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  1. Bay Area Maker Faire is Coming Up Soon!

    April 5, 2012 by Sean

    I wish to encourage all of my friends and family to check out the Bay Area Maker Faire coming up in about a month. It takes place May 19th & 20th at the San Mateo Fair Grounds. The Maker Faire is a festival that combines Do It Yourself (DIY) attitude with arts and science. Take your school science faire, add in the 4H club, sprinkle a little Burning Man on top for spice, and blend! Highlights include robotics, LEGO exhibits, fire arts & singing Tesla coils. For the past five years my family and I have either attended or have directly participated in this fun filled weekend; we hate to miss it. Unfortunately we can’t make it this year due to a family wedding on the same weekend. Nevertheless, I want to encourage all Bay Area families, who have kids ranging from 3 to 103 to explore the Maker Faire.

    Some Tips before you go:

    • Get there before 8:30 AM or after 11:00 AM.  Although the gates open at 10:00 AM, there is a long line that snakes the parking lot. If you want to be there when it opens, you should plan to arrive early and stand in line. Otherwise, plan to arrive after 11:00 AM when the initial surge is over.
    • Public transportation is really convenient! The CalTrain station is just down the street. Use the trains (BART & CalTrain) if you can. Some years, I have taken BART to Millbrae. I then rode my bike the 8 miles on the back streets  to the fairgrounds. The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition typically sponsors a bicycle valet service that you can use to secure your bike once you are there.
    • Bring water and snacks, especially if you have your kids with  you. There are lots of food services at the event center with a wide menu spectrum. However the lines get really long in the middle of the day and the food stands are pricey.
    • Check the weather, wear layers. It may get up to the mid 90′s in the afternoon, but the mornings tend to be cool & foggy (Duh!, Bay Area fact). Dress yourself and your family accordingly.
    • Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen.
    • Prefer Toddler BACKPACKS & BABYBJÖRNs to strollers:  This place is packed through most of the day. You will have a tough time moving a stroller through some of the aisles in the indoor exhibits. It may shorten your day, depending on your stamina, but I would suggest lashing your little ones to your shoulders.  You will see more… and so will the little ones!
    • Tattoo your kids! – Although unlikely, you may get separated at the Faire. Make sure you have a rendezvous point with your big kids.  For your little ones, consider using a marker to write your cell phone number on their arm or pinning your contact information into one of their pockets. That way, the Faire volunteers can call you and arrange a quicker reunion.
    • Pace yourself! There’s lots to see and do! Take your time and enjoy the whole day if you can.  After dark, the fire arts exhibits are phenominal! Make sure you can stick around for that!
    • Have Fun! Everyone there is proud of what they do. Stop and ask lots of questions and participate in as many of the activities as you can!

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  2. Our New Doorbell

    February 17, 2012 by Sean

    Using an Arduino microcontroller and a WAVE Shield from Adafruit Industries, I am now well on my way to making my house just like SARAH from the TV show Eureka!

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  3. How Do You Spell Babe Ruth?

    February 1, 2012 by Sean

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  4. So Long Go Daddy

    December 26, 2011 by Sean

    Dear Bob Parsons,

    You are an elephant killing, misogynistic, hater of Internet freedoms. I, along with many of my peers, hold you and your company in contempt of class. I am expressing my disgust first and foremost with my wallet. I have transferred all of my remaining viable domains away from your service and I have no intention to return.

    I do acknowledge that GoDaddy is just one of the many corporations who have shown support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) legislation in Congress. I intend to express my dissatisfaction with Walt Disney and Microsoft corporations as well; two of your fellow crappy legislation supporters. GoDaddy, however, is an easy target in that it’s not very difficult to take my business elsewhere. And yes, GoDaddy has recently reversed its position on the current legislation, but it’s too little, too late. I like elephants. I like Super Bowl ads that don’t insult my intelligence. And I like the freedom of information that a large percentage of the world (and growing) currently enjoys. Having deprived and attempting to deprive the world of those things are the three strikes against you.

    Good bye.

    Sean O’Steen

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  5. Charge Only MicroUSB Cable

    August 16, 2011 by Sean

    ChargeOnly4

    I’ve been using either Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T’s mobile broadband service for over five years. I’m now on my fourth technology iteration and I have a hard time remembering what it was like when Internet was only available at home, office, and the café. I refuse to return to those dark ages!

    Until recently I used Verizon’s first generation of MiFi hotspot, the Novatel 2200. It’s a great little device that did exactly what I wanted it to. When I needed it to be a WiFi hotspot, it was a hotspot. When I was on the road and needed to charge it via my laptop’s USB port, that worked perfectly as well. Recently however, my company upgraded me to the newest MiFi hotspot, the Novatel 4510L. For the most part the new device is faster, shinier, has better reception… it goes to eleven!

