Christmas project 2015 ?
Heater.
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Every year since God knows when I have had a little Christmas project going on. I think it started with Lego, progressed to Meccano, then Philips EE kit, then ...
When all friends and family are totally stuffed and passed out in front the TV, when email and calls from work stops, it can be a nice quite time to get on with something off the beaten track. Even just a simple software thing for fun.
Only this year I don't have any inspiration. No itch in the back of my mind.
Is it only me that has this tradition? (Hmm..can one person have a tradition?). Is it only me contemplating this problem? I can't be alone, an old boss of mine wrote a real-time scheduler for the PDP-11 over Christmas.
Anyone else out there got Christmas project plans?
Do I have to spend my time aimlessly blowing up LEDs?
When all friends and family are totally stuffed and passed out in front the TV, when email and calls from work stops, it can be a nice quite time to get on with something off the beaten track. Even just a simple software thing for fun.
Only this year I don't have any inspiration. No itch in the back of my mind.
Is it only me that has this tradition? (Hmm..can one person have a tradition?). Is it only me contemplating this problem? I can't be alone, an old boss of mine wrote a real-time scheduler for the PDP-11 over Christmas.
Anyone else out there got Christmas project plans?
Do I have to spend my time aimlessly blowing up LEDs?
Comments
That already sounds like a big project for Christmas. Mind you my "quick" project from last Christmas is still going on...it was: Find out how to secure a web server that talks to a Prop.
David,
Not a bad idea. Only I kind of promised myself not to think about the P2 until I had a chip in hand. Zog is a bit backward looking, revisiting old ground. It's not squeezing my juices, as it were.
Edit: I still want to get ZiCog working on the P2 though....
Back to that Quartus installation nightmare...
Presumably there is no Spin compiler for the P2 yet.
I have some kits to build if I have time.
Good luck and have fun!
Jason: It's just like a crossword puzzle mom.
Mom: What are those rotating knives for?
Jason: err...um..
Mom: Have you been soldering again?
Jason: Oh mom, I was only.....
Mom: Up to your room Jason, and don't come down till tea time.
That's sure to keep me out of mischief!
Been working on it pretty much everyday since they came in.
It's sort of a present to myself
***
I tried to embed, and also to share. now I'll try to post a link.
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https://youtu.be/rccc8Uo1g7k
EDIT: looks like I did not do the video right, stand by.
EDIT2: better, worse? Rats, not showing up.
EDIT3: yes!
At least it's a fun robot project that I might have done anyway, which will pay well.
The box incorporates a Propeller QuickStart board and a Parallax PAM-7Q GPS module. It's powered by two CR123 lithium primary cells. I was tempted to add a compass module to aid in static direction-finding, but resisted the temptation. Even the best compass modules are fussy and dependent for accuracy upon their magnetic environments.
Here are some photos:
Truth be known, this whole thing would've made a great smart-phone app. But I don't own a smart phone and don't know how to write apps for one.
-Phil
I am using a quickstart to make the most over engineered porodomo timer I can come up with, to practice my programming chops.
I plan to stick with only the quickstart hardware, and read the pads for inputs, and use the LEDs for timer and alarm display; but I will also try feature display on the PC terminal screen, and might add an SD card if I get to the software real-time clock and logger.
I have often wondered how anyone gets anything done using the Pomodoro Technique.
Sit down, start your timer, sharpen your pencil, ding!
OK, try again: Sit down, start the timer, start to concentrate on the task, ding!
OK, try again: Sit down, start the timer, start to try and remember where you were before being interrupted by the bell...ding!
Grrr....
Now, I make the observation that your making the most over engineered pomodoro is exactly the kind of procrastination the technique is supposed to overcome !
Heck, I can spend 20 minutes working out a cool loop on paper before even opening the editor.
Good luck!
That is simply fantastic!! I have often thought about doing this same thing. My wife and I use to host scavenger hunt parties and they were a blast. We had more fun planning them and setting them up than anything. You brought back all those memories!! Love the laser etched box. I'm going to do this some Christmas I think the grand kids (when I have some) will love it!! I no this sounds sappy but things like this just make the world a better place to live!!
David Betz is the coolest
I have discovered that if I need a porodomo timer or porodomo technique, I simply don't have time management under control. Since you already have time management under control (based on the work you accomplish), such "trailing wheels" would only get in your way.
The REAL idea is do some part of the giant task that can be completed in one go (write a paragraph or routine), revise and test till complete, then NEVER have to revisit it again. Rest for a couple minutes. Repeat until Giant task is done. This is the way many successful folks just do it naturally (kind of makes sense when you think about it, and it works), and this is the way many not-particularly organized people DON'T do it, inhibiting success. Also makes sense.
23 minutes/5 minutes is just there so one's brain doesn't over heat, causing "breaks" to turn into 50 minute chats at the coffee pot. Eventually the trailing wheels can come off when the habit is established.
Anything that gets mediocre folks like me a little more like the smart folks (like you) is always worth a try.
This is evidenced by the fact that a "quick 10 minute job" that starts at six in the evening won't end util the big hours of the morning. When you get "on a roll" or "in the zone" or whatever they call it now a days there is no sense of time, no idea to stop.
Conversely, nothing can happen for what seems like an eternity. To my boss anyway
I think it's that 25 minuets thing that surprises me. Hardly long enough to get two thoughts in line. And certainly annoying to be interrupted just when you have.
You know those crazy guys that balance a lot of spinning plates on a lot of sticks? My impression is that thinking about anything is just like that show. Start with one plate, then another, then another, eventually you get them all going. Any interruption crashes everything down and you have to start again.
So, it's time to do programming. The high level idea, "I want to do this" mostly happens quick. Then there are the lower level thoughts, what state is the project in, what have I done, do I understand everything? Those all just start to percolate.
Eventually, things click and I'm there. Clarity. Once there, I really want to stay there, ideally 'till it's done. Leaving means back to the fog.
The density of that fog is directly related to how different the task to start is from whatever it is I am doing at the time.
One thing I have found is thinking about it well in advance of doing anything. My drive home is a great time for this. Assuming, I'll get home and be able to jump into the desired task, I can start to think about it before I get there. Usually, by the time the drive is over, I've got a few concrete things I want to do and good clarity on doing them. Or, I realize I don't understand something. So the first thing there is to go research it, or I've got a meta-task intended to answer a question, or do a test...
I'm OK about it. For most mundane, work related tasks, it all mostly works. For technical things, and this is true whether work requires it, or I'm just doing something I want to do, I have trouble.
One solution is to just take the punishment. Get into the task and just do it. Once it's done, assess what happened and deal from there. A late night might mean poor work performance, or sometimes a day off. Some of my best has happened when I just decided to get into the zone and stay there no matter what.
So, there is a skill about time management, and there is also a related skill in time compensation. Frankly, getting good at either one can work. The former means managing expectations. The latter means being able to roll with the punches.
YMMV