Misc. Posts :

Old Lamp Dimmer Project:

Several years ago, I was interested in building my own PIC microcontroller based lamp dimmer device. It worked very well for me and I'm still using several of the boxes in my own home to this day. People outside of North America have reported problems controlling the device remotely largely due to the fact that my code does not support a format called "RC5". You would have to write your own program to support this format or any other that the original program doesn't appear to work with.

The zip file contains the user's manual, construction guide, schematics, PCB layouts, and PIC microcontroller source code. You may use the information for your personal education or hobby interests. I am not responsible for its use, misuse, or it's performance or lack thereof. Use it at your own risk.

Download Zip file (right-click link and "save as")

 

Star Trek Movie Error List Here

I enjoy good sci-fi movies as much as anyone. When it comes to Star Trek, I expect a good story that is for the most part at least somewhat believeable. I couldn't enjoy the movie at all because it had gaping holes in the story big enough to fly a starship through. The message for the day was obviously "We can't think of a way to move into the 25'th century elegantly so we're going to make like the 24'th century never happened and replace it with a new one."

Did Hollywood execs really think that it would be okay to take the heros that I've grown up with and take all of their heroic deeds and simply erase them? Sure, it's fiction and anything can happen, but even in fiction it's nice to pretend that people have a heart. Despite that, the new story detroys two entire planets and their civilizations just so Hollywood can twist things around to reboot the francise. They killed Spock's mom for crying out loud! Then they banished Spock to a frozen moon and forced him to watch his planet die. Isn't that just too high a price for a new beginning? Even for fiction? It may well be okay with todays young crowd who did not grow up watching the original series and the first six ST movies, but it's not okay with me. At this point, I don't care if I ever see another Star Trek movie again in my life because the entire Star Trek universe is just being disfigured and humiliated beyond my ability to tolerate it. As if the DS9 and Voyager TV shows weren't bad enough. All the CGI, brutal murders, and huge explosions in the world cannot replace good acting and good stories. A good story has to have a heart. Star Trek 2009 just plain doesn't have any of those characteristics.

 

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