Google Talk – Debian users…
Google talk for Debian folks…my prefered client CenterICQ [centericq.org] wouldn’t connect to Google’s servers. It turned out that the client decided to ignore the server setting if a login was specified as user@domain. I’ve made a patch, which remedies this error. After applying this patch the client will honour the choice of server eventhough user@domain is specified as a login. I’ve sent the patch to the CenterICQ author and the maintainer of the Debian GNU/Linux [debian.org] package (read the update) Link.
Cute project – Recently many kind of robot contests have being opened and some interesting reports of the challenge are found on the web. The Line Following is a kind of the robot contests to vie running speed on the line. I build a tiny line following robot which can run on the desk, moving the key board aside will do. It is for only a personal toy reduced its size less than one fifth compared to typical line following robots, not in formura.
Older project, but I really like this one- I pulled the knobs off of an Etch A Sketch and attached it to two stepper motors which in turn are attached to the parallel port of a computer. This gives one the ability to control the plotter’s movements with a standard mouse or analog joystick (more intuitive interfaces than the knobs). Having a computer in the loop also allows one to record what movements are done, so one can edit them and play them back. This robotic device is also capable of erasing the Etch A Sketch by flipping the whole contraption upside down and tilting it back and forth. The assembly has been carefully counterbalanced so that it only takes a tiny motor to flip it. A pair of mercury switches let the computer know which way is up, so that the board can be rotated to the correct positions.
More hamster projects- A 16-year-old boy who invented a hamster-powered phone charger is celebrating after the gadget helped him pass his GSCE electronics. Peter Ash, from Lawford in Somerset, came up with the idea after his sister Sarah complained that Elvis was keeping her awake at night by playing for hours on his exercise wheel. The quick-thinking teenager quickly realised that the restless hamster’s energy could be used to generate electricity and spent the next 13 months inventing the 15cm device for his GSCE electronics coursework project. [
Greasemonkey- my favorite way to make the web work (for me) again, is out. The update fixes some security things and other bugs. I have a few scripts that I use every day along with a lot of Firefox extensions.