Periodic Ramblings

My history in computers began before the advent of the mouse or graphical Internet, so the command line is still a place I feel comfortable within.

I stumbled across a command line task management program, that takes all the pain out of managing tasks.  Now, I realize that there are 100s if not 1000s of task management programs on the web and for the standard Windows/OSX environments, but I wanted something simple.  Something that I could just say, here is my list of tasks, here is what is complete and print out the list when needed.  This is where Taskwarrior comes in.

It is a simple command line based task manager that can be downloaded and installed on either Windows, OSX or Linux.  Once you have it loaded, it is as simple as opening up a terminal window and typing:

task add "Pick up Milk"
Created task 1.

Then to see a list of your tasks, once again, it is a simple list command such as:

task ls

ID Project Pri Description
 1             Pick up Milk

Once you are done with the task, it is a simple done command to tell Taskwarrior it is complete:

task 1 done
Completed 1 'Pick up Milk'.
Marked 1 task as done.

The program of course has a number of other features, but for the most part, you can get by in the program knowing about three commands, which makes it simple to use.   If you are like me and want something that is simple and straightforward, I recommend Taskwarrior for your task management needs.

Emily Gertz and Patrick Di Justo have put together a simple and concise guide to utilizing the Arduino family of products to do practical monitoring of environmental conditions.  This helps take the Arduino product for many of us from a hobbyist toy to a practical and functional part of a geek’s toolset.

Ever since getting my first Atari 600XL in fourth grade, I have been fascinated with the idea of interfacing computers into the real-world.  In college, majoring in Computer Science, my favorite and most enjoyable class was my Microprocessors class, where we interfaced simple computers with real-world applications. To me, this is where computers shine.  The ability to take real-world data and analyze it, is a powerful and to me fascinating concept.

Emily and Patrick start off the journey by assuming that the reader has purchased the Arduino and now want to do more with it.  There is a basic introduction to the capabilities of the tool, utilizing simple blinking LEDs to show how to interface and program the Arduino.  This helps a novice user become less afraid of the device and at the same time allows a more experienced programmer to get a feeling for how the hardware device functions.

Then the fun begins.  Each chapter is dedicated to a specific project, whether it be creating a meter utilizing a series of LED lights to signify an event to more complex projects that measure EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) to measuring water conductivity and weather related conditions (temperature and dew point).  In each case, no assumptions are made by the author and each step is outlined and explained in enough detail that the user understands what is going on.

While most of the projects are standalone, the authors do spend a whole chapter explaining through the use of an add-on Ethernet shield how to interface the project with external computers.  A simple web server and data logging device is demonstrated, which really shows off the ease of development and integration that can be accomplished with the Arduino tool.

I especially liked how the code for the projects is presented in each chapter along with explanation and challenges/suggestions on how to expand the project.  This helps the user understand the code behind the project, so that it becomes more of an idea book then just a cookbook of instructions.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Arduino tool and interfacing it with real-world applications.  The book is a quick read, the projects are simple enough to do and the possibilities that it introduces to the reader is limitless.