Just add

run.args.extra=--nosplash

to the project.properties file

I’ve playing with the MMA7260Q accelerometer. Following the indications in

• Measuring Tilt with Low-g accelerometers.
• Implementing Auto-zero calibration technique for accelerometers.
• AN3461 Tilt Sensing Using Linear Accelerometers.

I managed to put together this piece of code that ouputs the tilt angles ρ(rho) , φ(phi); and Θ(theta) in degrees. I does automatic autozero calibration so before getting sensible results you should tilt the sensor around +/-90 degrees in every axis.

Today I fixed my dropbox installation on mac os x . It was not updating (sending) files from the Mac to the Dropbox servers. In fact it was sending new files to dropbox servers but some old files that were supposed to be on dropbox account were not synchonized and I couldn’t get Dropbox to notice that, until today. I found this post and it seems that if you close dropbox, delete the ~/.dropbox directory and restart dropbox you’ll get the account linking screen again and dropbox will index everything and make sure that your local Dropbox directory match the online one. It took a while but all the files are safely transferred to Dropbox now.

I’ve been playing with the Arduino sleep modes and i wanted to be able to wake up from the sleep when receiving data on the serial port. Mainly, because in my project I’m using the XBee in the API mode and the tricks exposed in http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Learning/ArduinoSleepCode and http://www.libelium.com/squidbee/index.php?title=Save_power_in_SquidBee_-_sleep_mode involve putting Arduino in SLEEP_MODE_PWR_DOWN and using an extra pin on the arduino to monitor the RX pin and detecting LOW.

I didn’t like that much that solution so I started to look into other ways of doing it without using an extra pin and without risk of losing data in the serial interface. Because as I understood it using SLEEP_MODE_PWR_DOWN requires to send first a burst of data to the serial interface in order to wake up the arduino. And it takes a while for the Arduino to become fully functional so that means that you will lose/miss data in the serial interface. That was something that didn’t fit my project.

I just downloaded and installed iTunes 8 from apple website, turning on Genius. we will see what kind of recommendations does it give me.

via iTunes 8: Ready for download - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).

As stated in this digi page is possible to upgrade/convert a Xbee Series 2.5 to a Xbee ZB (with full standard Zigbee capabilities). Xbee Series 2.5 is just another name for the forme Series 2, so the upgrade procedure is exactly the same.

The procedure if fairly straighforward

1. Remove ATmega168 from Arduino board
2. Insert XbeeShield into Arduino
3. Change *both *jumpers in XbeeShield to USB
4. Connect Arduino to the computer using the USB cabke
5. Download the ZNet 2.5 to ZB Conversion Kit here
6. Start the X-CTU 5.1.4.1 software

7. Select the proper COM port (should be Usb serial port (COMX))
8. Click on Test Query. The following dialog should appear indicating that X-CTU found the Xbee in that COM port and giving you some information about the Xbee module version, etc. In my case it was a ZB24-B with 1220 firmware

9. Go to the Modem Configuration tab
10. Download the ZNet 2.5 to ZB Conversion Kit here if you didn't do it earlier
11. Uncompress the ZIP

12. Select the “Download new versions” button.

13. Press the “File” source button
14. Select the xbee_zb.zip file to add the firmware set to X-CTU
15. Back to the Modem Configuration tab. Select "Always update firmware" checkbox and select XB24-ZB (or XB24P-ZB if you have a PRO module) and the function set that you want for the module (router, coordinator, end device, each one in two differente flavor AT or API). In my case I selected XB24-ZB and COORDINATOR API. Check the product manual to find out about API and AT modes and the different firmwares for each set

16. Press "Write" and X-CTU will start uploading the firmware to the module

17. The firmware upgrade is complete

NOTE 2: Be aware that putting XBee to sleep will also raise DIO7 and produce and Arduino reset. See this other post on XBee sleep and Arduino reset

If you are getting (like me) the “The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000005)” error when trying to start Google chrome try to use -no-sandbox option as pointed out in Google Chrome : The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000005) « me & PHP.

It seems that Visio has some kind of incompability with Bluetooth drivers.

I notice this problem when editing Visio objects embedded into Microsoft Word documents. In my case after I enabled Bluetooth (via my Compaq nw8440 special keyboard button) this problem went away.

I received a couple of Arduinos Diecimilla that I bought from Libelium.

My first project with Arduino has been interfacing with DS1620 digital temperature sensor.

It was really easy it just a matter of connecting pin 3, 4 and 5 on the Arduino to RST, CLK and DQ on the DS1620. The source code in this post will read the temperature from the DS1620 using the 3 wire interface and it will output the result to the serial interface in the Arduino.

If you are getting javax.jnlp.UnavailableServiceException from javax.jnlp.ServiceManager.lookup() or if javax.jnlp.ServiceManager.getServicesNames returns null you must be aware that those call only return useful thing when you run your code from the Java Web Start environment.

It’s not enough to include the jnlp.jar or javaws.jar in the classpath.

For example to make it work from Netbeans you must enable WebStart in the project and Set Configuration to WebStart.