You are viewing [info]ryltar's journal

Ryltar's Glitch Zone
Bug Reports
Recent Entries 
5th-Mar-2012 10:54 am - [Glitch Tech] Checkbook HD v1.0.7
Mad Scientist
Checkbook HD is now at v1.0.7. This is the first time I have felt comfortable enough with the app to give it the version of at least 1.

In version 1.0.7, there are three new systems: Budgeting, Searching, and Split Transactions. These systems are what they sound like. The budget system allows one to create and track spending based on categories. Searching allows one to search by text strings, date ranges, accounts, transaction status, etc. Split transactions allows one to assign multiple categories to a single transaction.

Also in v1.0.7 is a fix to a major issue that has been plaguing Checkbook since the webOS update to 3.0.5. The fix should take care of the majority of the long loading issues. I've also implemented a fix into the Import/Export systems that should take care of some issues they were having.
19th-Feb-2012 11:15 am - [Glitch Tech] MakerBot Replicator
Mad Scientist
Just bought a MakerbBot Replicator. I am very excited to say the least. Odds are I'm going to burn though the initially provided 2kg of abs plastic with a week or two of arrival. It'll be pretty fun (and frustrating I'm sure) to build new parts for my robotics work and costume bits. I know one of the first costume parts I'm building is going to be for Mass Effect 3 costumes, the M-5 Phalanx. More to come when the 3d printer arrives.
25th-Jan-2012 03:20 pm - [Glitch Tech] 1/25/2012 03:20:00 PM
Mad Scientist
Today HP released Enyo as open source. They also announced Enyo 2, which will increase its cross platform & browser compatibility (along with many more great changes). That makes today a great day. With this release, I can code once and deploy a web app to webOS, Android, iOS, and other WebKit enabled browsers with ease.

With Enyo 2, I'll be able to write it once and deploy it on all those systems and on any web browser with modern web runtime. Enyo 2 currently does not have UI elements built in but that is planned for a March 2012. With that release, it'll be fun to see what I can convert at work to use this new and awesome framework.

I'm not the best at reporting all that is going on, so I direct you to enyojs.com. That is where the framework now exists (and on github, that is linked from the enyojs homepage).
9th-Dec-2011 01:08 pm - [Glitch Tech] 12/09/2011 01:02:00 PM
Mad Scientist
So webOS, my favorite mobile os, is becoming open source. Good. I am eager (and slightly fearful) of what is to come now.


The bad is all the unknowns of a big company open sourcing a product they don't seem to care for at times. Will HP only opensource it and then forget it or will the entire ecosystem flourish under this license? Will the software die without a dedicated hardware platform?


The good news is it'll be easier for me to write my apps for multiple OSes and for the web in general. So eventually Checkbook (and whatever other apps I decide to build/open up) will be available in all sorts of places and on many operating systems.


http://www.precentral.net/hp-open-source-webos-no-hardware-plans-or-partners-announced
http://www.precentral.net/open-source-plan
8th-Jul-2011 12:05 pm - [Glitch Tech] Testing
Mad Scientist
Testing integration into a new system.
9th-Jun-2011 11:34 pm - [Glitch Tech] Website Redesign
Mad Scientist
I recently redesigned the GlitchTech Science website. While I did not
add much design related content, I did several chunks of code behind
the website. The site now uses jQuery UI in several areas. The most
visible items are the left side navigation (I still need to tweak it
more) and the home page blog view.

I'm not fully happy with the navigation system on the site yet. It is
function though, and I do like it better than the previous system. For
those who didn't see it, the previous system was a top bar with
mouse-over drop downs. It was easy to move your mouse outside of the
drop down element and loose the stack. Not the best way to do things.
Now the sidebar relies on mouse clicks on the arrows. Clicking one
opens a section. Clicking the title of the section has inconsistent
behavior. If it is a link, it will take you to that webpage. If it
isn't, it doesn't do anything. In a future revision I need to make it a
more consistent interaction. I'd also like to make it so a section will
open up if it contains a link to the current page.

