[Dan Ros] sent in his hack of a twitter talking Big Mouth Billy Bass. Originally he simply had an mbed micrcontroller and an SD card with some wav files allowing Billy to say classic quotes. Wanting to go further however, they used the mbed’s HTTPClient library to grab Twitter updates, and then have Billy say them out loud! Check out some other cool projects the mbed team has in the cookbook.
But wait, whats an mbed? We didn’t have a clue either!
Some researched reveals it is a powerful new microcontroller and prototyping board. With some features such as…

[ Read the rest of the story in the original article... ]

It was an interface that launched a thousand hacks. Near trivial to program, enough I/O lines for useful work, and sufficiently fast for a multitude of applications: homebrew logic analyzers, chip programmers, LCD interfaces and LED light shows, to name a few.
Today the parallel printer port is on the brink of extinction (and good riddance, some would say). Largely rendered obsolete by USB, few (if any) new peripherals even include a parallel connector, and today’s shrinking computers — nettops, netbooks, media center PCs — wouldn’t have space for it anyway. That’s great for tidy desks, but not so…

[ Read the rest of the story in the original article... ]

Many people acknowledge the amazon Kindle as the king of e-readers. However, as the Sony PRS-600 and 300 are about to be released, the challenge has began. Although the details are not that elaborate yet, there are things that have already been confirmed. First, the existence of the devices has been established by Sony. Then some details about what they offer were also given. This is what should make Amazon a little bit concerned about the situation.
As a consumer, the price would be your utmost concern. Kindle 2, which is known for being an older model ever since Kindle…

Postbox
Mail for the MAC
(tags: email postbox mac osx windows)

Outdoor Bridge Range Calculation Utility – Cisco Systems
This document explains how to use the Outdoor Bridge Range Calculation Utility to determine the range for the antenna.
(tags: wireless ccna_wireless)

Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library – Cisco Systems
The Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library consists of the Start Here document, several Implementing Cisco IOS IPv6 process modules, and the Cisco IOS IPv6 Command Reference.

Related posts:links for 2009-08-05 OSPF Design Guide – Cisco Systems Good Cisco Document…links for 2009-08-04 Nerd Vittles » The Wedding Is On: Asterisk and…links…

[ Read the rest of the story in the original article... ]

If you want books, but don’t want to pay for them, there is a better way than walking into your local book store and pocketing them. Try grabbing them online, from Google!
Everyone must be aware of the Google Books Library project by now. If you’re not, it’s basically a way for Google to ensure all of the world’s book content is accessible and searchable. Through the Book Project, Google works with libraries to scan and archive their older and out of print materials. Up until recently, viewers of books in the Google Library Project web space were limited…

[ Read the rest of the story in the original article... ]

Today Slide is announcing the launch of season two of KatalystHQ within their FunSpace Facebook application and with it, a $500,000+ sponsorship by NESTLÉ® HOT POCKETS®. Recently the company claimed that they has laid off a large portion of their sales staff in order to focus “its attention on building a team that will focus on higher-end campaigns, ones in the $500,000 category range.” (Source: GigaOm) Many large developers that I spoke with laughed at the concept, asking “Are there really that many $500,000 plus sponsorships?” Apparently so.

This is the first big sponsorship deal that we’ve heard of from…

[ Read the rest of the story in the original article... ]

The Atmega168 at the heart of every Arduino is an eminently capable chip; its ilk have been seen working as a basic web server, playing back digital audio, even generating TV signals. But as projects continue to grow in sophistication, reality rears its ugly head: Arduino can handle any one of these tasks very well, but it often requires squeezing every last instruction cycle or bit of memory in the device. Even the ’368 chip and the Arduino Mega are stopgap measures. Sooner or later, you have to graduate to long trousers—move up to a more capable microcontroller platform—an uncomfortable change usually involving…

[ Read the rest of the story in the original article... ]

Circuits@Home has been journaling their development of a USB host mode shield for Arduino, which could bring a veritable explosion of mass storage, keyboard input and countless other peripherals (and a corresponding raft of new hacks) to the platform. Currently at the prototype stage, a ready-made shield and library are forthcoming, so keep checking back. Meanwhile, for embedded developers wanting to learn the ropes of USB, the in-progress articles will likely provide some valuable insights.
[thanks Kersny]

[ Read the rest of the story in the original article... ]