2012-09-28

<rjeffries> whitequary (Peter) I read your analysis. It was a good piece. But I disagree. ;)
<whitequark> rjeffries: yeah, and not every SoC is as bad as Broadcom ones
<rjeffries> May 1,000 Debian-based flowers bloom.
<rjeffries> Reality check: for a device to offer a high level of function AND be cheap, the design will use an SOC. Nobody is forced to purchase these devices. Anyone who perfers a Milkymist or Ben Nanonote will vote with their pocketbook.
<rjeffries> Given what a boost RasPi is for Debian and free software, it puzzles me that some invest time dismissing something that is selling in very large quantities. How does that hurt anyone?
<rjeffries> It exposes low level i/o (SPI I2C SPIO) in a robust way. It does not cost what the elegant FPGA-based and VERY open Milkylist hardware does, because it has different objectives.
<rjeffries> Putting aside "they should have done X, Y or Z differently" the team behind the Raspberry Pi Foundation made a simple but adequate computer that is great for learning to program in Python or C or Scratch or whatever.
<rjeffries> Allwinner [A10, A13] and Rockbox both have decent SOCs. Both are being used for inexpensive Android computers on a stick. And an Android computer can become a Linux computer not a huge deal.
<rjeffries> haters gonna hate, as the saying goes. about Raspberry Pi: I do not see it as a threat on any level to the open hardware movement. That is not their objective. But I fail to see it as a coup for BRCM. The SOC in these little 'puters is not a big deal.
<paul_boddie> Can't say I totally agree with rjeffries: a lot of people are buying Raspberry Pi as a plaything, and some of them are buying them up for business purposes ("cheap home media centre!1!"), lending credibility to the argument that it has largely been a "bottoms on seats" exercise by Broadcom.

2012-09-27

<rjeffries> OK, enough tolling for today. <smile> Seriously, Raspberry Pi is no threat. Nobody is forced to purchase it. Yeah, it really should include a case. The new Marvel thingie does, as well as a power supply and wi-fi and gig E. But no video display capability. Sweet as a $30 headless server.
<rjeffries> Having an extra 500,000 RasPi users [expected to hit a million early oin 2013] running Debian on a cheap computer can not have any benefit for open software. Nope. Much better to stick with a $150 Ben NN that has sold <1,500 units.
<rjeffries> oddly enough, at a retail price of $30 is does not include an FPGA. Total FAIL. (Peter, I'm just kidding you. I respect your views. I do not agree, but that's ok/fine).

2012-09-22

2012-09-19

<rjeffries> wpwrak agree, it is all about duty cycle. the radio is typically the power hog in a wireless sensor node, but the total power budget is worth minimizing. Ti430 is another decent option.
<rjeffries> NXP does have a clever ARM M0 dev board. Got one free at a show. I want to get my hands on an ARM M0+ (VERY! low power in ac in ntive and sleep-y states) coming in next 30 days supposedly.
<rjeffries> wpwrak which MCU are you using for your current project?
<rjeffries> wpwrak that link is for YOU!

2012-09-18

2012-09-14

2012-08-25

<rjeffries> wpwrak for some reason this (clever) LED project reminded me of you: http://interactive-matter.eu/blog/2011/06/17/blinken-button-for-beginners-version-2

2012-08-08

<rjeffries> these speakers are rather cool. and open. http://web.media.mit.edu/~mellis/speakers/

2012-08-07

<rjeffries> wpwrak what is upper bound on selling price for the intended target market? Would initial selling price of $200, with possible future price decrease be OK?
<rjeffries> wpwrak likewise: easy to carry in a pocket, battery operated, long-ish battery life, and (I assume) physical keyboard
<rjeffries> wpwrak the goal of hardware that is as close to completely open as possible is understood. (by moi)
<rjeffries> wpwrak interesting reading various comments re possible Nanonote successor.

