BushidoHacks.com

20070424

GNU Radio - Click!

I really wanted to come up with a clever title that was a play on Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio", but I just didn't have it in me.

With 2007 nearing the midpoint, my self-made computer is nearly complete. All I need now is the memory, a backup power source, a little bit of thermal grease for the processor, and something to patch up that hole in the back where a TV or Graphics card goes.

But since I'm not interested in television, and because I don't play alot of video games to justify shelling $300 for a graphics card, I want to develop an interest in software defined radio (SDR).

It turns out this project will be more challenging that I thought, but I am still eager to find some way to do this project without breaking the budget.

I recently learned that many of the projects I want to do require an industrial level of supplies or components, be it a SDR or an electric generator. An eBay search does not return any results that satisfy my requests.

I spend alot of time working on my computer, but I also want to listen to the radio. Nearly every result returned some form of mediocre FM radio reciever that was part of a TV card. But I want something that listens to AM so I can hear Cardinal games and picks up the FM radio stations that don't play some rap station or top-40/emo crap on five other radio frequencies where my favorite stations are located. I want a radio card that can block out that crap and pick up my Red Birds and Industrial Rock as clear as a bell. Unfortunately, the consumer market appeals to the Lowest Common Denominator. So it looks like I will need to build what I want.

Despite the fact that I did not learn about things like Verlog when I took a computer logic course, I still have the textbook from that class and would like to put it to use. I may need to review my knowledge of assembly language which may be of no use since my new computer is a 64-bit dual-core machine. I'm starting to think that maybe I should have majored in computer engineering rather than computer science considering I have a very limited knowledge about programmable logic arrays (PLAs), but I am willing and open to learn.

Reading the requirement list provided by the GNU Radio website, I really did not want to pay $850 for a hardware device that with the right components can be made for far less. Who ever is running the GNU Radio project obviously is not thinking like a broke college student. Do I really need that many Logic Elements (LEs) for this project? A child can build a radio for a science fair project out of a couple of circuit and a paper clip. These guys are thinking in terms of the most expensive products out there. Altera does have some appealing products that are quite afordable and simple to program. But to place the project cost at $850?! Who's running this project? Kaz Hirai?!

As much as this is an important project, the requirements are full of oversight. I know I can do better at a fraction of the cost!

Labels: diy, hack, hardware, linux, mod, music, radio, science, SDR, software, tech

posted by Bushido Hacks 4/24/2007 09:49:00 PM (0) comments top

20070302

CompUSA Crashes! - Click!

If there is anything true it is that nothing complementary is truely free or as good as they say. Today, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch posted on the front page of the business section that all three St. Louis Area CompUSA stores are shutting down. Nationwide, 50% of all their stores are closing their doors.

"Yeah, so why not go to Circuit City or Best Buy?" Because firedog and geek squad are posers! On top of that, a trip to Circuit City this afternoon offered none of the products that I need to continuing to build my own computer. What's the point of selling CPU cooling fans if you don't have any CPUs to sell?

It also doesn't help that places like Circuit City and Best Buy put their computer department next to the car audio or home theatre section where the base is turned up and making items sensitive to shock vibrate.

I have come to realize that geeks in this country are being forced into exile. Money makers see the computer nerd as a niche group sort of like they associate goths with Hot Topic or women to the Lifetime TV network. Unless you are part of the herd, they seek to exterminate strays and individual thought.

I will not stand for it! I've worked too hard to save up to build my own machine just so that one of the few resources that can actually help me can die.

This is a sad day.

Labels: business, diy, horror, mod, news, rage, stlouis, tech, wtf

posted by Bushido Hacks 3/02/2007 08:16:00 PM (0) comments top

20070203

Mobo Jojo

My beautiful black case came in the mail yesterday. Special thanks to BUYPCDIRECT for providing the first step in my journey.

Building a computer is a monumental moment for any computer geek. It is like the same feeling that a wrenchead (one who likes to build their own car or motorcycle) has when they begin building their first vehicle.

My parents think that this project will occupy most of my time and that I won't stick to my regular work. Not true!

This project does cost money, and will need to be spread out over the next few months. This means I will still stay on task while I work on one of my greatest achivements.

That's another thing that concerns them: cost. My brother did a project like this a couple years ago. He ponied up for the biggest most expensive stuff that was out their.

I, on the other hand, have plans on building something a bit more moderate and less expensive.

While I have no interest whatsoever in Windows Vista, Microsoft has brought forth the need to upgrade to 64-bit computing.

In order to keep up with the Gates (as oppose to keeping up with the Jones), I have decided to build my computers based on x86-64 architecture.

If there is one thing that the people at Microsoft and the resistant group of geeks (including myself) agree on it is that Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has the better architecture for this task. AMD has been working on 64-bit architecture for several years now, even while Intel was promoting the Pentium 4.

In 2005, one of the most significant competitions in the computer industry begain since the Browser Wars of the mid-1990s. This hype as we now know it is called the "Core Wars".

