Eastern Geek

Signage Fail: Translate Server Error

2008-07-19T10:03:00.005+08:00

I don't normally do this, but this sign in China is simply epic.

Lesson to all: Do not rely solely on an online translator.

Image via AdFreak

No I don't read Chinese, but it's a sign for Chan Ting, literally translates to Restaurant (thanks Penny).

These Folks In Boston Are Freaking Me Out With Their Big Dog

2008-06-20T14:35:00.000+08:00

It's old news but the ongoing development on the Big Dog by Boston Dynamics is yielding spectacular results it's literally freaking me out. Big Dog, a project partly funded by DARPA (the same folks behind the Grand and Urban Challenge) is touted as The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth, and by looks of it, they are not exaggerating.

It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog's legs are articulated like an animal’s, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next.

It runs on gasoline, which means it has an internal combustion engine. Judging by it's corrective maneuvers, and balancing abilities (especially on the slippery ice), the engine and hydraulics systems seems to be extremely responsive. Along with stereo vision, multitude of sensors including laser gyroscopes, the Big Dog life-like movement is simply astounding. And yes, that's freaky, just check the video out.

And the earlier BETA version. It's capable of more sets of maneuvers, but they haven't got the balancing right yet.

Other stuff
By the looks of it, it won't be long before the Americans start having AT-AT Walkers in their military. Now where's my harpoon equipped Snowspeeders.

Imperial AT-AT Walker.
Image from http://starwars.wikia.com

Simple (and dirty) Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) For Motor Speed Control

2008-06-10T11:58:00.030+08:00

Simple circuit for DC Motor speed control (fan speed control, light dimming and etc) using the 555 timer. Also a good starting point for novices wanting to get their hands dirty with the 555 timer IC. Some would argue that this is not the most efficient approach, but hey (read the title), it's simple, and it works.

click image to enlarge

Introduction

Those of you modders, tinkerers, makers at one point or another would have encounter the need to have a finer control of DC motor speed, be it for robotic projects, RC, case mods etc. The simplest, no-brainer approach to that is by adjusting the voltage supply to the motor using a potentiometer. The higher the voltage, the higher the speed and vice versa.

Might be a good option for some cases, but the potentiometer approach doesn't perform too well when a much more stable and refined control is needed.

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)

Put simply PWM is the process of switching power ON and OFF to a device in pulses at a specific frequency. Same approach used in commercial light dimmers, DC motor speed controller, CPU fan speed controllers and etc.

The fundamentals. Imagine your everyday incandescent light bulb. When you turn the power ON, it doesn't lights up to it's full brightness instantly, instead it will take (approximately) a couple of seconds to do so. Similarly when you turn the power OFF, it will take a couple of seconds for the bulb to die off.

Now, imagine you're able to flick the power switch ON/OFF fast enough. If you can time your ON/OFF flicking just right (of course it's difficult), the light bulb will actually dim instead of flickers.

The ON/OFF cycle is known as the duty cycle. Below are the visual representation of 50%, 80% and 20% duty cycle.

The 555 Timer IC

The 555 timer is arguably one of the most popular IC ever made. There are thousands of resources online if you're interested to delve deeper into the subject. I'm just going to give the simple description directly relevant to the build.

You can get the 555 at any electronics supply store, just ask for 555 IC (or IC tiga lima in Malay) from the auntie and you're set. If you can't seems to find it, check out the Amazon link for 555 timer below.

PIN 1 - Ground
DC Ground

PIN 2 - Trigger
When LOW, it causes the Output pin to go HIGH. Activated when voltage fall
below 1/3 of +V.

PIN 3 - Output
Output is HIGH when Trigger pin is LOW. Output is LOW when Threshold pin is
HIGH. Output is LOW when reset pin is LOW.Output pin is able to source or sink
current.

PIN 4 - Reset
Short to +V when not in use.

PIN 5 - Control Voltage
Grounded through a 0.01uF capacitor when not in use.

PIN 6 - Threshold
When voltage reaches 2/3 of +V, this pin will cause Output to be driven LOW.

