From dorkbot at idefarmen.no Mon May 5 07:24:48 2008 From: dorkbot at idefarmen.no (Kjartan Nilsen) Date: Mon May 5 07:25:23 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Use mobile phone backlight or vibrator to control a relay? Message-ID: Have anyone experienced using a mobile phone to control a relay? Would it be possible to use the voltage from backlight / vibrator / speaker to run a relay? Kjartan From phil at squackers.com Mon May 5 07:32:39 2008 From: phil at squackers.com (phil) Date: Mon May 5 07:32:59 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Use mobile phone backlight or vibrator to control a relay? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20080505133239955785.04c2bf87@squackers.com> On Mon, 05 May 2008 13:24:48 +0200, Kjartan Nilsen wrote: > > Have anyone experienced using a mobile phone to control a relay? > Would it be possible to use the voltage from backlight / vibrator / > speaker to run a relay? Yes, but I'd be careful about googling that, or you may find you have special branch kicking down your door. -- phil. From dorkbot at idefarmen.no Mon May 5 07:41:43 2008 From: dorkbot at idefarmen.no (Kjartan Nilsen) Date: Mon May 5 07:41:54 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Use mobile phone backlight or vibrator to control a relay? In-Reply-To: <20080505133239955785.04c2bf87@squackers.com> References: <20080505133239955785.04c2bf87@squackers.com> Message-ID: sorry. didn't think of that.. Kjartan >On Mon, 05 May 2008 13:24:48 +0200, Kjartan Nilsen wrote: >> >> Have anyone experienced using a mobile phone to control a relay? >> Would it be possible to use the voltage from backlight / vibrator / >> speaker to run a relay? > >Yes, but I'd be careful about googling that, or you may find you have >special branch kicking down your door. > >-- phil. >........................................................................ >.........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... >..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ >........................................................................ From phil at squackers.com Mon May 5 08:08:40 2008 From: phil at squackers.com (phil) Date: Mon May 5 08:09:01 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Use mobile phone backlight or vibrator to control a relay? In-Reply-To: References: <20080505133239955785.04c2bf87@squackers.com> Message-ID: <20080505140840112150.6927f304@squackers.com> On Mon, 05 May 2008 13:41:43 +0200, Kjartan Nilsen wrote: > > sorry. didn't think of that.. It was a tongue-in-cheek comment ;) BTW I wouldn't go for using the straight ringer or backlight to control a circuit as there are too many things to go wrong and cause the relay to energise when you don't want it (battery low, incoming SMS, new network etc.etc) unless of course, you specifically want this behavior? What is the application? If I were you I'd implement something in a microcontroller (ATmega, AVR, PIC etc) that read an SMS via AT commands so it was a bit more intelligent. There are really cool GSM modules that can be interfaced easily if you want something slick, or just use an old phone and a serial interface from the bottom. Check out one such project:- Also there is an open source GPS tracker that might give you some ideas at:- -- phil. From tenyen at tenyen.net Mon May 5 07:54:04 2008 From: tenyen at tenyen.net (tenyen@tenyen.net) Date: Mon May 5 08:14:20 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] RIP Radio: Tristram Cary and Albert Hofman. Message-ID: <20080505115404.GA1611@tenyen.net> Heya, on BBC radio 4 last night I listened to the obituary show "Last Word": http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/lastword.shtml which featured: Tristram Cary: http://www.tristramcary.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristram_Cary and Albert Hofman. you should be able to spool it for later listening by doing something like: wget http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/shows/rpms/radio2/lastword.ram mplayer -vc null -vo null -ao pcm:fast:waveheader:file=lastword.au `cat lastword.ram ` but it looks like the stream is *currently* down. so here is a picture of me taking my Dalek for a ride instead: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcusjb/2442020426/ enjoy your trip! -- -- HpA, hPa, j0y, j0y ! tenyen@tenyen.net | ] -- web/ info/ gpg : http://tenyen.net/ _#_#_ ] . From dorkbot at idefarmen.no Mon May 5 16:40:31 2008 From: dorkbot at idefarmen.no (Kjartan Nilsen) Date: Mon May 5 16:40:49 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Use mobile phone backlight or vibrator to control a relay? In-Reply-To: <20080505140840112150.6927f304@squackers.com> References: <20080505133239955785.04c2bf87@squackers.com> <20080505140840112150.6927f304@squackers.com> Message-ID: The application is to make an installation you have to call to interact with. There will be a motor starting a fan when you call it. I thought of maybe