trikky2.com

Thought I would add a page to let you know about what I am currently doing with my time, other than looking for work. I’ll post more details in the blog as these things develop.

First I’ve got to try and find one of my cameras so I can start adding some photos of my projects, I know I have two ( possibly three ) but they seem to have gone to ground in my flat … Along with the lead that connects my phone to the computer, so no using that camera either

SteamPunk Phone

This was a project I started a month or two back. It all started when I was looking for a new mobile phone to replace my ageing BlackBerry. Although it is still working fine I just felt like a change, so I went in search of something new and exciting.

As I was on contract with O2 ( and happy with them ) it seemed logical to start with their selection. As far as budget was concerned I wanted to keep it below £200 but it was not a hard and fast rule, so could be stretched if anything really took my fancy. The main problem was that I am actually quite honest with myself about what I need a phone for, which is just calls and text, the BlackBerry was bought when I was running my own business and it was useful but not essential.

On the face of it that should make it quite easy to find something, however I also like to be a bit different. To cut a long story short ( I know, too late ) after going through many manufacturers and carriers I found them all to be pretty much the same, basically little boxes with either buttons or a touch screen. I know there is quite a difference in features and functionality but to actually look at I could find nothing that pushed my buttons ( or tapped my screen ).

So I decided to design and build my own

I’ve always quite liked the aesthetics of SteamPunk so decided to go down that route. At the moment I have cannibalised the insides of an LG GB102 and have soldered my own wires to the keyboard PCB … All 36 of them. I’ve taken a metal glasses case and removed all the lining and hinges, this is now coated in copper and leather with a cut out for the LG’s display ( but needs smoothing ). The replacement for the keyboard is a rotary affair, think of a Morse code key that can rotate through 360 degrees, so far have built the 12 way switch array. The rather complex, light indicator ( for when on silent ) is pretty much finished consisting of a perspex tube, crushed glass, 2 LED’s, 2 thin copper tubes, 1 thin brass tube and some antique lighting flex … Photos to follow when I find my cameras

WIRE Robot

This is a bit of an ongoing project that started back in early 2008, basically is a free roaming robot with WiFi connectivity. You can see more of my robots at http://trikky2.com/my-robots/. This project has been in mothballs for a little while but is being dusted off.

LG RHT497h Rebuild

I bought this Digi-Box with hard drive and DVD recorder a couple of years ago and of course it waited until it was out of warranty to break down. I tried contacting LG support through E-Mail and their ‘Live Help’ on-line … Both were really there to funnel your enquiry to their premium rate phone line. I tried the phone line but all they could recommend was to take it to an authorized dealer for repair, I explained that it was not worth it to me and asked if they could supply the software so I could try a fix myself. The guy on the other end of the phone pointed me to their website, I said that I had already tried and there was nothing there. After a brief pause while he went off to have a look he confirmed that it was not there and they would not let me have a copy. I have found a copy floating around the internet, from a Spanish site, and will give it a try.

Open Source Digi Box

After the above problems I started to think about building my own Digi Box. The aim is to produce one for less than £200 with the following features :

2 x Freeview Tuners ( not HD as not available in my area )
160Gb Hard Drive
DVD player / recorder

At the moment I am looking at various motherboards / processors. The software will be Linux based and all hardware / software open source so anyone can build their own and program it how they like … The obvious problem is the DVD encoding.

SteamPunk USB Drive

As previously mentioned I do like the design of SteamPunk ( especially the gadgets ), now part way through the phone project I looked at some of the stuff I had left over and decided that a USB flash drive would be quite fun. First I took an old radio valve and carefully cut through the base ( pretty sparks with a Dremmel ), I had an old USB flash drive that unfortunately no longer works but would do to see about mounting. That was removed from its case and the USB connector removed for future use. Basically got the general design and layout sorted, now just need to pick up a cheap drive to use.