PIN 7 - Discharge
Grounded when Output pin goes HIGH.

PIN 8 - +V
DC Power

How the circuit works

When the circuit is powered up, the C1 capacitor will initially be in a discharged state. Thus, the Trigger (pin 2) will be LOW, driving the Output (pin 3) to go HIGH. Discharge (pin 7) goes HIGH and shorts to ground. The cycle begins.

The HIGH Output will cause C1 capacitor to be charged through the R1 and D1 path. Upon C1 voltage reaching 2/3 of +V, the Threshold (pin 6) will be activated and drive the Output (pin 3) LOW. Discharge (pin 7) goes LOW. The time it takes for C1 to charge depends on the position of R1.

Since Output (pin 3) is now LOW, capacitor C1 will start to discharge through the D2 and R1 path. When the voltage of C1 drops below 1/3 of +V, Trigger (pin 2) will be LOW, driving Output (pin 3) to go HIGH, and Discharge (pin 7) to go HIGH and shorts to ground. The cycle repeats itself.

You've probably noticed by now that the circuit is using Discharge (pin 7) to drive the motor, simply by shorting to ground in each cycle. You can add some amount of protection if you're concerned about back EMF from the motor.

Pin 4 and 5 are not used, and pin 1 is simply tied to ground. The circuit can take between +3v to +18v. The Frequency is around 144Hz. Do note that, doubling the value of C1 will reduce frequency to half, tripling will will reduce frequency to 1/3, and so on.

Part list

1) 555 timer IC - 1
2) 100K variable resistor - 1
3) 1N4148 Diode - 2
4) 100nF capacitor - 2

So that's it

Any input, comments, suggestions are welcomed.

Harness Solar And Wind Energy With These "Leaves"

2008-03-06T12:15:00.002+08:00

SMIT, a start-up company in sustainable design have came up with GROW, a device that harnesses both solar and wind energy to generate electricity.

GROW is a hybrid energy delivery device that provides power via the sun and wind, and draws inspiration from ivy growing on a building.

The idea is simple, each leaf consists of photovoltaic cells and a piezoelectric material as it's stem. The photovoltaic cells generate electricity in the sunlight, and the piezoelectric generate electricity as the leaf flutters in the wind.

GROW Project Page.

GROW .2 - The solar only variant.

GROW .1 - The solar and wind variant.

Note the orange stems. Electrical potential will be generated when stress is applied on the stems. SMIT however, is keeping mum on what piezoelectric material they are using, but if I have to take a guess, it's PVDF since it's just about the only polymer that demonstrates piezoelectric properties.

My only problem is, since the leaves will be hanged vertically on the outer wall, for them to perform optimally, I will need to place them on my eastward or westward facing walls. Even then, I will have a maximum of 6 hours of direct sunlight and another 6 in the shades. So I'm gonna have to buy more leaves for both walls?

Lego PC Case Mods Are Awesome

2008-03-04T16:35:00.013+08:00

The boys (and girls) in Billund would be mighty proud of these, PC Case Mods made out of Legos.

click image to enlarge

Housing a VIA Epia PD Motherboard 1Ghz, Nvidia 6200 PCI Graphics, Laptop 80 Gig 7200Rpm Hdd, Laptop DVD, and 1 gig Geil DDR memory (powered by 200 Watt PSU), the specs may not be impressive by today's standard. But who cares.. (link)

click image to enlarge

And the wheels, I'm not too sure about that though. Might be handy if you're towing your PC to work everyday.

Yet Another Lego Case Mod

I like this one way better, look wickedly cool by any standard (and no wheels!)

Looks like a cross-over between a Main Battle Tank and a Military
Hydrofoil. Seriously, I don't mind paying for one of these.

click image to enlarge

The Specs:

CPU: VIA C3 933MHz processor
Mobo: VIA CLE266/VT8235
8X DVD drive.
Ram:1x DDR266 DIMM, Max 1GB
Onboard Audio:VIA VT1616 6 channel AC'97
Onboard Video:Integrated VIA CastleRock AGP graphics

click image to enlarge

Winston's Lego Computer. Full build (here)

Other Stuff

Lego monitor, mouse and keyboard. No, there's no way I will fork my hard-earned money for any of these:

DIY Vortex Light Of Terror

2008-02-29T12:15:00.016+08:00

Step-by-step instruction on how to make your very own LED Vortex Light that looks super-cool on your desktop, living room or as a night light. I'm quite sure however, that it will not strike terror in anyone. This is a simple project that costs me RM 25, and a day to complete.