2012-07-19

<rjeffries> If anyone is interested (I doubt it in this venue) my Raspberry Pi arrived about a week ago. Works ok/fine, especially with new Raspbian flavor of Debian
<rjeffries> kristianpaul that's rather cool. price is crazy low as well. ;)
<rjeffries> saw that somone was interfacing a small router to Milkymist (this one?) In any case has anyone considered hooking it up with Ben Nanonote? http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/07/18/tp-link-wr703n-lowest-cost-openwrt-compatable-wi-fi-router/

2012-06-04

<rjeffries> wpwrak interesting re atben, atusb maybe? http://hackaday.com/2012/06/04/potting-electronics-with-silicone

2012-06-02

<rjeffries> wprak did you see [not talking about this artcle] where one person made a spray chamber so he could etch boards quickly with no muss or fuss? amusing.
<wpwrak> rjeffries: seems reasonably up to date. the etchant tank is a bit overkill, though, unless you plan to do monster boards
<rjeffries> s /hos/his/
<rjeffries> wolfspraul expresed interest in making hos own PCBs. this article is not bad. http://hackaday.com/2012/06/02/pcb-manufacturing-tutorial/

2012-05-29

<rjeffries> wolfspraul when do you plan to have thge new itereatuion of MM available for customers to oreder?
<rjeffries> This project is new to me. seems very open, but I am not expert on licenses etc.: http://www.ethernut.de/

2012-05-25

<rjeffries> kristianpaul as you prolly know, I do not own a Ben. But thanks. I don't need an offline reader for myself, but it seems like a cool idea maybe for kids?
<kristianpaul> rjeffries: no work, is already there, well not using zim files but it is
<rjeffries> I guess this is not all that interesting. fair enough.
<rjeffries> kristianpaul agree extraction the conent is a lot of work. but once done (maybe every 3 months or so) the value of access to wikipedia offline seems Most Excellent. OTOH the other offshoot of OM offers a purpose built off-like reader, and seems to not be thriving
<rjeffries> This program sounds interesting. Will it work on a Ben NN? http://www.kiwix.org/index.php/Main_Page

2012-04-21

<rjeffries> s/hostimity/hostility/
<rjeffries> The life forces of qi hardware have already shifted to Milkymist, which has promise, although it will never be a $35 system. Will Milkylist someday be converted to an ASIC? It could happen.
<rjeffries> Ben NN has been an interesting (ongoing experiment). I am not sure Raspberry Pi can not achive a similar level of open-ness as Ben NN. Both have published SoC datasheets.
<rjeffries> Why not let 1,000 flowers bloom? Raspberry Pi may well fail, if so, then it failed. It is not a threat to Ben Nanonote, rather it has very different target market.
<rjeffries> Not sure I understand the latent hostimity to a $35 computer that will run Linux. While not perfectly open, they have released datasheet on the SoC and now we see schematics. As best I can tell, they are not forcing people to purchase the board.
<rjeffries> reading backlog. someone asked if I pimp qi-hardware in Raspberry Pi channel. A: NO. I was not promoting Raspberry Pi here, merely mentioning the release of board schematics (a Good Thing, IMO).

2012-04-20

* wpwrak wonders if rjeffries in return sings the praise of qi-hw on the raspberry pi channel

2012-04-19

<rjeffries> Raspberry Pi schematics now available. That's a good thing. http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/1090

2012-04-18

<qi-bot> Top10(nicks): 1. Ayla(235) 2. aw_(87) 3. DocScrutinizer(58) 4. zumbi(55) 5. skynet-2000(50) 6. tuxbrain(43) 7. rjeffries(43) 8. jlamothe(26) 9. mth_(21) 10. qwebirc48371(21)

2012-04-13

<rjeffries> s/sera/sear/
<rjeffries> s/sera/sear/
<rjeffries> what do people think of http://www.alvie.com/zpuino/index.html ?? thanks in advance.
<rjeffries> I serached irc log for "zpu" only found one line from 2010. so maybe it is ok to ask this:

2012-04-08

<rjeffries> Note that from a specs POV, the Lenovo ideaPad A1 trumps the Polaroid as it should for double the price. Biggest Lenovo advantage: screen resolution of 1024x600
<rjeffries> I find the 7 inch screen quite useable. Fine for email (my main use case) fabulous as a way to view photos. $99 is the new black. ;)
<rjeffries> A couple of weeks ago I purchased the Lenovo 7 inch tablet for $200. It is a solid performer, in some ways better than this one (e.g. has Bluetooth, has two cameras)
<rjeffries> and stipulating that indeed, this is not an OpenHardware device, even so it is interesting (to me) what $100usd buys today.
<rjeffries> Even though I'm aware that there's apparently little interest here in tablet form factor devices. ...

