Two small changes need to be made first though to make it less desktop like; and more Server Like (yes before installing Lion Server App).

Power

The single biggest issue with Mac Minis is getting them to power on automatically after a power cut, or when power is removed. If your server doesn’t switch on when the power is restored, this will have the effect of turning your machine off.

and change the settings to

Other things worth poking are:

Turn the Firewall on

and turn off location services.

Running without a screen

My mac mini gets upset if I ask it to boot without a Screen (VDU, or Monitor) the easiest way of dealing with this is to make a simple terminator to convince the Lofn that a (non-DDC) monitor is attached. All that’s needed is to connect a 75Ω resistor between pins 2 and 7 of the (analogue) VGA connector. I have acquired a DVI to VGA ( DB15) converter and have bent its legs into the holes; and glued it in place on the connector.

Setting up as a server

At the moment due to nbArianrhod having a broken engine I am currently living at my parents in Swindon, so I am going to try and set up Lofn in a testing environment off my parents Virgin Media connection using uandc.co.uk as my test domain (being that Daniel Webb has failed to buy it off me). as I bring it up and get it working I will continue to blog my findings.

The AgendA

The AgendA is a British-designed organiser from the mid-80s. Its most striking feature is the microwriter keyboard. As if to encourage the use of the microwriter, the conventional keyboard is arranged alphabetically.

The microwriter is a descendant of the first chord keyboards, pioneered by Doug Engelbart (inventor of the mouse). Part of the innovation involved in the AgendA was a system of mnemonics to assist in learning the chords. Once the user had learnt the basics, it was possible to move on to more advanced uses of the chord keyboard including a full set of single-chord commands for the machine.

The Microwriter

The original Microwriter was not an organiser but a writing machine designed by Cy Endfield and first sold in 1980. It was intended to be used as a text input device, as well as to help the disabled to communicate. It could only show a single line of text on its built-in LED display, but it had interfaces to external display and storage devices. The photo shows a later model with a one-line LCD, released in 1982.

A review of the first version appeared in Personal Computer World magazine in December 1980, and a review of the improved version appeared in September 1982. Both versions sold for £500.

Data Egg

The Data Egg‘s “keyboard” consists of seven buttons (at least 3 for the thumb, 1 for each of the remaining fingers) wrapped around a shape that’s easy for the hand to hold. The seven buttons are pressed in different combinations, much like playing chords on a piano (hence the name ‘chording’), and can be used to type all letters, all numbers, all punctuation — pretty much anything one can type on a typewriter. The Alphabet is also easy to learn since the shapes of the letters resemble the button patterns that are pressed.

GKOS

There is also GKOS (Global Keyboard Open Standard) system that claims to have Full QWERTY capabilities with only 6 keys on the back of a device.

Twiddler2

The Twiddler2.1 is a pocket-sized mouse pointer plus a full-function keyboard in a single unit that fits neatly in either right or left hand. The Twiddler incorporates a keyboard which ergonomic keypad designed for “chord” keying.

These just make up a few of the keyboards I have had a look at; Greg Priest-Dorman¹ has done a lot of playing with these through his time of having a wearable computer.

There are a lot of Aids & Guides to written for the EkaPad available here; and the howto for another home made one the “Septambic Keyer” here;

More Thoughts

I think unlike the Palantype or Stenograph keyers; I am going to go with single letter cording; using either the Septambic Keyer or Chordite as the base for my keyboard.

I have ordered some switches from ebay; and have Poly-Form Mouldable Plastic to make the handset.

If you want details on how to take apart a mac mini there is a guide here

So my mac mini now has 2 Gigs of Ram meaning that installing lion is easy now. there are a couple of hard drive mounts for making use of the optical drive bay available [1 2] so the next addition may be a second internal hard drive; or an upgrade of the primary hard drive.

The Plan then will be to reduce my hosting charges, but increase the amount of Hard Drive space and Ram I have available (there may be a reduction in Traffic allowance); by moving my machine into Mythic Beasts Mac Mini Co-Lo hosting.