Caution: Image heavy page, may take some time to fully load. Another thing, I'm currently stuck with a pathetically useless camera. So please don't scratch your eyes looking at (some of) the poor quality video (and photos).

Stills of how it will look like when we're done (click image to enlarge):

1. The Idea.

Similar to how a magnetic stirrer works, a motor will spin a permanent magnet on the Y-axis creating a spinning magnetic field. Placing a ferromagnetic metal within that field will cause it to spin as well, without making any physical contact with the magnet and motor. The spinning motion of the metal will stir the water in the glass, creating a twister/vortex. Once we have the vortex, it's just a matter of illuminating it.

After experimenting with several placements of the illumination source (top, bottom and all around). It turns out that narrow vertical illumination from the sides (90 degrees, perpendicular to the vortex) yield the best result. It accentuates the vortex and produces the most dramatic effect.

2. What We Need.

1) 80mm, 12V DC computer case fan.

Apart from it's voltage which match the voltage source I plan to use, there is no specific reason for choosing the 80mm fan. It's just something I have laying around the house. If you ought to buy it, any surplus computer store will have one for less than RM 5.

2) Universal AC-DC power adapter (1.5V-12V, 500mA).

You can get it any electrical store. I got mine a while back from my neighborhood store for (if I'm not mistaken) RM15.

3) Standard Red LED (voltage range 1.7V - 2.2V).

I just think red gives out a good "terror" vibe. No, really, you can use green, blue, yellow or whatever color you please. Just be sure to check their voltage and current rating if you're planning to them from an adapter like mine. If you're not into soldering and such, and have a lot of money to spare, a better choice would be those cold cathode lights, you can get a much brighter and more even illumination.

4) Neodymium Iron Boron (NIB) magnet.

Any kind of magnet won't do, especially those ferrite fridge magnets. It has be a neodymium magnet for it to work. Or at least the old school samarium cobalt magnet (if you can find one). I got mine from a dead hard drive. Other source of these magnets would be those magnet therapy bracelets (though the pricing is an utter rip-off). If not, you're going to have to shop online as neodymium can't really be purchased off the shelf (at least in this part of the world).

Please note that although it is tempting to purchase neodymium of the highest strength (i.e grade N50), the higher the grade the more susceptible it is to demagnetization by heat. The hard drive magnets are generally of medium strength which makes it perfect for operation in hot hard drive environment and in our case, hot motors.

5) Clear glass cylinder.

Yes, you can use a bong if you have one. I use a tall drinking glass. The thickness of the bottom of the glass is very important. If it's thick, then the magnetic field that reaches the stirrer will be too weak. If you're stuck with a thick bottomed glass, put a lid on it and use it upside down.

6) All the stuff below are optional.

They depends on the how you want your light to look like, what ~~junk~~ stuff you have around the house and how much money you're willing to spend for this project.

Paper clips
Black diamond CD-R - I like the black mirror surface. They will be used as the base.
DVD Case - Will be used to make the fins. It's black, matte, easily cut and shaped.
PTFE tape - To make the glass lid water tight.
Cryanoacrylate adhesive - That's Super Glue (aka Gam Gajah). Get the less viscous type normally sold in eye-drop shaped bottles.
Large cookie jar lid - To encase the fan (It's black and looks alright)
Balsa - Cutout from 5mm thick sheet. Used as spacers.
Clear transparencies - Layered with semi transparent double side tape for LED light diffusion.
Double sided foam tape.
Plasticine.

7) Tools

Soldering iron
Knife
Pliers
Hot glue gun - I'm proud of my trusty glue gun, which I bought for RM 2 (that's USD 0.62), thank god for China.
Power drill.

