stylin' with CSS

I am now attempting to build web pages using nothing more than code I type using the web page editor provided by my web host at the domain Webiocosm.net. This will be a slow process since I will have to split my already very limited "computer time" between checking my many e-mail accounts and working on multiple other half-baked internet diversions. Since everything I have done relating to publishing websites has been self-taught, I have chosen a book called, stylin' with CSS: A Designer's Guide by Charles Wyke-Smith. Here is the starting practice page. I am not sure just yet if I am going to archive these stages of development or if I will just let it disappear. I realize that this is probably only interesting to me, but I am linking these pages here so the crawlers will find them. This is just in case anyone out there wants to see what I am doing, or at least wants to find a reference to the book, which I like so far.

New Bulletin Board and the First Forum, Time-lapse Videos

Not too long ago I purchased the domain webiocosm.net through a different provider with hopes of finding a system of running not just my blog, but also the entire website without an expensive or obsolete program like Front Page. I am still mainly using the domain webiocosm.com at this time, but I am looking to employ or at least test some of the features readily available on this new service. As a result I have started the Webiocosm Bulletin board to promote discussion about topics that I and other readers find important. Here is the first Forum, which is about Time-lapse videos.

Update 08/16/07: Forget the Bulletin Board, it is too much trouble keeping the porn and medication peddlers off of there.

Purple Pill Stop Motion Video

This is a brief video I made using my good old Sony Cybershot. I wanted to make a video running at 30 frames per second and to use my Sony Acid Music Studio software for a video. This was the first time I used the music software to make a tune and synchronize it with a video; it was surprisingly easy to do. I used quicktime pro to make the initial video from all the stills. Then I converted the video to AVI format for use with Windows Movie Maker, with which I added the titles. Next, I opened the video with the acid music studio software and created the music from about 7 or 8 sample loops, then I saved the audio file and added it to the video using windows movie maker.

The star of the video was a promotional purple pill clock given to me by a Nexium representative. It had been lying around the house and my kid had claimed it as his own, but he let me borrow it for the production. Nexium is a medication in a class of medications known as proton pump inhibitors which are very effective for symptoms of GERD and problems related to gastric acid secretion.

Click the above picture or here to see the small version (1.6 mb, .wmv, 32 sec), large version (3.6 mb, .wmv, 32 sec), or you can see it on YouTube.

This video and my other stop motion, claymaion and time-lapse videos can be seen here.

Circuit-Bent Speak & Spell

Last week I was finally able to get a reasonably priced 1978 Texas Instruments Speak & Spell from ebay. Shortly thereafter, I was fortunate enough to find the time to tear it up. I wouldn't really say I tore it up because it still works like new; I just modified it to make it better. I pretty much went by the plans for circuit-bending this model laid out by Reed Ghazala in his book on the subject (Circuit-Bending: Build Your Own Alien Instruments). This is also called an incantor and the instructions for building one are laid out in this article by Reed Ghazala except that it uses a Speak & Read.

Here are some before and after pictures of my project:

Here's how it looks on the inside:

The main ways my incantor varied from the plan in the book was that I could not get the potentiometer to control the pitch. The circuit he described and every nearby point either did nothing or it locked it up. Hopefully I can work that out soon; I would appreciate some suggestions. Here is a close-up of my board:

While trying to find a pitch control circuit, I did find a different bend that turned out to be really good. I put a rollerball switch on the inside and ran it through the potentiometer, so that it takes effect only when the machine is turned over or shaken. The pot doesn't really make much noticable difference.

Here is a demo of the performance of this Speak and Spell Incantor. I have more posted and some links on my circuit bending page.

My only advice at this point is to keep in mind that this activity is for small battery powered electronics only. Also if you are planning on buying a soldering tool, a battery powered one may not be the best choice. I used a Weller BP645 and I noticed that I only got a few good hits on it then it wouldn't get hot enough and caused some sloppy soldering. I had to replace the batteries (3 AA), which were still fine for other uses, three times before finally going and buying a regular one with a cord.

