Send A Message To An LED Sign

An anonymous reader submits "I just got a Pro Lite LED sign today. After a few minutes splicing and wiring up a DB9 to RJ11 connection, and a little fun with python, I've got a script that lets me take input from the web and display it on the sign. Eventually it will have other, more useful, purposes, but I figured I'd let you guys play with it as it is. There's also a log of past messages."

Comments

Imagine...

[mdrejhon]

Just think of the possibilities with the Times Square billboard! :D

Re:Imagine...

[JabberWokky]

A beowulf cluster of these things!!
No, seriously!! We could...uhh....
*runs*
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

With a beowulf cluster of LED signs, it's unlikely to be pitch black. Thus it can be taken seriously as an anti-grue measure.

--
Evan "Or a Vin Disel counter-measure"

Hah

[lancomandr]

Before the story went public....I input to the sign "You're about to get RAPED by slashdot!" Now the story is public. No more website.

Re:Hah

[__aavhli5779]

This may get modded down, but the guy who posted the article is an utter moron.

He's already posted this link on two message boards (Ars Technica and Something Awful), to be informed that his copy of IIS Personal Web Server, included with Windows, which allows a maximum of 5 connections, couldn't stand up to the onslaught.

Evidently, he decided posting it on Slashdot was a logical next step.

Re:Hah

[another_henry]

Notice how the submitter was anonymous... I don't think it was the same guy as the sign owner himself.

That's a good idea

[HiQ]

Maybe you can use the smoke that's coming from your computer right now as a screen for looking at the Venus transit. You won't be using that for a while I guess.

Re:That's a good idea

[joshuaobrien]

Maybe you can use the smoke that's coming from your computer right now as a screen for looking at the Venus transit.

Or to implement a Native American wireless communication protocol...

connection speed..?

[Polkyb]

After a few minutes splicing and wiring up a DB9 to RJ11 connection

Have you thought of trying ethernet...? I hear it's a bit quicker than a serial connection and may help prevent the /. effect...

;-)

Re:The sign of a slashdotting

[Einer2]

That's a pity. I wanted to add a "First Post" scrolling LED message...

Been said before, will be said again:

[BodyCount07]

Why on earth would you submit your own website when you know it will go down in a matter of seconds? Authors should have to start proving some sort of minimal bandwidth requirement before submitting their own site. I'm tired of people hosting web pages on their home DSL lines.

Anyone on the Web can write on your sign?

[shanen]

Either you're a VERY brave man or this thing is locked in a closet somewhere. If it's visible from the street, you're in a heap of trouble, boy.

Original /.ing error code

[frs_rbl]

Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\sendmessage.py", line 13, in ? tty=SerialPort("COM1", 1000, 9600) File "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\SerialPort_win.py", line 117, in __init__ raise SerialPortException('Unable to open port') SerialPort_win.SerialPortException: Unable to open port Exception exceptions.AttributeError: in > ignored

I suppose he's busy debugging now

Re:Original /.ing error code

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps that's the result of him frantically cutting the serial cable with a butter knife.

Famous last words

[GammaTau]

Slashdot hits you. You die. --More--

Re:Famous last words

[Borg453b]

Earlier that day:

You apply LED to internet connection.
You begind praying to Slashdot for attention.
You finish your prayer. You feel that slashdot is displeased.
The LED is cursed. You cannot disconnect it from the internet.
The voice of slashdot booms: "Thou hast angered me."

Re:AYB...

[xsupergr0verx]

Your server has no chance to survive make your time. Ha ha ha ha ha...

Could be worse

[xsupergr0verx]

At least he didn't code it into his spiffy new Nokia phone and has to wave his arm for the next 8 hours to display our messages.

Here's the site

[NemesisStar]

Well seeings how I think I was one of the only people to be able to load it up before it went down, here is what was on the site. This is pretty much it (very simple interface), the only thing you can't see here are "Send Now" and "blank sign" buttons and a dark blue background.

Leave a Scrolling Message for Mark
You can leave a message on the scrolling message board for Mark, or see the log of messages already left.

This will replace the existing message of:

[Tue 02:55 24.5.54.115]
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

Below are some simple commands you can use. Insert the command text where you want the command result to be. Hey folks, this isn't XHTML. If you want to use a tag, please make sure it's in all caps or it doesn't work.

