Showing posts with label northpaw. Show all posts
Showing posts with label northpaw. Show all posts

18.10.10

shopping list

so here's the list of components we're gonna need, so far. there might be more; if (as expected) i've forgotten something, let me know in the comments and i'll add it to this post via the handy unmistake button.

miniature Philips compass module
MSP microcontroller
transmitter and receiver coils
+ any required control circuitry
rechargeable lith cell
various wires
Sugru, lots
neuroelectrodes, 8 or 16 depending on price
solder
surgical supplies as usual (dressings, suture kit, etc.)
anaesthetic (lidocaine + sterile vials), needles & syringes

once this is complete, i can start deciding what i'm gonna build/test first and we can lay out a prototype diagram. whee.

L

10.10.10

we return to your regularly scheduled programming

with what could be considered success, meatwise: i am stable on the boxone, and not as fucked-up 24/7 as some people's pessimism had projected. it took me longer than i thought to acclimatise to it - i hadn't counted on how hard it would hit me after the withdrawal sucked away my tolerance, so it did fuck me up a bit for the first week, and then i had the fucking luck to get ill again. hence my extended absence from SA and indeed life in general. i'm now back, although i ought to warn you all that since my last undergraduate semester just started, i won't be as active in H+ as i am during the summers when i don't have as much to do.

i guess the first thing to do now is figure out a prototypical diagram and a list of components, which i can then start acquiring piecemeal as money comes in and goes out. i will be working on the diagram/list this week, i think.

the bad news is, of course, that since i'm still stubbornly alive, you don't get any of my stuff yet.

L

6.9.10

borg schmorg

first of all, two or three people have asked me what my IQ is again, and for what i wish would be the last time, it's 145 - least, it was the last time i got tested. in actuality that means it could be anywhere from 135 to 155, not that the latter's likely. IQ is a pretty worthless way of measuring intelligence, in any case, and likely i'd do no better in terms of real intelligence than someone who routinely scores 100.

secondly, Borg, schmorg. i don't believe in forcing modifications on anyone.

i get some really stupid emails.

this post's actual purpose, of course, is to provide a space for us to discuss the current design of the subdermal Northpaw. right now, mine is:

MSP microcontroller with custom software
ring of 8 neuroelectrodes around ankle
Philips compass module
transmitter coil
lotsa wires

i am going to take this mess, and by Carl Sagan i am going to make it work. this is where you all come in.

BEGIN.

L

19.8.10

motherfucking teamwork

so, with my electrical incompetence on display for the world to see, Unqualified and others have suggested a far better way to power the Northpaw; inductive power transfer, something about which i know very little and will hopefully know a lot more by the end of tonight. i have a paper to read and a lot of 'pedia to peruse.

i'd just like to get lame for a second here and remind you all that this is precisely the sort of knowledge-sharing or idea teamwork that i have really, really been wanting to see more of in this field. thankyou all for your improvements, questions and suggestions. i would not have gotten so far without you. if any of you are ever in the Silver City, come meet me and we'll share a dram or two.

L

15.8.10

bride of the return of the son of das update goes to Hollywood

the node's fine, wound is scarred over completely although the site is still just perceptibly redder and more heated than the rest of the finger. that's unusual; i blame the cyanoacrylate glue i used to repair the node before i shoved it in there, or perhaps it is rusting. in either case it will be good for science.

there is a Megavideo of the procedure now. if you need it there will be a RuTube as well, although currently i cannot be arsed to put one up.

there is a stashbox of the video at http://stashbox.org/977038/node-insertion.3GP

goals further to this project:
1. source raw neodymium discs for coating.
2. create and test homebrew implants with said discs and Sugru.

goals further to the Northpaw project:
1. find some goddamn motherfucking neuroelectrodes.
2. toss a coin to decide whether i go with some sort of kinetic power assembly or whether i just say fuck it and go with a coated lithium cell. currently, odds are favouring the latter, since a dynamo would require quite a lot of complex electronics - capacitors, resistors, other regulatory circuitry and the like - and would slow my prototyping down by quite the major factor, when i'm used to rapid prototyping as the One True Path of software (and wetware) engineering.