2012-03-12

<rjeffries> s/weho/who
<rjeffries> Just so you know, what you mention was not my goal. If people are interested, cool. If not, that's cool too. <whitequark> your post doesn't have any wow-effect and thus won't be reposted blindly
<rjeffries> I did add links to sharism and the article in wikipedia.
<rjeffries> But thanks for the min-lecture. Maybe what you need to understand is I was simply sharing an item I found interesting.
<rjeffries> whitequark actually, on G+, all of my 5K followers and all the people weho follow them, plus the public will all see this post in their G+ stream. That does not mean they will open it.
<whitequark> rjeffries: fundamentally wrong
<rjeffries> Pimping Milkymist a bit on Google Plus. Will only be seen by 20 million or so people, so pls. don't get your hopes up. ;)

2012-03-06

<rjeffries> Qualcom may want wifi for so-called Internet of Things including home automation. Atheros has some very low power wifi chips now. and of course every mobile smartphone has wifi, so it makes sense for Qualcom
<rjeffries> wolfgang wolfspra1| in reading the backlog, say discussion of ZyDAS wifi. Then a discussion of Qualcom buying Atheros. Nobody mentioned (that I saw) that Atheros way back bought ZyDAS.

2012-03-03

<rjeffries> no I do not have $400 to spare to ship one to China. But this indeed is an interesting fertile field
<qi-bot> rjeffries meant: "wpwrak yes I was responding to that note eon the mail lit by wolfspraul"
<rjeffries> s/snote/note
<qi-bot> rjeffries meant: "wpwrak yes I was responding to that snote eon the mail lit by wolfspraul"
<rjeffries> s/not/snote
<rjeffries> wpwrak yes I was responding to that not eon the mail lit by wolfspraul
<rjeffries> wolfgang wolfspraul and for an eye opening similar but very different bit of computational photography Google this: Pelican Imaging
<rjeffries> wolfgang solfspraul here is another arguably "better" URL:
<rjeffries> in cas eyou did not see this short article here is URL:
<rjeffries> wolfgang woldspraul like you I find computational photography to be a very interesting new-ish area. e.g. Lytro
<qwebirc32410> ck rjeffries

2012-02-11

<rjeffries> This is a rather cool project. Just sayin' http://www.maxjusticz.com/introducing-the-chomp/

2012-02-08

<rjeffries> CES tidbit in "cheap tablets" category: Ainol Novo 7 Paladin $110, runs Ice Cream Sandwich, Ingenic JZ4770 Xburst, 1GHz; GPU: GC860, 512MB and 8GB, up to 32GB via microSD, 7 inch LCD display with resolution of 800×480

2012-02-07

<rjeffries> nobody has to buy one or the other.
<rjeffries> may 1,000 flowers bloom
<rjeffries> one sells in qty of 100's the other will be in qty of 10K and far greater
<rjeffries> these two things do not compete
<rjeffries> one supposedly can order Raspberry Pi for delivery early March
<rjeffries> wolfspraul I understand totally. a differnt view is that a decent platform for $50USD that runs Linux can be used by many people ho can not afford MM and also it is arguably a more general computer platform
<kristianpaul> 20:02 < rjeffries> BRCM publishes a datasheet for the chip in Raspberry Pi http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/615
<rjeffries> wpwrak I look forward to learning if the datasheet comes anywhere close to meeting your standards. I have not read the whole thing, I thought the SPI, I2C and UART parts looked pretty good
<rjeffries> BRCM publishes a datasheet for the chip in Raspberry Pi http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/615

2012-01-28

<rjeffries> He uses the HopeRF RFM12B radio. cheap, and it works. I think that's also the device ?? mirko ?? uses for his project
<rjeffries> whitequark Jean Claude Whippler of JeeLabs does a lot of home automation stuff, all very open. AVRs are ok/fine for the individual sensor nodes, need something beefier for central coordinator. He alswo recently worked through a design to steal a small amount of energy form 230V mains. is not selling due to liability.

