Make: Please Cancel My Subscription

I don’t know what has happened to Make Magazine over the years. When I received my first issue in 2004 I was very excited about the content, the projects (Mousebot!).

And this great editorial focus continued for years. Robots? Check. Circuit design? Check. Tesla coil? Van deGraff generator? Check. Check.

But something has happened in the past couple of years or so. The occasional article about “wearable blinking jewelry” (W.T.F?) has become the norm.

Back in the day, my Make subscription was a nice complement to my Nuts and Volts subscription (which has stayed true to its editorial focus since I’ve been a subscriber in 2005). Now, they are nothing alike.

O’Reilly, please cancel my subscription to Make. And good luck with wearable drone jewelry.

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I LOVE this! Android Open Accessory Development Kit (ADK)

Every now and then, some really cool pops up on my radar. In this case I saw this article at Info World about Google’s Android Open Accessory Developer Kit (ADK).

I’m a bit of a do-it-yourselfer, so when I saw this, I just had to tell you about it (yes, all three of you who read this blog).

I can envision a number of really cool electronics projects that I could do with this. Of course, I’ll need to invest in an Android Tablet (but I was probably going to do that anyway), but the ADK is free to download, and there’s no annoying developer program to join.

Cool. Way cool.

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12 key Matrix-Enabled Keypad Project

— Update —
It only took two years (I’ve been a little busy) but I got this working on my Javelin stamp. The code is ugly. I have to refactor it to make it generic. But it works. Here’s the setup, and me pushing the 7 key (the keypad I got from All Electronics doesn’t have the numbers, so imagine this keypad looks like a telephone touch tone keypad):

Open Source and the Microcontroller Hobbyist

I’ve recently gone big-time with Linux, specifically the Debian offshoot Ubuntu distro. I also like to program Microcontroller chips for fun. One thing I noticed: there are not a lot of choices in the free software space. Most of the software to program MCUs (specifically the editors, compilers, and programmers) are for Windows.

My son doesn’t quite get my excitement about my new scope

This is a pretty rockin’ scope. 100m MHz. 4 Channels. I’ve tested everything out and it works great.

My Electronics Lab.

Here’s my electronics lab. Where I will spend all my time when I get rich. Carry on.

Javelin Stamp Project – LED Display

I got my Javelin Stamp microprocessor the other day, and have converted my Basic Stamp 2 project code to Java.

Data Sheets

CMOS Logic4000 Series (Sheets courtesy of Jameco)

Wiring a 7408 TTL Gate

I had the toughest time getting this right. With help from the electronics lab forum (thanks, audioguru), I got it figured out.

My Son’s First Solder Project

Santa Claus brought my 7-year son a Learn To Solder kit in his stocking this year. He was anxious to get started, so I had him read through the instructions with me (which bored the CRAP out of him… I could tell).