Once all this is up and Running; b0atg1rl and I plan to try and get some more clients; and work to formalise Just Vigilantes, My more Professional blog is at PhilipMcGaw.co.uk

The Website status checker ² when you type in skippy.org.uk gives you this screen:

Which to be honest is about as much use as a chocolate teapot; and gives you no information as to why my site was blocked.

The only option is to request reconsideration by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking the ‘Continue’ button; This means my request to be de-blocked will be logged and in the queue. This seems to be a manual process, submit site and wait for O2 to be useful… they’ll get around to it eventually.

O2 will do not notify people; you  just need to keep checking.

I have written about how I feel about O2 and parental controls they also unilaterally impose on people previously.

My Project 365 site seems to have been blocked from being accessed over 3G by O2, I have written about my feelings on O2′s content blocking before, most people I assume have already got pissed off with it and bitten the bullet since and ‘verified’ themselves since content blocking was imposed in March 2011.

The restrictions are at the DNS level, meaning that there is no easy way round it. and you can not use your 02 Modem, Android phone as a portable hotspot, or teather your iPhone. If you switch from O2′s 3G network to a Wi-Fi hotspot, however, then the restrictions disappear. There are suggestions that O2 is a using a reference directory from the ICMB (Independent Mobile Classification Body), so the problem may be on other networks as well.

O2 claimed back in March last year:

This is solely to ensure that children are protected from inappropriate content when using the internet on their phones. That’s why we require customers to prove they are over 18 before they can use these sites.

and pointed to the “UK code of practice for the self-regulation of new forms of content on mobiles³” (see also their FAQ). however it looks like there is no procedure for either getting a copy of the block list; or an easy way to getting your placement on  it independently checked. I phoned o2′s customer service number; however they were adimunt that there was no way of unblocking the site; or telling me why the site was blocked; however O2′s Twitter team seem to be the people to contact, but again they only pass the details of the block on, and have yet to provide me with any information. The IMCB (Independent Mobile Classification Body) has a copy of the Classification Framework⁴ available to read that says I have to complain to O2 and then wait 28 days before I can speak to them (the IMCB).

However the one thing that I would like, that no one seems to list on any site is a copy of the blacklist, or a tool for checking if your page is blocked.

There are two types of keyboard used in the UK for STTRs (Speech to Text Reporter), the Palantype system and the Stenograph system. Unlike a QWERTY keyboard, not every letter in a word is pressed, but several keys will be pressed at once whaich represent whole words, phrases or shortforms. Specially designed computer software will then convert these phonetic chords back into English which can then be displayed for someone to read. This system can also be used for subtitling and closed captions in television broadcasts or Webcasts⁵

Stenograph System

A stenotype, stenotype machine or shorthand machine is a specialized chorded keyboard or typewriter used by stenographers for shorthand use. Some users of this machine can reach 300 words per minute.⁶

The Stenograph system is whole words in a cord; not just one letter; which while faster to type with than individual letters, it would mean learning word lists, and learning to spell full words as chords would take far too long.

Palantype System

The Palantype system like the Stenogpah System is also corded:

recording words phonetically syllable by syllable instead of letter by letter. To effect this, several keys can be depressed at the same time, as with a chord on the piano, instead of having to be depressed one at a time in sequence. The overall saving in the number of keystrokes is shown in the Tables and the corresponding saving in time is not difficult to imagine.⁷

Something of interest on the Spelling Society’s site was this article about AgiliWriting⁸, an abbreviated, alphabetic shorthand that, if taken down correctly and legibly, can be transcribed by anyone else on a computer which has an automatic word processing conversion program to transcribe the text into standard English (auto replace/correct).

My Idea

Since learning cords for full words may be harder than just learning cords for single letters, I am looking at somthing like ”Yet Another One-hand Keyboard” ⁹, it has not been updated since 16/09/2010.

since I have now got some experance with using a Teensy as a human interface device, as such I will use that again.

When I am next around the London area it may be an idea to have a wonder along to see the Incorporated Phonographic Society¹⁰ (IPS).

After Running the code on my Teensy from Post Number Two, I moved onto mounting the buttons and joystick in a box,

My Test device has nine buttons; rather than the severn that the finished product will have; plus the joystick’s four; but this allows me to tryout other configurations of buttons etc without having to move buttons round.

