I created a little app which uses the blat.dll file by Toby Korn... and a handy runwait.dll I found at Stuart Dalbys Powerbuilder Page. I used powerbuilder v10.0 to write this app.
What it does is this... from a command line I can run my app with the subject line of the mail and it sends the mail to the e-mail address specified in the settings file.
So I setup a fan page for myself with the mobile e-mail function. I set my app to sent the e-mail to that facebook fan page e-mail address.
Then I setup utorrent to run the program with the %N argument. and also Run if state changes withe the N% and M% arguments.
The result is that any1 who likes the page will be updated as to which of my torrent files have finished downloading, or if the status of any of the downloads have changed... (So if i have friends who want something I have downloaded, they can just ask because they know what I have downloaded or am busy downloading)
Well, Im chuffed!
Cheers!
OH, and the Honda with the new used engine is still going strong, Pushed it to 180km/h the other day with no issues....
Wednesday 9 November 2011
Friday 28 October 2011
Engine In - All Good!
Yo0u may not believe me, but after we swopped the engines, the car started 1st time, not a single delay. Turned the key and it started perfectly. Been driving it for 2 weeks now and all is good. Got to drain the oil and replace it this weekend.
Things going on this weekend?
1 ) Got to complete the last 2 cables in the granny flat, then its ready for the oak to come plaster and tile.
2 ) Got to organise my study, I need place to work...
3 ) Got to get my security cameras up and running how I want them.
4 ) Oh yes, replacing the oil in the Ballade!
5 ) Cutting the grass....I hate this...
6 ) If the weather permits, going to have a swim in the crystal blue pool... (We just replaced the filter sand and boy, what a difference....
Anyhoo, thats my update for now...
Things going on this weekend?
1 ) Got to complete the last 2 cables in the granny flat, then its ready for the oak to come plaster and tile.
2 ) Got to organise my study, I need place to work...
3 ) Got to get my security cameras up and running how I want them.
4 ) Oh yes, replacing the oil in the Ballade!
5 ) Cutting the grass....I hate this...
6 ) If the weather permits, going to have a swim in the crystal blue pool... (We just replaced the filter sand and boy, what a difference....
Anyhoo, thats my update for now...
Thursday 6 October 2011
My Engine Is Arriving Today!
Ohhh Yeah!
Finally after waiting a whole month, my new "Used" engine will be arriving today. Ordered from Spares Boyz in Durban, made final payment yesterday and they have promised it would arrive by me in Johannesburg today. Found someone with a coffin hoist I can borrow to do the heavy lifting and lowering. Now here's hoping that all goes well with the engine swap. hope i can get a hold of all the gaskets i need. Road Hogz has informed me that there are two typed of inlet gaskets for my Honda Ballade 150i, I need to take a sample so they can see if the have the one i need. They only keep stock of the one kind. Exhaust gaskets should be OK, they have stock of them.
My Father In-Law is bringing the expertise to the table, I have never really worked on engines, so here's hoping we get this right.
Finally after waiting a whole month, my new "Used" engine will be arriving today. Ordered from Spares Boyz in Durban, made final payment yesterday and they have promised it would arrive by me in Johannesburg today. Found someone with a coffin hoist I can borrow to do the heavy lifting and lowering. Now here's hoping that all goes well with the engine swap. hope i can get a hold of all the gaskets i need. Road Hogz has informed me that there are two typed of inlet gaskets for my Honda Ballade 150i, I need to take a sample so they can see if the have the one i need. They only keep stock of the one kind. Exhaust gaskets should be OK, they have stock of them.
My Father In-Law is bringing the expertise to the table, I have never really worked on engines, so here's hoping we get this right.
Wednesday 31 August 2011
Ok, Ok... So i got something else to do 1st...
My 1999 Honda 150i Ballade has been standing for over a year in the back yard... left to the elements and ... dogs... Finally i decided to do something about getting my favorite lil car back on the road... so alas... no new Arduino parts until my car is back on the road... Poor thing needs a new engine... well, probably just needs a new cylinder head, but because i don't know what the assholes who worked on it have done, i don't want to take any chances.
