Let’s hook it up!

24x16 LED Matrix Wiring (made using Fritzing)

If you reverse the GND and 5V wiring you will probably blow up the display. The pin numbers are on the back of the display, so be sure to reference those. The connections:

- Arduino Digital Output 12 to pin 1 of the display connector (CS).
- Digital Output 11 goes to pin 5 of the display (WRCLK)
- Digital Output 10 goes to pin 7 of the display (DATA)
- Digital GND goes to pin 11 of the display (GND)
- Power 5v goes to pin 12 of the display (+5V)

Now to the software. I found a post by westfw (#94) on Arduino.cc with some sample code that goes through a variety of demos on the display using various contributors’ code. I’m a novice programmer at best, but I took his demo and cut out just the core parts for the display and wrote my own implementation to have the whole matrix select and toggle random LEDs on and off. Download the whole thing here. It’s not pretty, but here’s my hasty code:

void setup ()
{
ht1632_setup();
randomSeed(analogRead(0)); //get some analog static from pin 0 for the random number generator
}

void loop ()
{
int x, y, p;

x=random(24); //pick a random X coordinate
y=random(16); //pick a random Y coordinate
p=random(2); //pick on/off (1 or 0, respectively)

plot(x,y,p); //tell the display to execute the randomness

}

So if you’re vaguely familiar with Arudino (like me at this point) you should be able to plug wires in, run the code, and watch some LEDs blink randomly. Behold the awesome power of microcontrollers!

Related links:

- Sure Electronics DE-DP016 Data Sheet
- Arduino.cc Forum Post on the DE-DP016 (and related displays)

What am I getting at? This: a plethora of potentially fly-by-night or unproven backup services have gone live over the last year or two and require a bit of investigation before subscribing. Most of these services will be able to stay afloat for quite a while due to the low overhead, but my warning is to beware of the little guys until they have a track record. There is little investment on their part, often just a few lines of code and the payment system. Usually there is no mention of data security and a lack of welcome features such as having data restore to DVDs and mailed to you.

I’m not saying avoid S3 backup services, I’m recommending confirming there is a history of quality support and updates. JungleDisk is one such candidate. But you might just want to stick with inexpensive non-S3 services such as Mozy, Carbonite, and so forth.

Here’s a list I compiled of some backup titles and services leveraging Amazon S3 storage:

• Backup Manager
• S3 Backup
• S3 Solutions
• Sync2S3
• Brackup
• s3DAV
• Duplicity
• s3sync
• SetS3t Synchronize
• DropBox
• JungleDisk

Happy uploading!

I suspect they are planning collaborative features, but currently its single-user creations. A timetoast “wiki” of sorts would be fantastic.

There wasn’t a timetoast timeline for the iPhone, so I filled in the gap.

(Above I’ve charted the initial cost of the iPhone + setup fees + monthly service over 2 years, including taxes and fees. I’ve added a $5/mo text plan and calculated the totals using California sales tax (8.25%) – so the bottom line in different states may be slightly more or less.)

More after the jump, plus another chart of TCO without a text plan…

The result seen here is that even given the lower initial cost, the iPhone 3G costs more to own than the original iPhone at 14 months and after 2 years is a little under $200 more expensive. This is due to the monthly 3G service plan being about $15 more expensive for unlimited 3G data + 200 texts.

If you are one of the few smartphone users that really, truly never use SMS text messaging, it takes until about month 20 for the cost of a iPhone 3G to surpass the original iPhone. Here the price is much more closely matched, though as mentioned earlier the original iPhone service includes a 200 SMS plan and the iPhone 3G plan has none.

Personally, GPS and 3G make it compelling enough for me to upgrade. Plus I suspect the original iPhones will still be worth a pretty penny (easily $200+) on eBay even after the iPhone 3G is available.

• With a two-year contract, the price of an 8GB iPhone 3G will be $199; the 16GB model will be priced at $299.

• Unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, in addition to voice plans starting at $39.99 a month.

• Unlimited 3G data plans for business users will be available for $45 a month, in addition to a voice plan.

Additionally, this may pose an issue to upgrading iPhone users, since potentially they won’t be able to take advantage of 3G without entering a new 2-year contract. This is not particularly surprising, particularly given all the recent AT&T 3G infrastructure improvement, but definitely a bit of a kick to the pants. It appears this increase may be across all data phones as well, including Windows Mobile and RIM Blackberry smartphones.

2:42pm Update: Gizmodo confirmed this with AT&T’s Glenn Lurie, plus you must activate the phone in store (Apple or AT&T). Ouch. At least that should keep the resale value of 1st gen iPhones relatively high.

AT&T: AT&T to Offer Next-Generation iPhone on Its High-Performance 3G Network

Similarly, the Atom meets the basic computing requirements of average users but not much more. This means you can check email, browse the web, use Office but can’t utilize advanced HD video, 3D games, and so forth.