The blog view uses the RSS feed from the blogger account to render the
content. It uses MagpieRSS to parse the XML content. The content is
then formatted and placed in a jQuery UI Accordion system. This allows
me to have three of the most recent posts rendered with all the content
present and then have a list of links to past posts in a fourth divider.

Besides those visible changes, I also changed a few areas of the PHP
code running things. I'm most happy with my changes to the navigation
code. Before it was a jumble of links manually typed out. Now it is a
recursive list generator based on the array passed in. The array can be
nested as deep as needed, too deep of a nesting makes for a horrible
list to navigate. If you are interested in the code, it is beyond the
jump.

echo "
    \n" . buildNavigation( $headerLinks ) . "
\n";
function buildNavigation( $arrayIn ) {
$naviOut = "";
foreach( $arrayIn as $key => $value ) {
$count = 0;
$external = "";
$key = str_replace( "[ext]", "", $key, $count );
if( $count > 0 ) {
$external = " onclick='return( popUp( this.href ) );'";
}
if( is_array( $value ) ) {
if( array_key_exists( '_LINK_', $value ) ) {
$naviOut .= "
  • [Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] ">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

    I recently redesigned the GlitchTech Science website. While I did not
    add much design related content, I did several chunks of code behind
    the website. The site now uses jQuery UI in several areas. The most
    visible items are the left side navigation (I still need to tweak it
    more) and the home page blog view.

    I'm not fully happy with the navigation system on the site yet. It is
    function though, and I do like it better than the previous system. For
    those who didn't see it, the previous system was a top bar with
    mouse-over drop downs. It was easy to move your mouse outside of the
    drop down element and loose the stack. Not the best way to do things.
    Now the sidebar relies on mouse clicks on the arrows. Clicking one
    opens a section. Clicking the title of the section has inconsistent
    behavior. If it is a link, it will take you to that webpage. If it
    isn't, it doesn't do anything. In a future revision I need to make it a
    more consistent interaction. I'd also like to make it so a section will
    open up if it contains a link to the current page.

    The blog view uses the RSS feed from the blogger account to render the
    content. It uses MagpieRSS to parse the XML content. The content is
    then formatted and placed in a jQuery UI Accordion system. This allows
    me to have three of the most recent posts rendered with all the content
    present and then have a list of links to past posts in a fourth divider.

    Besides those visible changes, I also changed a few areas of the PHP
    code running things. I'm most happy with my changes to the navigation
    code. Before it was a jumble of links manually typed out. Now it is a
    recursive list generator based on the array passed in. The array can be
    nested as deep as needed, too deep of a nesting makes for a horrible
    list to navigate. If you are interested in the code, it is beyond the
    jump.

    echo "<ul id='nav'>\n" . buildNavigation( $headerLinks ) . "</ul>\n";
    function buildNavigation( $arrayIn ) {
    $naviOut = "";
    foreach( $arrayIn as $key => $value ) {
    $count = 0;
    $external = "";
    $key = str_replace( "[ext]", "", $key, $count );
    if( $count > 0 ) {
    $external = " onclick='return( popUp( this.href ) );'";
    }
    if( is_array( $value ) ) {
    if( array_key_exists( '_LINK_', $value ) ) {
    $naviOut .= "<li><a href='" . $value['_LINK_'] . "'" .
    $external . ">" . $key . "</a>";
    unset( $value['_LINK_'] );
    } else {
    $naviOut .= "<li>" . $key;
    }
    $naviOut .= "\n<ul>\n";
    $naviOut .= buildNavigation( $value );
    $naviOut .= "</ul>\n";
    $naviOut .= "</li>\n";
    } else {
    $naviOut .= "<li><a href='" . $value . "'" . $external . ">" .
    $key . "</a></li>\n";
    }
    }
    return $naviOut;
    }
  • Mad Scientist
    GlitchTech Checkbook, a financial management application, allows you to
    efficiently track your finances on your Android-enabled device.
    Checkbook allows you to create many different accounts, and each
    account can hold thousands of transactions. Track incomes, expenses,
    and transfers between accounts with ease, and back up your data with
    Google Spreadsheets. Checkbook is currently in development, with new
    features added often.


