Author: jason

It’s Thursday early evening and we’ve been pretty busy! We’re currently relaxing at our new hotel and getting ready for dinner, which will be traditional. Turkey in Tokyo! Hooray!

Wednesday we slept in a bit and took our time getting ready. We had to change hotels cause we only booked three nights at the Sunroute Plaza. I think if we come back to Tokyo we’ll plan to stay there the whole time. The location is killer and the room is very nice.

Once we got ready and planted our luggage with the staff we head back out to Akihabara to hit some stuff we had missed on Monday and some stuff that was closed. I got a card reader I really liked and Courtney got an iPhone case. We were both feeling kinda run down from all the walking of the last few days and after a quick lunch at Yoshinoya we went back to the hotel to lounge around in the lobby till it was time to move.

Our next hotel was The Hotel Villa Fontaine Shiodome in same. So far it’s very nice! The staff speak excellent English and it’s even a little more swanky than the previous. The entrance to the hotel is an 11 story atrium which is really imposing and very cool. We checked in and lounged around for a while, being a little toured out. We finally decided on dinner at The Oregon Bar and Grill next door which was awesome. It’s on the 42nd floor of a high rise and had great views of Ginza and surrounds. We both had Japanese steak which was very tasty. Kinda fatty for me, but the fat was delicious and buttery so it was great. The Oregon was pretty funny. They had some kind of weird fetish with Oregon and everything was all about Oregon. Oregon approved beef, Oregon wines, a big American flag, a picture of the governor, etc. It was strange. I felt very under dressed and was a little uncomfortable, but they treated us well. One of my favorite memories will forever be the maître d’ helping Courtney into her hoody.

After dinner we were done in, so after a quick stop at the Am/Pm where I found a red colored cola in a bottle with a  logo that was clearly ripped off from Tabasco we headed back to the hotel and crashed. We had to be up very, very early this morning.

Which brings us today. We got up at 4am to make the pilgrimage to the Tsukiji fish market to see the tuna auction. The auction is where all the tuna caught the day before are bid on and purchased to fill the restaurants of Japan with the day’s fish. Courtney found a little trivia factoid that said 1 of every 5 fish caught in the WORLD pass through the Tsukiji fish market.

We eventually found our way to the market but it’s very tourist hostile and had a hard time finding our way. There are thousands of stalls, hundreds of people and hundreds of these little one man fish carrying carts that blast down little rows no more than 6 feet wide. You quickly learn to have eyes in the back of your head, the side of your head, the backs of your ankles and everywhere else. Frankly, it’s terrifying.

Since we had no idea where we were going, we made a mistake and entered the market just a few feet too early. If we had gone another 20 feet we would have seen a sign, a map and a info book. Instead we wandered into mass insanity and got totally lost. We eventually decided to just run for it and got out of there. As we were looking for the way back to the hotel I decided we should just cross the street and look down a road and there was the map and everything else. That helped us pretty quickly get to the tuna auction and we caught the last 15 minutes of it.

The tuna auction is pretty wild. There are hundreds of giant tuna fish laid all over the floor with their heads off and a cut in the tail that I assume shows the quality of the meat. A dude starts to ring a bell and everyone crowds around a fish and then everyone starts yelling. I had no idea how much they are selling for; I’d love to know. Finally, when you win your fish you grab it and drag it out the door. It’s all very, very low tech and visceral.

The long walk and the insane energy put us back at the hotel pretty quickly, and we cleaned up for breakfast and then a long, long nap. Finally, we headed back out to Roppongi to check out Roppongi Hills, which is a 56 story shopping mall. We skipped the shopping part and went right to the top and then the TOP called the Sky Deck. There is an observation deck at the 52nd floor which is enclosed but for another ¥300 you can go to the Sky Deck, level 56, which is actually the roof of the building. You are up there in the open air with the helipad and all the machinery that lives on the top of a modern skyscraper. It was a geek wet dream and I took lots of pictures of giant AC compressors and window cleaning cranes and machines.