An exceptional use for the Atom platform is a home server due to fantastic performance per watt. It uses around 2 watts of power under load, whereas a common processor such as the Core 2 Duo uses 60W+. As energy costs go up, the total cost of ownership of a server is skyrocketing. So while the intial cost of a server or desktop suitable for running as a server may be low ($500 on a budget), at 24/7 the energy cost will be $100-$400/yr. In contrast, a 24/7 Atom-based server would cost approximately $10-20/yr. Substantial savings.

There are some great uses for Atom home servers:

1. BitTorrent. Dedicated 24/7 upload and download without worrying about utility bills.
2. Home automation. You can leave a home-automation management server running 24/7/365 for probably under $7/yr in energy.
3. Centralized storage. You can make your own NAS – most efficient in conjunction with the above services.
4. Music server. Always-on access to locally-stored and Internet music.

Using the Atom platform for a home media server is possible, but only with streaming lower quality video. HD quality isn’t going to work.

TranquilPC offers an Atom-based D945GCLF motherboard for about $100US. Throw RAM, flash-based storage, power supply, and a case on top of that and you’re looking at about $200-$300 total. TranquilPC and other vendors are starting to offer pre-built systems as well, but generally run $500 and up.

Anyone have other ideas for the Atom platform? Inexpensive solar-powered server or desktop, maybe?

Mac and Windows

Right off the bat, we can see that Mac OS holds about 30% of the desktop and laptop OS market and Windows approximately the other 70%. I have left Linux out for now (see below) because it is nearly impossible to determine whether it is being used for a desktop computer or server.

Windows

If we explode the 70% Windows market share, things start to get a little more interesting. We can see that Windows XP commands 79% Windows market share. Vista has only been able to penetrate 10% of the market, barely statistically greater than the 8% being possessed by 8-year-old Windows 2000.

It’s also notable that Vista has about 10% market share despite something like 1/3rd of computers on Stanford campus having been purchased since the release of Vista. That means the vast majority of new computers are being ordered with Windows XP. Clearly Vista’s market penetration leaves much to be desired. Additionally, 10% is actually fairly representative of the entire US penetration of Vista, through the causes may be different (Stanford users have a higher average turn-over rate on computers than the rest of the US).

I could explode the particular flavors of Windows once again into each individual edition (Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate, etc.), but I’ll just mention that Windows XP Profession holds about 95% of XP editions and Business is the majority of Vista. Usage of “Home” editions of Windows is discouraged at Stanford University by being largely unsupported by the internal IT infrastructure.

Linux

As I mentioned earlier, I chose not to include Linux in the first “desktop/laptop” OS market share because it is nearly impossible to differentiate usage of Linux for servers versus desktops without enormous statistical effort. However, if you include all version of Linux, about 16% of computers (including servers) at Stanford are running Linux – a large portion are email, storage, web, and various other servers.

Linux flavors with very low representation (e.g. Gentoo’s nine installations at Stanford) are excluded from the list. And unfortunately, nearly 1/3rd of Linux instances are reported generically as “Linux”. Lazy Linux users…

Final notes

Stanford is a great look at a free-market edu computing environment with strong Mac and Linux usership. But perhaps most importantly, its low Vista penetration shows that average educational users, whether student, faculty or staff, are still very resistant to Vista and go to extra effort to purchase XP even with new computers. Vendors, such as Sony, choosing to move away from XP earlier than most may be less attractive in this sort of environment.

In the future I may do a report on computer vendor market share (Apple vs. Dell vs. Lenovo vs. HP vs etc.).

I needed a replacement Superdrive and I’ve been really curious as to what exactly is inside the Apple Macbook Air External USB Superdrive. So I bought one for $108 at my local Apple Store and proceeded to destroy the case by opening it using metal clippers to ensure nothing inside got damaged. However, now knowing more about how it is encased using tabs, I’ve written instructions here on how to open it without damaging anything.

While the MacBook Air SuperDrive only works externally with the MacBook Air possibly due to the USB adapter (Update: confirmed), the internal drive component is interchangeable with the internal 12.7mm 17″ Macbook Pro and most G4 PowerBook drives. It will not work with 15″ MacBook Pro or 13.3″ MacBook models since they need a slimmer 9.5mm SuperDrive.

Since it appears nobody has written a pull apart anywhere else, you can view the gory details after the jump…

Pull apart instructions…

Difficulty: Easy/Intermediate.

Requirements: MacBook Air SuperDrive, old ID or credit card (or similar), and a tiny phillips screwdriver.

Warning: Opening the case will no doubt void the warranty on the whole product. But this can be our little secret.

Step 1: With the bottom facing up, gently insert a credit card (a screwdriver is pictured, but in retrospect a credit card is less damaging since the metal is very pliable). There are three tabs (Update: better view) that need to be popped out and then you can pull one side of the undercarriage free, then the other.

Step 2: Remove three (3) screws and disconnect the USB adapter board (shown below).

Step 3: All done – now one can use it to replace essentially any 12.7mm height slot drive or even create your own external USB case. As of June ‘08, you could even put the bare drive on eBay and turn a profit.

If you need instructions on pulling apart various Macs and iPods, check out ifixit.com/Guide.