are some of the old classics and the newer classics and of course the new indie games like World Of Goo. There is however one other game which has been able to sneak in. For a limited period, Portal is available free. Cool huh?

While it is all well and good that Steam has made it to Mac, I do still have one or two minor issues with it. The first, where is the Linux client? Especially for the indie games! Come on guys, not a challenging one. Second, and slightly more important, is the interface. Sure it is nice and shiny, and like everyone I like the interface to change from the norm from time to time. This however does it but not exactly as well as it could. I can’t quite put my finger on it yet, but there is something about the way it works that puts me off.

The main thing that sold me? Portal. Why? It sounded interesting and to be honest so far it is, if only in a bahmybrainsdeadandneedsomethingtooccupyme kinda way. It is one of those puzzle games that will get you thinking. A mix of platformer and puzzle with a hint of broken physics and good graphics. Worth checking out. You may be able to expect some form of proper review at a later time.

Rant time. So assuming a good number of you use that facebook thing, can we also assume that at some point recently you have came across one of these groups that requires you to complete a survey, shave a goat and for the odd one you will no doubt also have to touch a sheep in an inappropriate place. Yes? Of course you have, because it now seems that only 1 in 40,000 doesn’t require you to do that (Exaggerated statistics courtesy of the magic world of cheese). Why? Seriously, why?! I don’t care about your ‘survey’/scam. Just let me move on. Yes I know there are sites that still have some of this content available without the need to hit that ‘Like’ button, but I don’t care. This way used to be easier. </ mini rant>

In other news! Birthday times! Yes indeed, this week it was the birthday of a previously mentioned blogger Carla (Twitter). Happy birthday!

Boards!

So a while back, there was a mention of plans for something aimed at making the life of developers/tinkerers/others easier. Particularly those who use who use I²C. Now as we all know I²C can operate with just one device on the bus, which is all fairly simple, but what if you need more? You need to build a bus!

Yes this can be done easily on breadboard, and is just as simple on perf board (strip board or whatever you care to call it), what about when you want to implement it? Or you just want something slightly better for say… teaching? Well one option is to go and make your own PCBs, or another is to find someone who already has.

Over the past few months in a few moments of spare time (and alot of waiting), I have produced a quick solution that may be of interest. This simple PCB provides a data line, clock line, power lines and a spare line for you to use with whatever I²C devices you wish. Including is space for the pull up resistors where needed and a power LED (Note: this LED should have a resistor on board, but was missed off this version). This version, almost as demonstrated by the errors in it and missing features is just a proof of concept.

However, if there is enough interest, there is a chance a production run could be done for a suitable price. If you are interested, leave a comment!

Questions!

Got questions? Just ask! This is just the start and suggestions are always welcome.

• Is the source available?

  Currently the source for this is not available as I do not wish to put something out there with such errors or a lack of documentation. It may however become available later.

• Is a sample available to test?

  Maybe…If you are really interested, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you. The board may be free, the postage may require a minor contribution depending on location and how nice you are

Other!

Got questions for me about anything (Other than the above!)? Ask them here or in the comments! The best ones may even get posted.

Links!

So in a passing conversation on twitter, the subject of geeky fashion came up. For any one that knows me, you’ll be aware that the closest I get to anything with style is a fancy design on a t-shirt. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t pass up advice from something of an expert. In this case, Carla, and her blog MessyCarla: A Fashion Blog In Size 16

In terms of geeky guys, take a look at This

Don’t forget to check out her competition!