Chip with simple program for Toy

[fungus]

On Monday, July 16, 2012 1:32:05 PM UTC+2, Bob Masta wrote:

I've had bad experience with ink-jets that are infrequently
used. I'd print something, and a month (or more) later I'd
want to print the next thing and the heads were clogged.

Yep. I rememebr one time I wanted to print
a color page and the black cartridge was
clogged.

By the time I unclogged it, it was empty
so I had to put in a new one and do the
mandatory clean.

About this time it decided the cyan was
clogged and needed cleaning. A couple
of cleans on that fixed it but now the
magenta was clogged...

Lather, rinse, repeat.

....and of course you can't clean single
colors. Every time you do a clean it
sucks ink from all seven cartridges
(it was six-color plus black).

By the time everything was working my
brand new $25 black ink cartrige was
only 2/3 full. I figure that printing
that page had cost me about $15-$20.

That afternoon I bought a $250 color
laser printer and I've been happy
ever since.

The best part is you just switch on
and print! Imagine that!!

Getting a decent color page out of
the inkjet usually took ten minutes
and two or three attempts (YMMV if
you use yours enough so that it never
clogs up). On the fatal day it took
about half an hour and I was late
for something.

A few years back I gave up an bought
a cheap laser (Brother HL-1440).
Couldn't be happier... but of course
it won't do color.

Color lasers aren't expensive and
work great for anything less than
true photo-quality output.

(newer ones might be OK for photos
too...)

 

[fungus]

On Tuesday, July 17, 2012 12:38:03 AM UTC+2, Charlie E. wrote:

Maybe it is just my own prejudices, but I never even look at Ebay for
stuff. I just get too much feeling of caveat emptor...

I use it all the time for just about
everything. It's pretty easy to spot the
people who are making an effort to be
good sellers, just read the pages.

I very rarely have real problems like
stuff not turning up. Maybe one in 100
purchases.

Maybe 1 in 20 items isn't exactly what
I wanted.

I chalk that up to life. If only 6% of
things are going bad that means 94% are
going good. I wish I had that success ratio
with girls/movies/restaurants/cars/etc.

I'm getting stuff I couldn't easily get
anywhere else (if at all) at good prices
(mostly). 6% is nothing to get worked up
over IMHO.


Hints: Never, ever bid until the last minute.
There's absolutely no benefit from bidding
before the end and you might end up raising
the price. Autions with time limits...? Not
good for sellers.

The exception is when there's zero bids on
an item and you can bid the absolute minimum.
Making a minimum bid might scare other people
off, especially if the seller has more of them
listed.

Get yourself an automatic bidding program like
JBidwatcher to make the bids. Set it to bid
a price you're happy with and forget about it.
Remember: There's very little on eBay that
won't reappear a couple of days later if you
don't win an auction.

 

[fungus]

On Tuesday, July 17, 2012 1:05:54 AM UTC+2, Michael Terrell wrote:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170577269179 is a USB to parallel for $2.04, and
free shipping.

I don't get the Chinese sellers. How can they
even ship something from China for $2.04?

(And no, they don't take months to arrive,
that'll probably arrive in under two weeks)

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

fungus wrote:

On Tuesday, July 17, 2012 1:05:54 AM UTC+2, Michael Terrell wrote:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170577269179 is a USB to parallel for $2.04, and
free shipping.

I don't get the Chinese sellers. How can they
even ship something from China for $2.04?

They probably have 50 cents in it, and will make a buck after paying
the shipping. They are bulk pack items that are stuffed into bubble
mailers or plastic airmail envelopes for the lowest postage. There
isn't much to an interface these days. One or two ICs, a tiny PC board
on the back of the 'centronics' connector and a USB plug.

(And no, they don't take months to arrive,
that'll probably arrive in under two weeks)

Closer to three weeks to the SE US right now. I got a notice that
there is too much cargo & too few airmail flights. Apparently, some of
it is being sent on regular flights on a space & weight availible basis
and a lot of those flights are being canceled.

 

[fungus]

On Thursday, July 19, 2012 10:12:05 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:

"Spring" Cleaning...

Discovered ~30 VHS Family Tapes.

Recommendations for best conversion to DVD?

Why bother? DVD is almost obsolete now.

Go on eBay and search for "usb video
capture" or something like that.
You can convert them to .avi files
for less than somebody will charge you
to convert them to DVD.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

fungus wrote:

On Thursday, July 19, 2012 10:12:05 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
"Spring" Cleaning...