The "Core Wars" brought forth Dual-Core processing, an idea forged from the concept of parallel computing. Many of us have seen the ads for products from Intel.

For those of you who are not computer geeks, the products that Intel has advertized over the years are for computer chips called microprocessors. A microprocessor is nothing more than a piece of plastic with this little teeny-tiny switches on them that are arranged with such precission that a machine must be used to manufacture them. A computer has many of these devices embedded into them into a big circuit board called the motherboard, or mobo for short. One chip that is heavily advertised, and one of the most important, is called the central processing unit, also known as the CPU or "core". The CPU is "the brain" of the computer. It works so hard, a fan is attached to it to displace the amount of heat. On newer desktop machines, the CPU has its own fan separate from the other fan that keeps everything cool and well ventelated. Some cases have come with thermal gauges to monitor and regulate the amount of heat a computer puts out, especially the CPU.

Until last year, the concept of having more than one core in your computer was reserved for the highly skilled computer engineer or the hardcore gamer. To be quite honest, having one core is good enough for me. But the concept of multi-core systems, though more expensive, does have its advantages.

A computer with one core puts out alot of heat. If the heat is not pushed out of the system, other parts of the computer become warped from the high temperature. To alleviate the stress caused by such a high amount of thermal energy, computer engineers took a page from the supercomputer industry.

If the name is not enough to tell you, a supercomputer is a computer with such high amount of processing capabilities that only a select few research laboratories, industries, and the government use them. A supercomputer, despite the recent advances in miniaturization brought on by improvements in nanotechnology, is about the size of a phonebooth and put out so much energy that it needs its own room with a large fan to blow out the hot air and draw in cool air. I read in some computing magazine that because these machines put out so much wasted energy, some companies in California channel the hot air into the air conditioning system to heat up the building in the winter time. Another company developed another, more practical idea to circulate the air in the room by reusing the air using convection. Convection occurs when hot air rises out of a heat source, then cools down causing the air to sink back to the floor where it is sucked back in again.

A supercomputer is able to process large amouts of information while generating less heat using a concept called parallel computing. This means a computer with dual-core processing uses two processors that have half the processing power as a single processing unit but because they work together, they computer the same amount of processing power as the single processing unit.

Because two processor with half the processing capabilities as a single processor but work just as dynamic, Intel has hyped up the concept with their "do more advertisement." *in that loud Kevin Spacy as Lex Luthor voice* WRONG!. Dual-core processing does not allow you to do work twice as fast as a single-core system unless you purchase a dual-core system with two processors that have the same power as the single-core processor EACH!

So what about this hype about "quad-core" (4 CPUs on one CPU)? Same concept. One big processor divided into four smaller processors with about a quarter of the processing capability as the single processor EACH!

The entire concept of the CPU was to store all those teeny-tiny switches onto ONE microprocessor. They way I see it, multicore processing is a step backwards, that or the chip manufacturing industry trying to cut cost instead of trying to find way to keep the computer from possibly burning up without burning a hole in your wallet, or worse burning the house down. (I'm talking to you Dell Computers!)

The downside to x86-64 architecture is that everything you know about assembly programming (especially for 16 and 32 bit systems) needs to be modified to include 64 bit systems. Fortunately, C and C++ programmers won't need to change the way the program too much. But if you use low level programming, now would be a good time to brush up on 64-bit assembly as technology marches on.

Labels: C++, diy, fud, linux, mod, tech, windows

posted by Bushido Hacks 2/03/2007 08:46:00 AM (1) comments top

20070127

A new year, a new ride

The ride of any nerd is of course the computer. Today, I begin one of the first steps in a journey that only a few people I know have done: build their own computer.

I bought a PC case, BLACK. Being a Linux nerd, I don't need to worry about things like Windows Vista which, all bias put aside, is really rediculous.

I went to the office supply store this weekend to pick up some supplies, and lo and behold there was the display for Vista already out there. Oh to have one of Adam Sessler's writers on hand to cut Vista up with a razor-like wit.

Big "whoop dee fricken doo" about Bill Gates. So don't bother metioning him if you are one of the three people who actually read this website.

Anyway, back to what I want to talk about. So I'm looking at the Vista display and the discription is as dismal as the Slashdot niche had imagined. Vista comes with less than what XP has as the big technology conglomorates still believes that proprietary software will work like the Bush Adminstrations plans for Iraq. (I'm not a hippie. I support our troops, but you don't need to be a dirty hippie anymore to see how those things pan out.) So while small businesses get the shirt ripped off their back for an operating system that two days from its release will have a billion problems, I'll still be using my current version of XP and current distro of Linux until I have all the pieces of my new ride assembled.

What's really going to burn the post-Gates Microsoft Corporation is that sales for their operating system will be less than what they were 10 years ago when Windows 98.