    The problem is, and I consider this to be a design flaw, is that when you plug the device into a PC, with the USB cable provided, it will only charge the device. The 4510 will neither operate as a WiFi hotspot, nor will it operate as a USB connected modem. I learned this the hard way last week when I spent most of the day at the green mermaid coffee shop waiting for the mechanic to finish my car repairs. As it was a crowded day in laptop land, I only managed to get access to a single power outlet. When the batteries on my MiFi hotspot were nearly tapped, I had to resort to swapping between the laptop charger and the MiFi charger every hour to make it to my car pickup.

    Armed with a soldering iron and heat shrink tubing, this was an easy hack. A USB cable has four wires; two for power, two for signal. If you cut open the cable and clip the signal wires, then you effectively create a charging cable. Based on a support forum thread at Verizon Wireless (http://bit.ly/pBqf1h), I also learned that you can trick the 4510L into thinking it’s attached to its AC charger if you additionally short the signal wires on the MicroUSB side. So, I closed the circuit on the green & white signal wires on the MicroUSB end of the cable. Important: The signal wires on the host or USB A end of the connection must remain open or you risk shorting out your USB port or damaging your computer.

    ChargeOnly1
    Typical USB cable color coding: Red +5v, Black, GND, White Signal+, Green Signal-

    ChargeOnly2
    Tie the power wires together, solder & insulate. In order to trick the Novatel 4510L into thinking it’s connected to its AC adapter, short the signal leads on the device or MicroUSB end. Be sure to leave the signal wires on the host end of the cable open. Insulate all of the wires with electrical tape or heat shrink.

    ChargeOnly3
    Finished product. I only made the cable 6″ long so as not to add to the rats nest of cables that I already keep in my backpack.

    [Update 2011-08-16 10:06 PDT]: According to Verizon Wireless, the shortcoming of not being able to charge and operate the Novatel 4510L while plugged into a PC USB port is a design constraint and not a design flaw. Many PC USB ports fall short of the 500mA power spec and do not provide enough energy to both charge the batteries and power the MiFi radios. My MacBook Pro happens to have enough juice (http://bit.ly/niXKgJ), so I feel it is safe to operate with my hacked cable. You may want to check the specs on your laptop’s USB ports before you proceed.

    Category Projects | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

  6. Hiding the Wires

    July 24, 2011 by Sean

    I hate cords!  As a gadget freak, it feels almost heretical to make such a statement, but there you go. I try to hide the wires that race to and from my computer equipment whenever possible. They are unsightly, they are a tripping hazard, and all they ever seem to do is to collect dust.

    In effort to keep all of the little electronic doodads that turn my home office into mission control out of sight and out of mind, I mounted them all to a piece of peg board and then hung it off the back of my filing cabinet. The doodads stay cool, there are very few wires left over to trip on, and it is easy to troubleshoot when things go wrong.

    At our last house, I was able to use a small corner of the garage, where I built a telco cabinet that had all of the phone, TV, and Ethernet cabling running through a central location. My electronic doodads where mounted on the wall beside the cabinet where they remained cool and out of the way. The problem is that my garage was also my workshop, and I was constantly blowing sawdust out of the nooks and crannies after a day puttering.

    In our new house, the garage is too far away from the current phone and cable runs and I have neither the time nor the budget to run new lines (including Cat6) throughout the house. While I do have a closet in our home office, the space is too valuable to put up a gadget board within. The current fracas between the U.S. political parties over the debt ceiling pales to the negotiations I would have to initiate with my wife in order to take over the corner of one of our closets. So, this is plan B. I enlisted my well travelled, sturdy IKEA filing cabinet which was already on casters from back when it doubled as a saw horse. I tacked the pegboard hooks onto the backside, lashed the electronics to it, and then stuck it in a corner of my office under the window. Everything should stay nice and cool, and more importantly, the doodads should remain out of sight.

    This is not an original idea. I first saw this post on Lifehacker a few years ago where the person mounted some pegboard underneath his desk. I’ve used the same technique at client’s sites, but I was always concerned about heat buildup when the devices are mounted underneath a massive object such as a wooden desk. I was afraid that the heat would not dissipate, so more often than not, I would mount the devices on a wall in a closet or utility room; somewhere where the heat could rise and be carried away by the air currents in a room. My filing cabinet is right under the window. So, even if the window is closed, there should still be some convective currents that will keep the air flowing past the doodads.

