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July 30, 2005
Lunch with Fred

Posted by John at 12:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 27, 2005
fish update
Update on the fish. One of my guppies has died. Despite the subject of the previous entry, I'm fairly sure he didn't starve to death. Condolences can be sent to the remaining fish at guppy01@greyfence.com. A flushing will be held in lieu of a funeral.
I now have a single lonely guppy. This is the same situation I was in months ago with my first cat which led to the arrival of the fish initially. Quandary: do I get another fish to keep him company again -- they were a playful pair when both were alive -- or let the poor ratter die of loneliness. I'm not terribly excited by fish as pets as it turns out but I do like my pets to have enjoyable lives.
Posted by John at 09:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
fish feeding
I've been trying to find a way to know if I've fed the fish or not. So often when I'm dropping off to sleep I wonder if the poor critters actually got food that day. My IS Brainstorming (TM) method produced two ideas for consideration.
The first method I considered was to install an infrared beam across the top of the fish tank which would be broken when the tank lid is opened. Breaking the beam would send a signal to the computer. Now, since the tank can also be opened for cleaning, I would also need a device which can read the ripples in the water when the food is dropped in. Or a method to read the electric conductivity of the water when food is dropped in would be better. This would also send a signal to the computer. If the lid opening beam signal is followed by a ripple signal or a change in the electrical properties of the water an item would be entered into my Palm calendar. The second method I considered was to hang a calendar and a pencil on a string above the fish tank where I could mark an X on the calendar when feeding has been done. I disqualified the second idea for being unworkable and am now awaiting funding to do the research to implement the first.
Posted by John at 08:59 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 12, 2005
A bad role model
Thanks for the motivation, cat.
Posted by John at 10:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack