Monday, May 31, 2010

Using free USB flight sim FMS with Spektrum DX6i controller | alex stanhope

Using free USB flight sim FMS with Spektrum DX6i controller | alex stanhope:

"The manual (single side of paper) eludes to downloading a driver. I couldn't find one. I think it means FMS.

FMS 7 Beta
http://n.ethz.ch/~mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

Setup new model on DX6i
Model type ACRO (plane, not helicopter) as described at http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29125"

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Installing FMS "fmsdisk01.exe" & Set-up for FMS to Transmitter Remote - Beginner's Forum for RC Helicopters, Airplanes & Cars!

Installing FMS "fmsdisk01.exe" & Set-up for FMS to Transmitter Remote - Beginner's Forum for RC Helicopters, Airplanes & Cars!: "Now click on 'Mapping / Calibration'. The screen that pops up is the HEART & SOUL of configuring FMS to the TX remote.
STEP ONE: Please Make Sure to set the Numbers & Check the boxes the way you see it here. Under 'Channel' column the numbers should read '4,2,1,3, 4,2,1,3,' TOP going DOWN and all the Boxes under the 'Inv' column should be Checked.
STEP TWO: Now click on the 'Calibrate' button. The 'Next' button will come up"

Monday, May 24, 2010

YouTube - ParkZone Vapor with onboard camera

YouTube - ParkZone Vapor with onboard camera: "A completely stripped down pencam that can be had on eBay for $20-$30. They are listed under pencam or spypen. Video taken here was with MP10 version which will also take regular 640x480 pictures. To remove it from the pen just pop the cap (it's glued in) and pull it out. It's stripped down to just the bare circuit board and wrapped in 4 mil 19mm clear heatshrink. The USB plug has also been removed and replaced with a 4-pin connector, saving approximately 1.5g of weight."

Sunday, May 23, 2010

R/C Airplane Flying Techniques | FindHow.com

R/C Airplane Flying Techniques | FindHow.com: "* How to fly an R/C airplane"

ParkZone Vapor - EFlightWiki

ParkZone Vapor - EFlightWiki: "The Vapor is primarily designed for slow indoor flight, and is an excellent performer in this regard. It is capable of high-alpha flight at very low speeds and can turn rapidly, enabling flight in confined spaces. The flying weight of 15g makes the Vapor highly responsive to throttle and control inputs, and the low mass prevents damage in most crashes. The low weight also makes the Vapor sensitive to wind, including currents from air conditioning. Outdoor flight is possible only in dead-calm conditions."

Flying Model Simulator

Flying Model Simulator:

"One of the biggest downfalls of FMS is that the RC Models and Sceneries that are included with the sim are really crappy. Both in looks and in the way the models perform. But there are many people who have taken the time to make sceneries and models that are much better then the originals. You can search 'FMS Downloads' on google to find places to download the additional models for free.

But I went ahead and made it a little bit easier for you. I took all my favorite FMS Sceneries and Models and saved them in one file that is available for free download. Here is the link to download them."

Gary Gunnerson's FMS Models

Gary Gunnerson's FMS Models: "ParkZone Micro
Sukhoi SU-26m"

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Particle Systems in Processing

Particle Systems in Processing:
"9. Adding a spring
10. Fixed isn't stationary
11. It can even be interactive
12. Looping for structures"

Friday, May 21, 2010

toxiclibs

toxiclibs: "This is part 2 of the discussion of the classes & processes provided by the recently released simutils package. The first part of this series dealt with Diffusion-limited Aggregation (DLA) and this next process too is related to the simulated diffusion of particles."

YouTube - u.s navy vintage fire control computers (part 1)

YouTube - u.s navy vintage fire control computers (part 1): "an educational film about vintage u.s navy analog computers."

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Falkenblog

Falkenblog: "At the end of the day most really great economic ideas aren't derived through the formalism of abstruse mathematics, but rather, finding an important parochial problem and solving it, and then fortuitously finding out it has general relevance. Math is merely a way to compliment the exposition of an economic idea, not to prove it: if an idea is only compelling within the context of a complex mathematical proof, it is probably not robust to slight changes in assumptions."

Creative Think: Paradoxes of Creativity

Michael Michalko's Eight Paradoxes of Creativity:

To create, a person must
  • Have knowledge but forget the knowledge;
  • See unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder;
  • Work hard but spend time doing nothing;
  • Create many ideas yet most of them are useless;
  • Look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different;
  • Desire success but learn how to fail;
  • Be persistent but not stubborn; and,
  • Listen to experts but know how to disregard them.