    To get GlitchTech Checkbook, choose a method below:

    - Download 'GlitchTech Checkbook' from the Android Marketplace
    - Scan the image below with a QR Code reader GlitchTech Checkbook
    QR Code

    9th-May-2011 02:47 pm - Mold Making Question
    Mad Scientist
    I want to get into mold making. Looking into Smooth-On Brush-On Silicone Starter Kit. Anyone use it before? Would this be proper for prop making and any clue to as to what the volumes of materials included in the kit are?
    Mad Scientist
    For the final project in my analog electronics course, the assignment
    was to make an analog circuit. This circuit had to have at least three
    transistors or op-amps and do something. Some groups are making amps
    for their guitar, others are build analog computers. I decided to
    rebuild one of my first robots in analog form.
    Originally this bot used an ATMega8 to follow a line on the ground. It
    used a couple photo-resistors and LEDs to determine if it was on the
    line. The Thing worked pretty well, but had some trouble on low
    contrast surfaces.
    In its analog rebirth, I am using only transistors to make the same
    logic decision as before. I'm also only using a single photo-transistor
    to follow the line instead of several photo-resistors. This version of
    The Thing will use a home made PCB instead of a tangle of wires
    soldered directly to the pins.

    I started off by using other analog robots as resources to figure out
    what sort of design I needed. After a lot of digging and some testing I
    eventually ended up with a schematic and parts list in Eagle CAD
    (awesome circuit design program). Using Eagle awesomeness, I turned it
    into a single layer PCB design.

    Board schematic [Eagle CAD]

    Board design file [Eagle CAD]
    I decided to make my own PCB instead of using a breadboard. The process
    of actually making my own board would give me brownie points, if not
    actual points, on my final project.

    I thought about ordering a short run but the production and shipping
    times for sites like BatchPCB would put delivery after the project was
    due. The cost of doing a short run elsewhere was too high for me to
    consider as well. So I went with etching my own at home.

    My first search brought me to the Society of Robots website and a guide
    there on making a PCB. It listed all of the steps but was very vague on
    some of the materials or curing periods. I ended up following a guide
    posted by the Cal Poly Robotics Club. To my surprise, Radio Shack still
    carries etchant solution and copper clad boards. The etchant is
    actually a ferric chloride (MSDS). I picked up a bottle and a board and
    started to work that night.

    Using a laser printer available on campus, I printed out my design onto
    some glossy paper and ironed it onto the cleaned and scrubbed board.
    After a lot of soaking and scrubbing and more soaking, I got most of
    the paper off. Next time I need to use lower quality paper, it did not
    want to break down/dissolve/act wet even after an hour submerged and
    scrubbed. About 95% of the ink traces were intact. I fixed those that
    weren't with some permanent marker.

    Inked copper clad board
    The etching process went much quicker. I poured about 1/4 to 1/2 in of
    etchant into a plastic container and microwaved it for 30ish seconds
    (outside of course, I don't know what the heated chemical odors could
    do to me and I would rather not experience them first hand). I tossed
    in the board and kept the liquid moving the whole time. Every so often
    I would take the board out and gently wipe it off with a paper towel.
    This helped speed up the process greatly. After 20 to 25 minutes, the
    board was done. I washed it off with soapy water to make sure the
    etchant was gone. Then I washed the board with acetone to get rid of
    all the ink.

