Tim's Eclectica

This site is driven by a fascination with problem solving and a skepticism about the motives of those who provide canned, easy answers to complicated problems.

Money Matters

Mortgage Calculators. Tools that may help you pay off your mortgage early! Last updated March 2006.

A Simple System for Managing Medical Expenses. A system to help make sense of medical expenses, insurance statements, and provider bills. I created this system to detangle my own! Last updated April 2005.

Essays

On Data, Information, and Knowledge. A (fairly) short treatment on how we use (and misuse) data and information to obtain knowledge. Last updated March 2006.

Computer/Network Stuff

Python System Admin Utilities. Tools to help with some system/network administration problems Last updated March 2008.

DB-9/RJ-45 Console Adaptors. An alternative wiring scheme for DB-9/RJ-45 console adaptors that that work with CAT 5 cable and support Cisco RJ-45 consoles. I built these in 2001 to reduce my serial console cable burden. Last updated January 2005.

Microcontroller Stuff

Arduino Demo Sketch of Andrew Rapp's Xbee-arduino Library. Using the Xbee-arduino Library with XBee ZNET 2.5 modules. Quite short and hopefully sweet. Last updated April 2009.

Updated AVR UART Library. An updated version of Peter Fleury's excellent AVR UART library. Hopefully improved. Last updated May 2009.

Other Interests/Projects:

Automatic Oil Burner Reset for Wood Gun Boiler. An automatic reset for Oil Burners attached to "Wood Gun" Boilers (formerly made by Eshland Enterprises, now made by Alternative Heating Systems). I built this in late 2002 to improve system reliability of our Eshland Wood Gun boiler when running on oil. Last updated March 2006.

Flue Temperature Monitor and Alarm for Wood Gun Boiler. An system to monitor the flue of "Wood Gun" Boilers (formerly made by Eshland Enterprises, now made by Alternative Heating Systems), and shut the boiler down if the flue gets too hot. I built this in late 2006 after we found that the flue seals can fail catastrophically when the flue temperature gets too high. Added November 2008.

Dawn Simulator. A system to make waking easier during months when the alarm goes off while it's still dark outside. Also, a way to built a very expensive light switch. I built this in late 2005. Added June 2006.

Cub Scout Pinewood Derby Race Start Interface. A system to interface recent serial-only versions of Grand Prix Race Manager to NHRA-style "Christmas Trees" and a starting solenoid . I built this in late 2007 and modified it in late 2008. Last updated Octover 2008.

Ok, so I have a butt-ugly Web site. Get over it. It's free!

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