And now we are back at the hotel resting up again before dinner. We’re having American Thanksgiving dinner at Roti Roppongi at 9pm. It’s going to be great. Roasted turkey and all the fixings. We’ll have to see how it compares to the last turkey Thanksgiving I had – at Ruth’s Chris in Seattle.

Goodnight!

So it’s Tuesday evening and we’ve been having a wonderful time in Tokyo. Monday we started the day wandering around Akihabara. We spent a ton of time in Radio Departo, which is a 4 story building full of tiny stalls where old guys sell every kind of new and vintage electronics you can think of, and in Radio Center which is a one story version of same with a little more focus on consumer stuff. I really wish I had access to this place back home. It wouldn’t replace Digikey, but it would be really handy when I needed a certain fan, or enclosure, or weird ass wire wound resistor from 1950. We also went to Yodobashi Camera which is the largest electronics store in the world. It’s something like 9 stories with each one being as large as a good sized Best Buy. It was a lot of fun to look around and Courtney picked up a few small gifts and such. And we also spent some time in the small robots and hobby stores. Fun!

After Akihabara we came back to the hotel to rest a bit and then we headed out to wander around Shinjuku. We ended up in an English pub called Hub that was pretty good. Good beer, good fish and chips and really bad company. There were a trio of Americans sitting a few tables away being complete assholes. One guy spent a solid hour telling the others about how many models his friends fucked at the top of his lungs. I noticed he never mentioned how many models HE fucked. Not surprising. They were loud, brash and rude. Exactly what people expect of us in foreign countries. I was sad to see it. It’s the first time I’ve seen that kind of behavior from Americans in another country.

After Hub we went over to Tokyo Tower to enjoy the nighttime view from 330 meters and eventually made our way back to the hotel where we passed out hard.

Today we got a bit later of a start but we made up for it in seeing stuff. We spent a few hours roaming around Shibuya and saw Hachiko’s statue and the famous Shibuya crossing which looks like all those scenes from Braveheart every time the light changes and we went to Asakusa which is the “old town” in Tokyo. Most of Tokyo is neon and craziness, where Asakusa is a little more like old Japan. It also boasts a very, very large lantern.

In Shibuya we were looking for a place to eat lunch and we came across a pizza place. We decided to check it out and it turned out to be a pizza buffet with a totally reasonable price and it was great. Some of the pizza was a little weird, and some of it was very weird but there was plenty that was really good. Check out Shakey’s if you are in Shibuya!

Now we are once again back in the hotel resting up for the evening. I think we’re going to have a pint or two at Hub again and then maybe hit some bars in Roppongi. Woo!

It’s sad for me to see that as I write this post from our hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan I can still see posts from last year’s Japan trip on my front page. I used to post a lot but I’ve stopped! It’s not that less is going on; there’s more, if anything. It’s just that every time I sit down to write I realize it’s going to take hours to catch up and instead I post something pithy on my Twitter feed and get back to work.

Anyway! We’re on vacation again in Japan. It’s pretty exciting! This time we’ve decided to stick purely to Tokyo and really dig in. We have lots of stuff planned this time around and intend to really make the most of our time. We’ll be going to the International Robotics Exhibition at the end of the week which is super exciting and we intend to spend a full day in Akihabara this time around. I’m for the the stalls of Radio Town and Courtney for the highrises filled with 8 bit history. It’s gonna rock.

We’re staying in Shinjuku for the first half of the trip due to some excellent hotel sleuthing by Courtney. It’s totally affordable and we’re about 1 block from all the action. It’s great. We also found out we could take the Narita Express from the airport straight to Shinjuku by paying a 170 Yen fare adjust when we got off, so that rocked.

It’s Monday morning here, pretty early since we’re a bit jet lagged. We’re about to head out and hit the city.

We’re staying at the Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku. So far, highly recommended.

I’ve been struggling for years to come up with a good process to make quality prototype PCBs at home before sending them off for professional manufacture. It seems like I’ve always run into one problem or another. Recently I decided to just work on it until I got a process that works and I think I’ve done that. Or at least I’m pretty close.