    Etched and cleaned board
    A few basic tests with a multimeter showed that all the traces were
    good. Nothing connected where it shouldn't have either. Not bad for my
    first try. The next step is to drill out the holes and solder in the
    components. Sadly, I forgot to purchase a bit small enough to work. The
    smallest I have is 1/16in and I need something closer to 1/32in bit for
    the through hole components.

    I'll be checking Ace for a tiny drill bit tomorrow. I'm bringing along
    a few components to make sure the sizing is correct.
    Mad Scientist
    For the final project in my analog electronics course, the assignment
    was to make an analog circuit. This circuit had to have at least three
    transistors or op-amps and do something. Some groups are making amps
    for their guitar, others are build analog computers. I decided to
    rebuild one of my first robots in analog form.
    Originally this bot used an ATMega8 to follow a line on the ground. It
    used a couple photo-resistors and LEDs to determine if it was on the
    line. The Thing worked pretty well, but had some trouble on low
    contrast surfaces.
    In its analog rebirth, I am using only transistors to make the same
    logic decision as before. I'm also only using a single photo-transistor
    to follow the line instead of several photo-resistors. This version of
    The Thing will use a home made PCB instead of a tangle of wires
    soldered directly to the pins.

    I started off by using other analog robots as resources to figure out
    what sort of design I needed. After a lot of digging and some testing I
    eventually ended up with a schematic and parts list in Eagle CAD
    (awesome circuit design program). Using Eagle awesomeness, I turned it
    into a single layer PCB design.

    Board schematic [Eagle CAD]

    Board design file [Eagle CAD]
    I decided to make my own PCB instead of using a breadboard. The process
    of actually making my own board would give me brownie points, if not
    actual points, on my final project.

    I thought about ordering a short run but the production and shipping
    times for sites like BatchPCB would put delivery after the project was
    due. The cost of doing a short run elsewhere was too high for me to
    consider as well. So I went with etching my own at home.

    My first search brought me to the Society of Robots website and a guide
    there on making a PCB. It listed all of the steps but was very vague on
    some of the materials or curing periods. I ended up following a guide
    posted by the Cal Poly Robotics Club. To my surprise, Radio Shack still
    carries etchant solution and copper clad boards. The etchant is
    actually a ferric chloride (MSDS). I picked up a bottle and a board and
    started to work that night.

    Using a laser printer available on campus, I printed out my design onto
    some glossy paper and ironed it onto the cleaned and scrubbed board.
    After a lot of soaking and scrubbing and more soaking, I got most of
    the paper off. Next time I need to use lower quality paper, it did not
    want to break down/dissolve/act wet even after an hour submerged and
    scrubbed. About 95% of the ink traces were intact. I fixed those that
    weren't with some permanent marker.

    Inked copper clad board
    The etching process went much quicker. I poured about 1/4 to 1/2 in of
    etchant into a plastic container and microwaved it for 30ish seconds
    (outside of course, I don't know what the heated chemical odors could
    do to me and I would rather not experience them first hand). I tossed
    in the board and kept the liquid moving the whole time. Every so often
    I would take the board out and gently wipe it off with a paper towel.
    This helped speed up the process greatly. After 20 to 25 minutes, the
    board was done. I washed it off with soapy water to make sure the
    etchant was gone. Then I washed the board with acetone to get rid of
    all the ink.

    Etched and cleaned board
    A few basic tests with a multimeter showed that all the traces were
    good. Nothing connected where it shouldn't have either. Not bad for my
    first try. The next step is to drill out the holes and solder in the
    components. Sadly, I forgot to purchase a bit small enough to work. The
    smallest I have is 1/16in and I need something closer to 1/32in bit for
    the through hole components.

    I'll be checking Ace for a tiny drill bit tomorrow. I'm bringing along
    a few components to make sure the sizing is correct.

    Source: http://glitchtech.blogspot.com/2011/04/analog-line-follower-custom-pcb-part-1_22.html
    This page was loaded May 19th 2012, 5:11 am GMT.