Monday, May 26, 2014

MicroCenter Review

I purchased an Apple MacMini on May3rd 2014.  Since day 5 it has been intermittent and it crashes and it freezes.  I want to swap it for a replacement MacMini.

It is day 2 of my attempt to get MicroCenter ( Denver ) to be helpful.  So far... no joy

Twitter exchange
Micro Center
@microcenter   
      Follow Follow   
              
What is an everyday task that you wish there was a piece of technology to help you perform? - 22 May

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Gus S. Calabrese
@99guspuppet
              
@microcenter I want better customer service or shall I start to publicize my complaints ? arts-tech-creation.blogspot.com/2014/05/microc… - 26 May

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Micro Center
@microcenter   
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@99guspuppet Gus, have you been able to take it into the store and speak with a manager?

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@microcenter @99guspuppet    Imagine you are a customer ..... You really like MicroCenter ( mostly ).  You are in NW Denver and it takes over an hour round-trip travel time to visit MicroCenter.  You do NOT want to go to MicroCenter unless physical travel is actually required.  You would like things to be lined up ... arranged before you travel.

#MicroCenterCustomerService

Friday, May 23, 2014

Hack a Mouse

Computer mice are good for lots of things besides the traditional use.   The sensor is great for hacking to use a tracking device , a measuring device , etc.   The mouse chips just keep getting smarter and cheaper.  I will be collecting all the cool projects I can find and putting links to them in this post.

Where to buy ==========
Sparkfun has a nifty chip for $1.40.  ADNS2620 - Optical Mouse Sensor IC     Sparkfun.com
       18 by 18 matrix   64 gray levels     SPI  interface


Possible Hacks ===========

Positioning  ....................
http://makezine.com/2007/12/15/using-an-optical-mouse-for-rob/

Sensing Motion ..................
It should be possible to sense motion and differentiate between small creatures and large creatures and measure speed.  With more than one sensor , one should be able to determine distance.  From above ( the ceiling of a room ) one should be able to track an object.



tags    777mouse  #mouseSensor    99guspuppet

Bubble pack does not protect module pins

Here are some photos of  3 items that were shipped from China in a bubble lined envelope.  On all three modules, the outer pin was bent in.