Roomba Rumba Grumble

I bought an older 400-series Roomba robot vacuum off Craigslist around Christmas and it ran wonderfully the first time I plugged it in. It cleaned the bedroom...

... and then "doooop dodoop dooop!" It died.

For the past 5 weeks I've been researching online in my spare time, trying to find information on how to save my poor little Arthur.

This is a list of my currently available options:

1) RoboticVacuums.net suggests trying to reset the unit. (Inspiringly not helpful.)

2) RobotReviews.com instructs you on how mod your own battery pack with new NiMHs. (Cost and work involved is not necessarily worth it.)

3) Buy a new battery from Amazon.com, though many of the vendors won't ship to my Canadian address. (This one does, and it's only $23?)

4) Junk the unit. Not cool.

5) Get a refund. Also not cool. (Probably not possible.)

Knowing my limited options, it makes it much easier to choose a path. That being said, I've been looping around #1 for the past few weeks with little or no improvement. I keep thinking: well what if I do it this way this time?

"Dooooop dodooop dooop."
I'd better move into Phase 3 soon, I'm missing out on some prime robotic cleaning time. (Plus that song is driving me nuts.)

Getting on the Wagon

Tonight I'm finishing up the draft of my second eBook, a work of selected poems I wrote several years ago. My task now is to search for the right title... Maybe a look through my photos will help trigger a memory of something relevant. It's tougher than you think, getting the right name.

So why this sudden movement to write? I wouldn't say it's sudden so much as "surfacing". (OH-HO! Great title!?!) I was reading "101 Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers" recently and it got me thinking: how can I become more effective at my job? Then I read "Outliers: The Story of Success" (Gladwell) and tried to think smarter: how can I become effective efficiently so that I can get on with all those other projects that I want to finish before I turn 60...?

I was astounded by the examples Gladwell provides in "Outliers", essentially that all these phenomenal people have simply turned out to be regular people living through extraordinary circumstances.

Are we not in extraordinary times now? I can be that regular person -- I can search for those extraordinary circumstances. That's part of what life's all about!

I think everybody has at least one good book inside, waiting to be written. I'm starting to think that I'm getting closer to writing mine...

Musical Motivation

This morning I watched an amazing documentary about the culture of art in media. You can watch it here: PressPausePlay

It's inspiring and cautionary all at once. That is, I want to produce MORE (books and music and inventions and more), but there are more talented people that are doing exactly that and not getting noticed because of the grey goo of everybody else, so I actually also want to produce LESS.

So of course I had a good idea while watching the end: What if I composed music that WAS the training program for getting off the couch and out jogging?


There are plenty of Couch-to-5K programs out there, but you choose your own music. And there are plenty of music playlists out there available for different BPM training -- that's along the same lines of what I'm talking about. RunningMusicMix.com is a good example of that. Running to music according to BPM makes sense to me, it's motivational and gets results.

But what about actually creating a varying musical rhythm that is in itself a song? A song for running? A song created specifically for your training program?

Run2Rhythm is more like what I'm talking about but not exactly -- they just produce fun beats and drums and instruments to jog to -- it's quite repetitive and boring. I want dynamic music. When I'm jogging, I want variation in my music but I don't have time sort it out myself. I want a package I can download quickly and know that it is the right program for my level of exercise.

I wonder what I should call it? Jog Pulse? Musical Motivation? Rhythm Racing? Any other ideas?

Happeeee New Year!

This week I published my first eBook!

You may have noticed a lot of people posting recently about getting in on the next big thing: eBooks. Within 24 hours of reading one of these articles, I found myself uploading the files and designing the cover of my first eBook.

"Unsolicited Advice" is exactly that: just a simple, concise collection of advice on 'correcting' a variety of poor habits, as well as suggesting several good habits to start. Not a great literary work but I think it's a good start.

If you're evenly mildly interested, please consider reading the content preview. Maybe you're thinking of gifting it to someone whose poor habits are currently driving you crazy. Be bold: give it to your neighbour or coworker or friend. The book is ultimately a great resolution-maker for everyone.

In fact, my goal was to encourage everyone to strive to become better people -- including myself.

So of course now I'm already planning another book... The next one will be about beer and craftbrewing, I think. I'll keep you posted.

Display Tactics

Just set up our office with a prominent LCD PowerPoint messaging loop...


It's funny, paying attention to colour schemes and text choice and timing loops and animated arrows.

Nobody will every really read it except my boss. It's all on the internet.

But they will probably glance at it, so it's got to be right. That's cool.

"Welcome to our office -- You have arrived! Hurray!"

Scared Skately

Since the Olympics, I've had an urge to pick up skateboarding. Lucky enough to be gifted one through Freecycle two months ago, it sat in our closet and mocked me in my dreams. I was envisioning being able to do cool tricks with snowboards and practice in the summer sun with a skateboard.

Well today I tried it out. I bit the bullet and took it outside, a nice sunny day with neighbours moving furniture, walkers and strollers going by, taking their children and pets out for a turn...