2012-01-27

<rjeffries> wpwrak you speak with great eloquence sir. one hopes most mice past the test. this problem will solve itself in any case. move along folks, nothing to see here. ;)
<rjeffries> wpwrak with great respect <g> do you think PC makers need to test random USB mice against their new builds? The answer is "no" they have USB ports that meet the standard.
<rjeffries> reading the backlog, interesting to see the effort to identify USB mice that work ok w MM1. How much work will it take to improve USB driver so this hand matching is not required?

2012-01-13

<wpwrak> rjeffries: same as midi. plus some extra control functions. e.g., image selection, patch selection. basically array of images and you pick one. basic stuff that's currently absurdly messy.
<rjeffries> ok, simple enough protocol. what is use case for this touch pad controller for MM?
<rjeffries> need to look up OSC protocol
<rjeffries> understood
<rjeffries> s/log/lot/ ;)
<rjeffries> I wonder if MM does feed out 5V on USB. you'd thinks so...
<rjeffries> MM has USB and many tablets have USB
<rjeffries> well all tablets are battery operated, or can be charged over USB
<rjeffries> or is that too clumsy?
<rjeffries> maybe you go client server, not unlike a VNC approach?
<rjeffries> wpwrak finding something that's already packaged would be a win. no harm if the owner can also use it for non-MM tasks when he/she doesn't need it for MM
<wpwrak> rjeffries: yeah, just like they use iPads today (btw, M1 does actually support OSC, which is a common protocol for carrying MIDI and similar over TCP/IP)
<rjeffries> "they" referring to OLPC, *not* the OLPC haters. ;)
<rjeffries> when OLPC ver 3 actually ships, the specs will be close to what you need. Linux already on board. although there are plenty of OLPC haters. they may have gotten it right this time.
<rjeffries> wpwrak so you are thinking of a controller for Milkymist? that would make sense in the VJ conext. I understand iPads are used in that scene (not w/MM)
<rjeffries> no, it is not copyleft. but quite an interesting reference point IMO as to what is possible.
<rjeffries> as an example of what's possible re specs for an under $100 handheld with (resistive) touch screen and lots of useful functions there's this $90 game unit running Android

2012-01-01

<rjeffries> roh I understand. It will be intresting to see if/when BRCM opens up some of the docs. since Raspberry Pi usesd an old part, thye may well do so.
<roh> rjeffries: i dont have a problem with that. what i dont like is people promoting something closed and nonfree as open and free.
<rjeffries> roh while this channel is mainly open hardware, poeple may also be interested in clever linux computers that are very cheap. at least I have the interest. ;) how is your 2012 going so far?
<rjeffries> Not sure any of that is bad. Yeah, it does not meet the stanrdas of copyleft philosphy. But that doesn't mean it will not poetntailly hange the world
<rjeffries> roh to each his own. Raspberry Pi indeed uses BRCM parts. I could care less. The price is aggressive, it has the possibility of opening up the wonderful experience of programming to an entire new generation.
<roh> rjeffries: i would be really happy if people would stop nagging with vaporware.
<wolfspra1l> not rejon_, I meant rjeffries
<wpwrak> rjeffries: happy new year ! new year, new hangover ;-)
<rjeffries> Doc, I suspect you know and may perchance dream in lambda calculus. Just sayin'
<rjeffries> when wpwrak says "interesting> I pay attention. ;) Happy New Year, Werner.
<rjeffries> docscrutinizer I suspect but can not prove that FU (U repeated) may be a mnemic for eff yew.
<rjeffries> kristianpaul you get a working Debian for Raspebrry Pi out of the box. Not sure if that qualifies as "upstream" I have never been clear on that concept. me bad.
<rjeffries> to my mind, Micropendous is simple a relatively easy to use microcontroller with lots of i/o. it's better adapted to so-called physical computing.
<rjeffries> Rapsberry Pi is focused on teaching/enabling a new generation of young people to learn programming. how refreshing.
<rjeffries> both are general purpose computers. Raspebrry Pi is much more powerful, has greta graphivs support, speakes HDMI to any old (modern) monitor or TV.
<rjeffries> wolfspraul1 if you are still around, I may buy a micropendous. I also will buy a Raspberry Pi when they ship in volume (mid 2012 my guess). as to what the use case might be:
<rjeffries> I do not understand this machine language: <DocScrutinizer> FUUUUUU*
<wolfspra1l> rjeffries: micropendous hardware license is cc-by, software seems all open/free indeed
<wolfspra1l> rjeffries: micropendous looks nice in that they use kicad
<rjeffries> but also a happy spirit, an active, curious, learning mind full of wonderment and awe
<rjeffries> Doc, yes, that would be ANNOYING
<DocScrutinizer> rjeffries: it's annoying especially when you have to PAY for going to work
<rjeffries> the currency of ypour chpoice RMB is a fine currency
<rjeffries> having a steady job is A Good Thing, no?
<rjeffries> Doc however did not get his bank transfer.
<rjeffries> wolspraul even MORE prosperous than I assume you are today
<rjeffries> DocScruinizer we are all worried you may starve to death before you get your next check. are you ok? still have a pulse?
<rjeffries> Happy (&propserous) New Year to you wolfspraul
<wolfspra1l> rjeffries: Ron! :-) happy new year!
<rjeffries> this gadget is open and interesting (to me): http://code.google.com/p/micropendous/wiki/Micropendous3

