Firefox hack - OTE search

note: this post is in Greek because it is about a whitepages firefox search engine of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE S.A.). ;)


Το whitepages του ΟΤΕ είναι πολύ χρήσιμο site αλλά φοβερά εκνευριστικό όταν προσπαθείς να κάνεις αντίστροφη αναζήτηση (αναζήτηση στοιχείων συνδρομητή όταν γνωρίζουμε το νούμερο). Προσπαθείς να βάλεις το νούμερο που βρήκες στις αναπάντητες και ξαφνικά πετάγεται η προειδοποίηση:
Για αναζήτηση συνδρομητή βάσει τηλεφώνου, δε χρειάζεται να ορίσετε περιοχή αναζήτησης και επώνυμο/επωνυμία.
Και δεν φτάνει που αναφέρει τα αυτονόητα, πρέπει να πατήσεις το ΟΚ για να συνεχίσεις....

Τέλος πάντων, εγώ θα ήθελα να χρησιμοποιώ το search bar του firefox και όχι το whitepages.
Μετά απ΄ το σχετικό googling βρήκα μόνο ένα πρόγραμμα που κάνει τέτοια αναζήτηση (WhitePagesDirect 1.1.2) αλλά είναι αυτόνομο - δεν είναι add-on του firefox.

So…I did it (με λίγο ψάξιμο - OpenSearch, mac, αλλά..).

Ιδού η λύσις:

1. Βρίσκεστε εδώ (σε αυτήν τη σελίδα).

2. Κάνετε click στο drop down box του search bar.




3. Μετά Add “OTE search”.




4. Και έτοιμοι να εισάγετε νούμερο (10 ψηφία).

My reel

My vfx reel page is now updated (with a nice 'how to' video).

Paper art - II

Papercut art by Jen Stark.


Paper art - I.

Helicam - II

... or the microdrone?


Helicam - I.

Steam walker

The gold medal winner of kinetic artbots - RoboGames 2006 by I-Wei Huang.

NXT Cicala

I was looking for an easy way to build custom chassis for various robotic projects. So, I purchased recently the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT kit. I think that the NXT is an easy way for experiments or prototyping.

I started with the quick project suggested by LEGO in order to learn the shapes and combinations of the various pieces.
After a few days I decided to make my first NXT robot; the NXT Cicala (a two wheeled balancing robot).

I used the light sensor in order to measure the slope of the robot as in the original Cicala version. I wrote a little program in NXC (a simple PID controller - manually adjusted for my sensor and motors) and voila.

front view

rear view

Fab@Home

"Fab@Home is a website dedicated to making and using fabbers - machines that can make almost anything, right on your desktop. This website provides an open source kit that lets you make your own simple fabber, and use it to print three dimensional objects. You can download and print various items, try out new materials, or upload and share your own projects. Advanced users can modify and improve the fabber itself."
Evan Malone

Rapid prototyping for only US$2300!

KMODDL

"The Kinematic Models for Design Digital Library is an open access, multimedia resource for learning and teaching about kinematics – the geometry of pure motion – and the history and theory of machines. KMODDL is a pedagogical space designed for use by teachers and researchers,... The original core of KMODDL is the Reuleaux Collection of Mechanisms and Machines, an important collection of 19th-century machine elements held by Cornell University’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering."
KMODDL

Security digest

"This site is dedicated to preserving the history of early computer security digests and mailing lists, specifically those prior to the mid 1990's. This includes the Unix 'Security Mailing List', through to the Zardoz 'Security Digest' to the Core 'Security List', i.e. those preceeding BugTraq. These forums are a valuable insight into the embryonic development of the field of computer security, especially as it relates to the Internet, and the development of the Doctrine of Disclosure."

The 'Security Digest' Archives.

Isobot

Cool robotic designs: Isobots

Core war

"Core War (or Core Wars) is a programming game in which two or more battle programs (called warriors) compete for the control of the MARS virtual computer (Memory Array Redcode Simulator). These battle programs are written in an abstract assembly language called Redcode. The object of the game is to cause all processes of the opposing program(s) to terminate, leaving your program in sole possession of the machine.

...The game was introduced to the public in May 1984, in an article written by Dewdney in Scientific American (Computer Recreations)."
Wikipedia

Info about at: corewars (including links to tutorials/guides, math of the game and even the use of genetic algorithms to evolve core war programs).

Wholemovement

Folding circles by Bradford Hansen-Smith.

Illusion

"As with many so-called illusions, this effect really demonstrates the success rather than the failure of the visual system. The visual system is not very good at being a physical light meter, but that is not its purpose. The important task is to break the image information down into meaningful components, and thereby perceive the nature of the objects in view."
Edward H. Adelson

Paper art - I

Papercut art by Peter Callesen.

Robotic platforms

Two platforms for robotic experiments:

- Qwerk - $349.00
- iRobot Create (from the creators of the Scooba) - $129.99

Double inverted pendulum

A double inverted pendulum video (posted by a lecturer of TECNUN).

Double inverted pendulum

Fuzzy logic controlled - two stage inverted pendulum.

Triple inverted pendulum

A triple inverted pendulum by Max Planck Institute!!

PID with BASIC Stamp

And a PID control intro with the BASIC Stamp.

LEGO inverted pendulum

An RCX inverted pendulum project by Ken Dye.

also: an analysis of motor speeds for geared motors by S & O Baker.