Posts by gadzooks

2019-05-19 at 4:15 PM UTC in Horse racing should be illegal...

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

2019-05-19 at 4:05 PM UTC in Anyone here experienced with Arduino, or at least electronic circuitry more generally?

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

Originally posted by aldra 1. You can use a stereo connector, you just need to solder the audio wire to both the LEFT and RIGHT pins. this link might help - the only difference between the two is that a stereo connector has one extra segment cut into it:

Theoretically, I get this part. But once you strip the insulation of the wire, shit just gets way too tiny.

I actually bought a neat little contraption on Amazon that holds magnifying glasses of varying strength, as well as little clips for holding things in place - I think it's made primarily for soldering and all that, but it'll probably help quite a bit with whatever I'm doing here.

I was hoping for some mono cables to play around with though because, if I understand how the whole TRRS/TRS/TS audio cable system works, TS (mono) would be just one simple wire to deal with for MIC IN and another for AUDIO OUT. It would just make things easier.

That, or I just need to get used to dealing with such incredibly small components.

Originally posted by aldra 2. TCP you mean?

Yeah. Python has a built in "socket" library which allows for sustained connections.

I could have used HTTP, or even MQTT (which is essentially socket communication as well), or any number of protocols.

The whole point is just that there will be two different types of messages being exchanged, and each can use a different protocol... Or both the same protocol I suppose.

I need to be able to transmit a binary signal/trigger from the RPi to the rest of my network when the buzzer is activated from the front of the building. I then need to transmit a similar (identical, really) signal/trigger back to the RPi to "answer" the buzzer/call. At this point, the audio IN and audio OUT would have to start interacting.

Come to think of it, I'm now almost certain that a direct and constant socket interaction would have to be initiated. Skype and so on are based on that kind of communication.

HTTP simply wouldn't cut it.

But anyway, that was mostly just some thinking out loud.

You're right that it all comes down to TCP in the end.

Originally posted by aldra 3. It's not hard to do but it might be hard to get your head around if you haven't dealt with it before. Think of the relay as a door in a 12v hallway. You need 5v to open the door and let the 12v through - the 5v ONLY goes to the door, it does not cross over into the hallway at all.

I like the analogy.

Does it mean that I need to provide a constant source of 7v, though, which would be insufficient to unlock the door on it's own, but when provided with the 5v push, it would unlock it?

Does that question even make sense? Maybe not...

Also, 7v seems weird. I see 5v, 6v, 9v, and 12v all over the place...

Then again, a single AA battery is 1.5v, I think?

I dunno, it's just gonna take some looking into for me.

2019-05-19 at 3:51 PM UTC in 💡 Supergluing A DOZEN squirting dildos on your body near your dick.

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

Think people on video chats would think you have 13 dicks?

2019-05-19 at 3:47 PM UTC in Mexico wants to decriminalize all drugs

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

Originally posted by aldra it's regulated sale that I feel will cause problems

Really?

I mean, I'll take decriminalization as a victory...

But the government regulation would result in a TREMENDOUS decrease in deaths caused by impurities (like fentanyl in heroin, for example).

But, of course, there's the issue of the 'harder' drugs becoming so commonplace that marketing and advertising come into the picture.

I'm all for destigmatizing drug use and addiction and all, but, I'd be pretty damn opposed to commercials for crack and heroin.

I don't watch much TV, so maybe things have changed, but they used to advertise alcohol on TV commercials. I actually have a problem with that. Anything that is addictive and/or unhealthy should not be marketable like that.

Heck, I would even go so far as to say that the way popular music glorifies excessive alcohol and drug use kinda bothers me (but my passion for freedom of speech supersedes that concern).

2019-05-19 at 3:38 PM UTC in Anyone here experienced with Arduino, or at least electronic circuitry more generally?

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

ANOTHER UPDATE:

Holy fuck this project is becoming unwieldy... And not even because of scope creep. Scope creep is a problem that plagues me every day when it comes to programming/software projects. I keep wanting to add new features and then get sidetracked.