One of the problems I think I may face is that I will have 13 different switches, the finished product will have 11 including the Joysticks four.

As such I am planning on using a key matrix, to reduce my requirements from 13 inputs, to 8 data lines (Four inputs, 4 outputs). and using diodes to remove the ‘masking problem’/ghosting. also this will allow me to have multiple key presses.

I found this site that discuses how this should work. but the easiest two images to quickly show this are these two, one showing the problem, and the other showing the solution using Diodes.

Here is my Crocodile Clips drawing (doesn’t have auto route) [Accessible Mouse.cyt] but shows the layout of the switches and diodes (the three toggle switches will have diodes as well).

Letters; A,B,C,D, are to be the outputs from the Teensy, with the Numbers; 1,2,3,4 being the inputs to the Teensy, this would allow a maximum of 16 switches, with every switch having an unique address (there would be ways to map more switches to the same number of lines; but then you would have to be careful about multiple button presses again).

The Three unused lines will be available for external buttons; so that there is expansion available.

Another thing I will be doing is putting LEDs in some of the buttons; but rather than using one pin per LED; I can also use a matrix to allow me to reduce the number of pins used, I don’t know what the current limiting resistors value should be in this, using the normal value means that the LEDs light output will be reduced.

For the full details of Ghosting and Masking works please look at the original site.

I have managed to get my switches mounted in a test box, with the diodes soldered on,

Microswitches before Wires are added, showing each switch’s diode.

The wiring is two colour; White, and Black (White is the letters, and Black is the Numbers)

With all the wires attached, I now plugged it into the Teensy, and marked up the switches

Flashing the Teensy with the code below:

/*
	Affordable Accessible Mouse

	For this to work the board must be a Teensy 2.0

	If the code fails to Verify or Upload check this first; As I
	get more experience and hardware configurations I may add a
	working define line for hardware type

	See the file "Read Me" at http://git.subvert.org.uk/skippy/Affordable_Accessible_Mouse.git/tree/Read%20Me.txt
	for the full license governing this code, and any other things that may be of interest.
*/

	// Mouse Speed and Scroll Speed
	// Number between 0 and something bigger,
		#define MouseSpeed 3
		#define ScrollSpeed 3

	// Define Letters to Pins
		#define OutputA 0
		#define OutputB 1
		#define OutputC 2
		#define OutputD 3

	// Define Numbers to Pins
		#define Input1 7
		#define Input2 8
		#define Input3 9
		#define Input4 10

	// Set up feedback LEDs
		#define PCBLED 11	//PCB LED

void setup()
{
	// initialize the four pins for the Outputs
		pinMode(OutputA, OUTPUT);
		pinMode(OutputB, OUTPUT);
		pinMode(OutputC, OUTPUT);
		pinMode(OutputD, OUTPUT);

	// initialize the four pins for the Inputs
		pinMode(Input1, INPUT);
		pinMode(Input2, INPUT);
		pinMode(Input3, INPUT);
		pinMode(Input4, INPUT);

	// initialize the Pins for the LEDs
		pinMode(PCBLED, OUTPUT);

	// Allows me to use the Serial Console to debug
		Serial.begin(38400);
}

void loop()
{
	// All the Physical Buttons on the Pannel.
		int North = 0;						// North is A1
		int East = 0;						// East is A2
		int South = 0;						// South is A3
		int West = 0;						// West is A4

		int LC1 = 0;						// LeftClick1 is B1
		int LC2 = 0;						// LeftClick2 is B3

		int RC1 = 0;						// RightClick1 is B2
		int RC2 = 0;						// RightClick2 is B4

		int DC = 0;							// DoubleClick is C1
		int CL = 0;							// ClickLock is C2
		int SL = 0;							// ScrollLock is C3

	// These are not going to be buttons on the finished product; however they may be
	// attached to external switches to allow for further expansion.
		int A = 0;							// OptionalButtonA is C4
		int B = 0;							// OptionalButtonB is D1
		int C = 0;							// OptionalButtonC is D2 - Not Connected
		int D = 0;							// OptionalButtonD is D3 - Not Connected
		int E = 0;							// OptionalButtonE is D4 - Not Connected

