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Entries tagged 'cat:incomplete'

This category is for posts that are not quite finished, yet. This content may or may not make sense depending on how severly a post is not finished, yet. You may find here abandoned projects, outdated information, empty posts, posts without their most crucial part, or generally incomplete p

Distinguishing Line Separation in Texts

When reading an article or a book I often accidently read a line several times because I slip at the moment where my eyes run back to the beginning of a line. I thought maybe there could be a solution to this. My need for a solution for this problem may be unique. Probably almost everybody knows from expereince what I mean by slipping into the wrong line on a line break. But it sometimes really prevents fluid reading for me. So I thought of a few ways of formatting or presenting a text in a way that prevents this slipping.

The basic idea is to separate every other line visually so that it is intuitively obvious which line comes next when jumping to the beginning of the next line after a line break. An interlacing pattern that does not disturb the reading but just slightly guides the reader into automatically falling into the correct line after a line break. This may be an alternating pattern, marking every second line, or a more elaborate one that repeats overy three or more lines. In theory any such method should be possible to implement in a e-book reader. Maybe that would get me to switch from paper books to a tablet-like device.

One already commonly used mothod to achieve the same is alternating white and gray backgrounds. For some reason this is only commonly used with tables. Any colour combination could be used.

Another idea is to mark the line beginnings and endings in the free space left and right of the text. I like the idea of different shapes, e.g. a filled circle, a cross and a square outline; three symbolds that aren't easily confused on first sight.

The following I like best, visually, but it interferes with existing common formatting. The end of every second line becomes bolder at the end; the beginning of every other line starts out bold and becomes less so towards the middle of the lin, creating alternating lines of bold at the beginning and bold at the end. This way when you reach a line break on a thick line, you should continue on the next thick line after the line break. You may keep any typos that you may find in the following example.

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Not Yet Written Posts

This is just a list of topics I may want to write a post about at some point. I'll refer to it in the unlikely scenario that I want to take some time writing something but don't know what. I don't really know why I made this public. I'bve read a good argument recently on not keeping such a list. And it's neither complete nor up to date anyway. I think I'll remove this entry. But not today.

  • Posts that I wrote for other web sites that are not online anymore
  • Sharing posts that I wrote for other web sites that are still online
  • Web sites that I started but that never went online (casemodding, t-shirts, ...)
  • A generic post about programmes that I've written that nobody ever saw because it never got into a state in which it would have been worth sharing before I lost interest in the project. (DOS and Windows software)
  • Zeitraffervideos (RdB hauptsächlich)
  • RGB mood lights
  • old crappy case mods
  • Generating BMP files with bash
  • https://winworldpc.com/home
  • http://toastytech.com/guis/
  • Reverse Proxy Services: localhost.run, ngrok, serveo, sish
  • My Serendipity
  • GalaCon 2022
  • Lucid Dreaming Electronic Devices
  • YouTube Clients
  • Klik & Play Games
  • short post about blucid intro recognising the musician
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My Favourite Movies

I've been meaning to put together this list for years but never took the time to do it properly. I'm not taking that time right now, either. But I'm starting with a few titles and am hoping that I'll find the time to fill this list peace by piece over the next weekscenturies.

These aren't really my favourite movies and shows. It would be nearly impossible to compile such a list. Some of them I enjoyed very much, some of them probably are among my favourites, but some I'd just like to share because I think more people should be aware of them.

Movies made me cry and are actually dramas

Title Year Genre Keywords or reasons why I like it
And Then I Go 2017 Drama empathy, youthful, drama
The Cure 1995 Drama/Comedy sad, adventurous, sickness, drama
Pay it Forward 2000 Drama/Romance sad, drama, naivety
Die Beste Aller Welten 2017 Drama Austrian German Language, drama, drugs, small child
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things 2004 Drama sad, fucked up, drugs
Honey Boy 2019 Drama sad, emotional abuse, mental health
I Know My First Name Is Steven 1989 Drama Child Obduction, Abuse,