But here, it's simply that I vastly underestimated how much work it would take just to get the original set of features up and running.

But here's where I'm currently at:

1. Audio (HARDWARE):

I had a stereo headset (mic and headphones, rolled into one - with two STEREO audio connectors). I plugged the mic (AUDIO IN) and earphones (AUDIO OUT) into the USB sound processor mentioned above, and plugged that USB sound processor into my WINDOWS laptop (for testing). It worked there at least.

Next, I started stripping the wires with the intent of reconnecting them via either (a) alligaytor clips, (b) breadboard jumper wires, or even (c) soldering. Because they're stereo, though, it's a lot of different parts to reconnect - three for the earphones; two for the mic.

So, I went to the dollar store to try and find some cheap mono earphones and mono microphone. I managed to find a mono microphone (maybe they're by their very concept universally mono? I dunno). But I could not find ANY mono audio gadgetry otherwise. So, I'm still experimenting with all of that.

2. Audio (SOFTWARE):

I got some socket interaction working between my RPi and my Windows desktop computer. I can now at least transmit messages easily between the two. This is a pretty wide-reaching accomplishment actually, because once you can successfully exchange "messages" of any kind (even just 1's and 0's) between two machines on the network, you have the foundation to exchange MUCH more complex "messages" - including, say, streaming audio (in the form of bytes, which can be converted back into meaningful audio signals on the other end, etc).

I'm currently exploring different options for serving streaming audio from the RPi. There are lots of options, so I'm confident here. It's now just a matter of picking the right one.

Audio processing, though, on the software end, is going to be an additional layer of complexity... My goal is to process the audio solely on the RPi end, and then stream it as bytes, which don't require complex audio processing on whatever device is receiving the stream.

3. Relay switching:

I'm still working out the whole power issue regarding a 12V signal, when the RPi works on 5V. This may be a simple matter for the more electronically inclined, but for me it's going to take a bit more research and theoretical understanding - especially because it involves electrical signals. I don't want to short circuit anything, or, potentially much worse, receive some kind of electric shock while mucking around with things here.

2019-05-19 at 3:01 PM UTC in Brave Female Athlete BANNED from competing in weight lifting

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

I'm such a hipster, I owned my first (in newspaper-style print) copy of Vice back in the 1990's.

And I'm actually being 100% serious.

I've been living in Ontario (right on the border of Quebec) on and off my entire life since it's where my dad has lived since ~1989.

Vice magazine used to be a printed periodical based solely out of Montreal. One time while I was visiting Montreal when I was about 14 or so, I picked a copy up and took a glance into it... It had all kinds of sex ads (printed sex ads - circa 1998 - before all this fancy Internet porn spam stuff), as well as intriguing sexual stories and articles, and so, as a typical 14 year old male, I was quite intrigued.

It's actually incredibly surreal to me that that printed magazine I brought back to the west coast and showed everyone at school is the same (at least in name) periodical as today's radical left-wing SJW website.

2019-05-19 at 2:52 PM UTC in Mexico wants to decriminalize all drugs

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

Originally posted by aldra I agree in principle, but I've come to realise there are far too many people who couldn't control their use even without the criminalisation issue - it's one thing to be self-destructive, but I can't see a good reason to think the numbers of people driving into oncoming traffic on xanax or abusing their kids on meth wouldn't explode with more low-iq mongolroys getting easy access to 'hard' drugs

This is definitely a concern that I considered as well.

The up-side is that countries that have started to decriminalize all drugs, like Portugal for instance, have found overall decreases in addiction and general use of "harder" drugs, and an increase in people seeking help for recovery now that they don't feel as stigmatized.

But, on the other hand, I do wonder if they factored in the issue of already-popular mainstream/legal drugs like alcohol. Alcohol is just so commonplace that nobody gets judged for getting downright drunk. Yet alcohol is a factor in so many injuries, accidents, deaths, and various acts of violence and destruction.