2011-12-30

<rjeffries> and all who love brainfuck (at least as a style)
<rjeffries> yup
<rjeffries> This cries out for a little MilkyMist love

2011-12-20

<qi-bot> rjeffries meant: "wpwrak doesn't use "crap" tools. He makes 'em dance. the limbo."
<rjeffries> s/us/use
<rjeffries> wpwrak doesn't us "crap" tools. He makes 'em dance. the limbo.
<rjeffries> Just saw this, and pimped it on my G+ account [ronkjeffries]

2011-12-19

<rjeffries> Maxim part provides complete USB host, speaks SPI to whatever MCU (e.g. Ben's Ingenic SOC). $4.85 Before you ask, "No, I am not competent to design this into something that plugs into Ben's 8:10 port. But thanks for asking.;)"

2011-12-11

<rjeffries> whitequark
<rjeffries> cool whitequark you rock

2011-12-10

<whitequark> rjeffries: I don't quite get the idea of your experiment
<rjeffries> this internet thing is sorta kinda cool. I just did this experiment with the Most Excellent new logger. personally, I hope wolfspraul keeps the old (current) logger going, and that this independent, different, in some ways better logger by whitquark continues to run also

2011-12-06

<rjeffries_> sombbody will port Linux on one of these after all it is underneath the Android cruft in any case
<rjeffries_> wolfspraul that tablet is only available in China. I do not live in china. ;) $99 for a tablet is hard to understand. Amazon Fire 7 in tablet costs them about $210 to build
<wolfspraul> rjeffries: you probably know my thoughts, but just in case :-)
<rjeffries> wondering thoughts by people of qi-hardware re $99 Ingenic tablet http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Ainol-Ainovo-Novo7-/

2011-12-04

<kristianpaul> rjeffries, you used to stay more time here :-)
<rjeffries> assume nobody is around now... so will exit as gracefully as I know how...
<rjeffries> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/28/raspberry_pi/ really good article on several levels.
<rjeffries> while not measuring up to qi-hardware totally open philosophy, this will be a great little cheap n($35) yet powerful Linux computer when it ships in large numbers iJune-ish 2012

2011-12-01

<rjeffries> wpwrak maybe so, but Seed updates you through the process at each stage. In any case, they are easy to do business with IMO.
<rjeffries> Seed has an impressive system where they automatically send reports on your order status via email. cool beans. I also ordered a Bus Pirate
<rjeffries> I've done a couple of orders to Seed Studio recently, small stuff such as sensors, and then yesterday a few cheap solar panels

2011-11-30

<rjeffries> has this been discussed? has the right license it woudl appear. nice design http://teholabs.com/docs/procyon:overview

2011-11-20

<rjeffries> s/bac/back
<rjeffries> guess I'll check baclog tomorrow
<rjeffries> On Twitter I posted a tweet to @qi-hardware wonder when or if it will show up here?