Honestly, why can't people stay inside so they are unable to watch me make a fool of myself, hm? That's all I ask. Go away, eyeballs. ("Shut up brain or I'll stab you with a q-tip!")

So yes, I was completely self-conscious -- me, easily 20 years older than when I first tried one out as a child, and paddling about on the little board like I could barely swim. Not embarrassing exactly, but I feel like I should be more adept at it from the get-go. Those boys make it look so easy! They're like, what, five years old? C'mon feet, do your thing! Keep your balance!

Sigh. There's only one thing to do to get this out of my system... Practice.

I'm a Space Cadet!

Not really. But I feel like one with all the crazy choices and changes going on.

My practicum finished with a little "poof!" as I handed back their tests and report cards and they chatted about university for the rest of class. They're so naive about the amount of work coming their way.

And suddenly I found myself back in classes myself this week, at OISE, on a very different schedule. Wah wah wah, I know, I get Wednesdays off. But not today, there's a day-long conference on Building Futures and apparently you have to stay all 6 hours to get the resource package at the end.

I've been wanting to volunteer somewhere for years. Last week I spoke to another teacher about becoming a civilian instructor for the cadets. This Monday I found a nearby squadron, and Tuesday night I found myself walking to their training night at a local school. Eventually I was introduced to the officers and we all chatted about what the cadet program is about.

Sadly it's in the bag, if I decide I want it: this particular group is desperate for a female supervisor.

Sometimes I feel like I get jobs not just because of my adequate abilities but because I'm a girl. I wish it wasn't that way... but not enough to turn down the jobs.

Let's face it, everyone needs something up their sleeve if they want to do what they want to do.

Now comes some decisions to make.

Bingo Blitz

I've had the opinion lately that I can fool the lottery.

Disregarding my, you know, engineering background, I feel that one day I'm going to find a pattern and choose a set of numbers that are 'bound' to win and then I'll prove everyone wrong.

My theory is based on the fact that it cannot be completely random: the machine was built by humans. Even random number generators are not completely random, as they're based on a random-esque formula.

OK, it might take me 18 years, but I might as well start playing it now.

Professional Practice Exam

Yep, tomorrow is the big day: I'm writing my Law & Ethics exam at 2pm over at good ol' U of T.

500 people, three hours, two courses, and zero open books = one PPE sitting.

Add to that the 48 months of engineering experience, 48 months of university nightmares, and three good character references, and you can get yourself a P.Eng. application...

Should be fun. :)

Project: Voice-Stress Analyzer

Now is the perfect time for me to gather materials to build a portable lie-detector.

A device that is non-contact, time-independent, and works for male or female voices, this gadget sounds much too good to be true -- and it just may be at that.

I found an article in my files that I had copied a long time ago from the March 1996 issue of Popular Electronics. It is still amazing to me: well-written, concise as necessary, and very inspiring for any electronics enthusiast.

What's also amazing (but not so surprising) is the enormous brouhaha brewing over this contentious issue. The technology of analyzing voices for lies is subjective at best -- and wrongfully incriminating at worst.

Why did the U.S. military and police departments buy hundreds of these machines, each one worth well over $10,000? Why do officials swear by these machines, citing 100% effectiveness? (Oh come on, is ANYTHING 100% effective??)

Who are we more likely to believe, the media or the government??

I'm on a mission to find out what's what.

My little project will cost less than $30, runs on a battery, fits in my pocket, and I get the fun of learning what all the components do, putting it all together and testing it out!

Anticipation is the key to fun in any DIY project.

As for other methods of lie detection, and I suggest reading about them because they are quite interesting, I found this article index citing a dozen articles from 1969 to 1997 specifically telling you how to build your own lie detector. Many involve contacting skin to monitor moisture levels and such. Why are there no DIY projects written after the year 2000?


Well, perhaps these may shed some light on the issue... I found a smattering of articles, papers, and websites on the Internet that particularly stress the untrustworthy qualities of this hoaky technology:

Article, "Innocent Until Proved Guilty?"
30-MAR-2006

Article, "Arguments rage over voice-stress lie detector"
(10-OCT-2005)

Article, "Research casts doubt on voice-stress lie detection technology"
(10-FEB-2004)

Study, "Psychophysiological and vocal measures in the detection of guilty knowledge"
(28-DEC-2004)

Website "The Truth About Voice Stress Technologies"

Website "The Anti-Conspiracy Symbol"

You would think that with all of these resources available to me that perhaps I'd be swayed to think poorly overall of lie detection devices. I don't know what I think at this point, but I do know that my regard quality information from Popular Electronics far outweighs the same fr omthe Internet, so I shall continue in my quest to find out for myself what the heck is going on with this technology.

My new project shall be dubbed "Operation: Ana-LIES" and I will commence construction shortly. If I find anything interesting, I will let you know...

You know what the best part is, though? Reading the schematic and explanation will improve my knowledge of how circuits and electronics work. Win win!