3. Prepping The Fan

Cut-off all the fan blades with a knife leaving just the core.

The fan without it's blades. You can also use a pair of pliers to snap
the blades.

Do note that in the next picture, I used a hacked ATX bench power unit instead of the adapter for testing. In your case, you can cut off the the connectors from the adapter, strip the wires, tie them straight to the fan.

Using the double sided foam tape, stick your magnet firmly in the center (pictured below). Since a hard drive magnet is oddly shaped, this can be tricky. Turn the fan on. If it starts to vibrate violently, it means the magnet is off-center, peel it off and stick it again.

Repeat until you hit the sweet spot which yields no or the least vibration. Secure the magnet with hot glue. Dab it quickly because we don't want the heat to demagnetize the magnet.

The magnet, spray-painted black, in the center of the fan. Be on
the lookout for violent vibrations.

4. Getting The (Perfect) Vortex.

Cut the straight portion of a paper clip. Bend it into the shape below. Coat it with thin layer of rubber glue to prevent it from rusting.

The stirrer.

Drop it into the tall glass filled with clean water. Layer the glass opening with PTFE tape, close the lid and turn it upside down.

Set the rig similar to the image below:

Tuning the vortex. This will take several attempts.
Note the use of Plasticine as support.The multi-purpose
paper box is not part of the rig.

There is no magic number in getting the perfect vortex. It simply takes a lot of tweaking. The depth and width of the vortex depends on these factor:

The length of the paperclip stirrer - experiment with shorter and longer stirrer.
Air gap - the gap between the magnet and stirrer. Reduce or increase the air gap as necessary.
The speed of the fan - of course with a constant voltage/current supply, the speed will be constant.
The diameter of the drinking glass - constant
The water level - adjustable.

Vortex width and sizes.

I'm pretty sure there's a mathematical formula in there somewhere, but the bottom-line is tweak (1), (2) and (5) until you to get the perfect vortex. Hence the use of Plasticine for support, so we can easily adjust the air gap.

Once you're happy with the vortex, save the stirrer, take the measurement of the air gap and the water level.

5. Noise Control.

Another reason why the vortex shouldn't be touching the bottom is it produces an unpleasant sound, similar to the slurping sound of a draining sink or bathtub. The spinning stirrer also produces some friction noise, so pick the lid material correctly.

A glass will produce almost no noise; a solid smooth plastic lid, minimal noise. I layer the lid with rubber electrical tape to reduce the noise further. the fan when finally enclosed will be very quite.

So, with proper layering and enclosing, the rig will produce an almost inaudible sound.

6. The Rest Of The Build.

The rest is pretty straightforward. The diagram below pretty much explains everything.

The full diagram of the Vortex Light.

The fins will house the LED, while limiting the light into a narrow vertical beam. The beam, being perpendicular to the vortex produces the best effect compared to other placements. That said, I was also going for a (somewhat) sinister look. Hence (if you recall) the resemblance to The Riddler's Mind-Reader thingamajig in Batman Forever.

7. The Fins.

Cut out the sheets from old DVD case. The dimension depends on your own creativity and the rest of the items you used in your rig.

The cut-outs.

Layer both side of the sheet with double sided foam tape. Stick the LED. Once your happy with the placement, solder all 6 of them together.

LED placements.

Add the spacers to hold the shape together when we sandwich the LED (not in picture). If you're using a 5mm sized LED, the spacer should be around 6mm thick.

Sandwich the LED between the two sheets (pictured below).

Front view of the fin.

Attach the the two sheet together, and test the it out.
Note where the wires are coming out of the fin.

Add the light diffuser on the fin's opening. It is made of clear transparency plastics layered with semi transparent tape. Secure it, and we're done here.

The fin with the light diffuser.

8. Housing The Fan.

Remember the the air gap measurement we took earlier when tuning the vortex? Create the spacer for the fan creating the same EXACT air gap. Secure the spacers to the floor with hot glue.

The spacer (in the yellow rectangle). Note that there are
4 spacers on four sides of the fan.