Graphic Blocks
There are 26 reprogramable graphic blocks.
<BA> Telephone <BB> Glasses <BC> Tap <BD> Rocket <BE> Monster
<BF> Key <BG> Shirt <BH> Helicopter <BI> Car <BJ> Tank
<BK> House <BL> Teapot <BM> Knife & Fork <BN> Duck <BO> Motorcycle
<BP> Bicycle <BQ> Crown <BR> Sweet Heart <BS> Arrow Right <BT> Arrow Left
<BU> Arrow Down-Left <BV> Arrow Up-Left <BW> Mug of Beer <BX> Chair <BY> High-heeled Shoes

Colors
There are 26 color modes.
<CA> Dim Red <CB> Red <CC> Bright Red
<CD> Orange <CE> Bright Orange <CF> Light Yellow
<CG> Yellow <CH> Bright Yellow <CI> Lime
<CJ> Dim Lime <CK> Bright Lime <CL> Bright Green
<CM> Green <CN> Dim Green <CO> Yellow/Green/Red
<CP> Rainbow (Default) <CQ> Red/Green 3D <CR> Red/Yellow 3D
<CS> Green/Red 3D <CT> Green/Yellow 3D <CU> Green on Red
<CV> Red on Green <CW> Orange on Green 3D <CX> Lime on Red 3D
<CY> Green on Red 3D <CZ> Red on Green 3D

Note:
Some of these color combinations look so bad that they should require a permit.

Character Sizes
<SA> Normal (Default) <SE> Flashing Normal
<SB> Bold (Wide) <SF> Flashing Bold (Wide)
<SC> Italic <SG> Flashing Italic
<SD> Bold Italic (Wide) <SH> Flashing Bold Italic (Wide)

Display Functions
<FA> AUTO
Random color & presentation <FB> OPEN
<-- Open from Center --> <FC> COVER
<-- Covers Text --> <FD> APPEAR
Instantly replaces text <FE> CYCLING
Rolling Colors
<FF> CLOSE <--
Blank screen right to left <FG> CLOSE -->
Blank screen left to right <FH> CLOSE --><--
Blank screen outter to center <FI> SCROLL UP
Scroll up from bottom <FJ> SCROLL DOWN
Scroll down from top
<FK> OVERLAP
Two layers slide together to form text <FL> STACKING
Falling dots form text <FM> COMIC 1
PacMan <FN> COMIC 2
Random creature walking
<FP> PAUSE
Short delay of motion <FQ> SLEEP
Blank screen until the next timer activates <FR> RANDOM
Random dots appear forming text <FS> SHIFT <--
Roll message right to left (Default) <FT> TIME/DATE
Show time and date, no choice of formatting
<FU> MAGIC
Change text color each time <FV> THANK YOU
Cursive "Thank you" <FW> WELCOME
Cursive "Welcome" <FX> SPEED 1 <FY> SPEED 2
Jittery

Re:Here's the site

[kiwirob]

Last seen on the LED screen before it went down...

<blink>Free Porn Here</blink>
<blink>Penis Enlargement Pills Here</blink>
<blink>Reduce Debt with free $10,000 Credit Card Now</blink>

help needed

[DrStrangeLoop]

speaking of this topic, i own a LED dotmatrix display for which i could use some specs... it features about 12 characters width of 7x5 [if im not mistaken] red LEDs. the only visible company label is SIGMA, which has not proven very helpful since this is a brand of the very large METRO group who are not exactly helpful to small consumers. the device features a rj-11 input, presumably for getting the time, and an IR port for inputing static data. any information helping me to put my current server load or pfctl logs on the display would be highly welcome.

thnx,
strangeloop

Mirror anyone?

[craigmarshall]

Doesn't ANYONE have a mirror?!

Re:Mirror anyone?

[oPless]

What, and have the messages come out backwards ?

Here's a useful purpose...

[MonkeyBot]

I've always wanted to get an LED sign for the back of my car. Yours fixes the problem that I had with actually buying one. Now, I could just edit the Unix "fortune" program to quip random, witty, profane statements to drivers that piss me off rather than having to type the whole statement in. Thanks.

Re:The sign of a slashdotting

[sg_oneill]

Lets see.

Half the worlds geeks visiting simultaneously a website having its bandwidth narrowed to a 9.6k serial pipe with the repeated message "j00 b33n ownz3d by goatse LOL". Let me think...

hmm...

