Spotted this one one of my security cameras! Caught it out of the corner of my on screen and it frightened the life out of me! Click for bigger image.
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Yesterday the community VoIP service at VoIPuser.org went live. I’ve been lucky enough to be one of the beta testers for this over the last few months and it works brilliantly. Basically the revenue generated by the use of the Inbound PSTN to VoIP numbers is pooled in to a central community “pot” which can be used by members to make free outbound PSTN calls via a SIP phone. Calls can be made to any number that can be routed to for under 2.5p/min which covers most landlines in the world. More info here. Xbox Media Center went Gold on June 29th, Version 1.0.0 should be available from all the usual places. Like XMBP before it, XBMC has continually exceeded expectations and is THE killer app for the Xbox in my opinion. Even as someone who doesn’t play computer/console games much if at all I don’t regret buying the Xbox in the slightest and would still do so today. Online UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) interface. There is something wrong with the graphs page when you click on UPS1 though… the values are bollocks and change each time you load the page although if you hover your mouse over each column the tool tip shows the correct value… strange! I feel a graph of input/output voltage coming on next… want to see how often the power is dropping. Also finally did something with my barcode reader and made up a database for keeping an inventory of things, don’t know what yet though, automated shopping list or something like that I think. Definately need to get the outside temperature sensor moved so it doesn’t get direct sunlight. I know it’s warm today but I don’t think it reached 100F!! Added another lamp module to the home automation system for the book shelf lights in the lounge today. I also modified a KR19 RF keyfob to operate as an X10 wireless door bell by locating two traces on the pcb that operated button two ‘on’ and soldering the two wires from the door bell push button to these traces, hey presto: wireless X10 door bell. When someone presses the door bell misterhouse announces through the speakers that there is someone at the door and logs it to a file. If I am out then it also sends a sms text message to my mobile phone. Huge grins for very little work!
For a while now the Xbox Media Player team have been working on a complete rewrite of XBMP which is intended to replace XBMP in the long term. It is called Xbox Media Center and is now very functional and is, I think ready to replace XBMP for my own use. The web interface is a nice addition as is the ability to remap the remote control or game controller keys. I’ve made a few more additions to the home automation system this week, some additional X10 modules, another RF light switch and another motion detector along with some iButton 1-wire temperature sensors. Misterhouse now logs the temperature every 5 minutes, updates a graph every half hour and can turn the fan in the computer area on or off depending on the temperature. I’m all set for controlling the central heating boiler now. I also bought a TV Messenger recently which overlays Caller ID information over a TV picture, it also allows you to assign a name to each number so you know who it is when it pops up on your screen. Very handy. I’ve also been doing a bit of playing around with Asterisk, the open source VOIP PBX which has great potential in my HA system. A few weeks ago I picked up a nice kiosk PC off ebay which is a celeron 433Mhz with 256Mb ram and a built in 12″ LCD Touchscreen, makes for a perfect home automation controller. Ideally it wants it’s own case building but for now it looks quite cyberpunk on just sitting on the coffee table! There is a rather poor picture on the home automation page but I’ll get some better ones up soon. For a while now the Xbox Media Player Hi! Yes, I’m still here and yes, I have been slacking in the web update department recently! Not that there has been much happening, it’s all been work, work, work! Dixons & Currys had TiVo PVR boxes on sale last week for £99 including delivery which was too good a deal to miss. It took six days before they despatched it and another three days to arrive (Securicor are absolutely useless) but finally by Thursday evening I had it. I’m really impressed and even though I was aware of all its features before I had never realised quite how well it all actually comes together, well worth the normal asking price of £229 let alone £99. Best bit of kit I’ve bought in ages. Tivo Web looks like it would be very handy too. Also added an SGI Indigo2 (R10000 Solid Impact) to the computer collection. It’s got Irix 6.2 on it at the moment but I’ve not really had a chance to play around with it much yet due to watching too much tivo! The home automation is coming on well with just one problem, the appliance module I am using to power the audio amplifier on and off seems to have died. It’s just stuck in the on position so it looks like I’ll be sending that back tomorrow. This guy here has an unusual take on home automation, he wants you to drive him insane by flicking his lights on and off and by watering his garden amongst other things! |
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