Links


Defining “Success” On Your Own Terms

aboard.com

I don’t think you should focus on the failure of others, or even the success of others. What you do need to do—and what is surprisingly hard—is to define success for your own part of the world, and work towards that. Non-monetary success, because again, money lags.

Via Tom, and I agree with this so much. I think about this every time I see these kinds of headlines, about how companies are doomed and they’re failing and the metric you should be chasing is over here. But I also think about it in the framework of contentment and personal growth. I know it doesn’t pay the bills, and that part’s just as important, but for me it’s about iteration and forward progress on those goals.

CoolTerm - Roger Meier's Freeware

freeware.the-meiers.org

CoolTerm is a simple serial port terminal application (no terminal emulation) that is geared towards hobbyists and professionals with a need to exchange data with hardware connected to serial ports such as servo controllers, robotic kits, GPS receivers, microcontrollers, etc.

Powering Projects from a 1.5V Battery

technoblogy.com

A single AA or AAA battery would be an ideal low-cost power source for a small AVR-based project, but unfortunately they only provide 1.2 to 1.5V, and even the low-voltage versions of the AVR chips need at least a 1.8V supply.

The solution is to use a simple voltage-doubler circuit to step up the voltage. The voltage doubler uses an oscillator to charge up two capacitors through diodes. The voltages across the capacitors are effectively put in series, creating double the supply voltage.