2019-05-19 at 2:52 PM UTC in Mexico wants to decriminalize all drugs

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

Originally posted by -SpectraL And by "criminal cartels", we mean BigPharma and all their assorted cohorts and cronies. Imagine if you could just legally manufacture cocaine and sell it to people who want it, or produce your own penicillin and provide it to people who want it. Imagine no more price fixing, no more extortionate billing, no more cornering of the market. You can make and sell whatever you want. If you poison someone, you get criminally charged and convicted and sentenced, just like anyone else who harms someone else. The real "criminal cartels" are the so-called "legitimate" conglomerates. Legalizing all drugs would be a good first step in eliminating their corrupt monopoly once and for all.

The important thing is having government-sanctioned regulations in place.

The FDA (or whatever equivalent organization for other nations) would have to expand it's purview to include any and all drug manufacturers.

It's like how, at least in British Columbia, marijuana farms are government regulated, and so you can still be arrested and convicted for selling marijuana without the proper licensing and so forth.

2019-05-19 at 2:40 PM UTC in Becoming a (Secular) Bedouin

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

Originally posted by aldra why does this appeal to you?

I was drunk and watching the movie Babel when I originally made this thread, and so I wasn't being 100% serious.

BUT... There was a nugget of truth to it.

I've always had a fascination with nomadic cultures and ways of life, going back to my teenage years. My biggest dream in life was to live permanently out of an RV/motorhome. I read all kinds of stuff on survivalism techniques for subsisting on an extremely simple diet, and replacing modern conveniences such as:

Electrical ovens (replaced by solar oven):

As well as learning some basic farming and agricultural methods.

Then I started learning about the whole Off-Grid lifestyle, where electricity doesn't have to be done without entirely (solar panels, hydroelectric generators, etc).

A bit later in life, I read Thoreau's Walden, and I became all the more enthused about it all.

Then there are the Mongolians and the yurt, the Amish and their incredible work ethic and civic mindedness (like when the whole village gathers to build a barn in a single day).

The closest I've ever come to actualizing this dream was when I took the plunge and bought a minivan (definitely not as luxurious to live in as a full size motorhome), and took the two sets of seats out of the back and threw in a mattress.

I actually managed for the better part of a year like that, but there were definitely some complications that had simply not occurred to me. For example, the heat in the Summer can be absolutely brutal - I became quite adept at chasing down shaded locations all day.

Anyway, my point is just that I have a tremendous interest and admiration for just about all things nomadic/off-grid/self-sufficient/etc.

2019-05-19 at 4:47 AM UTC in What are you listening to right now, space nigga?

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

2019-05-19 at 4:25 AM UTC in Have you ever had a paranormal experience?

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

http://www.angelsghosts.com/flash_of_light_ghost_pictures

A friend of mine took those so-called "supernatural photographs" at this one local (purportedly) haunted house that we all used to go to to get drunk and all that.

There were pentagrams and books on Wicca, Satanism, and various other occult phenomena all over.

It was clearly a pagan hang out.

My friend thinks he saw "an inexplicable light orb."

I maintain my doubts, tbh.

2019-05-19 at 4:21 AM UTC in Have you ever had a paranormal experience?

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

I'm simultaneously an absolute skeptic when it comes to paranormal phenomena, but also have a huge interest in such phenomena.

I like "real life" ghost stories and haunted houses, for example.

But I maintain extreme doubts about the veracity of any claims of supernatural hauntings and so forth.

But a part of me really yearns to see some direct evidence.

2019-05-19 at 4:14 AM UTC in GADZOOSKS!

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

Groove is in the heart.

2019-05-19 at 4:13 AM UTC in GADZOOSKS!

gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

Originally posted by DietYellow I tried to watch the first season, but the laugh track was retardedly loud. They figured out how to turn it down later.

Are you talking about That 70's Show?

You're not the first person to think that's where it's from.

I like that show and all, but my avatar is from a 90's music video...