Archive for September 3rd, 2008
I was watching one of my favorite TV shows, Good Eats. The episode was titled ‘Pantry Raid VI: Lentils’. One of the recipes was for Lentil Cookies, which sounds really intriguing.
What I knew about lentils, prior to this episode, was zilch. In fact, I think I’ve had lentil soup maybe once in my lifetime. They’re not a popular staple down here in the South, as far as I can tell. And not being a patron of other than a few mainstream ethnic restaurants (primarily Mexican and Italian, with the occasional Waffle House), I don’t recall ever seeing them on a menu.
I think I shall be making those this weekend…
Back in 2003, I designed this Z80 SBC as a proof of concept for using a PIO to control a compact flash card or IDE hard drive. In spite of a few dumb layout errors, I proved it would work and had adequate throughput.
The page linked to above gets a dozen hits per month or so, and I get an inquiry roughly every 2 months asking if a PCB is available. Because I never did anything with the Z80 SBC afterwards, or pursued the SOAPOC design, I regretfully inform the enquirers that no PCB is available.
In about half of these inquiries, it’s mentioned that they’d really like to be able build a little system that’s easy to wrap their head around, uses through-hole construction, and brings back the fun of PCs from the days before 2.4Ghz processors, 500GB drives, and massive operating systems.
The last week or so, I’ve started thinking about revising the Z80 SBC to satisfy these people. I find myself thinking “Adding Ethernet would be pretty easy. And VGA video would be nice…” And before you know it, you’re looking at a BGA FPGA, and something that’s completely incomprehensible to someone who has an interest in computers but hasn’t kept up with all the latest techologies.
“I’m the freaking Governor of Alaska. I didn’t get there by just eating mooseburgers and popping out kids!”
Althouse has a great parody clip of McCain & Palin. Worth watching!
Ironic Sans has a really cool idea for a sundial-type clock.
Now that I’ve seen it, I’m pondering ways to (inexpensively) build one. Unfortunately, I’m not much good with designing mechanical mechanisms like this. Gear rings? Layered platforms with capstan type rollers? While a slip-ring would be ideal for getting power to the lamps (LEDs, whatever), using a pair of wipers for each might be easier and less expensive.
I’m open to ideas…