9. Putting It All Together (And Wiring Them Up).

Drill a hole on the base floor for the LED wires to run through (pictured below). You will also need to drill a hole for the power adapter wire (not in picture).

Attach the fin to the base with the wire running through the holes we have created. Of course we can't see the wires once the fins are attached. The picture below show where it supposed to be. Also note the adapter wire coming in through the back in to the base.

The fin attached to the base. The wires run through the inside.

The adapter supplies 12v 500mA, and the fan draws 140mA at 12V. The 12V is also within range to operate 6 Red LED (on each fin) in series safely at 2V each. So I wired the circuit as below.

The power source, 12V 500mA.

Secure the wiring, add the finishing touches, place the glass on the base. You can either permanently secure it on the base with glue or just simply placing it on the base. For me, I would want the option to change the water every once in a while. Plus the whole thing is a lot easier to carry around separately.

But, if you want to it to be permanently secured to the base, be sure to sterilize the water and the glass you're using, and seal it tightly. And remember also to coat the stirrer to (see step 4). You don't want the water to turn grey (or orange) after a few weeks.

I had mine for 3 weeks now, it works fine, and the water is still crystal clear.

10. Fire It Up!

Give yourself a pat on the back, have a ~~smoke~~ cookie, and impress your geek girlfriend/friends/neighbor with your Vortex Light.

11. Bla Bla.

This is my first project since I started blogging about a month ago. There are quite a few completed projects that I previously never bothered to document, and a few more currently in the pipeline. I will try my best to document and publish them all here.

So stay tuned.

Subscribe.

The Life And Death Of The Rocket Powered X-Wing Fighter (With Decapitated R2 Unit)

2008-02-26T13:08:00.000+08:00

A guy and his friends have built a 21-foot long X-Wing model that can actually fly. It did fly, and some of you probably know how the saga ends.

Image by: Gizmodo

The X-Wing model is huge. At 21 feet long and with a wingspan of over 19 feet it is, in fact, big enough to fly a kid in.

20 people, 8000 man-hours and 6 month to build. It's powered by four Class M rocket engines complete with radio-controlled moving wings (to go into attack position in flight).

Droid casualty.
Image by: Gizmodo

And the death of the Y-Wing
The force is (slightly) stronger with this one.

The full saga here:

Rocket-Powered 21-Foot-Long X-Wing Model Actually Flies

Video: The Rocket-Powered X-Wing's Flight...and Death

Y-Wing Beats X-Wing, Gold Squadron Finally Kicks Ass

Vista SP1 Is Out - With List Of Programs That Won't Work On SP1

2008-02-22T14:00:00.008+08:00

Microsoft have finally released Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Vista. Less than a year after the launch of the original Vista.

Microsoft Vista SP1 represents a significant first move toward a faster, more secure, and slightly more open Vista.

Higher degree of program compatibility than with the RTM version. Increased speed when copying large files and connecting to networked PCs. Overall speed improvement as well. Improvements in BitLocker encryption. Configurable Search option.

The rest of the Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 review on PCMag.

SP1 to a certain extend is great news. At the very least, anyone who have experienced the headache in getting a Vista to talk to a Win98 (yes, there are people who still use Windows 98) would appreciate the update.

Another great news

In keeping with their (newly established) tradition, Microsoft have also released a list of programs that WILL NOT work with SP1:

Programs that are blocked from starting after you install Windows Vista SP1

Programs that do not run after you install Windows Vista SP1

Programs that have a loss of functionality after you install Windows Vista SP1

More information at Microsoft Support

The list will definitely grow as SP1 goes live for the public in March.

Musical Tesla Coil Of Doom - Sings The Super Mario Tune

2008-02-21T18:23:00.007+08:00

Who could forget the sight of Soviet's Tesla Coil zapping Allied Paratroopers in the old Command and Conquer.

And apparently, you can make a Tesla Coil sing too. What better song to pick than the Super Mario tune!

Basically, a Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer, named after its inventor, Nikola Tesla. The same guy who kicked Edison's butt in AC vs DC War Of Current.