in other news, today i cut a failing microdermal out of my face with a scalpel and realised exactly how much better scalpel use is when you actually have a goddamn handle.

carpe corporem

L

2.8.10

test nodes: result so far

looks like this:


zoom:



that's all for tonight. will keep the blog updated (okay, will try and will finally do it when endless email slews up about it) with the situation on the node; it's still hot as fuck and painful to touch, but not as much so as before. remember, no matter how much of a doughy Caucasian loser with nasty pallid skin and too many scars you are, the machines will always love you.

...wait.


L

22.7.10

HE'S OKAY, FOLKS!

sorry for the loss of updates, guys. my lack of medication is making it pretty hard to function. fortunately i see the doc tomorrow, and i should be alright after that.

the lumps are both fine - it's official, after about 4 weeks of waiting Sugru seems to be compatible in practice with the human body. there's been no itching, bruising or what have you, no irritation or leaking. it sealed up in about two days and has been peachy ever since.

some notes: i made the Sugru lump too big, and so it looks incredibly fucking nasty right now cause you can see this massive fucking thing on the back of my hand. i also made the hot-glue lump too small in my ever-flowing fucking wisdom, and i shit you not i have lost it. i don't know where in my hand that fucker migrated to, but it sure as shit isn't where i put it anymore. it seems to be non-toxic too, as expected.

i also can't find the Crackberry cable anywhere. fucking photos. i will get them to you guys if it kills me.

so, i got my scalpel handle and a shit ton of antiseptic for the real op, which is next on Lepht's Happy Fun List of Pain. i've got like two thousand hospital-standard bacteria-killer wipes as well, plus some proper finger bandages and another big fuckoff needle, and some sterile surgeon's gloves (latex-free, motherfuckers!) for once rather than crappy exam ones. i will see if anyone in the house has a cam i can use, otherwise you'll be getting crappy Crackberry footage, but there will be footage.

and i hereby grant you all permission to fuck with me mercilessly until i remember to update the blog. jesus, i suck at life sometimes.

L

1.7.10

progress bar

no infection or irritation so far; in fact the site's doing pretty well, although i had to put superglue out of the toolbox in it yesterday. if all is still calm by next week, i will take it that Sugru doesn't cause major immediate damage to the interior of the human body, although it could still be damaging in the long-term. i'm not so bothered about that, since anything that fucked me up over a long period of time has historically been detected by people giving me biopsies and scans and shit and sliced the fuck out before it could do any real damage.

if it works, then, i'll probably use the sugru to coat up both the parts of the modified Northpaw for implantation and two plain pieces of Nd in order to complete my array. i have the node that came out of my hand the other day ready for re-insertion, but i'm waiting on supplies.

and i'm scared shitless of how much it's gonna hurt, of course. i'll have a spotter to video that one. pictures of the blob-siting tonight with any luck.

L

28.6.10

blobs sited

i didn't manage to get the crackberry filming (too hard to rig a position where its tiny field of view can see enough shit - needs someone holding it), but i did take pictures. i'll be posting them up as soon as i can get them off that fucking excuse for a phone. (at least it isn't a fucking iPhone, i guess.) also if anyone knows of a good way to zero-fill or strip the EXIF data, i'd appreciate the entire technically-savvy biohacker underground not getting hold of my crackberry PIN.

experimental blobs of bright fucking orange Sugru and freshly melted hot-glue are now present in a gaping wound in the back of my hand, no anaesthesia required. i have filled said wound with ethanol. i dunno exactly how long it'll be until we see whether or not they'll decay, but i'm sure i'll find out.

irritatingly i snicked the node when i was getting it out, and although the gold appears unscratched, there's a big fuckoff hole in the silicon. i intend to hotglue that shut and all, once i'm sure it's sterile (it's sitting in the fridge in a coffee cup full of industrial bleach, HiBiScrub and surgical spirit, where it'll remain until at least tomorrow.) cross your fucking fingers, fellow hackers.