Update 6/4/07: I have added some downloadable normal and bent sounds from this speak and spell incantor in both mp3 and wav format.

Toy Torture and Bad Karma

After gaining a greatly increased workload over the last few months, I began looking for ways to blow off some steam. One day, while browsing YouTube videos, I found a new pastime, called circuit bending. This is a process by which LOW-VOlTAGE, BATTERY OPERATED, electronic audio devices are short-circuited to create new musical devices or sound generators. A fellow named Reed Ghazala is one of the pioneers of this practice, he has even written a book called Circuit-Bending: Build Your Own Alien Instruments, which is a very worthwhile read if you are interested. Some of the instruments of choice are old Speak and Spells, and Casio keyboards. I have an old Casio keyboard which I was fully prepared to exploit, but it wouldn't even turn on, so that was out. I have saved it to harvest some of its switches,circuits and potentiometers for later projects. The poor toy in the above video was my child's. It was useful to him about two years ago, but hasn't been seen since then, until I raided the storage room looking for something to tear apart and practice on. All I did was take the back off, lay out the circuit board and go along with a screwdriver in each hand (holding them by the metal parts) touching separate wires with each screwdriver, while holding a button down. When I found a good connection where the sound was altered, I soldered a wire to each spot. Then I took each wire and soldered the opposite ends to the bolts that I had screwed into the case. Now by varying the pressure, body surface and moisture level to the "body contacts", I can change the sound drastically. This is a very very simplified project compared to what other people are doing, but was still a very enjoyable waste of time. Now you ask, 'what does circuit bending have to do with bad karma?' Well, posting this video to YouTube was one of the last things I did with my laptop before it decided to bend its own hard drive ciruits in a fatal show of solidarity for its fallen electronic contemporaries.

Windows Movie Maker and My New RSS Feed

A couple of weeks ago when I bragged about stumbling onto some new (to me) technology, I didn't realize how widely available it had already become. Last week I was talking to a couple of friends, one a Mac nerd, the other a general purpose and PC nerd, when I mentioned making movies. They both quickly responded by telling me how THEY made THEIR movies. Of course Mac nerd told me something I already new, his machine was great for multimedia applications. My other buddy told me that I could have done it for free with the Windows Movie Maker already available on my computers. I came home, found the program and gave it a try. So far, I have found it easier to use Quicktime Pro to make movies from sequential photos, but the Windows program has some neat editing features. I don't have anything new to show yet but some time-lapse projects are in the works.

That brings me to my next point.

Right after the video making discovery, I found out that can make my own RSS feeds, so I did. I chose to add any new videos I publish to the feed. That may include animal videos or time-lapse/animation videos. Here is the page where you can link to the feed. I made a nice little button which you can find on the side bar near the top. Although the actual content of this feed is of minor importance to me now, I might stick with it and actually put some good stuff out there so stay tuned. Here is where I learned to make an RSS feed and here is the page that made it much simpler.

Electroactive Polymer's not ready for WCA

From Wired News:

SAN DIEGO -- Six years ago, Jet Propulsion Laboratory researcher Yoseph Bar-Cohen challenged scientists to create an artificial arm that could beat a human in an arm-wrestling match. The catch: The arm must be made of a pliable plastic material controlled by electrical impulses. In other words, no motors allowed.

Monday, in front of a battalion of TV cameras and an audience of hundreds, three groups of scientists took on Bar-Cohen's challenge -- and failed. One of the robot arms seemed to flop helplessly, while the other two quickly fell to a 17-year-old high-school student.....Read More

The Human contestant was 17 year old Panna Felson who appears to be headed for a career in engineering rather than arm wrestling.

More on the match from JPL

Here is an article from the instigator of the competition, Dr. Yoseph Bar-Cohen written prior to the match discussing the development of EAP's and their potential uses

Digital Evolution

After posting my story, I found another one online which is more thorough on PLoS Biology. Mine has some easy links for further research if needed.