Praise for Iguana

[24-Jul-2010] Got the IguanaIR usb in the mail today. Set it up, and with a few problems have it all working now. Channel changing is via the iguana blaster, not lorien. I can use the old hauppauge remote again and stop with the key board. So as of now the only thing still not 100% is sound. Waiting on a second drive to mirror the existing setup before I tackle that. Copied a lot of config files, I'm also going to write something up on using this stuff so i have it later when i decide to upgrade again.

Progress

[23-Jul-2010] The mythtv successfully recorded and cut commercials from a show last night. Its still kind of cobbled together. Sound is via 2 speakers not the TV, and channel changing is through an ssh remote command to lorien and the serial IR blaster there. I have given up on the HD-PVR IR blaster, I know it worked briefly on the other box but I just can get it to transmit on this one. I think its a 64bit problem. Waiting on the IguanaIR usb device that will transmit and receive. Sound will require upgrading ALSA to get it to go out the HDMI. I really dont want to do that. Messing with ALSA was really why I moved to a new box. I will need to make and image of the current server before doing that.

Progress

[23-Jul-2010] The mythtv successfully recorded and cut commercials from a show last night. Its still kind of cobbled together. Sound is via 2 speakers not the TV, and channel changing is through an ssh remote command to lorien and the serial IR blaster there. I have given up on the HD-PVR IR blaster, I know it worked briefly on the other box but I just can get it to transmit on this one. I think its a 64bit problem. Waiting on the IguanaIR usb device that will transmit and receive. Sound will require upgrading ALSA to get it to go out the HDMI. I really dont want to do that. Messing with ALSA was really why I moved to a new box. I will need to make and image of the current server before doing that.

New DVR

[20-Jul-2010] The new DVR computer came in yesterday. Its a system76 Wildebeest running Ubuntu. Already I like it, its deathly quiet. The sound works. Got Mythtv installed on it already and its recording. Still working on the IR blaster and receiver it doesn't have a serial port so I've got to setup the HD-PVR IR transmitter and I plan on using the Old PVR-150 card for the IR receiver, or buying a USB receiver. Only real problem so far is connecting it to my TV, it only has VGA, DVI and HDMI out, TV has only Composite in. Need a converter of some type or a newer TV.

Wiki Changes

[09-Jul-2010] Changed the wiki I put of for Kris's dead werewolf game so it can be used for a lot of games in the future. It now has separate tables for each game and cookies and redirects so pages can be duplicated without cross contaminating the games. Created a Spirit of Myth wiki there for my Scion game and started some of the templates. The plan is to only add places and faces as the game goes on and have the players create a lot of the info. All this is under the Tallahasseewerewolf.com domain. So far there are 2 wikis one for Ron's Dresden game and one for my Spirit of Myth game.

DVR

[10-Jun-2010] A couple of weeks ago the incoming tuner on my dvr went flaky. It records but what it records is unwatchable and has jerky sound. Ordered a new one. Didnt pay enough attention and didnt get the exact same kind, this one came without a IR input. Rebuilt the box to take out the wireless card and use both tuners, the old one for the IR only and the new one for the incoming video. Now to go through all the unwatchable stuff and get it rerecord.

No one will care
[07-May-2010] Fixed the KLTH weather graphs. They have been broken since I built the new weather server. The rrd create script was in Celsius on F and so it was tossing all the data. Fixed that and upped the wind speed to 200 so whenthe hurricane blow the weather station apart i get a reading just before it is destroyed.

Web page fixes
[29-Apr-2010] Updated the plants pages to better and easier keep track of harvested strawberries. Fixed the large plants entry. Cleaned it up also. Fixed the archive script on the main page.

Network Annoyances

[19-Mar-2010] My ancient Wap11 died sometime over night. Had to replace it to even get to the internet because of the way everything is set up. That was a pain as everything is wireless an relies on it. Replaced it with a new WAP54G. Over the last week Ive been through 3 blackberries. The track pad on the first stopped working. The second rebooted itself every hour or so. The third seems fine so far. Of course I was 3 days past the 30 days needed to replace it with one that would actually work with geocache navigator too.

Website changes
[17-Mar-2010] Finally turned off the php register globals. There may be a lot of pages that dont work. Fixed the display images script, the new log script (without geocaches) so far. Looking for others.

Script Update
[08-Mar-2010] Updated the log entry script to do geocaches correctly again. Have to manually enter coords but at least it converts and puts it in the database right which it hasnt down for years now.

Blackberry
[10-Feb-2010] Replaced the basic phone with a blackberry today. I cant stand being without email, gps, internet and everything else. Since it has a data plan pictures are forthcoming for older posts.

Monday ,Tuesday, Wednesday
[20-Jan-2010] Spent most of Monday finishing the install of Justins PC. Tuesday got a new dryer belt and replaced it (it broke Sunday but Marcone wasnt open Monday) trimmed the apple trees. Today I finished hauling the apple branches out to the street and started pruning the grapes. The ipod is dead again, its stuck in a restore loop, I finally want to use it in the yard and now cant.

Electrical and Technical
[17-Jan-2010] Found the bad connection and fixed the electrical sockets in the library and the light in the hallway. Installed the new weather PC (osse laptop will be rebuilt and renamed). Moved the software and monitoring over to it. The KTLH stuff doesnt work yet but its not really important.

Day 1 and 2

[13-Jan-2010] Day 1 Finished rebuilding the 50 gallon drum composter with 4x4 posts and a fence pole. Installed the proper radiant shield for the thermometer. Setup Internet camera (service will be intermittent till I get the power fixed in the library). Day 2 Watched Pine trees being removed. Tilled remaining vegetable beds. Planted peas. Set out onions. Moved about half the remaining gravel. Cooked Brisket.

Weather monitoring still not up

[11-Jan-2010] Instead of replacing the hard drive I decided to replace the whole machine. The laptop i was running the monitoring on is over 7 years old, has power issues (like it wont change unless shut off) and the fans are starting to make noise. Replacing it with a fanless small computer that should be here this week. If that goes well I may replace ulmo and lorien with the same setup to reduce the noise in the living room. Ordered a proper enclosure for the outdoor thermometer.

Weather monitoring down
[06-Jan-2010] The harddrive in Osse died. All the weather monitoring is down and will have to be rebuilt as soon as I get a new harddrive for it.

RSS Feed
[13-Oct-2009] Instituted an rss feed of the site for Melissa. see http://teuse.net/rss

Server functional again
[19-Aug-2009] The power supply in the server has been replaced with a new one.