SteamPunk iPod

Since I got an iPod touch a while ago my old and trusty Shuffle has been sitting around doing nothing. So that has now been removed from it’s case and I’m working on a new SteamPunk enclosure for it. That idea has been shelved for the moment as I have room in the phone project for it … So it might be used there.

Weirdopedia.com

Since a kid I have been interested in the stranger side of the world from UFOs to ghosts but my main interest is Cryptozoology so I started this site a little while ago to put all the information I have gathered on-line. Very much a work in progress based on the free Tiki-Wiki software.

Talent Website

I am getting involved with some people launching a talent search site, think of You Tube mixed with ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and you should have a reasonable idea of what it will be. They are working with a US based site and have a good quality web design company on board. My position is as a business advisor to help them generate revenue streams from the project.

Arts and Crafts Website

This is also someone else’s project that I am involved in, to provide a Shopping Mall type website for the vibrant arts and crafts community. As above I am acting as a business advisor, but I am also developing the website. At the moment I am torn between using OS Commerce with the Shopping Mall plug in or just starting from scratch and writing my own CMS system … Well not totally from scratch as I can salvage various modules I have written in the past for other projects.

Kelm

A book I have had swimming round my head for quite a few years, just started working on the characters and the universe they live in … Actually because of the story line I need two universes

It is a Sci-Fi comedy and involves a gambler, death as a person, a confused computer and a God that has been transformed into a ham, cheese and pickle sandwich … And he hates pickle.

Education

Back in the 80′s I started a Degree in Microelectronics and Information Processing at Brighton Polytechnic but left after 2 years and have not really revisited structured learning since. Now I am looking at going back to study ( part time ) with the Open University, I’m still deciding on the course but at the moment it looks like being one of their dual subject Degrees ‘Computing & IT with Business’.

Thought Experiments

Nothing sinister … Honest. On occasions I come up with an idea for a product or service that I think is interesting but not really worth while pursuing in any detail or is just plain bonkers but intrigues me for some reason. Still, I find them interesting as thought experiments and sometimes lead to learning something new.

One is a lockable cover for rubbish skips, this stops anyone just dumping their trash in them. Not only is this annoying to whoever rented the skip but can also cause major problems if it has to be dealt with in a specific way by law ( eg TV’s ). Other advantages include keeping rain out and stopping waste getting blown away during transport.

Another is to do with credit card safety on-line. For sites that store your credit card details, instead of storing your number it is replaced with a random, made up number that still satisfies the Luhn Check. So if the sites database is compromised then the cracker will not be able to charge your card. The other side of this idea is that if the sites register the random numbers and when they are generated then it would be easy for a credit card company to isolate which site had been cracked by just checking which fake numbers had been used.

Continuing, one thought that sprung from the Steampunk phone was a modular phone system so you can plug together a mobile phone that is individual to you with the look, feel and functionality that you want. Sort of one step up from the snap on covers you can get.

Moving on, an intelligent cupboard. Scans the bar code as you put items in. Also has built in scales so when an item is scanned out then back in again it can work out how much you have used. Over time it can ‘learn’ your eating habits and construct a shopping list. Would also be able to connect to the internet and inform you of special offers on your favourite foods.

WordPress Login, In my view the best Blogging system for your own site ( Hence I use it here ) but it can be annoying having so many different log ins when posting to other peoples sites so this would be a centralised login system allowing you to register once then access all sites that use it. Individual sites could still ban specific users. It would also reduce the number of people that have the same screen name.

Guitar

I would not say I play the guitar as much as hit it until it makes a nice sound I have no illusions at all, my musical talent is minimal but I do enjoy trying. Sometimes I think it would be quicker for me to build a robot to play it. Think of this as my mid life crisis ‘thing’ … If I had more money I would have probably bought a Porsche

 

That is pretty much what takes up my time, apart from my girlfriend of course and going to gigs and attending IET lectures and socialising and playing on the Xbox and updating this site.

Did I mention that I have shares in ProPlus