	// Mouse and Scroll Speed.
		int Rate = MouseSpeed +1 ;			// reads in Speed from top and uses that as mouse speed.
											// the +1 is to stop the if speed = 0 well… FAIL
		int X = 0;
		int Y = 0;

	// Read in All inputs
		digitalWrite(PCBLED, HIGH);			// set the LED On
		digitalWrite(OutputA, HIGH);		// Set A High
		delay(1);							// seems to be needed to allow switches 1 to work
		if (digitalRead(Input1) == HIGH)
		{
			North = 1;
			Serial.println("North");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input2) == HIGH)
		{
			East = 1;
			Serial.println("East");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input3) == HIGH)
		{
			South = 1;
			Serial.println("South");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input4) == HIGH)
		{
			West = 1;
			Serial.println("West");
		}
		digitalWrite(OutputA, LOW);			// set A Low
		digitalWrite(OutputB, HIGH);		// set B High
		delay(1);
		if (digitalRead(Input1) == HIGH)
		{
			LC1 = 1;
			Serial.println("LeftClick1");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input2) == HIGH)
		{
			RC1 = 1;
			Serial.println("RightClick1");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input3) == HIGH)
		{
			LC2 = 1;
			Serial.println("LeftClick2");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input4) == HIGH)
			{
			RC2 = 1;
			Serial.println("RightClick2");
		}
		digitalWrite(OutputB, LOW);			// set B Low
		digitalWrite(PCBLED, LOW);			// set the LED off
		digitalWrite(OutputC, HIGH);		// set C High
		delay(1);
		if (digitalRead(Input1) == HIGH)
		{
			DC = 1;
			Serial.println("DoubleClick");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input2) == HIGH)
		{
			CL = 1;
			Serial.println("ClickLock");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input3) == HIGH)
		{
			SL = 1;
			Serial.println("ScrollLock");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input4) == HIGH)
		{
			A = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonA");
		}
		digitalWrite(OutputC, LOW);			// set C Low
		digitalWrite(OutputD, HIGH);		// set D High
		delay(1);
		if (digitalRead(Input1) == HIGH)
		{
			B = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonB");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input2) == HIGH)
		{
			C = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonC");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input3) == HIGH)
		{
			D = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonD");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input4) == HIGH)
		{
			E = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonE");
		}
		digitalWrite(OutputD, LOW);			// set D Low

	// Process Inputs

	// Lets deal with the Mouse Pointer first; as that will be the easiest to deal with.

		if (SL == 0)
		{
			X = Rate * (South - North);
			Y = Rate * (East - West);
			Mouse.move(Y, X);
		}
		else
		{
			// Really needs to toggle and have an LED attached. Same as ClickLock.
			// Should also be interlocked against all other buttons; so that it locks them out,
			Mouse.scroll(South - North);
			delay(ScrollSpeed);				// Scroll is really quite fast otherwise
		}
	// Click Lock Next
		if (CL == 1)
		{
			// Not Implemented yet.
			// Really needs to toggle and have an LED attached. Same as Scroll Lock.
		}
	// Left Click.
		if (LC1 == 1 || LC2 ==1)
		{
			Mouse.set_buttons(1, 0, 0);
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 0);
			delay(500);						// Will sort this out.
		}
	// Right Click.
		if (RC1 == 1 || RC2 ==1)
		{
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 1);
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 0);
			delay(500);						// Same as Left click; needs removed from delay.
		}
	// Double Click.
		if (DC == 1)
		{
			Mouse.set_buttons(1, 0, 0);
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 0);
			delay(100);						// Tenth of a second delay (this I guess is ok…)
			Mouse.set_buttons(1, 0, 0);
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 0);
			delay(250);						// Same as Left/Right click; needs removed from delay.
		}
}

I now have a working Prototype, and on Friday I will be in Swindon to get some user feed back before progressing with the final product. Also I will need to clean up my code.