use a light sensor http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=28574&criteria=light%20sensor&doy=5m5 to "control" the relay. Just put the sensor close to the screen.. >On Mon, 05 May 2008 13:41:43 +0200, Kjartan Nilsen wrote: >> >> sorry. didn't think of that.. > >It was a tongue-in-cheek comment ;) > >BTW I wouldn't go for using the straight ringer or backlight to control >a circuit as there are too many things to go wrong and cause the relay >to energise when you don't want it (battery low, incoming SMS, new >network etc.etc) unless of course, you specifically want this behavior? >What is the application? > >If I were you I'd implement something in a microcontroller (ATmega, >AVR, PIC etc) that read an SMS via AT commands so it was a bit more >intelligent. There are really cool GSM modules that can be interfaced >easily if you want something slick, or just use an old phone and a >serial interface from the bottom. > >Check out one such project:- > > > >Also there is an open source GPS tracker that might give you some ideas >at:- > > > >-- phil. >........................................................................ >.........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... >..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ >........................................................................ From theo.honohan at gmail.com Mon May 5 18:46:59 2008 From: theo.honohan at gmail.com (Theo Honohan) Date: Mon May 5 18:47:14 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Use mobile phone backlight or vibrator to control a relay? In-Reply-To: References: <20080505133239955785.04c2bf87@squackers.com> <20080505140840112150.6927f304@squackers.com> Message-ID: <9666266e0805051546w4061771el93ea9780607b06fe@mail.gmail.com> 2008/5/5 Kjartan Nilsen : > > The application is to make an installation you have to call to interact > with. > There will be a motor starting a fan when you call it. > I thought of maybe use a light sensor > http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=28574&criteria=light%20sensor&doy=5m5to "control" the relay. Just put the sensor close to the screen.. This may not be helpful, but there was an object in the Dunne + Raby "design noir" project from a few years ago that needed to do something like this. It was a table for storing a mobile phone, which needed to glow when a call was arriving, without physical connection to the phone. It did it by intercepting the incoming call by picking up the microwave signal from the phone connecting to the network, in the same way that speaker cables/systems tend to pick it up (bidibup, bidibup). That produced a response for a wide range of events (sms, call, or just polling the network for some reason). I can't tell you what the circuit would have to be to detect the signal, but it's strong enough to interfere a lot with untuned antennae like speaker cables so should be easy to detect with an appropriate antenna and some kind of basic transistor circuit. There's another example of something like that here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3890959.stm Looks straightforward. Theo -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotlondon-blabber/attachments/20080505/f15b2357/attachment-0001.html From owen.bowden at gmail.com Tue May 6 08:34:04 2008 From: owen.bowden at gmail.com (Owen Bowden) Date: Tue May 6 08:34:32 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Use mobile phone backlight or vibrator to control a relay? In-Reply-To: <9666266e0805051546w4061771el93ea9780607b06fe@mail.gmail.com> References: <20080505133239955785.04c2bf87@squackers.com> <20080505140840112150.6927f304@squackers.com> <9666266e0805051546w4061771el93ea9780607b06fe@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4820503C.1090208@gmail.com> You might be able to rewire something like this to a relay without the need to break a phone http://www.electricplanet.co.uk/product/117/Astro-Lava-Lamp-Light-Charm/category/63/Phone-Tags-_-Charms- Theo Honohan wrote: > > > 2008/5/5 Kjartan Nilsen >: > > > The application is to make an installation you have to call to > interact with. > There will be a motor starting a fan when you call it. > I thought of maybe use a light sensor > http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=28574&criteria=light%20sensor&doy=5m5 > > to "control" the relay. Just put the sensor close to the screen.. > > > This may not be helpful, but there was an object in the Dunne + Raby > "design noir" project from a few years ago that needed to do something > like this. It was a table for storing a mobile phone, which needed to > glow when a call was arriving, without physical connection to the > phone. It did it by intercepting the incoming call by picking up the > microwave signal from the phone connecting to the network, in the same > way that speaker cables/systems tend to pick it up (bidibup, > bidibup). That produced a response for a wide range of events (sms, > call, or just polling the network for some reason). I can't tell you > what the circuit would have to be to detect the signal, but it's > strong enough to interfere a lot with untuned antennae like speaker > cables so should be easy to detect with an appropriate antenna and > some kind of basic transistor circuit. > > There's another example of something like that here: > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3890959.stm > Looks straightforward. > > Theo > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > From dorkbotlist at haque.co.uk Tue May 6 08:45:25 2008 From: dorkbotlist at haque.co.uk (u h) Date: Tue May 6 08:45:53 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Use mobile phone backlight or vibrator to control a relay? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: in our project 'reconfigurable house' we did something really basic: put a light sensor (i.e. an LDR) on the mobile phone screen, connected to an arduino: http://house.propositions.org.uk/ (you can see it in the first video at about 1:46). if you wanted to do it without a microcontroller you might be better off using an LDR and a transistor (rather than a relay). usman >Have anyone experienced using a mobile phone to control a relay? >Would it be possible to use the voltage from backlight / vibrator / >speaker to run a relay? > >Kjartan >........................................................................ >.........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... >..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ >........................................................................ From dorkbot at idefarmen.no Tue May 6 09:21:22 2008 From: dorkbot at idefarmen.no (Kjartan Abel) Date: Tue May 6 09:21:25 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Use mobile phone backlight or vibrator to control a relay? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hehe. I'm working with an arduino and LDR right now :) Seems like the easiest option. Cheers all for all you inout. Will put up a video when I'm done.. Kjartan On Tue, 06 May 2008 13:45:25 +0100, u h wrote: > in our project 'reconfigurable house' we did something really basic: put > a light sensor (i.e. an LDR) on the mobile phone screen, connected to an > arduino: http://house.propositions.org.uk/ (you can see it in the first > video at about 1:46). if you wanted to do it without a microcontroller > you might be better off using an LDR and a transistor (rather than a > relay). > usman > > > > > > > > >> Have anyone experienced using a mobile phone to control a relay? >> Would it be possible to use the voltage from backlight / vibrator / >> speaker to run a relay? >> >> Kjartan >> ........................................................................ >> .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... >> ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ >> ........................................................................ > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ From mike at electricstuff.co.uk Thu May 8 04:26:26 2008 From: mike at electricstuff.co.uk (Mike Harrison) Date: Thu May 8 04:28:39 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] May 18th - Radio Rally (Electronics junk sale), Luton Message-ID: <2bd52490fk5ae6h2hvp387g92asnt5r8ni@4ax.com> Something that may be of interest to hardware-oriented dorks : the nearest thing we have left to an electronics junk sale near London is on Sun May the 18th, near Luton : http://www.ddrcbootsale.org/ usually well over 100 stalls selling everything electronic from new to ancient - OK a lot of it is junk but there is always the odd bargain... There used to be loads of these radio rallies (US : hamfests) around the country, but most have declined into little more than 3rd rate computer fairs or died out completely in recent years due to the general decline in hobby electronics, the internet and ebay. Luton remains better than most as a large proportion is individuals having a clearout rather than traders, so plenty of scope for haggling, especially as the day goes on. Here's a list of those that remain : http://www.southgatearc.org/rallies/index.htm From javier at candeira.com Thu May 8 04:38:37 2008 From: javier at candeira.com (Javier Candeira) Date: Thu May 8 04:39:06 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] May 18th - Radio Rally (Electronics junk sale), Luton In-Reply-To: <2bd52490fk5ae6h2hvp387g92asnt5r8ni@4ax.com> References: <2bd52490fk5ae6h2hvp387g92asnt5r8ni@4ax.com> Message-ID: <4822BC0D.9080002@candeira.com> Mike Harrison wrote: > Something that may be of interest to hardware-oriented dorks : the nearest thing we have left to an > electronics junk sale near London is on Sun May the 18th, near Luton : > http://www.ddrcbootsale.org/ And the Levenshtein edit distance between 'ddrcbootsale' and 'dorkbotsale' is only 3! We won't even need a car. We can *walk* there from dorkbot. J > usually well over 100 stalls selling