2011-11-08

<rjeffries> both are ARM based (what a shocker) and offer different combination of features. No, they do not meet the openess standards of Qi Hardware, but none of use lives by NanoNote or Milkylist alone. ;)
<rjeffries> two very interesting inexpensive Linux systems will soon be available: BeagleBone $89USD https://www.adafruit.com/products/513 and Raspberry Pi $35USD http://www.raspberrypi.org/

2011-10-18

<kristianpaul> rjeffries: sure we can run linux on that board, but will be cool on the milkymist soc
<rjeffries> no, wpwrak I have not research the license. ;)
<rjeffries> link singular

2011-10-12

<rjeffries> this talk might be interesting: http://ossg.bcs.org/2011/10/

2011-09-29

<rjeffries> wonder what will happen with this:
<rjeffries> the Wall Street Journal reported that Nokia is developing a Linux-based operating system code-named Meltem for its low-end phones. The report, citing unnamed sources, said that Mary McDowell, Nokia's executive vice president in charge of mobile phones, is leading the effort. The focus is to improve Nokia's competitiveness in emerging markets, the report said, which also noted that Nokia has begun releasing dual-SIM phones in
<rjeffries> hullo

2011-09-21

<rjeffries> lekernel thanks for the Aleksander Zawada report. so cool. I shared your blog link on Google+

2011-09-15

<rjeffries> ok thanks for the tutorial wpwrak
<rjeffries> s/funky/ s/pointing/
<rjeffries> wpwrak yes you do. one of those funking littel pinting devices on many mobile phones used
<wpwrak> rjeffries: maybe .. dunno what a d-pad is :)
<rjeffries> wpwrak thanks. so it is like a D-Pad in a sense. yes?
<wpwrak> rjeffries: all digital. 5 i/os
<rjeffries> wpwrak I have a dumb question about that Panasonic EVQ77 siwith/joystick  I am not clear hwo many i/os it needs, and don't know if they are digital or analog.

2011-09-11

<Ayla> rjeffries: yes, see http://www.xess.com/prods/prod047.php
<rjeffries> Ayla cool. is that from the same guy? he makes everything free and open as best I can tell
<Ayla> rjeffries: note that there's also the XuLa-50 which is cheaper
<rjeffries> he also has XuLa a $70 USD little FPGA dev board http://www.xess.com/prods/prod048.php
<rjeffries> free open FPGA tutorial  http://www.xess.com/appnotes/FpgasNowWhatBook.pdf  

2011-09-10

<wpwrak> rjeffries: speaking of time travel, have you seen this one yet ? http://www.abyssandapex.com/200710-wikihistory.html
<wpwrak> rjeffries: yeah, it was easy to fix. i think the dinosaurs died out a few more times again, but it's always them who get to suffer the anomalies. kind of a running joke among time travelers :)
<rjeffries> wpwrak as that nasty case of time travel cleare dup for you? that could be pretty scary!
<wpwrak> rjeffries: depends a bit. some aren't too bad. and you have CPLDs continuing at the lower range. it's all a question how what you really need. of course, a relatively static image/overlay needs a lot less than generating things at a high frame rate
<rjeffries> wpwrak I am curious whatr sell price  they will arrive at. FPGAs are not exactly low cost.
<wpwrak> rjeffries: m1 actually does a lot more than overlay the video ;-) sometimes, things that look easy are nothing like that if you peek under the hood :)
<rjeffries> lekerne;l understood.
<lekernel> rjeffries, hdmi = patents, licensing fees, DRM, etc.
<rjeffries> HDMI is A Good Thing. It's waht all TVs and monitors support these days, at least in the developed world.
<rjeffries> they said they use it to overlay character generation on the video stream. lekernel does the same, naturally
<rjeffries> absent a price, this is but a curiosity.
<rjeffries> this gadget overlaying character generator on a tV stram is a clever hack. now the question is what it will cost. MM's FPGA costs $40 as I recall. But maybe there are lower cost versions of Spartan 6
<rjeffries> and I have done so on Twitter and G+ in teh past. ;)4
<rjeffries> lekernel and kristianpaul look. I assume people here are smart and interested in a wide range of geeky things. I am not following Chumby but this is an interesting device.
<lekernel> rjeffries, do you also send news about qi projects into chumby channels? if not, please do.
<rjeffries> Chumby NeTV looks interesting. Inckludes Spartan 6 FPGA. http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Chumby-NeTV/ Not sure about degree of open-ness. Others can evaluat ethat dimension better than moi.