(brb, hospital.)

L

20.5.10

haptic compass: hardware

i've just recieved a rather large amount of money at an award ceremony, and i know what i'm going to spend it on. food, schmood, because i think i have some better ideas for the control of the haptic compass than using my colleagues' original circuitry, which is rather large.

enter the very tiny MSP430, a little microcontroller i think would do a better job. all i would have to do would be:

- figure out a way to attach the little compass module to the MSP430
- get some fucking neuroelectrodes and attach them to its outputs (jesus christ, but it's hard to get hold of those things)
- bioproof the bundle thereby created (not hard, since all it takes is a hot glue gun)
- stop! scalpel time.

of course, i would also have to program the MSP. i'll need to ask the Noisebridge guys, but i think the logic would go something like this:

while (poweron)
get north direction from compass module;
cast to a degree out of 360;
figure out which electrode's "domain" that number falls into;
activate that electrode;


i'm pretty sure the way to go is to have each electrode responsible for a segment of the compass circle, i.e. 0-45 degrees activates electrode no.1, 45-90 activates no.2, etc. if all went to plan following this design, it'd mean zero transdermal components - the whole thing would be subdermal, which is far easier to keep sterile and far more likely to heal, plus naturally waterproof. it would be a big, big cavity to carve out though; i might need some real anaesthesia.

still, sounds like fun, right guys?

L

24.10.09

never plan

because it only goes wrong, and then you have to write a blog post telling everyone that you're a fuckup. well, i'm a fuckup. i forgot that i used the last of my slicey devices a long time ago, so no test implantation this weekend.

i did solder the control board for the Northpaw together, though, and discovered that my loans have not in fact been paid for this year. hopefully they'll come in a big fucking lump that i can then use to... well, to do more of this stupid shit.

current strands of development of the paw:

- need hot glue gun, test adaptation to the buzzers. transdermal armature is gonna be complex.
- researching dynamos as alternative power source.
- gonna look terrifying, with eight strands of wires going to two boxes (or one box and a dermal incision) mounted on my leg. i think i'll wear shorts for a week to frighten people.

i am a sorry little bald-ass attention whore, aren't i?

L

23.10.09

plans for the weekend:

i'm informed that normals do things like go out and drink. i intend to drink too, if all goes to plan, since i will be test-implanting a plastic-coated cellphone buzzer from the Northpaw kit into my ankle...

so, i'm gonna go get a hot glue gun, cover the buzzer in waterproof goodness, take a scalpel and shove that sucker in there. also i plan to solder the Northpaw's control board electronics together, design experimentation and sepsis permitting.

also i had something of a psycho bastard episode yesterday; i was almost ready for class, having done my usual faffing about in the morning (take pills, paint C symbols on face, try not to go back to bed because Muad-Dib is still dozing and asking for hugs, spike hair, etc.), and i was running a lil late - about to leave, i discovered i'd lost my phones cable (they're fancy Bose ones i got as a gift last year, so the cable separates from the phones themselves.)

dear reader, i freaked the fuck out, cussin' and kickin' stuff and frantically digging through the debris of dead machines and old clothes that forms drifts in my bedroom, and when Muad-Dib (understandably frightened) got out of bed to come hold me still, i burst into tears like the giant medicated pussy i am. i managed to choke out that the music was what i was using in order to not spazz out in public and smack somebody (not that i'd do much damage, having all the muscle strength of a scotch pie) or end up self-harming or whatever. i refused to go to class, both because of the smeary red-eye face-paint look and the fact that i'd been reduced from a rational human being to a bawling pile of jelly.

i spent the day, in fact, going to find a replacement cable, discovering afterward that the original was in my fucking pocket, scaring normals in a coffee shop, missing three fucking lectures and a BCS seminar i desperately wanted to go to, cleaning house in order to not feel like a useless cunt (didn't work), eating purloined Starbucks cheesecake, and shaving my head.

yes, i cope with mental ill-health just as badly as Britney fucking Spears.

ergo i am now utterly bald, and have painted various things in metallic green on my skull for shits and giggles. jesus, people didn't wanna sit next to me before, they're sure as shit not gonna want to now. happy weekend, everyone.