When I first got this Item from Amazon I wondered just how big it was! it came in a huge box; containing a display box, which itself contained a Metal Tin embossed with the Dremel name. The Tin contained all the parts of the soldering iron laid out neatly and easily to see, and as you can see from the image above there are a large number of them, the only thing you  need extra is gas; and with a single charge lasting ages that wont break the bank either.

First impressions were that the tool is awesome; It has a lovely quality feel and its performance in soldering is great, I also used the hot air gun attachment for shrinking heat shrink tubing.

RandomZero also owns one now; I look forward to his feedback of using it as a hot air gun, and perhaps for Pyrography as well.

As said previously most people use PVC pipe for the hull construction, Looking round the internet for ideas I have come across Ian Leverington’s site ROV Robot Submariner, that sells a how to guide for building an Remotely Operated Vehicle, complete with on-board video camera for under £200 for £6.50; I have bought a copy of the guide. soI can use it as a starting point for my design;

Also on the internet I found a kit called the SRV-1 by Dry Dock Products, sold via Mike’s Subworks, it looks like a simple design; and suggests that it is also possible to use the motor pods for fully functional vector control instead of requiring the use of the dive planes, or rudder for steering.

The rotating thrusters allow you to power the sub nearly straight down, or up to the surface, with the dual motor control option, the sub will be able to spin round on its axis.

Most model submarine hulls are made of fibreglass. but more RC submarine kits are being made out of ABS or Styrene plastic because of the reduced cost and ease of construction; however I don’t think these materials are as strong as PVC pipe, due to the nominal wall thickness being much thiner, and not designed for the external pressure being as high (Most model submarines have an operational depth of between 2 and 8 feet).

There is a hole in my water tight box…

While making a completely sealed water tight box that is resistant to pressure would be relatively easy; it leads its self to some problems;

1. Just how do you get all your wires in and out?
2. How do you make things move outside the water tight box?
3. how do you keep it watertight?

Wires

The holes where wires pass through your pressure vessel are the easiest to deal with; as they can be made secure using potting compound, like Epoxy.

There is a good How-To on this very subject at http://www.homebuiltrovs.com/howtosealingwireexits.html, Home Built ROVs show all the cables having there insulation stripped out in the epoxy bung; so that ingress outside the pressure vessel, will not propagate along the conductor, or bundle into the hull;

As this makes total sense to me; its the method I shall go with at the moment; unless I can think of something better. although I am sort of a fan of having two sets of water proof bulkheads with a monitored interspace between them (working at CCFE has left some impression ).

Push and Pull Rods

These tend to be delft with by tight bushes, or ruber bellows; neither of which I am convinced are as impervious to ingress as I would like; I guess that using the two in combination, and filling the bellows as much as possible with hydrophobic grease would help.

Another option would be to use magnetic sliders; meaning that there would be no penetration of the pressure vessel.

Propeller and rotary shafts

Prop shafts for RC boats are generally not designed for large pressure differentials, however there are some prop shafts that are designed to be ‘waterproof’, one example consist of a brass tube and inner bearing housing with a stainless steel shaft. The outer bearing is made from Delrin and the inner bearing from sintered Bronze with a lipped G ring seal that make these tubes water tight.

I don’t know how these would cope at larger pressure differentials.

Water ingress detectors

The easiest way I can think of for ingress detection is the use of Printed circuit boars with a large number of parallel tracks so that any moisture will complete the circuit;

A similar pattern can also be laid directly onto the inside of the pressure vessle with copper tape.

The voltage signal from these sensors can then be passed to the control circuit.

Hobby ROVs

With an increased interest in the ocean by many people, both young and old, and the increased availability of once expensive and non-commercially available equipment, ROVs have become a popular hobby amongst many. This hobby involves the construction of small ROVs that generally are made out of PVC piping and often can dive to depths between 50 to 100 feet but some have managed to get to 300 feet. […] Most hobby ROVs are tested in lakes where the water is calm, however some have tested their own personal ROVs in the sea. – From Wikipedia

As with most water craft (boats etc) the part of a ROV that is underwater should be water tight; while boats have a large amount of them above the water that can be full of holes, ROVs and Submarines loose out on that grace, also boats can be almost water tight; and rely a number of methods of either sinking very slowly; kicking ingress water out faster than it comes in (pumps, sponges, etc) and or using prop tubes that are interspaced with grease that stops water at atmospheric pressure sneaking in, However ROVs operate under larger presure (RC Subs tend to not be designed to operate as deeply as miniature ROVs).