I’m documenting this so that I have a reference, and hopefully it helps you too.

Make your schematic and board in Eagle.

Put a vRestrict rect around all components. This keeps you from having to solder vias and then put components above it. If you use a plating method you can skip this. I use bits of wire.

Put a tRestrict around all through hole components that will be placed on the top of the board and a bRestrict around ones that will be on the bottom. This keep you from having to solder the top and bottom sides of components. You can skip this for easy things like resistors and capacitors. I recommend it for things like ICs and any component whose body is close to the board.

Set up your DRC for minimum clearances of 12 mil and minimum trace size of 16 mil. The larger you can go here the better. I like to start very high and go down until the board is routable. The larger values you use here the more likely your board will come out correct.

Pour ground planes on top and bottom. Choose the POLY tool, select the top layer, set width to 16, isolate to 40, and spacing to 50 if you are using hatching. I prefer solid. Draw the poly around your entire board. Choose the NAME tool and set the name of the poly to GND (or whatever your ground signal is) and then hit RATSNEST. This will pour the ground plane and connect it where appropriate. Do the same for the bottom layer. The ground serves two purposes: One, it’s good design and decreases noise and two it’s less copper you have to etch off which makes your etching go faster and saves your etchant.

Probably need to use RESTRING here to increase size of vias. They were too small.

Draw your board outline on the dimension layer. It’s important that you draw it in one operation, or at least keep in mind the direction you draw the individual lines. You should choose a starting point and then draw  your outline clockwise, never reversing direction or crossing the board. The is important for milling out the outline later.

Save your board, show all layers, select the entire board and CUT.

Create a new board separate from your schema. This will be the board we use to actually etch and mill.

Place three registration marks on the new board. I’m using the 1/8″ marks in the JVN library. Place the marks at:
0.25″, 0.25″
1.25″, 0.25″
0.25″, 1.25″

These marks are used to zero everything for the rest of the process. You’ll use them to line up artwork, drills, milling, etc.

Use the PASTE tool to paste in your board and place it at about 0.50″, 0.50″.

Use the CHANGE tool to change the layer for the outline of your board from Dimension to Milling.

Open LAYERS and select None, then Top, Pads, Vias, Milling.

Print to transparency using Mirror, Black and Caption options.

Open LAYERS, unselect Top and select Bottom.

Print to transparency using Black and Caption options.

RUN pcb-gcode to generate top drills and top milling.

Go to the garage…

Measure the dimensions of the board artwork including the registration marks and cut out a chunk of board using these dimensions.

Drill a 1/8″ pilot hole in the bottom left corner of the board. This will become the bottom left pinning hole for the registration marks.

Pin the board to the mill using this hole and a clamp trying to make it line up reasonably square with the table.

Using the location of the center of the pin as 0,0 use the mill to drill two more 1/8″ holes at 1,0 and 0,1. The board can now be pinned down in two axes and we know it will be straight when we bring it back.

Take the board to etching station and align the top artwork with the registration marks toner side down.

Expose for 12 minutes.

Flip the board and align the bottom artwork with the registration marks toner side down.

Expose for 12 minutes.

Develop and etch the board.

Pin the board back to the milling machine and run the pcb-gcode top drill file.

Run the pcb-gcode top milling file.

Celebrate!

This is a transcript from a recent Live Support Chat I had with Comcast. If you don’t feel like reading the whole thing here’s the things that they did wrong and wasted my time with.

1. Wasted an hour or more of my time when the entire issue was a Comcast network health problem. Either of the analysts I talked to could have found that out by simply checking but the first never did and the second didn’t until after having my reset modems and swap cables, etc.

2. Had me swap the ends of my Ethernet cable. i.e. turn it around. i.e. take the side plugged into the router and plug it into the cable modem and vice verse. Now, maybe this is just a handy way of getting people to make sure their connection is tight but it’s stupid. It’s especially stupid because my connection was working *fine* at the time of the chat.