Labels: diy, linux, mod, shovelware, tech, windows

posted by Bushido Hacks 1/27/2007 07:46:00 PM (0) comments top

20061127

Book mark everything in this post

For those of you who have found my GCC & GLUT installation instructions extremely helpful, I thank you for your kind words and feed back.

Sadily, I do not have the time nor the resources to show examples or syntax of C, C++, or OpenGL.

Fortunately, I have found these resources to be VERY helpful over the break.

Fred Swartz has a copy of his C++ Notes available on his website. I'll add his page to my list of resources on the tutorial page later.

Lars Haendel has many example of some advanced programming techniques that are very important if you plan on getting a real job as a computer programmer. His site deals with two topics that most C++ books and professors rarely discuss: Callbacks in C++ and Function Pointers

Other things I've picked up over the holiday include a few cellphone hacks for the RAZR. I was bummed out that I couldn't use that Blackberry I got on eBay. Never the less, I will be a sufficent backup device should my RAZR turn into a brick as I rage against Ma Bell. (Fight the machine! Woooo!)

First off, screw Ma Bell (Cingular) and her $2 ringtones and lack of work tools. According to Stephen Pierzchala in a May 2006 blog entry, the V3 has about as much processing power as one of the first 386 computers. This seems plasable considering that the Texas Instruments TI-83 graphing calculator could have easily replaced the command module on the Apollo spacecraft. I'm interested in doing the same thing to my RAZR that Pierzchala did, only without wiping the firmware. One program that I especially have my eye on is MIDPssh, a terminal emulator for mobile devices. Thus, over the Christmas break, I plan on doing some modding on my RAZR. A couple good RAZR mod sites are MotoModders.net and PlanetMotox.net. Hacker websites like Binary Revolution are also a good source for things that annoy the phone company.

Labels: blackberry, C++, hack, mod, OpenGL, phone, razr, tech

posted by Bushido Hacks 11/27/2006 09:33:00 PM (0) comments top

20040624

OK, PDA RE-reloaded - Click!

For a little while, I have decided to reload my PDA once again only with GPE. What a mistake!

GPE uses that god-awful GNOME interface. You can't hold down your stylus and hope that a menu appears.

However -- and there's always a however in life (850 KOA's website is much better now. I listen to Reggie in St. Louis on the Big 550 KTRS)--, GPE does have its perks.

If you like to play games, GPE is your kind of environment. Tetris and Lights Out out are good (Lights Out is the shiz-nit!), but alot of the other games suck very badly.

GPE also had much better handling of time syncronization, something GNOME, KDE, and OPIE have trouble with. For example, I'm typing this at 8:20AM, but I'm using KDE right now and the clock reads 2:50AM. Keep in mind I am in St. Louis not Tokyo. GPE also has better lighting than OPIE. Fortuantely, the OPIE guys are working on a patch to increase their lighting.

Battery support in GPE is excellent. It recognized the battery jacket, and after 24 hours undocked, there still is power because it shut itself off after 3 minutes. Turning it back on, well...I press the power button but I'm looking at the colored blocks on the screen, I'm not impressed. Thus, I have to pop the PDA out of the Jacket, an take the main battery out, put it back in, put the jacket back on, eject the CF and SD cards (SD still not supported yet. Come on! GIVE US SOME DAMN SUPPORT HERE!), press power (vibe! That's normal.) Wait for Tux, wait for the GPE logo (which is like 10 minute later. It took a lot shorter with OPIE), wait for X to load (X is another good thing about GPE. OPIE doesn't have X embedded, but they should.), then Log in.

OK, there's the other problem. Logging in. OPIE did not have logging in, and if the next release of OPIE did come with Logging in (which I recomend, since PocketPC use to have it), it would let me log in with only ONE PROFILE! I attempted to delete the second profile, but when I logged out as root, it wanted me to create a second profile. I don't want to make a second profile, damnit! I want to be root! So I created a second profile against my will. (DAMN YOU GPE!).

Sometimes the well built apps in GPE crash unexpectedly, and sometimes the entire PDA shuts off. (Oh, crap!) There is also NO SOUND! And no support for the HP fold away keyboard compatiple with my h5450. (My PDA's not fat, it's just loaded with love. (OK, ladies, enough with the "Aww"s))

2 out of 5

Back to OPIE for now.

Labels: brick, fubar, handhelds, mod, shovelware

posted by Bushido Hacks 6/24/2004 07:58:00 AM (0) comments top

20040618

PDA Reloaded - Click!

OK, there is no way to convert a Pocket PC from Windows to Linux on a Linux Terminal...yet. So I went to a windows PC to reload Linux on my PDA. Handhelds.org is still lacking, but Opie is not. Seeing that I have the CF jacket for ny HP H5450 and a CF card reader that will take the packages. So, for now, transfer the packages to a CF card, via CF card reader, then plug the CF card into the PDA.

Note, this is for the packages, not the system. It's good to use my PDA again. Now If only I can get the damn WLAN to work! There are settings to change the configuration but it aways loads the programmers settings. I figured that out because my router's name IS NOT okuwla.