Make a Flashy Merchandise Box with LEDs, an Electroluminescent Sheet, and a QR Code
April 4th, 2012
Since Google came up short on a search for combining an electroluminescent sheet with a QR code (for scanning in the dark), I decided to post some pictures of the merchandise box I made for my band.
I can’t imagine that I’m the first person to put QR codes and EL sheets together, but since they go so well I’ve decided to spread the word. (I’ve blurred the band name, because this post is a promotion of the technology and not the music.)
This is the box that we take to all our gigs, offering CDs, stickers, and our mailing list to fans. It uses some LEDs to add a little life to the display. Hit the jump for some animation and detail shots.
Download apt-get Packages in Parallel with this Shell Script
March 16th, 2012Sometimes you want to apt-get installer packages in Debian or Ubuntu Linux, but downloading a lot of them in series can take a really long time. Here’s a script that does it for you; all you do is tell it what packages, and it fetches all the dependencies.
A full listing is below.
Geckos at the Boston Museum of Science
February 18th, 2012
Here are some of the geckos on display at the Boston Museum of Science.
Butterflies at the Boston Museum of Science
February 18th, 2012
Today I went to the Butterfly Garden at Boston’s Museum of Science, with my new Canon Rebel Xs.
This one is the star of the show there, a Common Morpho. They are a lot more drab on the underside of their wings than the brilliant blue on the topside.
Mini-BuildBot Shell Script Monitors Your Files
February 6th, 2012There are many times in code development when you need to run a bunch of commands after saving a file. You may even do it repeatedly. This shell script (listed below) automates that by watching a set of files, and executing a command if any of their modification times change.
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Brain Pincushion From A Hilbert Curve
October 23rd, 2011
A friend of mine is obsessed with brains; if there was ever a zombie apocalypse, she would ask to be in their “special-interest group”. She also likes to sew, so for me the obvious thing to do was to make her a brain pincushion.
To me, the most evident way to construct a brain was to make a Hilbert Curve and wrap it around a ball of some kind. None of my Google searches for “hilbert curve brain” came up with any relevant results, so I’m forced to conclude that I’m the first person to use a Hilbert curve to approximate the wrinkled shape of a brain.
Insects and Spiders at the San Diego Zoo
October 22nd, 2011
Here are some pictures of insects and spiders at the San Diego Zoo, in the Insect House.
Like this Goliath bird-eating spider. Yes, it eats birds.
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Reptiles at the San Diego Zoo
October 22nd, 2011
Here are a few pictures I took at the reptile house at the San Diego Zoo.
Masked Hunter Nymphs Are Insects In Ghillie Suits
September 23rd, 2011
I don’t often see these masked hunter young (Reduvius personatus), probably because they go to great length to camouflage themselves.
