Intermittence

First, Al Gore is a co-recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Good on you, Al.

Second, what is it with the public backlash against lenders? People were so excited to get loans, and were fully aware (or at least indicated full awareness) of the terms of those loans, and now that things are getting rough they can’t accept the consequences? Those lenders have no obligations whatsoever except to continue servicing loans according to the originally agreed-upon terms.

Third: My firefly jar is complete, and I’m pleased. Some of the soldered joints are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence, and I’m amazed that I got it to work at all. Read the rest of this entry »

My expedition into the realm of electronics has taken an interesting turn.

I’ve somehow procured quite a bit more equipment (including, but certainly not limited to: a Weller soldering station, an AVR programmer—assembled by yours truly, a small circuit board vise, and an SOIC test clip), and am working on an entirely new project: a jar of fireflies. Last night saw me attaching a bunch of tiny surface-mount components to a circuit board (I think a visual inspection just uncovered an incomplete solder joint—I’ll have to repair that), and once a spool of 38-gauge magnet wire shows up in the mail I’ll be soldering up some LEDs that measure about the size of the ‘E’ on a dime.

I’ll post video once I get it working. Wish me (and my eyes) luck! Read the rest of this entry »