2011-09-09

<rjeffries> kyak if you mean that seriously, please see a doctor immeditaely. You are very SICK. ;)
<rjeffries> thanks wolfspraul
<wolfspraul> rjeffries: thanks, I added Geoffrey Barrow's blog to the Qi planet!
<rjeffries> scary, actually. ;) glad it worked out however
<rjeffries> above average [commit] message
<rjeffries> <@qi-bot> [commit] Werner Almesberger: m1/jtag-boot/mkboot: eradicate traces of time travel (reported by Michael Walle) (master) http://qi-hw.com/p/wernermisc/47f1328

2011-09-08

<rjeffries> wolfspraul may find this article interesting. or not. http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/chip-design-open-source-and-diy-part-2-open-source-issues
<rjeffries> this little board is new to me: http://bifferos.co.uk/

2011-09-05

<rjeffries> at some point I'll talkw with them re MM
<rjeffries> lekernel I misunderstood. I had pitched Nanonote pretty hard to that group about a year ago. zero interest
<rjeffries> lekernel this dev board was purpose built but yes they know of MM
<rjeffries> I finally saw a cupcake at the santa barbara hacerspace a few weeks ago. pretty cool.
<rjeffries> smiles
<rjeffries> wpwrak so you need a tiny little l bracket. would look so cool.
<rjeffries> you need to get a 3d printer asap. ;)
<rjeffries> i am looking at this fpga dev board we use
<lekernel> rjeffries, why?
<rjeffries> lekernel did you see my question above?
<rjeffries> wpwrak you ~will~ place a blue led behind the qi logo on your front panel, won't you?
<rjeffries> lekernel which version/model of Spartan 6 do you use im MM?
<rjeffries> ps2chiper are you a set top box company maybe
<rjeffries> 18-million gate portable media SoC
<rjeffries> ps2chiper remind us what is dvb
<rjeffries> I googled but got nothiung useful
<rjeffries> ps2chiper I assume the SOC comes from China?
<rjeffries> do amlogic have any design-ins yet for this soc
<rjeffries> ps2chiper are you working with Amlogic?
<rjeffries> if they share details, at first glance this SOC looks pretty powerful. on eof many however
<roh> rjeffries: sorry.. just rambling.. hw vendors often try to 'make more wind' or 'confuse' the view of customers by mixing sw stuff in hw factsheets.. which makes no sense and has no value besides 'more things in the table' ;)
<rjeffries> In order to be sucessful in copyleft world would need to be in addition to classic linux tools, not a replacement
<rjeffries> hi roh the hardware facts are pretty obvious to moi. ;)
<roh> rjeffries: ignore the sw part (html5 etc.) focus on hw facts
<rjeffries> supporting html5/css/javascript as a new app framework to run on copyleft hardware is not crazy, except it requires a lot more hardware resource than Ben Nanonote provides.