Discovered ~30 VHS Family Tapes.

Recommendations for best conversion to DVD?


Why bother? DVD is almost obsolete now.

Go on eBay and search for "usb video
capture" or something like that.
You can convert them to .avi files
for less than somebody will charge you
to convert them to DVD.

What good will that do when he doesn't have any way to play the VHS
tapes? As far as DVD being obsolete: Have you seen any BD players that
don't play DVDs? Or CDs? Mine plays all three.

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:34:47 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

fungus wrote:

On Thursday, July 19, 2012 10:12:05 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
"Spring" Cleaning...

Discovered ~30 VHS Family Tapes.

Recommendations for best conversion to DVD?


Why bother? DVD is almost obsolete now.

Go on eBay and search for "usb video
capture" or something like that.
You can convert them to .avi files
for less than somebody will charge you
to convert them to DVD.


What good will that do when he doesn't have any way to play the VHS
tapes? As far as DVD being obsolete: Have you seen any BD players that
don't play DVDs? Or CDs? Mine plays all three.

Yep, all for under $100.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jim Thompson wrote:

On Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:34:47 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


fungus wrote:

On Thursday, July 19, 2012 10:12:05 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
"Spring" Cleaning...

Discovered ~30 VHS Family Tapes.

Recommendations for best conversion to DVD?


Why bother? DVD is almost obsolete now.

Go on eBay and search for "usb video
capture" or something like that.
You can convert them to .avi files
for less than somebody will charge you
to convert them to DVD.


What good will that do when he doesn't have any way to play the VHS
tapes? As far as DVD being obsolete: Have you seen any BD players that
don't play DVDs? Or CDs? Mine plays all three.

Yep, all for under $100.

My Sony BD player was only $70.

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:42:02 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:

On Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:34:47 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


fungus wrote:

On Thursday, July 19, 2012 10:12:05 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
"Spring" Cleaning...

Discovered ~30 VHS Family Tapes.

Recommendations for best conversion to DVD?


Why bother? DVD is almost obsolete now.

Go on eBay and search for "usb video
capture" or something like that.
You can convert them to .avi files
for less than somebody will charge you
to convert them to DVD.


What good will that do when he doesn't have any way to play the VHS
tapes? As far as DVD being obsolete: Have you seen any BD players that
don't play DVDs? Or CDs? Mine plays all three.

Yep, all for under $100.


My Sony BD player was only $70.

Last time I checked that was _under_ $100 ;-)

My Samsung was $79 (with HDMI output).

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jim Thompson wrote:

On Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:42:02 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


Jim Thompson wrote:

On Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:34:47 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


fungus wrote:

On Thursday, July 19, 2012 10:12:05 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
"Spring" Cleaning...

Discovered ~30 VHS Family Tapes.

Recommendations for best conversion to DVD?


Why bother? DVD is almost obsolete now.

Go on eBay and search for "usb video
capture" or something like that.
You can convert them to .avi files
for less than somebody will charge you
to convert them to DVD.


What good will that do when he doesn't have any way to play the VHS
tapes? As far as DVD being obsolete: Have you seen any BD players that
don't play DVDs? Or CDs? Mine plays all three.

Yep, all for under $100.


My Sony BD player was only $70.

Last time I checked that was _under_ $100 ;-)

My Samsung was $79 (with HDMI output).

The Sony has HDMI as well, but the 10" LCD TV in my bedroom doesn't.

 

[fungus]

On Monday, July 23, 2012 7:11:19 PM UTC+2, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

You've tried all their canned food?

But you have no knowledge of their tools?

Others here have - including me. And I'd have no hesitation recommending
them as excellent value for money. But I don't have their generator.

I don't have Aldi but I bought loads of
tools from LIDL and don't think I've
regretted any of them.

We've also got sewing machines, rice
cookers, bathroom scales, etc. None
of them are duds.

It's almost as if they employ people
who try them out before they put them
on sale.

 

[Michael Black]

On Thu, 26 Jul 2012, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Robert Macy wrote:

I understand there are little electronic boxes to put in there that
put the sync signal back, but don't know.

They are showing up at flea markets & thrift stores as NTSC dies off.

That makes sense. I still use a VCR, to play prerecorded tapes (and

have picked up some spare VCRs as they become garbage, as backup), but the
minute Canada turned off the analog tv stations last summer was the minute
the VCRs stopped being useful for recording. I can't see any reason I'd
be recording to VCR now, I don't have satellite or cable so no NTSC
signals coming over the air. I found a box of blank VHS tapes on the
sidewalk a month ago, and left them there, have no use for them.

