Pecha Kucha Nights: Flint #1

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 “Pecha Kucha Nights: Flint #1”

USE GOOD JUDGEMENT

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:

  • It’s free: The guy didn’t want to just throw it away, he wanted someone who was going to tinker with it, take it apart, or hack it to have the equipment. That’s me!
  • It’s Old: This GPS receiver was made in 1994 (according to the label on the back) and is one of the earliest GPS receivers created
  • It still works
  • It’s in great condition
  • He had the data cable and had printed the full manual years earlier

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

First!

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