How to Harmonise a Chorale in the Style of Bach - wikiHow

How to Harmonise a Chorale in the Style of Bach - wikiHow: "If you're studying harmony, then you will probably encounter Bach chorales sooner or later. Fed up with the endless rules? Here's a guide teaching you the basics."

How to Harmonize - wikiHow

How to Harmonize - wikiHow: "A good step to harmonizing is to fully know the melody, and then sing to it in a slightly lower pitch not an octave low. If you have another person with you, it also helps to sing with a piano first, and then move on to singing and harmonizing more independently."

Classic Christian Hymns

Classic Christian Hymns: "music downloads, sheet music, mp3, midi, Public Domain and Royalty Free music files."

A computer program is writing great, original works of classical music. Will human composers soon be obsolete? - By Chris Wilson - Slate Magazine

A computer program is writing great, original works of classical music. Will human composers soon be obsolete? - By Chris Wilson - Slate Magazine: "There's a reason Cope talks about composing this way: He is the inventor of the world's most musically creative computer program, whose latest album came out a few weeks ago. Cope has been writing software to help him compose music for 30 years, and he long ago reached the point where most people can't tell the difference between real Bach and the Bach-like compositions his computer can produce. Audiences have been moved to tears by melodies created by algorithms. And yet, it's not exactly that Cope has created a computer than can write music like a human. The way he sees it, it's that humans compose like computers."

TeleHash - Distributed JSON Peering Protocol

TeleHash - Distributed JSON Peering Protocol: "TeleHash is a new wire protocol for exchanging JSON in a real-time and fully decentralized manner, enabling applications to connect directly and participate as servers on the edge of the network. It is designed to efficiently route and distribute small bits of data in order for applications to discover each other directly or in relation to events around piece of shared content. The core benefits of TeleHash over other similar platforms and protocols is that it is both generic (not tied to any specific application or content structures) and is radically decentralized with no servers or points of central control.

It works by sending and receiving very simple small bits of JSON via UDP using an easy routing system based on Kademlia, a proven and popular Distributed Hash Table. Everything within TeleHash is routed based on a generic SHA hash, usually of something specific to an application or something common like a URL."

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

High Scalability - High Scalability

High Scalability - High Scalability: "Entries in queue (2)"

High Scalability - High Scalability - 7 Lessons Learned While Building Reddit to 270 Million Page Views a�Month

High Scalability - High Scalability - 7 Lessons Learned While Building Reddit to 270 Million Page Views a�Month:
"There are seven lessons, each has their own summary section:
Lesson 1: Crash Often;
Lesson 2: Separation of Services;
Lesson 3: Open Schema;
Lesson 4: Keep it Stateless;
Lesson 5: Memcache;
Lesson 6: Store Redundant Data;
Lesson 7: Work Offline."

HOBBY ZONE - Hobby Zone - Night Vapor BNF

HOBBY ZONE - Hobby Zone - Night Vapor BNF: "ParkZone PKZU1180
ETA: 05/25/2010"

MileHighWings

MileHighWings: "USB v.4 Interface for Spektrum DX6i

You need the different interface for JR and other Spektrum transmitters

The package include:

-USB Interface;

-Transmitter Cable;

-CD with set up instructions, USB Calibration Utility, Freeware simulators"

Mini FPV Covert/Hidden Camera - Up to 6 Hours Great Quality Video

Mini FPV Covert/Hidden Camera - Up to 6 Hours Great Quality Video: "Up to 6 Hours Great Quality Video"

For RC plane cam.

Monday, May 17, 2010

prototypes vs classes was: Re: Sun's HotSpot

prototypes vs classes was: Re: Sun's HotSpot: "The big idea is 'messaging' -- that is what the kernal of Smalltalk/Squeak is all about (and it's something that was never quite completed in our Xerox PARC phase). The Japanese have a small word -- ma -- for 'that which is in between' -- perhaps the nearest English equivalent is 'interstitial'. The key in making great and growable systems is much more to design how its modules communicate rather than what their internal properties and behaviors should be. Think of the internet -- to live, it (a) has to allow many different kinds of ideas and realizations that are beyond any single standard and (b) to allow varying degrees of safe interoperability between these ideas."

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Ask Culture vs. Guess Culture

Ask MetaFilter

"This is a classic case of Ask Culture meets Guess Culture.

In some families, you grow up with the expectation that it's OK to ask for anything at all, but you gotta realize you might get no for an answer. This is Ask Culture.

In Guess Culture, you avoid putting a request into words unless you're pretty sure the answer will be yes. Guess Culture depends on a tight net of shared expectations. A key skill is putting out delicate feelers. If you do this with enough subtlety, you won't even have to make the request directly; you'll get an offer. Even then, the offer may be genuine or pro forma; it takes yet more skill and delicacy to discern whether you should accept.

