Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Interesting Uses For a USB LED Screen?

Posted by kdawson on from the your-messge-here dept.

Hogwash McFly writes "My boss gave me one of those USB-powered red LED scrolling displays as a Christmas gift, and while cycling the usual 'I read your emails' and 'ID10T Error' messages will be entertaining for a day or two, I was wondering if it could be put to more constructive uses. The configuration file is plaintext and supports different scroll speeds, flashing, bitmaps, and WAV sounds. The font is defined as 5x5 pixels per character, also stored in plaintext as 5 hex values, one for each vertical line of pixels. A dynamically generated message could prove useful in my day-to-day work on the helpdesk, but are there any interesting uses beyond network notifications and news feeds?"

9 of 403 comments (clear)

  1. ping times to websites where uptimes matter by way2trivial · · Score: 4, Interesting

    or look at anything done with the pertelian
    http://www.pertelian.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=48

    --
    every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
  2. Notification for everything by TeXMaster · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Unless you plan to put it in your car to give the finger to people honking at you in queue, the only use for LCD screens i can think of is notification. Considering the recent interest in Gnome and KDE for a centralized notification system, you could probably hook _that_ up for your LCD screen so you'd get _all_ notifications.

    --
    "I'm never quite so stupid as when I'm being smart" (Linus van Pelt)
    1. Re:Notification for everything by mpathetiq · · Score: 5, Interesting

      "If I passed you on the right you are in the wrong fucking lane"

      This is the one I would use the most. Apparently Ohioans don't understand the term "passing lane".

      --
      Post-rock/Ambient/Drone and other noise.
  3. Music by CopaceticOpus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Getting it to display audio level meters for your music would be kinda fun.

  4. For maximum freakout potential by greg_barton · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For maximum freakout potential you'll need two things:

    1) A microphone
    2) Speech recognition software

    Set the microphone up in a hidden place where it will pick up speech from folks hanging around your desk, and connect it to your computer. Set up the speech recognition software so it will spit out text to the LED display's interface.

    Viola! Instant "Have we entered the twilight zone?" machine!

    1. Re:For maximum freakout potential by codegen · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Feed the speech recognition into Eliza and Eliza's output to the display.

      --
      Atlas stands on the earth and carries the celestial sphere on his shoulders.
    2. Re:For maximum freakout potential by Al+Al+Cool+J · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Ding ding. I think we have a winner! There's a Chatbot::Eliza perl module so this could be do-able. Now I want to get me one of those LED screens, so I can try this!

  5. Don't just say it, do it! by devnullkac · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Don't just say you read his emails. Actually put them up there! Continuous scroll of everything in your boss's inbox.

    If you're slightly less daring, feed your log of all URLs (site name only, perhaps) as they're being viewed by anyone in the office. Your boss did make you keep a log, didn't he?

    --
    What do you mean they cut the power? How can they cut the power, man? They're animals!
  6. Car notifications by Toe,+The · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A message board in your car wouldn't necessarily have to give the finger or otherwise be witty/rude.

    There are times when a rear-pointing message board could be extremely useful. Such as:
    Your high-beams are on.
    Your headlights are off.
    Careful, the driver next to me is drunk.

    And so on.

    However, such signs very well may be illegal in some jurisdictions.