3. Told me to “Just log on to google and enter your Comcast billing address to check the status.” to find out the current network status at Comcast. Seriously?

4. Repeatedly disconnected without telling me they were going to or if they would come back. The first analyst just disappeared after I gave my account information.

This was an absolutely abysmal customer service experience and it makes me sad that I continue to give them money every month.

The log…

user Jason_ has entered room
jason(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:25:36 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Internet access keeps dropping, PC Link and Internet lights flash
analyst Frances  has entered room

Frances (Sun Aug 30 2009 16:27:18 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Hello Jason_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Frances . Please give me one moment to review your information.

Frances (Sun Aug 30 2009 16:27:21 GMT-0700 (PST))>
It is good to have you on chat. How are you doing today?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:27:25 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Doing well, thanks.

Frances (Sun Aug 30 2009 16:28:51 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I am glad to know that you are doing good, Jason. I understand you are having internet connection issue, is that correct?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:29:18 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Yes, our connection has dropped several times today and in the past few days. When it does the cable modem shows blinking lights on PC Link and Internet, all others are off.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:29:35 GMT-0700 (PST))>
The rest of the network remains working. I can access our router and other machines on the network, we’re just offline from the Internet.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:29:42 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Additionally, the cable TV service keeps working fine.

Frances (Sun Aug 30 2009 16:31:00 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you for the information Jason. Let me check the account here. May I have the account number please.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:31:25 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I don’t know it offhand. Can you look up based on phone number or address?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:31:39 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Phone is xxx-xxx-xxx. Address is xxxx xxxth PL SE, Newcastle, WA, 98056.

Frances (Sun Aug 30 2009 16:31:42 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Can I please have the phone number associated to your account instead?

Frances (Sun Aug 30 2009 16:32:18 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you so much!

analyst Frances  has been temporarily disconnected.  Please wait while the analyst attempts to reconnect.
Analyst has left the room. Your problem is being escalated to another analyst

analyst Rollyfel has entered room
Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:35:57 GMT-0700 (PST))>
How are you doing today, Jason?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:36:04 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Doing fine, thanks.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:36:50 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Glad to know you are doing good!

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:36:56 GMT-0700 (PST))>
You’re welcome!

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:36:57 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Jason, I understand that you have an issue with your internet service, am I correct?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:37:19 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Yes I do. I was just chatting with Frances and we had covered the basics. Is he no longer available?

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:38:56 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Jason, I will be the one to assist you  now since this is the technical department for internet service.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:39:18 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Okay, great! Thank you.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:40:00 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Jason, can you please check the lights of the modem if they are lit solid?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:40:40 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Sure, one moment. I should note, the connection is fine right now. It has failed twice today but is not currently having a problem. I’ll go check though, be right back.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:41:08 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Sure.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:41:44 GMT-0700 (PST))>
PC Link and Cable are blinking with activity, Message is off, others are solid.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:41:52 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Sure.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:42:35 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Look for the reset button at the back of the modem. Then, reset it by holding it for 3-5 seconds and after you reset please swap both ends of the ethernet cable from the modem to the computer.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:42:50 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Won’t I lose my connection with you if I do that?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:42:59 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I am using the Internet connection to chat with you.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:43:06 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Yes, we will be disconnected but I will wait for you until the modem gets back online.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:43:35 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Alright, back in a few.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:43:55 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Okay.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:46:27 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Back now

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:47:33 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:47:48 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Please try to check if your connection if fine.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:48:19 GMT-0700 (PST))>
It’s working fine now.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:48:38 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Great! Did you swap the cable?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:48:45 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Yes

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:49:08 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Good! Try to reset the modem one more time.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:49:27 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Okay, one moment.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:50:11 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Sure.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:50:49 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Reset

