Almost done

I'm almost done with my utility to prepare files to be backed up. It does exactly what I want. I wonder if anyone else would find it useful :)

Grrrr backing stuff up

Another thing is getting in my way of doing what I _really_ want to do (Dexter): the need to transfer files off my hard drive onto DVD (or other hard drive?). I know DVD is an unpopular choice for doing backups today but it remains a decent strategy for me especially when I am backing up files which other people already have but would still be somewhat painful to recover due to their sheer size.

I've looked for software for Windows that will take an arbitrary directory on my hard drive and optimize the file structure so that it makes the most out of each DVD's space but I've been having a really hard time trying to google for that. There's too much software out there designed to backup DVD movies that gets in my way.

"high priority stuff" revealed

The high priority stuff I was working on was going through the process of finding another job. I have formally given notice to my current employer as if two days ago so now it's okay to publicly announce it. I haven't started at my new job yet so there is still some work to be done but I thought I'd let anyone who checks this blog know what I've been doing instead of Dexter work lately. :o

Dexter update

Just an update on the state of Dexter: I have had some higher priority stuff come in lately that I have chosen to work on instead so I have not done any more work on the rev 2 PCB. But I will get back to it once the high priority stuff subsides. And once the high priority stuff subsides, I may reveal what the high priority stuff is (it's secret!)

Microzine #7 rescued!

Chip found Microzine #7 at his mom's house and mailed it to me. He had two copies of it which was a good thing because I had to use both copies in order to get a good read.
Enjoy it here.

In theory.. it should all fit

I just crammed everything that I want for rev2 onto the board space just to see if it would fit and it looks like it just might! That is pretty encouraging :)

Zeroing in on decision...

Soon I am going to play around with PCB layouts. There is a chance that all of the stuff will fit on the current PCB size now that we have eliminated one of the DB25 ports (which took up a ton of space). I hope to post some pics soon of my sample layouts.

Considering ATMega2560

Well now I'm considering the massive 2560 microcontroller instead because it has a ton of pins on it, is super tiny, and is super awesome. The drawbacks? It would definitely require a machine to play on a PCB because it is just too small for a human to do. The is one reason I am still considering the 324P as well. There is no "ideal" solution here; compromises must be made no matter what.