Movies that made me laugh a lot

Title Year Genre Keywords or reasons why I like it
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 2004 Comedy funny, absurd, drama, romance
Airplane! 1980 Comedy/Romance absurd, funny, romance
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective 1994 Comedy Silly, Cheap
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls 1995 Comedy Silly, Cheap
Office Space 1999 Comedy Rebellious, Non-caring, Revenge, Crime though

Child psychopath movies and movies that I put in the same category despite not being about psychopathy

Title Year Genre Keywords or reasons why I like it
The Good Son 1993 Soft Psychological Thriller interesting, tragedy
We Need to Talk About Kevin 2011 Psychological Thriller emotions, tragedy
The Boy 2015 Light Horror suspense
Luminous Motion 1998 Drama fun, adventurous, fucked up?

Sweet movies (Wholesome movies)

Title Year Genre Keywords or reasons why I like it
Harold and Maude 1971 Comedy/Romance sweet
Chef 2014 Comedy/Drama sweet
The Queen's Gambit (miniseries) 2020 Drama sweet
Malcolm 1986 Comedy? sweet, criminal though
Once 2007 Drama, Romance Music, Charming, Mellow, Sweet

Weird movies (Movies that I find or found confusing or hard to understand or that have a very unusual way of telling a story and that I like for it)

Title Year Genre Keywords or reasons why I like it
Stay 2005 Drama(/Mystery) (Thriller?) Dreamlike, Mental Health
I'm Thinking of Ending Things 2020 Drama, Thriller Dreamlike, Serious
Memento 2000 Mystery, Thriller Crime, Violence
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Klik & Play

I have been wanting to write about this piece of 16 bit Windows software for a quite a while. I don't know why.

I'll just start this entry and continue whenever. Just want to have it started for now…

When I got my first own computer - that must have been around 1996 or 1998 (probably closer to 1998) - I got most of the software that I used for free from magazines that came with diskettes or CDs. Because it was cheap. I reckon the publishers didn't really pay for the software that was on them, or may even have gotten payed for including restricted freeware/shareware on them. Because most of these magazines weren't even pricey for the magazine themselves, and you got the software for free. One of these disks included a demo of "Klik & Play" (That's how it's spelled everywhere. I'm pretty sure it was spelled "Klik 'n' Play" in the logo/intro animation, though. But whatever.) A programme that promised to enable the user to create computer games without previous knowledge, without writing any code, without knowing how to programme at all. I checked it out just because it was there. I remember thinking "who are they trying to fool with that language and why?" because of the slogan and promises (that I don't remember word by word). But after playing with it for a while, I was positively surprised by how true the claims seemed to be. You could really create a video game without knowing how to code.

I thought this piece of software genius back in the day. I was - idk - 12 and hadn't really thought of writing my own software. Computer software, in the minds of the people that I had to do, wasn't something that you wrote or edited yourself. Creating your own programme, writing your own code wasn't really in the realm of possible things to do with a computer. Almost as much as it is viewed now. I mean, editing a .BAT file in DOS was the hackiest one would get among my friends, and even that was rare. So the fact that the developers (Europress Software - Wikipedia credits Francois Lionet and Yves Lamoureux) managed to allow me, to create a simple, 2D, actually playable game, and the way they managed to allow this by using mostly to only the mouse, impressed me.

I think I don't want to explain how creating a game with Klik & Play works in detail. You can search the web or watch a video for that. But to get an idea of what it was like, and of how simple it was: On any given screen ("level") you can click an icon to add an object. You can select from a number of categories or add your own graphics and GIF animations. Then you could choose whether that object is just a background object (not doing anything, not moving, not interacting with other objects, not changing, ...) or if it represents one of the players. If it's a player, you can choose a set of controls. Most of the actual programming takes place in a table. On one axis are all the objects, on another axis something that can happen to or with them. And in the fields of the table, you choose what's supposed to happen when this circumstance ever comes true. So the table sort of represents a huge set of possible interrupts. Common things that can be acted upon are: An object touches an edge of the screen, an object touches another object, a key has been pressed and released, ... And examples for possible actions are: Move an object by incrementing/decreasing coordinates or by setting them to a fixed value, changing an objects velocity, jumping to the next or a specific screen ("level") in the game, increasing the player's points by 1. Just with there few examples, you could: Make the player object jump when you hit the space bar (e.g. in a jump&run style game), make it stand on the ground object and platforms (e.g. in a platform style game), make it move left and right when you hit the arrow keys, make it reappear on the other side of the screen when it leaves of side (like in Asteroids), make it collect and count coins, make it die when it touches a deadly enimy and only one life was left on the counter, go to the next level when this one is won, ... and much more.

