09 July 2011

Various & Sundry - July 9, 2011


Yeah, been neglecting my blog again, what with moving and all (back in the DC metro area again... hopefully for good). Anyways, several things I've been to write about.
  • I took a bunch of good photos at the SF Conservatory of Flowers, Baltimore Inner Harbor and the Fourth of July Fireworks in DC. Lots of fun stuff. Fireworks are a pain in the rear to shoot (with or without a tripod). I wish I knew a better way to practice fireworks shots.
  • I am now the proud owner of an Arduino Uno processor, which I bought as part of an experimentation kit from Adafruit Industries. So far, I've made a binary counter and a music box with it (due to lack of musical caliber, the only song I got it to play was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star). This thing is pretty cool, though; it basically gives you a C access to a small number of pins, which you can use to control various hardware elements. My kit also came with some basic sensors (a light sensor, pressure sensor, and a few others).
  • Urmi and I bought a Betta fish. She wanted to get a dog (strictly prohibited by our lease), and I was pushing for a cat (also prohibited, plus Urmi hates them). Bettas are pretty, but don't seem to do very much that's exciting (except for hiding from anything that moves).