And to make it sing, you will need large valve tubes to resonate the coil and amplitude modulate it. Modulating the high-voltage sparks is downright difficult, which makes the rig in the video simply awesome.

Since it involves fiddling with extremely high-voltage, people could die. Therefore, your neighbors and TNB won't be happy if you build one of these in your backyard. Which makes it even more cooler.

Rinspeed Squba - World's First Submersible Car

2008-02-16T18:13:00.007+08:00

A Swiss company unveiled the world's first submersible car. Yes, you heard me right.

Image made available by Swiss car maker Rinspeed
shows its new model, the sQuba, which the company
claims is the world's first submersible car.

Unlike military vehicles, which can only drive slowly on a lakebed, Rinspeed says its car can provide a stable "flight" at a depth of 30 feet.

Passengers will be able to keep breathing underwater through an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving.

But they will get wet.

It's a zero emission vehicle that runs off a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. I wonder what is it's top speed underwater? Guess we'll have to wait until the official unveiling next month. Full article here.

Just to prove their point, Rinspeed have come up with a cheesy video, with corny background musics. But it sure shows the car "flying" underwater.

By the way, if you're thinking of getting one, just take some precautions.
While taking your girlfriend on a romantic drive underwater might seems like a good idea if you're living in the Bahamas, I don't think it's fun having the car break down because the propeller's stuck on diapers, and getting a week long diarrhea after a dive in the Klang River.

Homemade 38 Million Candlepower Flashlight.

2008-02-15T16:54:00.009+08:00

Image by PopSci

So what does a bored Optics Engineer do in his free time? Build a handheld flashlight so bright it can toast a cat, of course.

The 45-year-old Dutch optics engineer has been building his own lights since he was eight, but his recent 38-million-candlepower creation, the Maxablaster, is more like a miniature star. To start, Ottow stripped out the innards of a powerful commercial flashlight and switched in a mercury arc bulb, which generates light by creating an ultra-hot plasma between two closely spaced electrodes inside the gas-filled central chamber of the lamp. That results in a brighter, more focused beam but also kicks out more ultraviolet light (hence the sunburn, a product of early testing). So he added a specially coated reflector and designed, ground, and coated a new glass window that would trap UV rays while still pumping out light.

At 38 million cp's, it creates a spot on clouds up to 4 miles high with ease.

Some numbers:
Runs on 54 NiMh 3300mAh cells.
Cost around USD1800 to make.

The mercury arc bulb

Check out the full article @ PopSci

As to why it is measured in candlepower instead of candela or lumen even though we're now in 2008? Beats me, maybe it's a western "thing".

Whatever it is, honestly, I want one. Given the right angle, it can probably blind those MAS / Air Asia pilots in flight. Sadism aside, this is definitely a piece of engineering genius.

Other stuff

More details on the rig and praises by the candlepower community.

Replicating Criss Angel's Matrix Muscle Suspension / Levitation.

2008-02-13T14:15:00.007+08:00

In particular, the one he did at Sunset Park (aka Muscle / Matrix Suspension), where he leaned backward with just one leg on the ground.

If you miss that one, here's the video:

First of all, I'm not out to debunk anything. I'm just hoping to replicate the illusion (at least theoretically). So, this is more of a how I would do it, rather than how Criss Angel did it.

1) First, lets get the basics out of the way.

There are only 3 ways something can be suspended / levitated (humans included):

Suspended from above.
Supported / repelled from bottom.
Supported from the sides.

As for this particular illusion, it can be viewed as an basic lever system at work. Which is shown in the simplified diagram below.

click image to enlarge

From the diagram, the body weight will be subjected to the force of gravity pulling it downward. The heel is acting as the fulcrum. In order to keep the system balanced, a downward force need to be applied on the other side of the lever, in a form of a counter weight.

2) The setup above raises two issues:

The human body is not rigid. We have joints and muscle that permits certain degree (range of) movements.
I'm not an Olympic gymnast, therefore even with the counter weight on my foot, there is no way I'm strong enough to hold my entire body in that position. Considering also the extreme stress it will put on my muscle and joints. The diagram below highlighted my problems.

click image to enlarge

3) Calling for support.

