Don't read any further...

...than this post.

I've decided to re-write my website www.danielcarway.co.uk, and all the blog entries have been imported there.  So click the link and look at it there.  Go on.

D

Home-made stylus for capacitive screens

A colleague has bought their partner an iPad for xmas, along with a Wacom Bamboo stylus.  I loved the stylus, and wanted one for my smartphone, but didn't want to pay for it.  A bit of Googling revealed some home-made versions, with an old pen and some damp sponge, but they felt a bit 'bodgy'.  So I thought I'd have a go.

The base for my device is an old tyre pressure gauge I got free with a bike magazine years ago.  It has to be a metal case as the capacitive screen responds to tiny electrical charges from your sweaty fingers.  The nib also needs to be conductive.  I found a bit of conductive foam in the memory-slot hatch of a broken laptop, but you see these little pads everywhere (well, if you dismantle electronic things often enough you do).

The pressure gauge.  Photo taken after I'd butchered the top bit!

The foam pad from an old laptop.  It sat between the chassis and the inside of the memory access flap.  I think it earths the door.  Well, it did until I ripped it out.

 Chop off the top and hoick all this gubbins out

 Tuck the foam pad into the bottom of the spring and shove it back in.  The sticky-out bits make a nice interference fit, plus the remains of the pressure-gauge end make a plug that holds it all together.

This is now the business end.  It needs to be about ½cm square to mimic the tip of your finger, but it works surprisingly well!  I might add a old bolt or similar bit of metal into the tube for a bit of extra weight and the 'real pen' feel.

The finished stylus in action!  Free painting app for Android - Sketchbook Mobile Express.  Next, find a clip and a nice top bit to finish it off!










Nice end plug and protective lid from an old felt-tip pen.  I've also glued in a cut-up allen key for extra weight.  It also now has a pocket clip (not pictured!)

Testing Powerpoint export to video

Here's a PPT to WMV, uploaded to (and hosted by) Google Video just like uploading a picture.

Getting rid of Facebook's annoying new ticker and adverts

This works for Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, however if you're a page admin it will hide some useful links.  The process basically hides the CSS element which governs the right-hand column, so it'll only work until Facebook does another re-write (in about 10 minutes, by previous experience).


Both browsers use the Adblock Plus extension/plug-in.  To get it go to:

Firefox or Chrome

To configure it in Firefox, click on the little ABP icon at top-right and click Preferences.  Then click Add Filter...

In the New Filter box, type facebook.com###rightCol and hit apply.  Refresh your Facebook page and hey presto!, it's gone.

In Chrome, once you've added the extension, go to the spanner icon, tools, extensions the click Options for Adblock.  Click Add your own filters tab and add the same text. Job done.


As I mentioned earlier, it kills the whole column which in Page administration contains some useful stuff, so you'll need to disable this filter temporarily to see these.