Just a quick word to let you know that I have been interviewed on EEWeb as a Featured Engineer!
You can check out the interview here: http://www.eeweb.com/spotlight/interview-with-dan-kurin
As always, please feel free to feedback in the comments.
Thanks!
~Dan
I feel compelled to open each blog post with “It’s been quite some time since my last blog post”, but maybe that’s just a sign I need to change my expectations. Regardless, today I want to tell you about my latest technological experiences.
About 2 years ago (late 2009), I became interested in what it would take to hack a Nintendo Gamecube in order to play “Backed up” game discs. As a poor college student this was primarily from my motivation to get something for really cheap. 
So, I went on eBay and found a great deal: The console, 3 controllers, Continue reading »
Hello dear readers, It has been about a month since I last wrote you, but that seems par for the course. A lot has changed in the last month; Shannon and I got married (I still need to update the “about me” on my main page), have moved to Flint, and both gotten jobs! It’s been a whirlwind ride but oh so satisfying.
One of the relatively minor changes I’ve made in the past month is getting a data plan and Android phone (and getting rid of the trusty Palm Treo 700wx). This has been awesome (although never as awesome as getting married) and the relatively constant plug into the internet has been a good thing but has definitely needed to be moderated a couple of times. The motivation to get a data plan was two-fold: Continue reading »
Good Evening! I haven’t blogged for a while so I decided that a good comeback post would be about an idea I’ve had for a web application.
Need
One of the problems I have come across quite a bit in my downloading and using of software (primarily open-source, but also some closed-source) is that, typically, the people who test the software before releasing it into “the wild” are the very same people who are developing that application. You might think this would be a good thing, (if the developers are the ones writing it, they must now how to test it best, right?) but it turns out, according to many psychologists, that when we’re looking for something we can find it pretty easily but if we aren’t looking for it we’ll often miss very obvious things.
In summary, I would say that taking on the paradigm of the user will yield far greater discovery of bugs and inconsistencies than taking on the paradigm of the developer.
Approach
Many application developers can have a difficult time shifting to the user paradigm in order to test their own software because they are so familiar with what it took to get it to where it is and what’s going on behind the scenes (almost as a parent often does not notice their own flaws in their child); Continue reading »
Welcome, I’d like to share with you about a project I began working on recently. I originally read about the idea on Lifehacker when they posted a clever Linux hack for configuring the Linux Cron using a Google Calendar as a front-end (this project is called GCalCron, I give all credit for the idea to that developer).
Regardless, I decided that I would like to use this software on Windows and set out to find an alternative for use in that lesser operating system. A few Google searches later, I was still unsatisfied and decided to look into making one for myself. I should also make the disclaimer that I am not a software developer, just a tinkerer. With that, though, I started exploring the Google Calendar API to see how feasible this would be. I was incredibly pleased to find a very well documented .NET library for the Google Calendar API and, at that point, decided to learn C#. Continue reading »
Good evening! This past Tuesday, Flint held its first Pecha Kucha Night.
In case you aren’t familiar, Pecha Kucha Night is an event focused on the community where anyone can come and share an idea. Looking for a clearer definition? Too bad; that would totally stifle the attitude that drives PKN: community creativity.
Alas, I’m getting ahead of myself; I’d like to let you guys know what actually happened on Tuesday Night.
PKN: Flint met at the Riverfront Apartments in one of their Board Rooms at 8pm Continue reading »
First, let me start by saying that I love Craigslist. In case you haven’t heard of it, it’s an online free classifieds website. Anyone can post anything and some people even post things for free that they just want to get rid of. That was the case yesterday morning when I was browsing Craigslist looking for an inexpensive GPS to buy for my Fiancee for Valentines Day. I found a couple of used GPS receivers but no extraordinary deals; that’s when I happened on this gem (preserved here for posterity). There are a couple of things that really interest me in this equipment:
After I play around with it as-is, I plan to use the included data/power cable to connect it to a Microcontroller with USB in order to extract the NMEA streams for PC mapping software. I will keep you posted as this happens.
All in all, a good find. I will post some more pictures later and maybe do an “un-boxing.”
One final thought, I think it is highly amusing that this warning can be found in the beginning of the manual:
USE GOOD JUDGEMENT
This product is an excellent navigation aid, but does not replace the need for careful orienteering and good judgement. Never rely solely on one device for navigating.
I think we need a disclaimer like that for the internet.
-Dan
I am currently setting up my new front page and blog on dantheman2865.com. A potential client mentioned to me that he went to my site (which he got from the domain on my email address, a very common occurrence) and found nothing…. Thus, the expanding and refining of my web presence and, in the long term, my personal brand.
Thanks for visiting, please don’t hesitate to contact me with suggestions or questions.
-Dan