Rise of the Tweaker

tweak*  (twk)

tr.v. tweaked, tweak·ing, tweaks

1. To pinch, pluck, or twist sharply.

2. To adjust; fine-tune.

3. To make fun of; tease.

*Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tweak

I am a Tweaker by birth. Although the term is not present in Oxford ALD, but defines my cravings for electronic, mechanical and electromechanical stuff very well.

Of the above meanings, my idea of tweaking goes more with the 2nd with added tactics of 1st one to achieve my goals and sometimes the 3rd one as well for recreation. But my subjects are mostly inanimate articles from the long forgotten boxes full of broken inventions and some curious metal and plastic contraptions that tend to stay at home long after their useful period has elapsed due to their virtue of catching the curiosity of a Tweaker like me.

I already have mentioned my other DIY project that is about to jump on the drawing board. Last day one of my as geeky cousin called up to seek my help in rigging up a cheap surveillance system comprising of web cams, motion detectors, limit switches, GSM modules (or cell phone itself) and so on...

Discussed the plan for about one and a half hour and this is what fell into my bucket:

"Write a program to receive Boolean status information from any of the devices connected to a LPT1. The system will then have to take some action based on state of the connected devices. Possibly send a Boolean signal to one of the few signal pins on the LPT1 to trigger a low power relay that in turn triggers a high power relay that powers up an alarm or blah blah blah..."

A dive into this realm of electronics seems to be very fascinating and I am keen to explore more and more of this geeky entertainment. Being a techy, I believe that controlling an LPT should be less pain than trying to impress a girl. Holds true at least for me ;-)

So be sure to find some cool projects coming up soon. That reminds me! Summers are here and I need to fix our desert cooler for the season. Will do this weekend if I can find enough time. Its a lots of work. Again for fun, I am doing it myself, if anything goes wrong, we always have mechanics to fix them ;-)

Well, now I am thinking that mine would be a lucky wife to have a plumber, electrician, mechanic, all in one!

Ahem! Ahem! No self praise!

Okay then. Take care. See you again soon with my first rough rough (yes those are two roughs!) plan of the HLD and stay tuned for this LPT prototype as well.

Good nighties!