This is why we cant have nice things. :(

Cannon Fodder

[ari_j]

This is just begging for it. It's not even a challenge - at 1:30 AM Pacific time it doesn't even stand a chance. Why not host it on an 8086 running Elks or Minix off of a 360KB floppy while you're at it? And power it by a couple of potatoes, too.

story poster will have fun on 56K

[Barbarian]

Cablelynx, his provider, is going to shitcan him:

f. Service Restrictions. You agree to use your Service for legal purposes only. Any illegal use shall be cause for immediate termination of Service. You agree that your use of the Service shall be for personal use within the confines of one household or business. You shall not share Service, or use Service to host a server site for FTP, telnet, e-mail hosting, web hosting; or use Service in conjunction with a VPN (Virtual Private Network) or VPN tunneling protocol; or sublet, resell, assign, or provide access to any third party on any basis under the terms of this Agreement. Violations of any of these terms shall be cause for immediate termination of Service and may be grounds for Company's refusal to provide future Service to you. You agree that you will not web host or utilize continuous streaming video or audio for periods of more than four hours with at least one hour of inactivity between uses. You understand that the Internet is a public place and you are responsible for your actions or the actions of those that access the Internet through your Service. It shall be your responsibility to provide, at your own cost, any necessary firewall, or Internet security software to prevent unauthorized access of your computer via the Internet.

He's probably killed off service for others in his neighborhood too:

(from tcptraceroute>

13 89-228.vbrg-a5.cablelynx.com (24.204.89.228) [closed] 1713.840 ms * 2018.488 ms

Re:story poster will have fun on 56K

[__aahlyu4518]

You agree that you will not web host or utilize continuous streaming video or audio for periods of more than four hours with at least one hour of inactivity between uses.

So he hosted a website for 4 seconds... he will be fine... ;-)

Re:Excuse me, but ...

[Tokerat]

It's called TOS, or terms of service. This guy is going to get an angry call from his cable provider come 9AM, and they'll probably take the wire down right off his house lol

As for the /. effect, it can last for a long time. As long as that story is on the front page.

Hell, I post an occational image on Fark and you should see the logfiles go apeshit

Never seen this??

[Hurricane78]

Never seen this?

One of the funnier submissions.

[dj245]

I guess the submission widget is closed due to slashdot. With all the cursing and trolling people did with the sign though, the good ones sort of got lost. My favorite:

Trapped in Pro Lite LED Sign factory. Please send help!

classic. I don't really thing it will be very interesting unless the sign is posted in a public place, with a strict swear filter. Maybe some moderation oversight. Put it in a pub; loads of fun. The true entertainment potential of this thing is vastly underestimated.

Then again, when you're drunk, anythings funny. Except those "in Soviet Russia" jokes.

Re:its loading for me

[psoriac]

Seeing as how it's (was?) an IIS server, a blue background is rather appropriate.

Was the text white, by any chance?

Co-incidence?

[MtlDty]

Perhaps its just a coincidence, but the ticker board in Times Square is now scrolling: 'Error 404 Page not found' ?

Ethics of Article Posting (offtopic)

[harikiri]

Slashdot needs to post an article, on above all things - article posting ethics. This current article demonstrates a trend that's happening recently, whereby people are seeing someone's cool homepage (or submitting their own), and forwarding it to hundreds of thousands of internet users via a Slashdot article.

I mean please, linking a CGI page on a windows server hosted on your cable modem connection, with a throughput of 9.6K... that's not gonna hold up 5 seconds after slashdot posts the article.

This is hopelessly offtopic, but it's something that people need to start thinking about before they submit an article.

Re:Chance?

[marklyon]

I'm the guy running the sign. I didn't intend for it to be posted here, but I'll be happy to point you in the right direction if you want to set up your own sign. Just don't let Clint on ArsTechnica know your IP address. He'll post it on /.

For the sign, I'm using a Pro Lite PL-M2014R. It's connected with an RJ11 cable that I spliced a DB9 connector on. I'm running a bit of Python which opens the port and writes the information to the sign. All the information you need is available at: http://wls.wwco.com/ledsigns/prolite/

MOD PARENT UP!

[ArmpitMan]

From the webpage itself, now that it's back up: "Someone thought it'd be cute to link to me, which isn't a good idea with the 10 user version of IIS. Sorry for the 403.9's." Want to DDOS someone? Just pretend to be them and submit their webpage to Slashdot!

Why approve this submission? Idiot editors!

[Monoman]

This was an AC post calling for control of a piece of hardware. How do we know the AC is even the real owner of the sign? Even if it is real, the sign probably crashed under the load just from /. subscribers (all 3 of them :-) ) before it was posted for the public.

Over the years I have had quite a few submissions rejected and then the editors publish something like this. eeedeeeeots!