A few snaps of the summer goodness from a few days ago...

It is something that has persisted on my to-do list but I have finally got around to compiling all my Thaana related work, which currently are scattered across various posts on my blog, into a single page for easy access and reference.

- Check out my newly created Projects > Thaana page


PS: My final, final exams at university are underway these days and things have been pretty hectic, thus the lack of posts of late... Wish me luck!

I've been experimenting with a potential "new" type of machine-man interface for a little while now. In the process, I've subjected myself to a bit of mutilation, pain and general annoyance. But today, I'm quite happy because I have now obtained some very interesting results...

Hopefully, will share more about the work in the coming weeks/months.

This winter is turning out to be quite a remarkable departure from the past 3 winters I've experienced here in the UK. Last year's winter was pretty tame with there being, from what recall, only very light snow fall a few days out of the entire winter. Contrast that with the past two days of nearly continuous snow fall giving everything around a white covering. According to the news reports, it has been the worst, most widespread snowfall in the UK in 18 years! Also, apparently this is all consistent with global warming.

Anyway, I like that there's a bit of snow. The pretty white topping takes a bit out of the gloomy UK winters...

I'm in love with this new series on Discovery Channel called Prototype This!. The show has four engineers coming up with creative technological "inventions" and developing a rapid prototype within 2 weeks. The show definitely has massive appeal to geeks like me who want to tinker around, invent and just build stuff.

The show is broadcast every Wednesday on Discovery Channel but can be downloaded off the web too, if you know where to look.

Electronics was my first love but it has been ages since I was hands-on with it last. Infact, I don't even remember touching a soldering iron except for doing a few bits required for work at university. Hopefully, that's all about to change.

I am making a (really) concerted effort to get (back) into some practical electronics, partly motivated by a renewed interest in robotics and partly because I have a few ideas I want to try out. I got my old stuff out a week or so ago, only to find out that I no longer have most of the essential gear I need. Consequently, it has been a demanding few days for my wallet as I stocked up on components and some absolutely essential tools - including a new multimeter and a new solder station. I've opted to build a dual-polarity variable bench-top power supply myself (which is essential for almost all work) rather than buying it as these don't come cheap.

First on my list of things to do is get myself acquainted with the TI 16-bit MSP430 series of microcontrollers and the popular ARM 32-bit microcontrollers. I know I'm going to have a fun time tinkering with these MCU's - hopefully it'd be more fun than that I had toying with the Microchip PIC devices. For now, I'm still waiting for the chips to be delivered and for my exams (which begins tomorrow) to be over...

Wish me luck!

Been a while since I blogged but I've been too damn occupied with Uni work lately. I'm hoping for a breather soon. Sigh...