All kinds of problems spring up around the edges. If you're a Guess Culture person -- and you obviously are -- then unwelcome requests from Ask Culture people seem presumptuous and out of line, and you're likely to feel angry, uncomfortable, and manipulated.

If you're an Ask Culture person, Guess Culture behavior can seem incomprehensible, inconsistent, and rife with passive aggression.

Obviously she's an Ask and you're a Guess. (I'm a Guess too. Let me tell you, it's great for, say, reading nuanced and subtle novels; not so great for, say, dating and getting raises.)

Thing is, Guess behaviors only work among a subset of other Guess people -- ones who share a fairly specific set of expectations and signalling techniques. The farther you get from your own family and friends and subculture, the more you'll have to embrace Ask behavior. Otherwise you'll spend your life in a cloud of mild outrage at (pace Moomin fans) the Cluelessness of Everyone.

As you read through the responses to this question, you can easily see who the Guess and the Ask commenters are. It's an interesting exercise."

The Humble Indie Bundle (pay what you want for five awesome indie games)

The Humble Indie Bundle (pay what you want for five awesome indie games): "Now it's our turn to give back. As of 5/11/10, Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru HD, and Penumbra Overture pledge to go open source. We are preparing the sources right now and will be releasing them ASAP. We spent last night preparing Lugaru and it is available now. The code is still a little rough (no Visual Studio project yet, for instance) but hopefully with the help of the community we can rapidly make it more accessible to everyone.

Note, the games will be 'free as in 'free speech', not as in 'free beer'': see each license for the full, finalized details as they come out very hopefully this week -- stay tuned. It is the underlying code that will be made available to everyone."

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Tornado Web Server

Tornado Web Server: "Tornado is an open source version of the scalable, non-blocking web server and tools that power FriendFeed. The FriendFeed application is written using a web framework that looks a bit like web.py or Google's webapp, but with additional tools and optimizations to take advantage of the underlying non-blocking infrastructure."

Monday, May 10, 2010

Python and vim: Two great tastes that go great together

Python and vim: Two great tastes that go great together: "Presentation Overview"

Global IP Network Latency

Global IP Network Latency: "_Figures are in ms. Thresholds are distance sensitive."

Why do some questions get closed for no reason? - Meta Stack Overflow

Why do some questions get closed for no reason? - Meta Stack Overflow:

"You would get much better response if you distilled this question into a technical question, not some rambling storyline with a problem hidden in it... – John Weldon"

Saturday, May 08, 2010

The Illusiveness of the Entirely Useless | MetaFilter

The Illusiveness of the Entirely Useless | MetaFilter: "So, there's a Japanese artistic concept called a Thomasson. In short, they are 'defunct and useless objects, attached to someone's property and aesthetically maintained.' But a more nuanced explanation involves artist Akasegawa Genpei, baseball player Gary Thomasson, and a whole generation of Japanese kids who wandered around Tokyo, looking for architectural abnormalities."

超芸術トマソン報告用紙:::Hyperart Thomasson

超芸術トマソン報告用紙:::Hyperart Thomasson: "Hyperart Thomassson Index Form"

Friday, May 07, 2010

Men's Everyday Work Pants - Duluth Trading Company

Men's Everyday Work Pants - Duluth Trading Company: "Men's Work Pants with 7 pockets, gusseted crotch and more.

Mall store pants can’t come close. Let’s just say that up front. We packed our Everyday Work Pants with more hardworking features – at a more practical price – than you’ll find in any other “everyday” work pants. No scratchy poly-blend fabric, we insist on smooth, soft 8-oz. 100% cotton twill – treated for stain resistance. Triple stitched seams make these pants hold up to a lot more wearings. Bigger belt loops fit belts up to 2' wide. 7 pockets an dual utility straps hold all your gear. And our trademark freedom of movement (F.O.M.™) crotch gusset lets you bend, squat and scale a ladder with ease."

One Div Zero: A Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Programming Languages

One Div Zero: A Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Programming Languages:

"1936 - Alonzo Church also invents every language that will ever be but does it better. His lambda calculus is ignored because it is insufficiently C-like. This criticism occurs in spite of the fact that C has not yet been invented."

Highway Traffic Safety : Men's Health

Highway Traffic Safety : Men's Health:
"Dead Man Driving

Car crashes happen to other guys, right? Maybe they don't have your quick reaction time or uncanny ability to multitask behind the wheel. Or maybe they're simply lesser drivers. If you believe that, let us introduce you to Adam LaBar, 1970-2008. We suspect you'll recognize him. We hope you'll learn from him."