Note that this is all done by only clicking on objects, buttons, lists, menus. Once you got used to the interface and know what's available, it's really easy to use. There is a feature that makes getting started with a new game even easier though. You can run the game in a mode where every event for which an action can be defined, interrupts the game and lets you choose an action (or choose that for this event it shouldn't ask/interrupt again) and then continue the game. The ball touched a stone, what do you want to happen? Bounce the ball, delete the stone object, increase variable A by 1, play CLICK.WAV. The ball touched the left edge of the screen. What do you want to happen? Bounce the ball, play CLACK.WAV. …

I think I could have handled writing code myself at that age, at least after having created some silly game-like things in Klik & Play. But nobody showed me and teaching myself seemed overwhelming. (It wasn't really. Good books and reference guides existed back then. But I didn't know.) Anyway.

You could play the game file by opening it with Klik & Play or you could compile it, which produced two files: an 16 bit EXE and a game file. I think the latter contained all the graphics and sounds and the executable was the actual game. But I'm not sure.

There were a number of programmes around in the 90s that promised to let you programme and/or create your own games without knowing anything about computers first (or that made some similar claims of that sort.) I tried two others, that took a completely different approaches. But I think they deserve their own entries. I could probably plan to make a series about these sort of tools where I start with the goal to create a complete list of functional, worth mentioning programmes, and end up with a pile of unexpected feelings of resignation over the fact that there are too many products to mention, like I did with alternative operating systems.

(tbd: proofreading, add links, add screenshots, fix misremembered details, write continuation about Klik & Play games.)

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PIN Changer

I had to change the default PINs of over 200 SIM cards once. And such a situation could arise again. So I've built a PIN changer in which I just have to insert the card, wait a few seconds and it's done.

The Card Slots

SIM cards in their natural form factor aren't as fiddly to handle as they are in the form factors most people know, which is Mini SIM, Micro SIM and Nano SIM. Classical SIM cards are the same size as other smart cards. I found a card slot with an end switch on eBay. I like it when I find industry grade parts for cheap on eBay as part of some remaining stock. Additionally I've used a slide-in mini SIM slot and another, separate end switch from my parts collection in case I to change the PINs of smaller cards.

The Baseband Processor

Other parts that I've used is an Arduino Nano sized Arduino Nano nearly-clone and an A6 modem module. There are many similar modem modules designed around different but similar ICs. Many of them are cheap and widely used for DIY IoT projects. So example code for the Arduino and other help can be easily found on the web. I don't know why I went with a module with an A6. But it works fine and there are an Arduino library for it as well as cheap modem modules with it available.

(tba:voltage supply)

The Controller

Yes, Arduino may be kind of the noob go-to board and could look up how to use microcontrollers on their own finally and even if I don't want to I could finally start to use ESP32s like everybody else. But I know Arduinos and by now I'm familiar with it and it works, so, whatever. Arduino Nano is kind of my go-to form factor now because they have integraded USB, are Uno compatible and small. Unless I need more or something very specific I use Arduino Nano almost-clones with USB-C port.

The Code

The code is a real mess. It had been a long time since I had written any even halfway serious C. It may have been the first time, actually. The sketch surely is very easily improved by somebody who knows what they are doing. I intended to improve it myself. But the project is currently abandoned and The code is doing what it should in a way I initially had in mind as the goal. But I'll leave the mess of the comments in for the case that somebody wants to make out what I was thinking.


