In the New Zealand Herald this morning:

Which is based on the clock I helped develop:

For those interested there are actually four sections to the clock: days, hours, minutes, and seconds. Each of these sections consist of a series of digits, the quantity being dictated by the value being shown. So seconds requires eight digits, while hours only needs four.

Each digit is made up of twelve monstaVision modules in a three by four configuration. While the clock is only displaying red digits; the modules themselves are actually capable of full colour, full motion video, and outputting over 5000 cd/m² of light. These are the exact same modules that you see in giant LED screens.

Behind the scenes we have a single Linux box with a dedicated connection to the Internet. This box runs our video server software and renders characters with a true type font, using the freetype library. We use the Internet connection for remote monitoring and synchronizing to an atomic clock daily.

Sigh… some guy ran into my car yesterday.

I was cruising down the road passing parked cars when a car lunged at me from a drive way. Instinctively I had started slowing when I saw him but assumed he would stop… which he eventually did but it required my help. Fortunately one of my passengers knew exactly what to do and helped with gathering witness and driver details.

So for those of you who are unfamiliar with what to do:

• Always carry a pen in your car. Every one has paper, no one has a pen. Witnesses don’t have pens and neither does the other driver. Typing details into your cell phone sucks.
• Get your vehicle off of the road. The last thing you want is another accident. Car bits go in the boot.
• Get the other cars number plate and make sure they are also off of the road.
• Look for and gather witness details. The other driver isn’t going anywhere but the witnesses might.
• Consider calling the police. If the other driver is going to be a problem or the situation requires it then make the call.
• Get the other driver details. You want a name and phone number at the very least. Also make sure you get a look at their drivers licence. I even went as far as writing down the licence number but it is also useful for checking spelling of their name. AA Insurance also recommends getting their address and insurance company details.
• Take photos! Of your car, theirs, the number plate, them, everything! Most cellphones have inbuilt cameras so you might as well use it.
• Once that’s all done you need to check if your car is still road worthy. I was lucky as I only lost my left indicator, we also managed to pull off enough other stuff so that nothing would fall off and the wheel wasn’t hitting anything.

Then soonish you should:

• Collate all the information you’ve gathered and call your insurance company. They will tell you how to proceed. I’m with AA and they’ve been really good. If you don’t have insurance then you shouldn’t be on the road.

So my poor car is in at the panel beaters until late next week. I’m told most of the damage is superficial. Better yet while cleaning out my car this morning I discovered a fifty dollar voucher in the glove box. I’m unsure how old it is but it hasn’t expired. So wooooot.

Recently work sent a couple of LED screens over to Australia for the Lexmark Indy 300. Without going into too much detail (of who screwed up) the guys in Australia found they were missing half of the LED module cables for one of the screens. Now we could have sent them via a courier company; but that ran the risk of being held by customs or arriving too late. So instead I got the honour of hand delivering them.

On my way out of Brisbane I nearly had my 15 metre ethernet cable seized. Turns out that it was borderline, as you are not allowed rope in your carry on luggage since you could tie someone up. In fact the border inspector suggested he could tie me up with my own cable… (he must have misinterpreted my look of disbelief).