Under Pressure

Pressure increase at depth, as the little diagram acquired from CalcTool shows the greater the depth, the greater the pressure; I used their assumption of the density of sea water to be 1025 kg/m³ (‘Fresh’ water is less dense), which means that pressure increases by approx. 1 atm with each 10 m of depth.

I ran the calc tool a small number of times and came up with the following graph; The Calculator gives the total pressure – not just the pressure due to the water, so it includes the 1 atm ambient air pressure at sea level.

This 1 atm ambient pressure should be the same 1 atm as inside the ROV at the surface, so the net force on the hull at the surface should be 0 atm.

As well as atm I ran the pressures as kgf/cm^2 and all the way to 60 meters below the surface;  I doubt very much if I will need to build that level of pressure resistance into my first attempt; but its worth illustrating.

Also at some point it may be worth re-running this in SI units (1 atm = 1.03 kgf/cm^2 =  101 kPa)

Most hobby ROV builders use PVC pipe from plumbing suppliers, despite it comming with the following warning:

PVC pipe tends to shatter into small splinters or shrapnel when it explodes and not all PVC is pressure rated.

NEVER pressurize PVC pipe with air, hydro-testing (water) is the only way it should be done. If you don’t know what that means DON’T TRY IT, PERIOD.

However since PVC pipe is a known for hobby and home made ROVs I will follow their lead. however I am not happy about using re-purposed bilge motors for thrusters; and am sure I can come up with something more graceful.

More Posts will follow (follow this project on “My 1st ROV” Project Page).

• Fisher-Price Online – some of these games will work with this thing too. They’re free and not too bad.
• Knee Bouncers – An awesome ad-free site supported by annual membership.

If you know more sites with similar please leave them in the comments below.

I may also build a Baby Interface Device for my niece

I am using the Arduino IDE (from arduino.cc) and the Teensy Loader (from PJRC) this gives me the following pin out:

My current code for the moment sits at:

<code>#define NORT 0  // North
#define EAST 1  // East
#define SOUT 2  // South
#define WEST 3  // West

#define LEFT 6  // Left Click
#define DOUB 7  // Double Click
#define LOCK 8  // Click Lock
#define RIGH 9  // Right Click
#define SCRO 10 // Scroll Lock

#define LED 11   // On PCB LED
#define CLED 6  // Click Lock LED
#define SLED 7  // Scroll Lock LED

void setup()
{
  // initialize the four pins for the D Pad
    pinMode(NORT, INPUT_PULLUP);
    pinMode(EAST, INPUT_PULLUP);
    pinMode(SOUT, INPUT_PULLUP);
    pinMode(WEST, INPUT_PULLUP);

  // initialize the Five Pins for the Buttons
    pinMode(LEFT, INPUT_PULLUP);
    pinMode(DOUB, INPUT_PULLUP);
    pinMode(LOCK, INPUT_PULLUP);
    pinMode(RIGH, INPUT_PULLUP);
    pinMode(SCRO, INPUT_PULLUP);

  // initialize the Three Pins for the LEDs
    pinMode(LED, OUTPUT);   // This is the LED on the Teensy PCB,
    pinMode(CLED, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(SLED, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
  int X;
  int Y;
  int speed;
  X = 0;
  Y = 0;
  speed = 1;  // number between 1 and something bigger, if speed = 0 well… FAIL

  if (digitalRead(NORT) == LOW)
    {
      X = 1;
    }
  if (digitalRead(EAST) == LOW)</code>

<code>    {
      Y = 1;
    }
  if (digitalRead(SOUT) == LOW)
    {
      X = -1;
    }
  if (digitalRead(WEST) == LOW)
    {
      Y = -1;
    }
  Mouse.move(X * speed, Y * speed);
}
</code>

I would appreciate any one who can poke my code for me to help me write better code

This is my set up at the moment, I haven’t yet got a desk; so I work on my bed,

My mum works with a young man with special needs, who among other things has trouble using a computer using off the shelf consumer Human Interface Devices, while mouse alternatives are available, such as the OPTIMA Joystick (here) they start at at £169.00 plus the cost of the extra buttons (here) at £27.00 per; I spoke to the young mans mother; and came away with a rough idea of what would be useful to him as an interface.