// Funktionen umschreiben: Beim Empfangen wird erwartet: 1. der AT-Command zurück, 2. eine Antwort, 3. OK oder ein ERROR.
//                         Daher sollte abgefragt werden, bis entweder OK oder ERROR kam oder 20/50/9001(?) Abfragen lang weder OK noch ERROR an kam.
//                         Die Antwort in Variable speichern? Naja, String zurückgeben halt.
//                         Antworten, die mit "^" anfangen brauchen nicht gehandlet zu werden, da keine Kommandos, die mit AT^ beginnen gesendet werden.


#include  

SoftwareSerial A6MODULE(6,7);
int intled = 13; // Internal LED
int successled = 8; // Green LED
int failled = 9; // Red LED
int wrongpinled = 10; // Orange LED

boolean debug=true;

//String commands[5] = { "AT", "AT+CPINC2", "AT+CPIN?", "AT+CLCK=\"SC\",2", "AT+CPIN=\"3010\"" };
//int command = 0;

const byte maxmsglength = 32;
char received[maxmsglength];
boolean newData = false;
String response = "";

int i=0;

/*
To check/do:
1  AT: OK?
2  is PUK required - abort
3  are less than 3 PIN attempts left? - abort AT^CPINC=?
4  is PIN disabled
       5  enable it: 0000
6  is PIN enabled
       7  unlock
8  is card unlocked
       9  change PIN: 1996
              was PIN wrong - report and leave it
*/


void setup() {
  pinMode(intled, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(successled, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(failled, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(wrongpinled, OUTPUT);
  // All LEDs turn on at the beginning and stay on during the wait period at the beginning, then turn off before communication with the A6 module starts.
  digitalWrite(intled, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(successled, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(failled, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(wrongpinled, HIGH);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  delay(500);
  digitalWrite(intled, LOW);
  digitalWrite(successled, LOW);
  digitalWrite(failled, LOW);
  digitalWrite(wrongpinled, LOW);
  A6MODULE.begin(9600);
  delay(500);
  digitalWrite(intled, LOW);
}

void loop() {
  sendtoa6("AT");
  if(getfroma6("OK")) {
//    sendtoa6("AT+CPIN?");
//    if(getfroma6("+CPIN:SIM PUK")) { fail; }         // If the required password is PUK, abort.
//    sendtoa6("AT+CPIN?");
//    if(getfroma6("+CPIN:SIM PIN2")) { fail; }        // If the required password is PIN2, abort.
//    sendtoa6("AT+CPIN?");
//    if(getfroma6("+CPIN:SIM PUK2")) { fail; }        // If the required password is PUK2, abort.

// WAIT FOR SWITCH RELEASE FIRST
    sendtoa6("AT+CPIN?");
    getfroma6("+CPIN:SIM PIN");                      // The last non-empty response will be stored in the global response variable. Problem with this: If the A6 module sends an unsolicitated message before the response to the CPIN command, nothing gets done and the card needs to be re-inserted again.
    if(strcmp(response, "OK") == 0) {                // If already no PIN is required

//      sendtoa6("AT+CLCK=\"SC\",2"); // Ist PIN-Abfrage eingeschaltet? Oder ist es "SC"?
//      if(getfroma6(???)) { PIN-Abfrage einschalten mit 0000; }

      // ENABLE PIN HERE
      d("I don't know how to enable the PIN.");

    }
    if(response = "+CPIN:SIM PIN") {                 // If the required password is PIN, continue.
      sendtoa6("AT^CPINC=?");
      if(getfroma6("^CPINC: 3")) {                   // If not exactly 3 attempts are left, abort. (should be larger than or equal to 3, shouldn't it?)
        sendtoa6("AT+CPIN=\"0000\"");                // Freischalten mit 0000
        delay(50);
        if(!getfroma6("OK")) { fail; }               // If that was not the right password, abort.
        sendtoa6("AT+CPWD=\"SC\",\"0000\",\"1996\"");// PIN ändern
        delay(500);
        if(getfroma6("OK")) { Serial.println("Looking good."); }

