![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Wheelchair & geekiness
Jun. 25th, 2003 02:25 amLin and Kermit came by *much* later than expected due to errands taking a bit longer than they expected.
I don't know if Lin said something to Kermit or not, but he didn't say anything about the wheelchair.
Wonder of wonders, it was *just* wide enough for her. And while it was a tight fit, it *did* fit in the back of the van.
We managed to avoid going too overboard at Fry's, though I did "indulge" and bought a mini-surveillance camera. It's actually got a pretty decent picture, and can see in the dark by virtue of the IR LEDs flanking the lens. And it's got a 60 foot cord!
A quick test once I got home shows that it *can* get an image at night of the street outside. But the IR LEDs caused a lot of glare off the window glass and the screen. If I set it up to look at the street, I'll have to cover the LEDs.
Its output is mono audio and composite video. I tested it by hooking it up to the front inputs on my VCR. I thought the camera was broken until I realized that while I had the TV and VCR on, I didn't have the "stereo" (which switches all the audio and video stuff around) turned on.
Once I turned on the stereo, everything worked.
Since I've got a video capture card (actually, two of them, come to think of it), I'll be able to hook it up to the computer later on. But that's a ways off.
Still it'll be fun.
Also, Lin wants to get a ham license, so she wanted to get a software package that will teach Morse code and run you thru the questions that could be on the exams. But they'd already spent a bunch. Since I used to have ambitions that way, and was interested in at least giving it a go, I bought it and we'll be sharing it.
Info on what we did *after* the shopping trip will be posted under the "kink" filter". :-)
I don't know if Lin said something to Kermit or not, but he didn't say anything about the wheelchair.
Wonder of wonders, it was *just* wide enough for her. And while it was a tight fit, it *did* fit in the back of the van.
We managed to avoid going too overboard at Fry's, though I did "indulge" and bought a mini-surveillance camera. It's actually got a pretty decent picture, and can see in the dark by virtue of the IR LEDs flanking the lens. And it's got a 60 foot cord!
A quick test once I got home shows that it *can* get an image at night of the street outside. But the IR LEDs caused a lot of glare off the window glass and the screen. If I set it up to look at the street, I'll have to cover the LEDs.
Its output is mono audio and composite video. I tested it by hooking it up to the front inputs on my VCR. I thought the camera was broken until I realized that while I had the TV and VCR on, I didn't have the "stereo" (which switches all the audio and video stuff around) turned on.
Once I turned on the stereo, everything worked.
Since I've got a video capture card (actually, two of them, come to think of it), I'll be able to hook it up to the computer later on. But that's a ways off.
Still it'll be fun.
Also, Lin wants to get a ham license, so she wanted to get a software package that will teach Morse code and run you thru the questions that could be on the exams. But they'd already spent a bunch. Since I used to have ambitions that way, and was interested in at least giving it a go, I bought it and we'll be sharing it.
Info on what we did *after* the shopping trip will be posted under the "kink" filter". :-)
kengr