Thursday, May 06, 2010

good coders code, great reuse

good coders code, great reuse:

"The best performance improvement is the transition from the nonworking state to the working state

John Ousterhout"

RecordBrother: A Brave New World

RecordBrother: A Brave New World: "On This stupendous Lp Aldous Huxley Narrates his eerily prophetic Brave New World"

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

THE DEVIN'S ADVOCATE: THE WILHELM SCREAM ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

THE DEVIN'S ADVOCATE: THE WILHELM SCREAM ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT: "The Scream was resurrected by Ben Burtt, the sound designer of the Star Wars films. Burtt is widely held to be one of the great geniuses of Hollywood filmmaking, and is the winner of a number of Oscars, as well as being the voice of the robot Wall-E in the film Wall-E. Burtt found The Wilhelm Scream in a sound vault under the title 'Man Being Eaten By Alligator,' and used it for the cry of a stormtrooper falling down a Death Star chasm in Star Wars."

11 Amazing Fake 'Harry Potter' Books Written In China - 11Points.com

11 Amazing Fake 'Harry Potter' Books Written In China - 11Points.com: "Yesterday, I stumbled upon the Chinese 'Harry Potter' fake book market. Here, it seems, Chinese authors have seized upon the Potter popularity and decided to run with it. It's hard to say how many new 'Harry Potter' books have come out of China -- most of the articles I read put it around a dozen -- I found almost twice that during my research and picked my 11 favorites to share here.

These are 11 amazing fake 'Harry Potter' novels written and bootlegged in China, and a little info I found out about each of them. Although they're truly unbelievable, each of these is very much real."

Amazing Python | High-Quality Programming Screencasts

Amazing Python | High-Quality Programming Screencasts: "This free screencast demonstrates a practical example of how to use Python to solve a relatively difficult problem (an ASCII maze) with ease, thanks to just a few lines of code.

With this informative screencast you will:

* Learn how to solve a class of algorithms that are both common and useful.
* Get a feeling for the power and elegance of the Python language.
* Learn how to approach incremental development to resolve a self-contained problem.
* Solve huge ASCII mazes in mere fractions of a second! ;-)"

Monday, May 03, 2010

Right Wing News

Right Wing News: "Ironically, one of the hottest new books for conservatives is far left-winger Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, which was written way back in 1971."

Sunday, May 02, 2010

CultureLab: Top 10 greatest science fiction detective novels

CultureLab: Top 10 greatest science fiction detective novels: "China Mi�ville's detective story The City And The City is well on its way to being the award-winningest novel of the year. But it's not the only great novel about science fiction/fantasy sleuths. Here are 10 other SF detective classics.

Speculative fiction and detective fiction have a lot in common -- they're both about digging down to the truth of matters. Fictional scientists and explorers, like detectives, follow clues and act on hunches. The truth is enshrouded in an ocean of red herrings and false trails. Plus, a lot of great science fiction authors, like Ray Bradbury and Robert Silverberg, also wrote detective novels, for money or as a change of pace."

CMAP #2: How Books Are Made - Charlie's Diary

CMAP #2: How Books Are Made - Charlie's Diary: "What is the production workflow for a book by a professional author working under contract with a publisher?"

Saturday, May 01, 2010

Edsger Dijkstra - Discipline in Thought - good coders code, great reuse

Edsger Dijkstra - Discipline in Thought - good coders code, great reuse: "In the interview professor Edsger talks about his thoughts on software development. He compares two very different styles of programming - Mozart style of programming vs. Beethoven style of programming. When Mozart started to write, the composition was finished. He wrote manuscript in elegant handwriting in one go. Beethoven was a doubter and a struggler. He started writing before he finished the composition and then glued corrections onto the page. In one place he did it nine times. When they peeled them, the last version proved to be identical to the first one.

From the video one can understand that Edsger preferred Mozart's style of programming. Not just programming, but Mozart style of doing things. He says that the most important thing has been the daily discipline of neatly writing down his thoughts.

His daily discipline lead to hundreds of crystal clear scientific papers, which have now been archived in EWD Archive.

You are welcome to watch interview with Edsger Dijkstra:"

Glenn Vanderburg: Quotations on Software Design

Glenn Vanderburg: Quotations on Software Design:
"This is a collection of quotations (collected from my larger, more general quotes collection) which I see as having some relevance to the craft of programming and software design. There is a conspicuous dominance of quotes which extol the virtues of simplicity (and the deceptive difficulties involved in achieving it)."

Tuffcode - Home

Tuffcode - Home:
"HTTP Scoop 1.4. The HTTP sniffer for Mac OS X."