2011-09-02

<rjeffries> s/Ven/Ben
<rjeffries> Would a next-gen Nanonote be even cooler? sure. But that an a much bigger effort than BenDongle.
<rjeffries> on Ven talks with the BenDongle now and again (but real time is only for mouse and keyboard) would be IMO a very interesting accessory. Then Ben serves as display and has higher level software running on Linux.
<rjeffries> a BenDongle that can connect USB keyboard and mouse (but does not attempt more general USB Host)... and has AVR chip so we also get a collection of digital and analog i/o that can be handled by the AVR (read arduino dongle) then  a program
<rjeffries> wpwrak has leveraged Ben's 8:10 port in clever ways. Next target with a LOT of possibilities will be Ben's (client) USB port. DocScrutinizer has mumbled about s/w to make it support USB Host, which may or may not work. imo
<rjeffries> what can work is BenDongle as I mentioned a couple of days ago. Inspired by: http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/05/bright-idea-android-open-accessories.html
<rjeffries> elegaNT? HELL NO. wOUDL IT WORK WITH VERY SMALL INVESTMENT OF S/W? HELL YES.
<rjeffries> sorry for caps lock
<rjeffries> these devices ften run OpenWrt. so in therouter box have code that reads a memory card (they come with this) and then send a file out the Ethernet to M1
<rjeffries> here's a hac that would work: use some small cheap device that has an ethernet port and one or more usb. one example of many is Seagate Diskstar $25 USD closeout. but many cheap little routers would also work
<rjeffries> wolfspraul kristianpaul wpwrak reading backlog a day or so ago saw discussion of how to get photos etc into M1. someone suggested etherent, but then internet may not be available

2011-09-01

<rjeffries> Evan  Prodromou of status.net and identi.ca has a new blog about open source companies. http://ope.nu/p/40 The nine revenue streams for Open Source companies

2011-08-30

<rjeffries> some of you may find this video about Arduino (history) interesting. or not. http://postscapes.com/watch-arduino-the-documentary

2011-08-29

<rjeffries> no, wolfpraul is to stay in China. it is the right thing to do. we need feet on the street. ;)
<Ayla> rjeffries: very interesting read
<kristianpaul> rjeffries: r you offering wolfgang to move back to North America? ;)

2011-08-27

<rjeffries> the other missing piece of the puzzle is a microsd (aka 8:10) slot. It REALLY mneeds removable memory.
<rjeffries> from my perspective, therte's a lot to like about this board. I agree, it is not "real" yet, but seems to be getting there. If they can sell it for z$50 it will be quite attractive. I do wish it had a small AVR on board to provide a bunch of i/o

2011-08-24

<rjeffries> tuxbrain fyi Zigduinio does not use an xbee module. It uses the Amtel ATmega128RFA1
<rjeffries> huge chart of the 20 different versions of Xbee modules...    http://www.digi.com/pdf/chart_xbee_rf_features.pdf
<rjeffries> wpwrak how similar (or not...) is ATmega 128RFA1 to what you designed into ATben and ATusb modules?

2011-08-22

<rjeffries> rejon how long will you stay in China?

2011-08-19

<rjeffries> wpwrak kristianpaul No hablo Espaniol. LOL
<viric> rjeffries: I'm simply proud of having better things to do ;)
<rjeffries> point well taken
<rjeffries> viric you remind me of me
<wpwrak_> rjeffries: using the Ben is also a nice idea ;-)
<rjeffries> the next nanonote if there is a next nanonote needs among other things more i/i e.g. i2c, some gpios that can be used without using the 8:10 (microSD) port yada yada yada. maybe even USB host or OTG
<rjeffries> if you wanted to you could use your BEN and a
<viric> rjeffries: to get until the $99? :)
<rjeffries> viric maybe you need to kludge together a little arduino-ish solution
<rjeffries> ah I see. cool idea
<rjeffries> what is your use case viric
<rjeffries> Zigduino with Contiki OS should provide an interesting end point for Ben w/ATben to reach out and touch over 802.15.4 and (eventually) 6LoWPAN
<rjeffries> Does Tuxbrain visit this channel these days? If so, he may find this link interesting:

2011-08-18

<rjeffries> s/smlies/smiles ;)
<rjeffries> reads, smlies

2011-08-16

<kristianpaul> rjeffries: what's is that meastrame capabillity? having a python partially working is not
<rjeffries> and no, I am not qualified to help. //that's for my pals kristianpaul and rejon /smile/
<rjeffries> wpwrak your suggestion that the new Ben release be called e.g. a technical release is sound IMO. Losing Python (while admitedly temporary) is removing a significant mainstream capability.