Michael

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Michael Black wrote:

On Thu, 26 Jul 2012, Michael A. Terrell wrote:


Robert Macy wrote:

I understand there are little electronic boxes to put in there that
put the sync signal back, but don't know.

They are showing up at flea markets & thrift stores as NTSC dies off.

That makes sense. I still use a VCR, to play prerecorded tapes (and
have picked up some spare VCRs as they become garbage, as backup), but the
minute Canada turned off the analog tv stations last summer was the minute
the VCRs stopped being useful for recording. I can't see any reason I'd
be recording to VCR now, I don't have satellite or cable so no NTSC
signals coming over the air. I found a box of blank VHS tapes on the
sidewalk a month ago, and left them there, have no use for them.

I have a pile of supposedly working VCRs to go through. I was giving
them away as I tested them, but people were putting damaged tapes into
them, then complaining that they didn't make it through one tape. One
tape was shedding oxide, and they finally admitted that it had been
under water for weeks when they shoved it into the machine.

I had a friend that ran a tape duplicating business and have cases of
duplicator grade VHS tapes in storage. I'll dig them out one of these
days and see if they are any good. I was using them to test VCRs, since
they were only 30 minutes in standard mode.

 

[krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz]

On Mon, 30 Jul 2012 05:38:45 -0700 (PDT), fungus <tooby@artlum.com> wrote:

On Monday, July 30, 2012 12:59:31 PM UTC+2, Bill Sloman wrote:


Jim seems to be - correctly - worried about over-heating his light

fitting. His original post didn't make that clear.


The original post made perfect sense to me.
The 40W is divided between light and heat
depending on the type of bulb. One will
probably pruduce more heat than the other.

No, both will produce the same amount of heat; 40W. Light will become heat,
quite quickly. *What* is heated may be different but conservation of energy
isn't just a good idea...

 

[fungus]

On Monday, July 30, 2012 12:59:31 PM UTC+2, Bill Sloman wrote:

Jim seems to be - correctly - worried about over-heating his light

fitting. His original post didn't make that clear.

The original post made perfect sense to me.
The 40W is divided between light and heat
depending on the type of bulb. One will
probably pruduce more heat than the other.

 

[Bill Sloman]

On Jul 30, 2:38 pm, fungus <to...@artlum.com> wrote:

On Monday, July 30, 2012 12:59:31 PM UTC+2,BillSlomanwrote:

Jim seems to be - correctly - worried about over-heating his light
fitting. His original post didn't make that clear.

The original post made perfect sense to me.
The 40W is divided between light and heat
depending on the type of bulb.

But neither halogens nor regular incandescents are efficient enough
for this division to be worth worrying about.

One will probably produce more heat than the other.

One watt in forty watts?

--
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2012-07-30, fungus <tooby@artlum.com> wrote:

On Monday, July 30, 2012 12:59:31 PM UTC+2, Bill Sloman wrote:


Jim seems to be - correctly - worried about over-heating his light

fitting. His original post didn't make that clear.


The original post made perfect sense to me.
The 40W is divided between light and heat
depending on the type of bulb. One will
probably pruduce more heat than the other.

The halogen will produce more infrared the standard incandescent will
produce more hot air.

--
⚂⚃ 100% natural

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to news@netfront.net ---

 

[Rusty Oxhide]

Keep in mind that if any of your VHS tapes are
actually commercial recordings, the copy
protection will defeat these units, unfortunately.
Kind of irritating, when you own the tape and
just want to switch formats.

http://www.aaroncake.net/Circuits/macrovision.asp

Rusty

 

[Rusty Oxhide]

Hi Jim you wrote:

I presently no longer own any VHS equipment,
though I have multiple DVD burners, even a
Sony VRD-MC5 which takes NTSC in and
writes to a DVD.
Any VHS Players still available?

The last VCR I purchased was from a second hand store for ten dollars.

Rusty

 

[fungus]

On Thursday, July 26, 2012 1:40:18 AM UTC+2, tr...@prismnet.com wrote:

Keep in mind that if any of your VHS tapes are actually commercial
recordings, the copy protection will defeat these units,
unfortunately. Kind of irritating, when you own the tape and just
want to switch formats.

That's what BitTorrent is for...
'converting' your commercial VHS
tapes and music cassettes to
digital format.