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  7. The Most Read (& Loved) Book in my House

    July 14, 2011 by Sean

    The Star Wars Craft Book, by Bonnie Burton is catnip for 8 year olds! My son sleeps with it under his pillow! It goes with him wherever he goes.  He uses it as a conversation starter almost every day! My 4 year old son is right beside him reading along and fantasizing about making his own Millenium Falcon bed. Our 10 month old 11 month old twin boys will surely benefit from this book if the binding does not disintegrate from extreme wear and tear before their first birthday.  While we’ve already created several of the projects within, my two oldest boys have made it their mission to build everything in the book before the end of the summer.  A lofty goal, yes, but certainly one that we can put a sizable dent in over the next 7 weeks.

    Granted, my wife and I are huge Star Wars fans, so our children have no choice but to be fans as well. And yes, I do take pride in DIY, geeky, crafty, makey things. So, you can argue that I am Audience0 for this book and that I am biased. So be it, but I do think The Star Wars Craft Book truly has something for everyone. It’s easily one of the best $15.00 investments in “family time” I’ve ever spent.

    Thank you to the Author, Bonnie Burton, who spent so much time creating terrific resource! I’ve been a fan of her’s since the days of @Sock. Here are some pictures of our first project out of the book, The Wookiee Birdhouse:

    Decker's Wookiee Bird House

    Decker & his Wookiee Birdhouse

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  8. Don’t Fence Me In!

    June 30, 2011 by Sean

    Sorry kiddos, but we built you a cage. But not just any cage! A room sized playpen with an entire wall designed to help you pull yourself up to standing and allow you to practice walking!

    So, what really has happened is this: We moved to a new home earlier this month. We now have a formal dining room for which we have no furniture. With a young family under our roof, we do not intend to buy a dining room set until our kids are much, much, much older. In the meantime, we’re going to use the dining room as a play area for the boys. Linus & Keelan, currently 10 months old, need some boundaries. As we had a missing 4th wall, I decided to build a fence to separate the dining room from the living room.

    Our design constraints and my results

    • $$$ – Do not spend more than $200. Once I return the can of stain that I did not need, my total should be approximately $135.00. I constructed the fence using #2 Pine & birch dowels, all from the local big box lumber yard. Hardware, sanding paper & glue came from my neighborhood hardware store.
    • Child safe – The fence should meet or exceed guidelines of no gaps greater than 4″. The fence should also have a non-toxic finish as our little guys will use the ballisters as much for teething as for climbing. I standardized on 3″ spacing on all of the ballisters and floor-to-rail height; small enough to keep baby noggins from passing through, but large enough not to pinch pudgy baby thighs between the rails. I found a really nice “Salad Bowl Finish” from Rockler Woodworking. It’s food-safe when cured, so I think it’s as good as we’re going to get for a satin natural wood color finish.
    • Aesthetics. All of the store bought baby gates I’ve found are fugly! Plus, in order to cross the chasm of 11 feet, we would have had to buy some monstrous accordion fence. No Thanks!. I chose to build it myself, creating a solid wood railing that spans the entire length of the opening between our living room and the play area.

    • Temporary & easy to disassemble – When the fence comes down in two years, make it easy to return the dining room to its original state. To do this, I used a simple eye-bolt to eye-bolt hinge to attach the railing to the wall. It’s a simple matter of undoing four bolts to remove the fence when we need to. When we’re ready to return the room to its original state, I will have just 4 small (1/4″) holes to patch and paint… that’s assuming I don’t have any other kid-sized holes in the wall to patch at the same time. I plan to reuse the fence as well! While large, it should fit nicely in the garage rafters where I plan to use it store our camping gear.

    Time

    All in, it took me a day and a half to build and glue it up. I spent another two days putting on 3 coats of food-safe finish.

    Things I might change next time

    • I built the rails very beefy (1.5″ x 3″) in order to keep the fence from sagging across its 11′ span. If I did it again, I would probably drop it to 1.5 x 2.5″ to make it look a little more slight.
    • The eye-bolts and hardware on the ends are shinier than I anticipated and draw the eye to the corners. I may paint them to try to get them to blend in.

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  9. Weather Station Installed

    June 21, 2011 by Sean

    DSCF1490

    Tonight, I completed the installation of a weather station at home. One of the reasons why I got into amateur radio a couple of years ago was to experiment with packet radio (APRS) and to set up a WX node on one or more public weather networks. Tonight, I’m on the Citizen’s Weather Observer Program (CWOP) and Weather Underground. I’m hoping my wife will warm to the idea of having the sensor array on the back fence. Her initial comment was:

    “Now all the folks walking on the trail [behind our home] will know who’s house is the geekiest.”

    My thoughts exactly!

    APRS/CWOP:


    Station Info: KJ6APE-10

    Weather Underground:

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  10. Maker Faire 2011 Rocked

    May 23, 2011 by Sean

    I’m going to let these pictures say my thousand words, save three: “Maker Faire Rocked!”

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