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User: Binsky

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  1. PDA/microcontroller/PC remote control on Ask Slashdot: Your Most Unusual Hardware Hack? · · Score: 0

    Not sure if this counts, as most of the components used were technically made for at least part of the purpose I used them for. But I do not think anyone used the combination like I did, so here goes. I once created the most convoluted way of having a remote control for my pc. The setup consisted of a microcontroller board used at the company I worked for, attached an infrared port to that so it could read the infrared signals from a PDA. The microcontroller board was attached to my pc using the serial port. I wrote the embedded software to read the IR for the microcontroller board, then send signals to PC via RS232. Then more software to allow the PDA to send specific signals to the microcontroller, and a third bit of software that allowed the PC to respond to the signals of the microcontroller. This way I could have some basic control over Winamp, which I was using at the time. This setup did actually work "fine", but was eventually replaced by a simple USB dongle + actual remote control when I found that those were actually readily available. :D

  2. Re:And I betI know what his reaction will be on Judge Bans Thompson from LA Videogame Case · · Score: 0

    Ah, thanks! Like the English sometimes call people named Richard, Dick? Sorry for the offtopicness, I could not google for that ;) (or at least couldn't find the answer)

  3. Re:And I betI know what his reaction will be on Judge Bans Thompson from LA Videogame Case · · Score: 0

    Alright, I'm confused now... I've just read the amicus from game politics and there Jack thompson is referred to as John Thompson... Is there something I've missed in English class? http://www.gamepolitics.com/images/JT-amicus-louis iana.doc In any case, I was overjoyed to hear about this ruling, it seems more people are waking up to his sillyness, and refuse to take him seriously.

  4. Re:Where do I start? on Why Do You Block Ads? · · Score: 0

    Indeed, I think it's a pretty silly question... I'd say most folks block adds because they can! I never asked for advertising, furthermore I have yet to see the first advertisement that actually gets me interested in a product! Where I hardly have a choice when I'm watching tv, except to only watch channels that do not provide me with unwanted adds in between of programs, I do have a choice when using the internet! This is one of the main reasons for me to use popup blockers. That this probably also means that less addware/spyware is sneakily installed on my system is just an added bonus. I only use Mozilla's popup blocker, and use the immunization feature on Spybot to block some additional pages. In my eyes there isn't much difference between internet or tv adds, they're both annoying. Though I agree with the poster above me in that tv commercials are on the whole more entertaining then internet commercials... I hardly read any magazines, but if comics can fall into that category, I have stopped reading certain comics because of their abundance of adds continuously breaking up the story! Marvel is especially guilty of that little number, having full double-page adds in between of a gripping story is just plain irritating to me. Those are my few cents...

  5. Re:Hack on South Korea Introducing Robotic Teachers · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Hmmm, was something changed along the way, or was there a disturbing picture attached to the first link already? Thanks for the shock, whoever! (especially nice on the workfloor, great job!) /sarcasm

  6. Re:From experiance on Using F/OSS and Unpaid Experience to Find a Job? · · Score: 0

    Same here...I haven't done anything public, but did design a robot mapmaking simulation in C++ as a startup project for building the actual robot. This experience alone landed me my last job, as it provided me with programming experience. And as an added bonus, the project also landed me at least 40% of the points for my Computer science degree, yay! Basically, if you've done anything that is relevant to the job you're applying to, it's worth to add to your CV. It will show you are not affraid to learn new things by yourself, and will give you an edge over other applicants that "just" have the degree...

  7. Re:huh? on What Ever Happened to Virtual Reality? · · Score: 0

    *grins* I've played the same thing, ages ago...I did think it was fun, as it was the first (and only) experience of a virtual reality game I've ever had! Yes, it looked crappy, and moving around was slightly cumbersome...But I thought it was cool. I even felt a slight bit of nausea when the Dactyl did manage to catch me, and picked me up to throw me from great heights. Thusfar, I've only seen a sort of virtual "reality" in engineering, as someone has already posted above...I'm sure that once we will have VR games, but it won't be anytime soon!

  8. Re:code first, then comment on Comments are More Important than Code · · Score: 0

    But that's not the main issue of course, most folks will be able to read their own code for quite a while after they've written it... But when someone else needs to work on your code, comments start getting useful. I usually comment the function headers, to give a brief outline of what it does, what it needs, and what it returns. (if that's not too obvious already) It just makes it that much easier to find the flow of the program after a year's absence. I have had to debug a multithreaded communication unit that consisted of 144 pages of code, handling communication for all that companies' products. And the only comments contained within those 144 pages were the lines that the designer deemed unneeded! I ended up adding comments myself where I understood what was going on... The way I see it, is that the next software engineer to work on that project will have a far easier time to get started then I had. I usually comment first, to get the flow of a procedure right from the start. But that's needed, as my programming environment isn't one of the quietest around...With phones ringing, and colleagues talking loudly, it's easy to get distracted! So to me, comments have a double function! :p

  9. Re:Obligatory on Tracking GPL Violators · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    "They have internet on computers now?" (from the same episode of the Simpsons)