Endpoints are essentially the USB addresses that USB data is sent to or from. Now, here is the trick. The transfer direction naming convention is a bit unintuitive. Contrary to — at least — what I imagined, an IN Endpoint will transfer USB data from the USB device to the host PC, while an OUT Endpoint […]
Bye, bye Vacation !
I took a break for almost two months and it was so good ! Away from any disturbance, just us, the Sea and some books. The first couple of weeks slipped away almost unnoticed. There’s something special about Mediterranean… exerts an irresistible charm. Laying on that sea’s shore I can just close my eyes and […]
…and the order from DigiKey
Ok. Today was THE mail day. I’ve received both my electronic parts orders, the one from RF Parts and the one from DigiKey, that I placed several weeks ago (but had some issues with a couple of backordered items). Ta–Da ! This is it: A lot of bags and goodies. Not to mention the pleasure of sorting […]
My first order from RF Parts…
I was looking for a RF power module for my APRS beacon project and stumbled upon RF Parts. They are somehow of a niche–oriented online electronic part retailers, specialised on RF and — it seems — mostly on Ham Radio RF parts. I placed my order for two Mitsubishi power RF MOSFET Amplifier Modules and the package […]
Red and Green
This will be a very short post. And only for the blog. I have a sweet spot (call it idiosyncrasy) for stationery. I mean, some people do heroin, some do alcohol, some do Oprah. I am addicted to stationery. Put me in a stationery shop — you can leave me there all day (give or take), […]
Weird man
I could hardly describe the pleasure of finding my mailbox full of magazines, brochures and thick envelopes. It’s psychological mojo probably goes back in my childhood days, when I was expecting my Topolino subscription, a magazine that my mother managed to get for me with some crazy efforts and connections. For those of you who do […]
Thank you, Mouser and Texas Instruments !
Mailbag today. Guess my surprise when I found this in my mailbox: It’s always nice to receive snail mail. Paper mail. Envelopes, magazines and newspapers. That’s why I try to subscribe to receive printed editions of all magazines of interest for me. Some time ago I signed a promo email from Texas Instruments in cooperation […]
2014
Back from a long vacation. Then I resumed my office work. A lot of things to do so I neglected this blog for a while. 2013 went in smoke. Not a very nice year, but not too tough either. However, one year I was not very fond of. I am looking back to some stakes […]
FTDI Chip Utilities
I was struggling for some time to make my Mac communicate via bulk endpoints with an Arduino. It is part of a larger project of an USB-controlled Lab PSU that I am currently in prototype stage. Part of these problems solved when I finally realized that you cannot use Arduino serial ports to mimic USB […]
Ham Radio certification passed !
I added a new category/ topic on this blog because last week I successfully passed my Ham Radio certification ! This is something I wanted to do for a long time but had not much time to study and prepare for the exam. One of my relatives was a long time experienced class I Ham […]
Home improvements
I’ve been quite busy the past few weeks doing improvements to this blog. I have used the twenty-ten WordPress theme that I was never very happy with. Not a big deal, anyway. The content is much more important. But the biggest complaint that I had was with an endless list of plugins that I installed […]
DIY Fridge Magnets
I love fridge magnets. We love fridge magnets (my wife likes them too). This is how our fridge looks like: But we also love beer. And we have a large collection of beer bottle caps and coasters. So I thought to combine these and make the caps stick to the refrigerator. Now, what you need […]
Junk box
Yesterday I had a less busy day. Partly due to Halloween and All Saints’ Day, not much to do at work than to go over older emails, looking over missed tasks etc. I would rule for one such day each second week at last. It is incredible how well keeps you organized and how efficient […]
Scavenging for electronic parts
Not very often I have the occasion to salvage some good parts from throw–away devices. Two days ago I found an empty TV set carcass lying on the sidewalk with some pieces left. The rest was — probably — savagely ripped off for copper and some other metals. It’s a bit of shame to see […]
Spam stupidity
Cleaned my spam list in the blog today. I am constantly amazed by the stupidity of these bots. Just a rant. Have a great day.
CSS generators for fast web page styling
While revamping my blog, I ran over several CSS generators that are freely available on the web. These considerably speed up the process of styling your web. So I though would be nice to share some links. Some might be interested. Gradient CSS generators One of the best CSS generators is ColorZilla, available also as […]
Plans for 2013
Another year started. Been so busy in the past month that I was unable to articulate some thoughts on my plans for 2013. This helps bringing some structured approach and — having a tendency to do many things at a time — should provide some prioritization. First, I would deepen my knowledge. In programming, in electronics and […]
How to use XCode 4 Exception Breakpoints
I will probably write a longer article on exception handling in XCode, for now just a quickie: how to use XCode 4 exception breakpoints, use the breakpoint customization features and get useful information for debugging. Usually when the app is crashing, a lot of cryptical mumbo-jumbo is displayed in the console. You have to dig the […]
Stuff to read
This is very, very short. Books I have to read. But I really, really have to read: Art of electronics book Art of electronics student book Masterminds of programming
Foam board drawer
More than a year ago I posted this. It was the beginning of this blog and the beginning of my personal space for hobbies and small DIY projects, a very crammed and tiny space that I have in my apartment. I cannot imagine how quickly time passed and how less and less available time I have for […]
JFET Circuit Analysis – great tutorials on YouTube
Looking for some detailed information about JFET circuit analysis, I ran today into three excellent videos posted by Bournemouth University. Already subscribed to them. The videos are part of Linear and Switching Circuits Series and target the following topics: Performing the DC JFET circuit analysis of a simple JFET self-bias amplifier (to find the circuit […]
Toshiba Satellite, L855
Several years ago I completely switch to Apple starting with an iPod and culminating, some months later, with an iMac, a 13″ MacBook and, finally, with a QuadCore i7 MacBook Pro. Still very happy with may MBP, and things got better and better with each OSX release. Now, with Mountain Lion cannot be more satisfied. […]
Memories of childhood
Found and bought, joy of my friend’s kids.
Redesigning the blog
I decided a need a new theme for this blog. Rolled my sleeves and started to work.
A tiny workspace
Haven’t been online and active for some time. I was very busy accommodating a small workspace in the living room. I have some IKEA pieces of furniture that I did not want to modify extensively, but to adapt somehow for my small projects. I built a shelf and a custom drawer, now being almost done […]