TechnologyIQ

In this article, we’ll show you how to make a gesture detector by simple components like PIR sensor and Arduino Nano. At the end of this article you can: Explain PIR sensor applications and how it works Run an 8-Pixel PIR sensor named TPA81 Use PIR sensor to detect motion and gesture by Arduino Make a cool detector to increase or decrease your speaker volume Read Use an Arduino and a PIR sensor to detect simple motions via Arduino Blog Arduino Boards and Components via Amazon Arduino Boards and Components via eBay An interesting link found among my daily reading

Technology isn ’ t just  computers, networks and phones. Technology has always been part of the human experience. All of our ancestors have looked for ways to help the survive and do less work for more gain.  Archive.org has a host of old technology books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. Many of the  technologies  discussed within these books are being put to use again these days in the  “ back to the land" and  “ homesteading ”  movements. You might even find something that could address one of your own garden or farm  issues, but has been lost to time and history. Enjoy!  --Douglas Byte Magazine Volume 00 Number 01 - The Worlds Greatest Toy While this a bit more recent than other books and magazines that I have shared, Byte Magazine was one of the most important publications of the burgeoning computer age. I remember reading an issue as early as 1977 or 78 (not long after they started publishing) and continued to read it...

The Amazon Echo is quite a nice speaker on its own and it can be easily be used as an external speaker for your phone or tablet when you want to share audio with friends or family.  Pair your device with your Echo, or Echo Dot by saying... Alexa, Pair The Echo replies  Searching... Open the Bluetooth Preferences on your device and look for a new device called ECHO-xxx where xx is a 3 digit/letter code. Select that device and wait for your Echo to say, Device Connected Successfull y In the future, simply saying... Alexa, disconnect my device   ...will stop the connection to your Echo Also, saying... Alexa, connect my device ...will automatically reconnect your device since you have already gone through the pairing process. If you have a Bluetooth compatible home audio system, you can also connect your Echo to that by putting the soundbar or other device into pairing mode (see your manual) and asking Alexa... Alexa, Pair ...

I visited an amazing Leonardo exhibition in Milan back in September ( See the Leonard 3 Museum)   and it will be great to further explore his history with these digital manuscripts. There is often so much to learn from how people were thinking in past eras and it can help inform our thinking today! -- Douglas Do a search on the word “ polymath ” and you will see an image or reference to Leonardo da Vinci in nearly every result. Many historical figures—not all of them world famous, not all Europeans, men, or from the Italian Renaissance—fit the description. But few such recorded individuals were as feverishly active, restlessly inventive, and astonishingly prolific as Leonardo, who left riddles enough for scholars to solve for many lifetimes. Leonardo himself, though world-renowned for his talents in the fine arts, spent more of his time conceiving scientific studies and engineering projects. “When he wrote in the early 1480s to Ludovico Sforza, then ruler of Milan, to offer...

The Raspberry Pi Foundation made two significant announcements last week. First, the availability of the Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+, which has been eagerly awaited; then, the next day, a new release of the Raspbian Linux operating system. That means I have a lot to talk about today, so let's get busy! First, the new Pi 3 Model A+. This is a scaled-down and lower cost version of the Pi 3 Model B+. In the most important functional areas it is identical to the Pi3 B+: it has a 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU, and dual-band 802.11ac wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.2/BLE. That means the performance is very similar to the Model B+. Read Hands-on with the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ and new Raspbian Linux release | ZDNet via ZDNet Get Raspberry Pi Boards and Components from Amazon Get Raspberry Pi Boards and Components from eBay † Available from the LA Public Library An interesting link found among my daily reading

Technology isn ’ t just  computers, networks and phones. Technology has always been part of the human experience. All of our ancestors have looked for ways to help the survive and do less work for more gain.  Archive.org has a host of old technology books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. Many of the  technologies  discussed within these books are being put to use again these days in the  “ back to the land" and  “ homesteading ”  movements. You might even find something that could address one of your own garden or farm  issues, but has been lost to time and history. Enjoy!  --Douglas Historical Technology Books: The ABC of Vacuum Tubes In Radio Reception by E. H. Lewis - 4 in a series THE A B C OF VACUUM TUBES IN RADIO RECEPTION AN ELEMENTARY AND PRACTICAL BOOK ON THE THEORY AND OPERATION OF VACUUM TUBES AS DETECTORS AND AMPLIFIERS. EXPLAINS NON-MATHEMATICALLY THE FUNDA¬ MENTAL PRINCIPLES UPON WHICH ALL VACUUM TUBE CIR...

The best movie quiz I have been able to find so far. This skill uses actual audio from the movies for the quotes, provides hints for each film and is great fun with friends and family. — Douglas Screen Test | Movie Quote Quiz Looking for an Echo/Alexa Device? Check out these recent upgrades and additions to Amazon’s product line!   An interesting link found among my daily reading

Yet another cool Arduino project that combines a Steampunk design ethic and our hardy little Arduino processor to control movements and lights. Very cool! Click through to the original article see some demonstration and build videos. — Douglas Underneath the sea are a wide variety of strange and amazing animals. Perhaps none more so than the anglerfish, with its characteristic light-up lure in front of its face. Club Asimov decided to recreate this fish in a steampunk style, using a linkage system to actuate the tail, and another to open and shut its menacing mouth. Three stepper motors provide power for the fish’s movements, and two Arduino boards are used for control. Additionally, the fish’s lure illuminate to attract human observers, along with a heart that rhythmically lights up. Read Steampunk anglerfish is a mechanical marvel via Arduino Blog Arduino Boards and Components via Amazon Arduino Boards and Components via eBay * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com direc...

Technology isn ’ t just  computers, networks and phones. Technology has always been part of the human experience. All of our ancestors have looked for ways to help the survive and do less work for more gain.  Archive.org has a host of old technology books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. Many of the  technologies  discussed within these books are being put to use again these days in the  “ back to the land" and  “ homesteading ”  movements. You might even find something that could address one of your own garden or farm  issues, but has been lost to time and history. Enjoy!  --Douglas Historical Technology Books: Popular Mechanics (1907) Complete Bound Collection with Index - 3 in a series This is a dangerous collection for any tech geek! This one collection alone has 1436 pages. It can be quite fun — and enlightening — to see what the state of technology was 111 years ago. AND there are many other yearly collections like th...