Rightfully, I will need some kind of contraption to alleviate the stress off my muscles, and provide additional support for my body weight. I will also need to limit the bending of my knee.
Getting the idea from the design of medieval knights armor, but with a different twist, I will be needing a custom rigged leg braces.

I will need to rig something similar to this:

click image to enlarge

Into something that looks somewhat like this (the brown part is supposed to be the leg, the ugly shoe is removed) :

click image to enlarge

I've highlighted the key part in the rig. The braces will help me with 3 things.

Limit the bending of my knee so it won't go more than 90 degrees.
Support my hip, thigh so that I can rest some of my body weight on just the braces.
Padded against my calf and provide the counter leverage.

Worn underneath a baggy jeans, the braces will be completely inconspicuous.

4) More support.

Of course that alone won't be enough, I will still need to provide support and limit the bending of my ankle. So I will need a custom boot, attached to the above braces.

click image to enlarge

The boot will have a metal spine running through it's sole. I will need some amount of free play at the braces-spine joint (as highlighted) in order for me to walk. Tying the laces tightly will add additional support. The metal toe-cap has it's use which will be shown later.

5) The counter weight.

Obviously I can't really place a boulder on my foot. So the only way is to go underground. With the help with the help of a buried anchor:

click image to enlarge

And one more modification to my custom boot:

click image to enlarge

For the anchor, all I need is a long nail, with a cement filled milk can. While the nail only needs to protrude by just a few millimeters above ground. The grass will help keep the protruding nail hidden. Locating the anchor will be trickier in a wide open area, so I will need to memorize the ground features and use them as visual markers. I can then pinpoint the nail by feeling it with my foot, through gentle drags around the area.

6) Performing the illusion.

This is the hardest part. It will need great balance and strong muscles, particularly the abs. And above all, some great acting skills.

Leaning backward is very tricky, especially doing so while trying to keep my balance. Thus, I will need someone to hold my hand and lower me. Once I get into the suspended position, my leg braces will start to do it's job of supporting some of my weight while keeping my leg at 90 degree. The other portion of my body weight will be supported by my abs muscle.

click image to enlarge

My custom boot anchored to the ground will provide my counter weight. The toe-cap will help provide additional leverage from within the boot. Once I've stabilized myself, I can start to lift my other leg, slowly while keeping my balance.

Of course I can't hold myself in the suspended position for very long, it will be too tiring. Thus I can only be in that position for a few seconds, enough to be convincing.

As for Criss Angel, apart from his skills and ingenuity, he is also great in the art of misdirection. Thats what makes him so good at what does.

One example of misdirection in the video is at 1:15-1:20 where the camera zooms to his legs. He's showing that theres nothing underneath it, next to his left foot there something that looks like a small pile of dirt. And as as the camera zooms out, there's a dead tree and in the backdrop, with a motor-home in the parking lot. Then, a cut scene.

However, soon after the cut scene at 1:22, magically pile of dirt disappear, no dead tree in the backdrop, no motor-home. That's a good misdirection. He actually moved to a spot a few meters from where he previously stood, where (I presumed) the anchor was buried.

7) Conclusion

I will need to find me a decent machine shop to fabricate my rig, learn some acting, quote some spiritual new-age terminologies, update my wardrobe, work on my abs, practice my balance, memorize my visual markers, and I'm set! =P

If any of you ever try this, be sure to share the video!

Other stuff

Check out the lounge suspension illusion. It's going to cost you USD2900 if you want to learn the secret.
*Hint* Refer to the first step above and you might just be able to discover the secret yourself.

MIT OpenCourseWare - MIT Education For The Rest Of Us

2008-02-07T12:19:00.001+08:00

Every geek's dream is either to become a Jedi, or to gain entry into MIT. Sadly, I've achieved neither. But thanks to the good people at MIT who came up with MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW for short), we muggles can now take a peek into the world previously reserved for the best and brightest.