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:51:00 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:51:19 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Jason, I am sure that your connection is doing fine.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:52:05 GMT-0700 (PST))>
To refresh everything we have done, I would suggest that you power cycle your PC.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:52:23 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I’m confused. The connection was fine before we reset it. The problem is intermittent and was not occurring when we started this process.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:52:58 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I reset the modem when we had the problem previous. Do you think that swapping the ends of the Ethernet cable is going to solve the connection issue?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:53:16 GMT-0700 (PST))>
The log on the modem is full of messages like: Time Not Established      Critical (3)      No Ranging Response received – T3 time-out
Sun Aug 30 12:33:06 2009       Critical (3)      Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Un…
Sun Aug 30 12:32:34 2009       Critical (3)      Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging – No Response received – …

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:53:25 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Which seem to indicate an RF issue, not an ethernet issue.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:53:26 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I believe that it is one way to refresh your connection.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:54:06 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Jason, let me do the health on your connection.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:54:28 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Can you please provide me  your account number please?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:54:44 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I don’t have the account number. My phone number, though, is xxx-xxx-xxxx

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:54:56 GMT-0700 (PST))>
That is the number on the account.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:55:20 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you for that.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:55:23 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Please give me a minute to pull up your account so I can better assist you.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:55:32 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:55:48 GMT-0700 (PST))>
You’re welcome!

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:56:12 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Jason, I cannot pull up your account.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:56:29 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Do you have other phone number?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:56:41 GMT-0700 (PST))>
No, that’s the number on the account. One moment and I will try to find an old bill.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:56:54 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:56:57 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Sure.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 13:57:44 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Account no: xxxx xx xxxxxxx

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 16:58:28 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I am sorry Jason, it should be 16 digit number.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:00:00 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Ah, sorry, I missed three digits. It’s: xxxx xx xxxxxxxxxx

analyst Rollyfel has been temporarily disconnected.  Please wait while the analyst attempts to reconnect.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:00:37 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you so much!

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:00:37 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Let me try.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:00:37 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Please hang on.

analyst Rollyfel has entered room

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:01:00 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Jason, thank you for waiting.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:01:09 GMT-0700 (PST))>
No problem

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:01:57 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I am sorry for the inconvenience, I am seeing here on your account that your area is currently affected by an outage.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:02:14 GMT-0700 (PST))>
What is the nature of that issue?

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:04:08 GMT-0700 (PST))>
That us due to upgrade and maintenace of service going on.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:04:20 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Is there an ETA? And do you know when this started?

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:04:44 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Please give us 5 hours to fix the issue.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:05:22 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Do you know if this has been happening for several days? We’ve been seeing this issue for at least 2 days.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:05:30 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Do not worry, we are already taking this issue on top priority, analyzed the situation and already identified a solution to this. Our Network Engineers are temporarily shutting down the network to allow system checks and repairs as well as the needed upgrades to prevent same reoccurence. This is a constant struggle for many service providers and again, we’re working on improving this constantly. Be rest assured that we will fix this as quickly as possible and have services restored but we still don’t have specific timeframe as to when will this occur. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:06:30 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I will make a proper notation on your account regarding this issue and I will escalate this to our higher department so they can work on this.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:06:41 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Before you go, can you please explain to me why it took 2 analysts and nearly an hour of my time to find out that my area had an issue?

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:06:43 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I will make sure they will take this as a priority.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:09:01 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I am sorry. In my case, I was not able to pull up your account first. I was actually trying to use the information you entered before the chat but still no avail until I asked you for the correct account number.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:09:24 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Okay, thank you for that explanation and for your help.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:09:35 GMT-0700 (PST))>
is there a place I can see the status of the network issue?

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:11:04 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Just log on to google and enter your Comcast billing address to check the status.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:12:00 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I’m sorry, do you have an exact URL. I’m not sure what you mean by log on to Google.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:12:49 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I am sorry for that. What I meant is that you only have to enter your billing address on the search bar.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:13:25 GMT-0700 (PST))>
And the it will give you the result of the area status.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:13:29 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Will there be anything else I can assist you with?

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:13:49 GMT-0700 (PST))>
One last thing, could you help me reset my password or security question for the Comcast site? I don’t seem to be able to log in.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:14:29 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Sure.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:14:39 GMT-0700 (PST))>
No problem with that.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:14:55 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I will be more glad to provide you your new password.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:14:57 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:15:10 GMT-0700 (PST))>
You’re welcome!