The car broke down on us while we were on our way to visit my in-laws in Welkom. While we were there we ended up buying a new car, 2006 Honda Civic 180LXI VTEC. We looked around for a open place to check if they could fix the ballade, the only place willing that was open suggested they open the engine and refurbish it. Charge was like R12000.00. We suggested that it would be a lot cheaper to just get a new used imported engine. They convinced us that it would be better to fix the engine we had, after all, no telling what might be wrong with the new used engine. Months later we returned to Welkom to fetch the "Repaired Honda Ballade" on the way back to Johannesburg, the car overheated... so there we were back to Welkom and back to the morons who fucked up the job. Later found out that they charged an extra R4000.00 to replace a water pump or something... Anyway, get the car back and it still over heats when driving in a congested town environment. Call the assholes who say we need to remove the thermostat. which we do and keep on driving for a couple of months... On my war home from work, the engine starts making this loud knocking sound.. All i can do is hope i make it home before the engine gives up on me... (Really not lis to wait 2 hours for a pickup) Anyway, i make it home an left the car until now...
This time I do things my self, and make sure its done correctly....(Yes I'm going to have a lot to learn about engines n stuff)
These are the pictures of the Cam and Cam Holder Thingies...
The car broke down on us while we were on our way to visit my in-laws in Welkom. While we were there we ended up buying a new car, 2006 Honda Civic 180LXI VTEC. We looked around for a open place to check if they could fix the ballade, the only place willing that was open suggested they open the engine and refurbish it. Charge was like R12000.00. We suggested that it would be a lot cheaper to just get a new used imported engine. They convinced us that it would be better to fix the engine we had, after all, no telling what might be wrong with the new used engine. Months later we returned to Welkom to fetch the "Repaired Honda Ballade" on the way back to Johannesburg, the car overheated... so there we were back to Welkom and back to the morons who fucked up the job. Later found out that they charged an extra R4000.00 to replace a water pump or something... Anyway, get the car back and it still over heats when driving in a congested town environment. Call the assholes who say we need to remove the thermostat. which we do and keep on driving for a couple of months... On my war home from work, the engine starts making this loud knocking sound.. All i can do is hope i make it home before the engine gives up on me... (Really not lis to wait 2 hours for a pickup) Anyway, i make it home an left the car until now...
This time I do things my self, and make sure its done correctly....(Yes I'm going to have a lot to learn about engines n stuff)
These are the pictures of the Cam and Cam Holder Thingies...
oops, sorry, this is the picture of my daughter showing the camera what she thinks of the assholes who worked on our ballade
Wednesday 10 August 2011
Arduino MEGA 2560 - Part II
Howzit,
Just a quick update on my progress with the Arduino Controller. I have been tinkering with it and some LEDs, I think I pretty much got the basics of the programming down. It uses the C Programming lanuage and so far it doesnt seem to difficult. Im ordering the following items at the end of the month so that I can explore further the capabilities of this awesome little device.
This is gona be Awesome!
Just a quick update on my progress with the Arduino Controller. I have been tinkering with it and some LEDs, I think I pretty much got the basics of the programming down. It uses the C Programming lanuage and so far it doesnt seem to difficult. Im ordering the following items at the end of the month so that I can explore further the capabilities of this awesome little device.
| Ethernet Shield | ARDS-001 | R435.00 | R435.00 | |
| LM35 Temperature Sensor | SEN-LM35 | R25.00 | R50.00 | |
| Mega Proto Shield Kit | ARDS-014 | R195.00 | R195.00 | |
| LCD 2x16 Green | DISP-LCD216-G | R120.00 | R240.00 | |
| Microswitch 5mm 10 pack | COMP-MICSW5 | R15.00 | R15.00 | |
| Stackable Header 8-Pin | COMP-STHD8 | R6.50 | R71.50 | |
| Real Time Clock Module . | COMP-RTCM | R190.00 | R190.00 |
This is gona be Awesome!
Friday 5 August 2011
Thursday 4 August 2011
Arduino MEGA 2560
I have always enjoyed learning new technologies, no matter what field, its all awesome. I guest that's why I,m that typical person who as they say is "A Jack Of All Trades But Master Of None!" I can do a little mechanics, technical drawing, building and construction, electrical, electronics, and computer technologies, including with the later, programming in various languages (But just a little)...
A hobby my wife and I started a couple of years back is a marine aquarium, and I can tell you, that was one hell of a learning curve, but lots of fun. We have been improving our setup slowly but surley and have even got to the point of programing a PLC to control the lights.