MIT OpenCourseWare is an initiative geared towards making the materials for nearly all MIT courses freely available on the Internet.

And the list of courses are mighty impressive, 1800 courses in all, from departments such as Nuclear Science and Engineering to Women's and Gender Studies. Some even come with downloadable audio and video lectures. Another cool thing is you also have the option to download the entire course ( with lecture notes, assignments, exams, etc).

An abstracted aircraft wing, illustrating the connections
between the disciplines of Unified Engineering. (Image by MIT OCW.)
16.01 / 16.02 / 16.03 / 16.04 Unified Engineering I, II, III, & IV
Aeronautics and Astronautics Department.

My personal favorites?
Lectures from the star of OCW. Professor Walter Lewin from MIT's Physics Department (he somehow reminds me of Doc Emmet Brown).

Professor Lewin puts his life on the line by demonstrating
his faith in the Conservation of Mechanical Energy.

Get your hands dirty with some physics.

MIT Course 8.01 Physics I: Classical Mechanics - Walter Lewin - 35 lecture videos

MIT Course 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism - Walter Lewin - 37 lecture videos

Other stuff

Checkout the complete MIT playlist on Youtube.

Living With Windows Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD)

2008-02-02T13:24:00.000+08:00

Image Credit: Taringa!

I was about to get some cash at an ATM machine a couple days back, and an all too familiar sight greeted me. The windows stop error screen affectionately known to most us as the Blue Screen Of Death (a.k.a BSOD). Unfortunately, no camera handy at that moment.

Nonetheless, ever since Windows XP made it's way into ATMs, I've personally encountered several incidences of windows related errors, but that day was my first encounter with the dreaded BSOD. That very moment, my thought started to dwell on that poor soul before me, whomever he or she may be (perhaps an old lady, for good effect), whom probably wanted to transfer some cash to help pay the medical bills of her ailing grandson. And just about the time she confirmed the transaction, the machine went poof, five thousand bucks end up in the account of the Finance Minister of Nigeria.

That probably didn't happen though (I hope). But, avid imagination aside, we all have at one point or another encounter the dreaded BSOD. My very first encounter was back in the nineties on my old man's Pentium 100MHz beast. On early version of windows (ie 95,98,Me) they were mainly caused by incompatible versions of Dynamic Link Libraries (a.k.a DLL Hell), errornious device drivers, and premature removal of removable drives. They were common. On Windows NT (ie NT, XP, Vista), they are less frequent, but when they do appear, to put it simply, that means something is really really wrong. So be afraid, be very afraid.

For those who love to dip their nose in technicalities, here's a great article from Brien Posey: Demistifying the 'Blue Screen of Death'.

Going back to ATM machines, I personally don't see the need for an ATM to be running on Windows XP, apart for maybe the shiny GUI. ATMs have traditionally been running on OS/2 and UNIX without major issues, so why need to change them? It's not like users everywhere are demanding to play Solitaire while withdrawing cash. Having a 1.5 GB operating system to run an ATM is seriously an overkill. What next? Perhaps an XP enabled a calculator? Furthermore, it's an OS that have been throughly dissected by crackers and hackers everywhere, which raises other concerns.

Confucius puts it rather nicely,

Don't try to kill a mosquito with a canon (the projectile weapon, not the camera).

Nonetheless, as Microsoft make more and more money, windows are appearing in territories where previously other OSes dominate, and with it comes our garden variety BSOD.

Someone at Taringa! have compiled a great list, here are some of my favorites:

But then again, what if..

Ads are included on the Blue Screen of Death.

Imagine the exposure it'll get if it appears on one of these..

Anyone from microsoft reading this? =)

Other Stuff

Youtube video of Bill Gates getting the BSOD. A classic.

So what else can I do on a windows-based ATM machine?
Use MS Paint, apparently. Windows-based ATM machine hacked, gets Painted.

To be fair, Linux's Black Screen Of Death, well not really, Linux Crash Top 10 Images.

Someone actually came with a site dedicated to tallying the amount of time wasted looking at Mac OS X's Mable Of Doom (a.k.a Spinning Beach Ball Of Death).