L

19.10.09

an announcement:

i have joined the ranks of bored white Westerners hopped up on happy pills to relieve them of the relentless misery of their grindingly, excruciatingly tedious little lives. this might go horribly wrong. we'll see.

interesting quotes from the patient information:

"Effects when treatment is stopped: Do not stop taking the tablets suddenly."
"Drinking alcohol is not recommended while being treated."
"The following side effects have been reported: ...spontaneous production of breast milk, inability to achieve orgasm, seizures, loss of memory, loss of identity, unusual bleeding..."

wat

in other news, i have recieved my Northpaw and a fresh shipment of solder, and now need to start bioproofing the components. in my own loserish biohacker way, i will probably end up encasing them in hot-gun glue as an initial prototype - that shit is bizarrely resilient to human flesh... need a gun from somewhere though. i'm also gonna have a problem powering the thing. gonna need to dissect a kinetic-powered watch, i think, and steal the little lightweight gyro.

and in other other news, i continue to resist the temptation to ask my pathologically competitive, partner-punching ex W3dyt exactly how his campaign to 'beat' me is going, since i hear enough hilarious third-party criticism of him without any input on my part. in the corridor outside Knowledge Based Systems: "He looks like a girl." "Yeah, but a really ugly girl." much lulz. i look forward to the team project results.

(i also look back with glee on that time i caught my medical bracelet on his chest dermal and ripped the sucker out. in retrospect, that was rather gratifying.)


L

2.10.09

Northpaw, evil scheme mk.1

so i'm in my third academic year at University now, doing a Bsc Hons in Computing Science. understandably, it gets pretty hard - i'm chewing bitwise C operators right now, and to my shame i still don't exactly understand bitshifts - but it's awesome, in the same way that my work on the NBX Project is awesome.

that is, it's sort of above my capacity, which makes it fun along the lines of a dodgy rollercoaster: "Get off there! You might die!" "FUCK YEAH I KNOW!".

speaking of self-endangering behaviours, i should be getting my Northpaw kit sometime soon, and being the idiot that i am, i'm not content just to wear the sucker. i'm going to do my illevel-headed best to work on an implanted version.

some issues i can think of with this:
- power. it might need a gyro rather than a battery pack, or i could leave it transdermal.
- isolation. i need the buzzer electronics isolated, shock-speaking, from my Weak Against Shock flesh. you can do this with silicon, i'm just not sure where to get access to it.
- waterproofing. cause i like being able to take a shower (not that i wouldn't put up with sponge baths for a while if it meant more mods.)

my God, i really do have problems, don't i?

in other brainhacking news, i've lost track of how long i've been clean for (so more than two weeks, since my sense of time is absolute shite), but it looks like i was wrong about the extent of the dain bramage: slowly i've been getting my ability to detect temperature back. unfortunately, i live in fucking Scotland, and it turns out my room is really, really fucking cold. i had to pull Muad-Dib out of bed by his ankles this morning.

also i have a lot of Mana, since i won my textbook money for this year by writing essays for Epic Prize Money this year. that link takes you to the SugarCopter site at Kustom PCs, which ships from Scotland, so no need to import it from ThinkGeek anymore.

last, it looks like my revenge-driven ex has forgotten about his plans to Beat Lepht's Evil Schemes, which is good, because my evil schemes mostly involve buying candy with my government loans and pestering senior department staff with stupid questions.

peace, love and tramadol. -L


PS. ink win: the giant rook over my back and torso is now finished, and i have a H+ tattoo on my left shoulder above the other one, to boot. nerd win.