I know, I know, im dragging on and you wondering whats that got o do with Tech? Whell, Ill tell you. Over the last few years I have been a member of MASA (Marine Aquariums South Africa), its an online forum where we got most, if not all the information regarding taking care of our hobby. Just the other day, I saw a mention of a controller called Arduino. I never heard of this and so started reading. I can tell you now, if any one is looking for a way to be creative and design their own system of any sort... these technologies are the way to go...
The Arduino micro controllers are an open source project that any person with the hunger to create or invent can purchase pre assembled to completely integrate the physical with cyber space... Its one of the most awesome little modular controllers I have seen( But then the only controllers i have ever used have been Siemens PLCs)
These controllers have what they call "shields", which are pre built add-ons that literally just clip on the the Arduino controller board to give extra functionality.
Some shields I have seen so far are :
Motion sensors
LCD displays
Ethernet (Connect your divice to the World Wide Web)
Motor Controllers
Servo Controllers
Heat Sensors
Distance sensors
Variouse gas sensors
pressure sensors
and loads more that I haven't thought of right now.
My plan is to create a control device to manage almost every aspect of my marine tank:
Pumps - Circulation, return, skimmer and Auto Topup
Heaters
Chillers
Lights - Display Tank and Sump
Sensors Displaying - Temp in Display Tank, Temp in Sump, Water Level In Top-up Tank
and pretty much what ever else I can monitor and / or control( From anywhere via The Net that is)
Just to tell yous, there is so much more that these little controllers can be used for, including home automation and security systems, the possibilities are endless...
I bought the Arduino MEGA, which is a bigger model than I saw them use, but the reason is simple. Instead of only 14 I/O pins i would have got with the ArduinoUNO, the MEGA gives me 54 I/O pins which translates to a crap load more devices I could potentially control and / or monitor.
Next month I will be getting the RTC (Real Time Clock) which is an add on to keep current date and time for any of my applications, also the Ethernet shield to start programming my online interface to control and monitor the tank remotely
Sorry if this is Blog is ending seemingly un-finished. I have to get t=back to my life so that I can blog some more later...
Ill keep this up to date with my progress as i move forward with this project....
Cheers!
A hobby my wife and I started a couple of years back is a marine aquarium, and I can tell you, that was one hell of a learning curve, but lots of fun. We have been improving our setup slowly but surley and have even got to the point of programing a PLC to control the lights.
I know, I know, im dragging on and you wondering whats that got o do with Tech? Whell, Ill tell you. Over the last few years I have been a member of MASA (Marine Aquariums South Africa), its an online forum where we got most, if not all the information regarding taking care of our hobby. Just the other day, I saw a mention of a controller called Arduino. I never heard of this and so started reading. I can tell you now, if any one is looking for a way to be creative and design their own system of any sort... these technologies are the way to go...
The Arduino micro controllers are an open source project that any person with the hunger to create or invent can purchase pre assembled to completely integrate the physical with cyber space... Its one of the most awesome little modular controllers I have seen( But then the only controllers i have ever used have been Siemens PLCs)
These controllers have what they call "shields", which are pre built add-ons that literally just clip on the the Arduino controller board to give extra functionality.
Some shields I have seen so far are :
Motion sensors
LCD displays
Ethernet (Connect your divice to the World Wide Web)
Motor Controllers
Servo Controllers
Heat Sensors
Distance sensors
Variouse gas sensors
pressure sensors
and loads more that I haven't thought of right now.
My plan is to create a control device to manage almost every aspect of my marine tank:
Pumps - Circulation, return, skimmer and Auto Topup
Heaters
Chillers
Lights - Display Tank and Sump
Sensors Displaying - Temp in Display Tank, Temp in Sump, Water Level In Top-up Tank
and pretty much what ever else I can monitor and / or control( From anywhere via The Net that is)
Just to tell yous, there is so much more that these little controllers can be used for, including home automation and security systems, the possibilities are endless...
I bought the Arduino MEGA, which is a bigger model than I saw them use, but the reason is simple. Instead of only 14 I/O pins i would have got with the ArduinoUNO, the MEGA gives me 54 I/O pins which translates to a crap load more devices I could potentially control and / or monitor.
Next month I will be getting the RTC (Real Time Clock) which is an add on to keep current date and time for any of my applications, also the Ethernet shield to start programming my online interface to control and monitor the tank remotely
Sorry if this is Blog is ending seemingly un-finished. I have to get t=back to my life so that I can blog some more later...
Ill keep this up to date with my progress as i move forward with this project....
Cheers!
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