It’s still quite an early prototype – and all the settings are hardcoded – but it’s still functional and a optimistic proof-of-concept of what I can do with  this protocol.

I need to get work on my main “glue” application that routes everything thunderzipper.

In other news, I just pushed a commit that makes basic WiiMote buttons available and functional. (And without the need for a scan utility or setup.)

It can take, as input, JavaScript (actually, a subset of JavaScript syntax, not real JavaScript) and turn it into Lua code.

It also does language-agnostic preprocessing.

It’s still in the earlier stages, but is quite useable as it currently stands. The whole thing can be transported as a single, cohesive jar file. You can embed the functionality into you application (perhaps your Lua-foo program wants better syntax?) using pipes and the –slave mode.

Lunch was delicious. Here’s how I made it. YMMV.

2 bags of chili-flavored Maruchan ramen noodles
1 onion, diced or smaller
1 jalapeno, sliced or chopped
2 small cloves garlic, pressed
oil
soy sauce
ground peppercorn
garlic salt
buttered toast

(I tried running my onion through a garlic press, not sure if it was worth it, but it was messy and fun!)
Crush noodles, reserve flavor packets. Put 1/4″-1/2″ water, noodles, jalapenos, about a teaspoon of oil, and onions in a medium frying pan on high to medium-high heat. Keep stirred. When most the water is boiled away, add garlic, flavor packets, a few tablespoons of oil, a couple tablespoons of soy sauce, and peppercorn/garlic salt to taste. Cook until onions are finished. Serve with buttered toast.

Thoughts: Very tasty, it almost seems like its a solid sauce of tastiness on bread. Perhaps, if I had some Sriracha to go with it…

So I did.

And it worked, moderately well:

The best part though: It also works on my iPod! Plain ‘ol Safari and JavaScript.  I thought that was pretty cool.  I guess Google, in building Google Chrome to handle the next generation of applications, wasn’t too far off the path.

K'nex, RC servos, a Phidget, and if you look closely, me!

Codename: TelePlaymutte.  ‘Cause I wanna play games remotely.  VOIP, CheckersOIP, DNDOIP, etc.

My garage this past Halloween

Last year I did something similar, but simpler.  This year was a bit more complex.

It seemed simple enough a task for the trick-or-treater: walk in, enjoy the spooky ambiance (and random lasers stabbing thorough the upper level of fog), grab a reward from the yellow glowing pumpkin, and move on to the next house.

Right?

Looking up as you walk in

Not with me around.  (Haha – trick or treak? Trick!)  With the help of my sister, we ushered all the, um, victims into the cage (a repurposed dog “kennel”).  Once the kids were sure the smiling Goth-dressed-female wasn’t going to bite them, and that everyone was clear of the door, the lights would suddenly drop out.  An enormous thunder and lightning strike from directly in front of them would illuminate a monster, arms outstretched and ready to grab them!  Before anyone could but turn around, the door to the chain-link cage would swing shut, chains clanking loudly against the metal.  You were trapped!

Though you could get away without a trick? Didja?

And then . . . we let them go.  We didn’t scare the really litl’ ones.

Here’s an AVI movie, I’ll have to get me a flash player setup sometime.  The microphone normalises stuff too much so you can’t really hear things.

By the end we had fog, black light, strobes, lasers, subs, amps, a laptop . . . so pretty much an instant rave party afterwards.

Behind the scenes

Thanks to the fam for helping get things setup!

My music toys

Mmmm.  Audiodelicious.

MY new keyboard, the one on the bottom, is full-size, complete with weighted (scaled hammer) keys.  Very nice to play.

Because the option is named very, very poorly.

As is pointed out here, the name of the option you are looking for that will change the window behavoir back to how it used to be in previouse versions is hidden under Edit -> Preferences -> Window Management -> “Window Manager Hints”.  Yeah that’s right.  Poorly named to anyone but the developer that made it.  Under that change the Hint for toolbox/other docks options to “Normal Window” instead of “Utility Window”.

Restart and there you go!

Pictured: Foreground: my new (used) car.  Background: my old (beaten) car.