everything electronic from new to ancient - OK a lot of it is > junk but there is always the odd bargain... > > There used to be loads of these radio rallies (US : hamfests) around the country, but most have > declined into little more than 3rd rate computer fairs or died out completely in recent years due to > the general decline in hobby electronics, the internet and ebay. Luton remains better than most as a > large proportion is individuals having a clearout rather than traders, so plenty of scope for > haggling, especially as the day goes on. > > Here's a list of those that remain : > http://www.southgatearc.org/rallies/index.htm > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > From isleebel at hotmail.com Thu May 8 11:19:55 2008 From: isleebel at hotmail.com (Isabel Lee) Date: Thu May 8 11:20:11 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] burningdork 2008 Message-ID: Hello Dorks :) Here's a little poem for you: Summer is here time to dig out our camping gear Participate on the wiki to get out of the city There'll fun things to learn and a giant dork to burn So we really do insist you must join our mailing list As the preparation has begun for this weekend of dorky fun!!(..of course you would have been sad to have missed out so we'd thought we'd give you all a little shout)Mailing list:http://lists.lurk.org/mailman/listinfo/burningdork Wiki: http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotlondon/wiki/index.php/DorkCamp08 X _________________________________________________________________ Discover and Win with Live Search http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/msnnkmgl0010000007ukm/direct/01/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotlondon-blabber/attachments/20080508/849e2e06/attachment.html From bpgodfrey at gmail.com Thu May 8 18:59:58 2008 From: bpgodfrey at gmail.com (Ben Godfrey) Date: Thu May 8 19:00:19 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] London Electronic Music Meetup In-Reply-To: <2bd52490fk5ae6h2hvp387g92asnt5r8ni@4ax.com> References: <2bd52490fk5ae6h2hvp387g92asnt5r8ni@4ax.com> Message-ID: I just wanted to drop in a reminder that the London Electronic Music Meetup is tomorrow (Friday 9) night. It's at Fluid Bar in Farringdon from 7 onwards. http://fluidbar.com/ If you're around, feel to come along. http://electroniclondon.com Ben ________________________________ http://aftnn.org http://cambodiachallenge.org From dorkbot at idefarmen.no Fri May 16 08:40:56 2008 From: dorkbot at idefarmen.no (Kjartan Abel) Date: Fri May 16 08:41:06 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Frame sync video on two Mac Mini Message-ID: Is there a way (software) to frame sync two videos streaming from two Mac minis (one vieoe per mac) Thanks Kjartan From owen.bowden at gmail.com Fri May 16 08:59:17 2008 From: owen.bowden at gmail.com (Owen Bowden) Date: Fri May 16 08:59:45 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Frame sync video on two Mac Mini In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <482D8525.9090606@gmail.com> http://www.zachpoff.com/site/software/software.html Kjartan Abel wrote: > Is there a way (software) to frame sync two videos streaming from two > Mac minis (one vieoe per mac) > > Thanks > > Kjartan > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ > From dorkbot at idefarmen.no Fri May 16 09:07:34 2008 From: dorkbot at idefarmen.no (Kjartan Abel) Date: Fri May 16 09:07:53 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Frame sync video on two Mac Mini In-Reply-To: <482D8525.9090606@gmail.com> References: <482D8525.9090606@gmail.com> Message-ID: Awsome!! Thanks :) Made my day Kjartan On Fri, 16 May 2008 13:59:17 +0100, Owen Bowden wrote: > http://www.zachpoff.com/site/software/software.html > > Kjartan Abel wrote: >> Is there a way (software) to frame sync two videos streaming from two >> Mac minis (one vieoe per mac) >> >> Thanks >> >> Kjartan >> ........................................................................ >> .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... >> ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ >> ........................................................................ >> > > ........................................................................ > .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity.......... > ..........................http://dorkbot.org............................ > ........................................................................ From sharpie7 at pinedragon.com Tue May 20 04:11:03 2008 From: sharpie7 at pinedragon.com (sharpie7@pinedragon.com) Date: Tue May 20 04:11:23 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Cyclepong 2.0 Message-ID: <001201c8ba51$0c51e4b0$0200a8c0@IainsPC> Hi All, Many of you will remember Cyclepong that I brought to the Christmas Dorkbot. I am pleased to say that it's direct descendant - Cyclepong 2.0 is now completed and on Southwold Pier if anyone wants to play it. Write up here: http://www.lushprojects.com/cyclepong2/ Cheers Iain -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotlondon-blabber/attachments/20080520/aa3e4d4f/attachment.html From dork at zamboodle.demon.co.uk Thu May 22 05:52:08 2008 From: dork at zamboodle.demon.co.uk (Matthew Wilson) Date: Thu May 22 05:52:21 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] Radio & electronics rally @ Newhaven Fort Message-ID: <48354248.1020205@zamboodle.demon.co.uk> Some people on the list might be interested in the following, I was thinking it could be a good venue for some exhibiting of 'people and electronics doing strange things' too maybe... anyway: On the 1st of June is the Newhaven Fort Amateur Radio Group Rally and is also the Fort's open day, it is said to be one of the best Fort museum in the South East http://www.newhavenfort.org.uk/ and there is a radio exhibition and demo room up under one of the main gun emplacements. Info poster (link to PDF file) http://tinyurl.com/6s38te Should be a good day out and the NAFFI will be open for food and drinks. Sellers ?7 per table 0830 hrs set up, all under cover, doors open at 1030 hrs for buyers. Possible Saturday night camping outside fort, caravan or campervan only, but MUST BOOK as space is limited. Any profits from the rally will go towards enhancing the radio museum display at the Fort, the open day proceeds towards the upkeep of the Fort. Newhaven is in Sussex midway between Brighton and Eastbourne and the Fort is well signposted from the centre of the town, Google map here http://tinyurl.com/3wwahz - MDW. From apwl23 at dsl.pipex.com Thu May 29 08:38:07 2008 From: apwl23 at dsl.pipex.com (Sci) Date: Thu May 29 08:38:24 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] A lurker offers parts up for grabs, and a couple of questions Message-ID: <483EA3AF.7070106@dsl.pipex.com> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hey there! I joined the list a while back, but freely admit I've not been active. I've not even found the time to get along to get along to the many things people have listed. So my first question is; where's a good place to start? My second is if people want some technical bits and bobs? I asked some time ago, and got someone who was interested in a load of old SCSI hard-disks I had, but stuff happened and I can't find their email now. So, they're up for grabs again. I also have a large number of switch mode power supplies. I got them from an office clearence with a view to reselling them since they could run on any mains power and provide +5v(3A), +12v(.5A), -5v(.2A). Seemed like they'd be very usefull for hobbiests and small projects. Only problem is after selling a few, someone got back to me saying their ones didn't work. He sugested it was filter caps, but they seem fine to me. I'd like it confirmed. I still wonder if it might be a loading issue (such that it may need power drawn from all rails?) Either way, I'd like to offer up ten of these units to folk to tinker with free of charge, in the hope someone can tell me what is needed to get them to run right. They're from one of the old LAN video networking systems. I only have one of the boxes they're supposed to have powered, and that's not much use for diagnostics without the rest of the network. Any interest? I may be shedding other surplus items over the next few weeks/months. And I'm located in Highams Park, London E4, not far from the station. All the best to you, Peter -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEARECAAYFAkg+o64ACgkQsmvqJ8P41hRXuQCfUio17IVcXAJhcQMz44ifK+ne wc8AoKi5FtZVKrnWkR/XJewzyI7L0s3M =CX9g -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From greenman at muti.tv Fri May 30 09:26:43 2008 From: greenman at muti.tv (Greenman) Date: Fri May 30 09:26:15 2008 Subject: [dorkbotlondon-blabber] SchoolOfEverything.com (Really blatant plug) In-Reply-To: <483EA3AF.7070106@dsl.pipex.com> References: <483EA3AF.7070106@dsl.pipex.com> Message-ID: <48400093.5070100@muti.tv> Hey Drokbots A few months back we got a bit of investment to set up a DotCom. It's been, and continues to be a pretty big adventure. We set up SchoolOfEverything.com to see what we could do to change the way people learn. It's only a few months old, and most of tech is all my own work, so I am very aware of it's limitations - and the amount of work I still need to do, but it's time to punt it out a bit. The site: http://www.schoolofeverything.com At the moment we are aiming at people who see themselves as teachers. So, if you have something that you feel you could teach, could I poke you to sign up ? I would be really interested in knowing what you thought. We also seriously need some more Dorky subjects on there. If you dont really see yourself "teaching", then the next phase of tech may end up more Dorkbotty. In a month or so we will have tools to connect people interested in learning together. I will be back to plug that soon enough ;-) Happy Friday Greenman