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Woo!
I'm about to achieve maximum hardware efficiency, using all the RAM and all the cores of my little device to render a page of an epub book. It will render the current page and the next page (or previous page if you're moving backward) so that you can flip pages while reading in a way that appears to be more responsive. Basically, I'll have the next page rendered so you can change pages as soon as you're done reading the page you're on.
This ESP32 device was never intended for something this intense. The minimum hardware requirements I've seen previously for an epub reader is 512 times the RAM (not a typo!) and at least 4x the CPU power of this device. If I'm being completely fair comparing a WROVER rather than a WROOM it's still 64 times the RAM for a traditional minimal epub reader.
The final frontier for me is CSS and code size. The former is doable if I'm willing to live with limitations. It will support just enough to render text for a book okay. The latter is doable I think, but if it's not I'm dead in the water. My code has to fit on the device.
Wish me luck.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Good luck!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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I've been working on a virtual memory system for embedded devices, although I've gotten side tracked by many other things, using static memory chips with SPI communication standard. The chip I'm using is a 64Mbit chip = 8MB. I've ordered a 4 MB chip from China so it may be a while,
Point is you might think about virtual memory/caching your pages? Just a thought. my 2 sense.
The less you need, the more you have.
Even a blind squirrel gets a nut...occasionally.
JaxCoder.com
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I am caching them. I don't have anything as sophisticated as virtual memory but the onboard flash isn't particularly fast anyway, so I'd rather keep access to it explicit.
Edit: Adding an external SPI PSRAM module might not make sense as I'm not sure the ESP32 under Arduino can do 80MHz SPI comms and anything slower would be ugly.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Just a thought!
I'm using an ATmega328P with 2K memory to test/develop my virtual memory. Not sure if it's going to be worth a plug but it's an exercise to learn more about the memory management on these little/marvelous devices.
The less you need, the more you have.
Even a blind squirrel gets a nut...occasionally.
JaxCoder.com
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Wow, 2kB of RAM is barely enough to do SPI. How do you page? You must do like 512 byte pages at most!
Real programmers use butterflies
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The SRAM has 32 bytes pages and I reserve (configurable) 100 bytes of memory above the stack. It's a work in progress and don't know if it will be useful for anything but by-god I'm going to do it.
The less you need, the more you have.
Even a blind squirrel gets a nut...occasionally.
JaxCoder.com
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Mike Hankey wrote: It's a work in progress and don't know if it will be useful for anything but by-god I'm going to do it.
I not only understand that sentiment, I can appreciate and respect it - a man after my own heart.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Do I see the makings of an article here Mike ?
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Hmm perhaps, I've already posted a short article on my site regarding memory management but I haven't finished the virtual memory stuff yet.
Frankly didn't think there would be any interest.
The less you need, the more you have.
Even a blind squirrel gets a nut...occasionally.
JaxCoder.com
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I think there would be. I certainly would be interested. Anything that fancy running in 2kB sounds fascinating.
Real programmers use butterflies
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I'll write up something when I get back to it.
Right now remodeling master bath, getting closer, completely gutted a month ago.
The less you need, the more you have.
Even a blind squirrel gets a nut...occasionally.
JaxCoder.com
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honey the codewitch wrote: Wish me luck.
Always.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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What's the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don't know and I don't care.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I'm doing reruns of 2014?
That's my excuse, and I sticking to it ...
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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At least select the "best of".
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Look at that! He didn’t know it was a repeat... aaand he doesn’t care!
If you can't laugh at yourself - ask me and I will do it for you.
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Or, more to the point, "I don't know why I should care"
Alternatively, containing all of the requisite elements, one could offer:
"Who gives a flyiing ?" for a more colorful exposition.
Ravings en masse^ |
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"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Mike Howe[^]
Inspired by Sander, Mike Howe dead at 55, wasn't a household name but nevertheless was a great vocalist for Metal Church, one of my favorite bands. His voice (and lyrics) fit the music perfectly. Have seen them many times over the years, never failed to deliver, and just as importantly he was genuinely nice person.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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Drummer and founding member of the legendary Slipknot.
One of my favorites, and definitely favorite when I was 16 years old: Slipknot - The Heretic Anthem[^]
I wasn't very familiar with his current band, Sinsaenum, but I know some of you might enjoy this: Sinsaenum - Final Resolve[^]
And then, of course, there's his legendary Disasterpieces drum solo[^]!
Loved that one when I still played the drums myself
He passed away suddenly and was only 46 years old
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Guy's got rhythm. In comparison, I can barely walk without tripping over myself.
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My partner is gone for two weeks, and I'm not feeling particularly great in his absence.
For some background, in 2017 or so I had a psychotic experience followed by a week of mania and I haven't been the same since. I've always been a bit .. eccentric, but I went (more) crazy. Whatever happened to me, it either changed me, or flipped a switch that had always been there.
It's not all negative at least.
The good: Immediately I became better at coding - I don't have to "think" to write code anymore - it just comes (not always, as sometimes i get a Big Problem(TM) - but the day to day stuff) . When I write an article, mostly I am not regurgitating my thought process in creating the code. I'm reflecting on what I did after the fact. It's effortless, and pretty neat. I suppose it's possible it's simply experience - I know experience probably plays a part at least - but the timing of it, and the sudden onset of the ability makes me doubt that.
The bad: I am a shut in on account of paranoia and extreme social anxiety that has afflicted me since. I had a close friend visit a few days ago and stay the night, and despite the fact that I love her to death I ended up crying because I couldn't handle having her here, but still wanted her here. It's not supposed to make sense - it's crazy.
My partner is the only one who doesn't cause me to melt down, so with him not being here I'm pretty lonely.
So, y'all get to be a different kind of rubber duck right now.
I work, but I can't work a normal job on account of the above, plus other afflictions that have come along with the above. It's amazing I can work at all, and sometimes I can't.
But it leaves me time to code. Coding is an escape for me. It allows me to focus myself, calm myself, and center myself when there's too much noise in my head. Some people do yoga. I code.
I've had a lot of time for it over the past few years. I code fast, but I also just have tons of empty life to fill because I don't people anymore.
So for those of you that think I have some sort of special talent, I guess maybe in a sense I do? But more, I something in me just broke somewhere along the way, and it positioned me to code a lot.
Anyway, for those of you that read this far thanks for listening.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Keep on channeling Dijkstra.
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