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:15:34 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Here is your username:  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your temporary password: xxxxxxx . You can now use this new password to log into the Service Center. Once you login I suggest you change your password again to a password only you know, and one that will be easy for you to remember. This is for your account security.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:15:54 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Thank you very much for that.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:16:02 GMT-0700 (PST))>
You are most welcome!

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:16:15 GMT-0700 (PST))>
Jason, if you need assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us through Live Chat or E-mail (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Simply visit www.comcast.net and select Help.

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:16:34 GMT-0700 (PST))>
I’ll do that. Thank you for your help.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:16:51 GMT-0700 (PST))>
No problem, my pleasure.

Rollyfel(Sun Aug 30 2009 17:16:59 GMT-0700 (PST))>
We value your business with us. Thank you for choosing Comcast! Have a great weekend!

Jason_(Sun Aug 30 2009 14:17:17 GMT-0700 (PST))>
You too.

I’m reverse engineering the Mazda radio protocol and I’ve run into a checksum (I think) that I can’t figure out. Anyone have any ideas?

Here are some packets that I’ve decoded:

[f0] [23] [50 6c 69 73 74 30 30 20 54 68 65 20 47 75 69 64 65 20 2f 43 61 74 61 70 75 6c 74 20 43 61 6c 79 70 73 6f] (Plist00 The Guide /Catapult Calypso) [aa]

[f1] [29] [53 63 61 74 74 65 72 20 42 61 62 79 20 53 70 69 64 65 72 73 20 2f 41 64 20 41 73 74 72 61 20 50 65 72 20 41 73 70 65 72 61] (Scatter Baby Spiders /Ad Astra Per Aspera) [a6]

[f0] [22] [50 6c 69 73 74 30 30 20 54 68 65 20 47 75 69 64 65 20 2f 54 68 65 20 43 75 6c 74 20 4f 66 20 52 61 79] (Plist00 The Guide /The Cult Of Ray) [ea]

[f1] [1a] [30 31 32 33 41 42 43 44 61 62 63 64 20 2f 39 38 37 36 5a 59 58 57 7a 79 78 77] (0123ABCDabcd /9876ZYXWzyxw) [2a]

[f0] [22] [50 6c 69 73 74 30 30 20 54 68 65 20 47 75 69 64 65 20 2f 54 68 65 20 43 75 6c 74 20 4f 66 20 52 61 79] (Plist00 The Guide /The Cult Of Ray) [ea]

[f1] [1a] [31 32 33 34 42 43 44 45 62 63 64 65 20 2f 38 37 36 35 59 58 57 56 79 78 77 76] (1234BCDEbcde /8765YXWVyxwv) [2a]

[f0] [22] [50 6c 69 73 74 30 30 20 54 68 65 20 47 75 69 64 65 20 2f 54 68 65 20 43 75 6c 74 20 4f 66 20 52 61 79] (Plist00 The Guide /The Cult Of Ray) [ea]

[f1] [1a] [32 33 34 35 43 44 45 46 63 64 65 66 20 2f 37 36 35 34 58 57 56 55 78 77 76 75] (2345CDEFcdef /7654XWVUxwvu) [2a]

[f0] [22] [50 6c 69 73 74 30 30 20 54 68 65 20 47 75 69 64 65 20 2f 54 68 65 20 43 75 6c 74 20 4f 66 20 52 61 79] (Plist00 The Guide /The Cult Of Ray) [ea]

[f1] [1a] [30 31 32 33 41 42 43 44 61 62 63 64 20 2f 39 38 37 36 5a 59 58 57 7a 79 78 77] (0123ABCDabcd /9876ZYXWzyxw) [2a]

The first byte is the command to the radio, the second byte is the length of the payload, the following bytes in [] are the payload, the text in () is the string version of the payload (ignore it) and the last byte in [] is what I believe is a checksum.

So far I have not been able to figure out how to calculate it.