//      sendtoa6("AT+CMGD=0,4"); // Should delete all SMS
//      if(getfroma6(???)) { ; }
        d("I don't know how to delete SMS.");

        sendtoa6("AT+CPIN?");
        if(getfroma6("+CPIN:READY")) {
          
          // TURN OFF A& MODULE FOR SAFE CARD REMOVAL

          digitalWrite(successled, HIGH);
        }
      } else {                                         // If not exactly 3 times left
        fail;
      }
      delay(1000);
    }
  }
}

void fail() {
  digitalWrite(failled, HIGH);               // Turn red fail LED on and ...
  d("Something failed! Ending programme.");
  while(1);                                  // ... don't do anything anymore.
}

void wrongpin() {
  digitalWrite(wrongpinled, HIGH);           // Turn yellow LED on and ...
  d("Wrong PIN! Ending programme.");
  while(1);                                  // ... don't do anything anymore.
}

//boolean getfroma6(char str[32], char str1[32], char str1[32], char str1[32], char str1[32], char str1[32]) { // Returns true if the passed (expected) message was received, false if anything else was received.
boolean getfroma6(char str[32]) { // Returns true if the passed (expected) message was received, false if anything else was received.
  boolean asexpected = false;
    for (i = 1; i < 9; ++i) {
    receivelinefroma6();
//    d("d1 "+response);

    if(received[0] == '\0') {                            // If the received message is empty
      continue;
    } else {
      response = received;
    }
    if(strstr(received, "ERROR") != NULL) {              // If the received message contains "ERROR"
      d("Received an error: "+response);
      fail;
    }
    if(received[0] == '+') {                             // If the received message starts with a "+" sign
      d("Reseived response: "+response);
    } else {
      if(strstr(received, "OK") != NULL) {               // If the received message is "OK"
        d("Received OK.");
        asexpected = true;                               // Also treat OK like the expected message. No unexpected OK should ever be sent from the A6 module. So this is fine. No, it is, really.
//        if(asexpected) { return true; }
      } else {
        if(strncmp(received,"AT",2) == 0) {              // If the received message starts with "AT"
          d("Received AT: "+response);
        } else {                                         // For any other received message
          d("Received: "+response);
        }
      }
    }
    newData = false;
    if(strstr(received, str) != NULL) {
      d("Received expected message: "+response);
      asexpected = true;
    }
  }
  if(asexpected) { return true; }
  return false;
}


//void handleresponse() {
//  response = received;
//  if(received[0] == '+') {
//    d("               Response: "+response);
//  } else {
//    if(strstr(received, "OK") != NULL) {
//      d("               It's okay.");
//    } else {
//      if(strncmp(received,"AT",2) == 0) {
//        d("               I've sent: "+response);
//      }
//    }
//  }
//  newData = false;
//}



void receivelinefroma6() {
  delay(80);
  static byte counter = 0;
  char rc;
  
  received[0] = '\0';

  while (A6MODULE.available() > 0 && newData == false) {
    rc = A6MODULE.read();

    if (rc != '\n') {
      received[counter] = rc;
      counter++;
      if (counter >= maxmsglength) {
          counter = maxmsglength - 1;
      }
    }
    else {
      received[counter] = '\0'; // terminate the string
      counter = 0;
      newData = true;
    }
  }
}

void sendtoa6(String command) {
//  Serial.println(command);
  A6MODULE.println(command);
  d("Sent: "+command);
}

void d(String line) {
  if (debug == true) { Serial.println(line); }
}

(tba:connections,assembly,photos?)

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USB/Serial PWM Fan Controller Using an Arduino

I wanted to be able to control the speed of the fans in my big NAS, Fred, individually. Even though the mainboard in use has five PWM fan connectors, the chipset can only control the speed of all fans together. There are probably good fan controllers commercially available that solve this problem better than I did. But they seemed overpriced and it seemed like a fun learning project for me.

The fan controller that I made uses an Arduino Nano clone that listens to it's serial port, waiting for a command to change the speed of a fan. When a command is recognised the continuous PWM signal for that fan is changed accordingly. It's possible to control up to six fans this way with an Arduino Nano. I'm only using three though since I only have three fan groups that need to be controlled separately.