Why a Joystick as a mouse?

• Many computer programs, e.g. drawing-programs, demand the use of a mouse.
• Many users have difficulties in handling a standard mouse.
• The joystick mouse is used instead of a standard mouse, but demands less motor ability from the user.

A while ago I remember watching the Make Video on The AWESOME Button, and remembered one of the cool features of the Teensy USB, after looking round the site I ordered two. Also a while ago I looked into making my own MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) box, and as part of that research I came across Balltop Joysticks & Arcade Buttons from Arcade World.

I now have a box of Joystick and Buttons to play with and two Teensy USB boards, so over the next few weeks I will have a go at making a much more accessible version of the Joystick, but designed to the young mans needs.

While other people have had some success with this kind of project; their starting point tends to be a USB gamepad and some software to make it act as a mouse; where I am looking to try and make it as system agnostic as possible

The ideas for requirements are

• The joystick is handled like the wheelchair joystick.
• Mouse pointer speed is adjustable.
• The mouse-keys can be used in two ways,- with or without toggling.
• External switches are optional.
• To facilitate double-clicks, the joystick mouse has an automatic double-click-key.
• Presents its self to the OS as a generic USB Mouse

I plan to make the buttons external to the joystick as that will allow the mouse to be operated by two hands. I also plan to put LEDs in some of the switches to give visual feedback on function.

The following button functions should be supported (with an * signifies a LED for feedback)

• Left Click
• Double Click
• Click Lock *
• Right Click
• Scroll Lock *

Scroll Lock turns the Joystick off mouse pointer mode and makes the up and down act as up and down on a scroll wheel.

Although Lion shows up as available to install on the App Store, it returns an error when you try to install it

I tried to re-download OS X Lion on my macbook pro, but it knows that its installed already, and prevents you from re-downloading; however there is a work around, if you hold down the ‘option key’ (⌥) you can click on it to re-download.

After copying the install file to the mac mini, and trying to run it, the installer returns the following screen:

Telling me that MAC OS X 10.7 requires at least 2 GB of memory, which is still annoying since my mac mini only has 1 GB of memory; however this shows that the only thing the installer seems to be worried about is my lack of RAM…

There seems to be a  way around it, download a copy of Pacifist fromhttp://www.charlessoft.com/

Pacifist is a shareware application that opens Mac OS X .pkg package files, .dmg disk images, and .zip, .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, and .xar file archives and allows you to extract individual files and folders out of them. This is useful, for instance, if an application which is installed by the operating system becomes damaged and needs to be reinstalled without the hassle of reinstalling all of Mac OS X. Pacifist is also able to verify existing installations and find missing or altered files*, and Pacifist can also examine the kernel extensions installed in your system to let you see what installer installed them, and whether the installer was made by Apple or a third-party.

Pacifist is not yet compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” so the next steps were completed on my Mac Mini:

The File you need to open is OSInstall.mpkg in the Install Mac OS X Lion (right click ‘Show Package Contents’) > Contents > Shared Support >

Jump to Resources, and click on the padlock in the top right

The File you need to edit is the Distribution File

Changing var minRam = 1048; to 1024, re-package the distribution file, and see if the changes help (here is my copy of OSInstall.mpkg.zip)

Now while I now get the following screen, suggesting I can now attempt the install

It returns the following error

I will have to have a look, and see if the hackintosh community can offer any help.