The reason I think it’s a checksum is that that’s pretty common for protocols like this, and it always comes out to be the same for packets with the same content, or even packets that add up to the same content.

Flavor Tripping report:

Good: Lemons (awesome!), granny smith apples, fortune cookie, tabasco sauce, corn, peas, jalepeno

Weird: Soy sauce, Italian dressing

Bad: Coca-Cola (wayyyy too sweet), 7-Up (tasted like diet)

No effect: Tortilla chip, salt, rice

Tomorrow we’re going to load up on fruits at the grocery store and try again. Supposedly strawberries are where it’s at!

Courtney said last night I need to update my site, and I couldn’t agree more.

If the angry gorilla wasn’t going “oo oo ah ah” in the background while the choad was talking I might be able to stop watching this.

In other, non auto-tuned news, Courtney and I are going to Denver this weekend to hang out with Adam and Jo, which is totally hard-core awesome.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I released a new version of AVRFuses that is pretty cool.

We’re back from Japan, and I still have a ton to write about that, but in the meantime… Has anyone read or started to read Anathem by Neal Stephenson? Is it worth it? I’m about 20 or 30 pages in and it’s miserable. I’m really struggling to continue. The made up language is just too much. I’ve seen a lot of people comparing it to Middle Earth, but I never felt like I needed a dictionary to read Lord of the Rings, and when I did come across a word I couldn’t figure out from context I was already intrigued enough to continue till it was clarified. This book, though, is boring as shit and I don’t give a fuck if I ever learn what a “mathic” is. 

What about you? 

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

On Sunday, once we got moving we all headed right for Shinjuku to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No. 1 which has an observation deck on the 45th floor. It’s a free, easy way to get a great view of the entire city. Courtney and I had gone to the north tower on Friday so today we all went to the south tower and looked around. Tokyo seems to just stretch on forever and even out towards the horizon there seems to be syscrapers. It’s just amazing to think of how much is going on, night and day, in all that city.

While up in the tower we got to talking about the Park Hyatt Tokyo, which is the hotel that “Bob” and “Charlotte” stay in in “Lost in Translation”. The bar on top is open to the public, is supposed to have very amazing views and was just begging for us to go. So, when we left the tower we struck out towards the Hyatt.

We found the Hyatt pretty easily and started trying to figure out how to get in. the building is 52 stories tall, and the Hyatt only uses the top 10 or so. We eventually figured out that it has it’s own entrance and we made our way in. The place was swank to the extreme and we were massively under-dressed and under-classed but figured they had seen worse since the movie came out so we pushed on.

To get to the bar you take the main elevator up to the 41st (I think?) floor which is kind of the main entrance, then you walk through a very nice lounge / restaurant, a gorgeous library and then take another elevator to the 52nd floor. After turning back once in embarassment and then once to go back down to the elevator to read the dress code sign that Courtney spotted we finally made it to the top to find out the bar doesn’t open till 5pm. The view was still amazing, so we took a few pictures and vowed to come back later.

Our next plan was to get some lunch, and we had wanted to go back to Yoyogi Koen to see the freak show, so we stopped by KFC, picked up some chicken and set out for the park to have a picnic. This time everyone was there to entertain us. We saw the crazy 50s dancers (“Tokyo Rockabilly Club / Harajuku”) and this time around noticed that their boots are pretty much 100% electrical tape. Too much suddenly sliding across the road and breakdancing, I guess.

We also saw some kind of weird music video (we think) being filmed that involved girls dressed as maids, girls dressed as maids with cardboard robot heads on, a guy in black clothes that eventually stripped down to his speedo, which he then pulled down and squatted like he was shitting, a detective that fights a girl in a dress and lots of very, very confused people.

And… lots more to type, but it’s time to get ready for today. We’re in Kyoto right now. We’re going to Nara today, and then to Ponto-Cho later on. Then later, later we go to Osaka to sleep. We couldn’t find a room to stay in tonight in Kyoto so we’re going to Osaka to sleep and then to Hiroshima tomorrow.

Whee!