The Arduino sketch/C code for the Arduino Nano that I used is as follows.




//fan speed sensor wire attached to digital pin 2 with a 10kohm pullup resistor
//fan PWM control wire attached directly to digital pin 9

#include <PWM.h> //include PWM library http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=117425.0

volatile int half_revolutions1; //allow half_revolutioins to be accesed in intterupt
volatile int half_revolutions2; //allow half_revolutioins to be accesed in intterupt
int rpm1; //set rpm as an integer
int rpm2; //set rpm as an integer
int pwm=255;
const byte numChars = 5;
char receivedChars[numChars];

boolean newData = false;

void setup()
{
  InitTimersSafe(); //not sure what this is for, but I think i need it for PWM control?
  bool success = SetPinFrequencySafe(9, 25000); //set frequency to 25kHz
  pwmWrite(9, 51); // 51=20% duty cycle, 255=100% duty cycle

  pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(6, OUTPUT);
  analogWrite(5, 170);
  analogWrite(6, 255);
  pinMode(2,INPUT_PULLUP); //set RPM pin to digital input
  pinMode(3,INPUT_PULLUP); //set RPM pin to digital input
  half_revolutions1 = 0;
  rpm1 = 0;
  half_revolutions2 = 0;
  rpm2 = 0;

  Serial.begin(9600);
}



void loop()
{
  sei(); //enable intterupts
  attachInterrupt(0, fan_rpm1, RISING); //record pulses as they rise
  delay(1000);
  detachInterrupt(0);
  attachInterrupt(1, fan_rpm2, RISING); //record pulses as they rise
  delay(1000);
  detachInterrupt(1);
  cli(); //disable intterupts

  rpm1 = (half_revolutions1/2)*60;

  Serial.print("1");
  Serial.println(rpm1);

  rpm2 = (half_revolutions2/2)*60;

  Serial.print("2");
  Serial.println(rpm2);

  rpm1 = 0;
  half_revolutions1 = 0;

  rpm2 = 0;
  half_revolutions2 = 0;

  pwm = 255;
  recvWithStartEndMarkers();
  processCommand();
}

void fan_rpm1()
{
  ++half_revolutions1; //increment before returning value
}


void fan_rpm2()
{
  ++half_revolutions2; //increment before returning value
}


void recvWithStartEndMarkers() {
    static boolean recvInProgress = false;
    static byte ndx = 0;
    char startMarker = 's';
    char endMarker = '\n';
    char rc;
 
    while (Serial.available() > 0 && newData == false) {
        rc = Serial.read();

        if (recvInProgress == true) {
            if (rc != endMarker) {
                receivedChars[ndx] = rc;
                ndx++;
                if (ndx >= numChars) {
                    ndx = numChars - 1;
                }
            }
            else {
                receivedChars[ndx] = '\0'; // terminate the string
                recvInProgress = false;
                ndx = 0;
                newData = true;
            }
        }

        else if (rc == startMarker) {
            recvInProgress = true;
        }
    }
}

void processCommand() {
    if (newData == true) {
        Serial.print("s");
        Serial.println(receivedChars);
        switch (receivedChars[0])
        {
            case '1':
                receivedChars[0] = '0';
                sscanf(receivedChars, "%d", &pwm);
                analogWrite(5, pwm);
                break;
            case '2':
                receivedChars[0] = '0';
                sscanf(receivedChars, "%d", &pwm);
                analogWrite(6, pwm);
                break;
            case '3':
                receivedChars[0] = '0';
                sscanf(receivedChars, "%d", &pwm);
                
                break;
//            default:
//                Serial.println("I don't know what that means.");
        }
        newData = false;
    }
}

Well, how should I put it? It works, usually.

(tbc?)

(tba:photos)

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USB Volume Control Knob

Volume control used to be a lot more responsive, quick and simple when the used potentiometers (analogue knobs or wheels). Just reach to the knob and the volume is at 0 or 100% almost instantly. No key combinations, no deactivated function keys, no switching tabs, no delay (!), no pressing the same botton multiple times or holding it down. I miss that.

(tba:content)

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