There are a number of advantages to iTunes & iPod Audiobook format when using an iPhone, iPod or iTunes to listen to Audiobooks:

• Because audio books are most of the time quite large files, it’s unlikely that you listen them in one piece. Your iPod remembers the position where you stopped listening the last time. So when you continue listening to your audio book, maybe days later, you don’t have to waste time finding the right position to start. This even works, if you are listening to music or other audio books in the meantime. — even after resynchronising your iPod.
• You can adjust the reading speed to your personal preferences. This seems not that important to me but it can be useful in certain situations.
• There’s a special Audiobooks entry in the menu of your iPod.
• Audiobooks can have chapter stops within them
• Audiobooks are automatically skipped during shuffle.

While the remember location feature is available for books in the MP3 format, the iPod format (.m4b) provides you with a single file for your entire audiobook, while having the option of preserving chapters.

I am playing with AudioBook Builder (Torrent link to allow for more testing before purchase(Updating will break the SN))

I have been testing AudioBook Builder with Terry Pratchett books, This post shows the Discworld Novel “The Light Fantastic” being converted to a single m4b file:

The files as acquired from TPB

Starting up AudioBook Builder

Create a new Project

Setup meta-data for the audiobook, including art work (acquired from Wikipedia)

Drag files from Finder to the chapters window

Click the ‘Join’ button to make a continues file; with no bookmarks (Remember position fulfils my requirements) you may want chapters.

Click on Build Audiobook, and in a few moments the files will appear as a single book in iTunes

If you need to edit the MetaData you can right click on the file and edit it in iTunes. at this point you can now delete the source files, and the Project file.

For more information on what you can do with The Pirate Bay and other Torrent sites, have a look at this post of mine: Book 10 – Cancel Cable: How Internet Pirates Get Free Stuff

About twice a week I catch the Oxford Tube to London, in general they are very comfortable; and clean, one of the nice things that they advertise is wireless internet, which would but or three things,

One: You have to agree to be good on it:

Two: They filter everything through Vodaphone’s Content Protection system (I guess to stop you being Nawty…) which also means images are down scaled; and some sites I use are blocked.

Three: It Drops out more often than its up on the journey.

Oh and yes, if you need technical support there is a tech support line:

However its 0906 5400 256, and charged at 50 pence per minute from a land line; not much use when on a bus.

Despite all this; i guess it is a very good local Wireless LAN.

I first learnt about theMediaNet through working at Greenbelt in the media team, where I was helping to put together media for there online offerings (Videos I worked on can be found on PhilipMcGaw.com).

In the Academy, I was part of the Video/TV team, and our brief was to produce a short video clip about gaming, We produced a short Documentary featuring one of the Keynote speakers (mp3), Jason Gardner (Fuse Think Tank).

Our guidance came from Jeremy Higham, Director of J&E Higham, a great time was had learning how to use the equipment; and I found the introduction into media very useful.

The Video we produced can be seen below:

[pro-player type="mp4"]http://camcrew.co.uk/uploads/Media%20Conference%20Interview.m4v[/pro-player]

Huge thanks to Jeremy Higham, Jason Gardner, Tarsila Burity, Nicola De Boo, Daniel Gaine, Josh Lynch, Ralph Mann (and), James Robinson, and Sophie Willis for making the weekend an enjoyable and informative experience.

One thing I some times worry about, is how to make a backup of my Mac’s Bootcamp partition. there are some sites that give you details; but they all point back to a app called WinClone:

If you want to make a quick clone of your bootcamp partition, or you want to migrate your bootcamp partition to a different machine, Winclone makes it a breeze. Winclone will create an image of your Windows partition, and allow you to quickly restore it to get you back up and running quickly.

For this you will need both WinClone and NTFSprogs; they are both free; (At the time of writing WinClones official site is dead).

First install NTFSprogs; this little app allows your mac to talk to NTFS partitions; (this will not work on FAT32) then run WinClone:

And that is that; while you cant get Time Machine to back up your Bootcamp Partition natively, you can back up images of it.

Apparently you can also use WinClone to change the size of your Bootcamp partition.

By booting into windows and renaming the disk so that the first character in the label is a full stop it can now be changed and hidden. You cant change its name in OS X if its formatted as NTFS.

Fulla is the name of my ByteMark server; it is mounted via ExpanDrive using SFTP (SSH).