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House News
September 04, 2003 16:19
UpdatesAfter messing with it for a while, I've decided not to have the sprinkler system here internet controlled. I'm not permitted to let people hammer it at will, instead I'll be required to let them only choose the next station that will be selected, and it only swaps every 2 minutes. In addition, it's almost impossible to see the sprinklers from any of the cams, and the site's too slow anyway. So I'm just not going to bother. The next move looks like it's going to happen as expected, so in less than a month, I'll have the whole site set up and operational in the new place, with many indoor and outdoor cams, the original allotment of lamps and a RC boat.
August 27, 2003 00:39
UpdateJust to update everyone that doesn't want to dig through months of news finding out what's been happening lately, here's a brief update. The owner of my old place decided to sell the house and made me a deal to get out quickly. After TechTV came by to do the interview, I packed up everything and prepared to move in with someone. At the last minute, that option didn't work out, so now I'm living with my parents. While I just LOVE living with my parents (grrrrrr), there are other problems. There is NO broadband available here. I'm forced to run the site off a 64kbps isdn line, which still costs a small fortune due to the fact that we're out in the sticks and there's nothing else available. So I've made plans to move again in a month somewhere where the bandwidth is plentiful, and I will be happy. At that point, the site will return to the glory that it was in the past, with lots of cams, lots of lamps, and more people to annoy. Inventory tracking will be more prevalant, and there's even a pool, giving an option for an RC boat cam. The RC car probably wont' be able to work there in its present condition, but I'm planning to build the quakebots anyway, so they'll hopefully be running around in a couple months.
August 24, 2003 13:48
UpdatesTechTV went great. There's a clip available here if you missed it or want to watch it again. The pathetically slow bandwidth I have is slowly returning to normal. There's a good chance I'll be moving again within the next 2 months, into a house that's remarkably similar to the last one I lived in. This means lots of time saved creating a new map. All I have to do is reverse it. The RC Car is currently dead. And I might just keep it dead. It won't work too well in the new place without some modifications, and if I am going to make those modifications, I might as well just build a new mobile platform. I've been planning on building the quakebots for quite some time anyways, this might be a good chance to do so. The new place will have a pool as well, so an internet controllable RC boat is a definite possibility. Speaking of boats, there's a good chance I might be able to get a realtime camera running on a US Coast Guard patrol boat on Lake Lewisville, so people can monitor it while out on patrol, and possibly even rotate the camera. Not likely going to be able to drive THAT boat though. The current place has a 14 stage sprinkler system. I'm working on the softare right now to control it. Since hammering this system is not advisable, instead you will be allowed to select which stage will be chosen next, and everyone can fight over that. Every two minutes, it will switch to the next chosen stage. The system runs for 12 hours, so it will be available to play with for pretty much all daylight hours.
August 22, 2003 13:18
6 more hoursFor those who haven't figured it out YET.... TechTV's Techlive show is going to air a prerecorded interview with me at 7 pm (CST) tonight. Approximately 3 seconds after they announce the URL the site will promptly die, but that's to be expected and hopefully it will be accessable 10-15 minutes later when the initial onslaught dies down. I was hoping to be in the new place with decent bandwidth by the time it aired, but such is life. I am planning to tape the show and post the relevant clip from the show as soon as I get a chance to encode it, probably a few hours after airtime. However, there are probably going to be thunderstorms in the area, and there's a chance it might knock out the dish signal and/or power. If anyone else is able to tape it and encode it, and would be willing to get this done shortly after the show airs, let me know. Even once I get it encoded, I will still have to send it to someone to mirror for me, and that will take time with my bandwidth gone. If someone else is able to do this, it would help a lot. Yes, I know I could host it offsite, but I haven't had a chance to explore that option, and I wasn't expecting it to air as soon as it has, so I'm out of time, and even if someone dropped one in my lap today, there's little I could do to make it work in time. The site is extremely dynamic and heavily dependant on local data for display. Moving the site off network will take me a long time, and I don't have it today.
August 20, 2003 16:19
Sprinkler PlansFirst off, for those who haven't noticed, TechTV will be airing a segment on this website on Friday, 8/22 at 7pm (CST). Check the shownotes for details. I'm currently planning a layout for the sprinkler system control. There's a 13 stage system here that runs for 9 hours a day. It's fed by a pumping system that pumps water straight out of the lake, so the supply is unlimited. Not all the stages will be controllable, as some of them need to run at certain times. The current plan is to display the status of the various stations and allow people to pick the next station. Then every two minutes, it will switch to whichever station was picked. I'll either set up a wait queue or just let people fight over it. I'll probably set up one or two lamps as well. Cams will observe the lamps, but as this isn't the best environment, I probably won't show too much of the actual house. More outdoor cams probably.
August 18, 2003 02:33
StuffWorking on the sprinkler system. It's slow. There probably won't be many lamps to control as long as I'm living here, although that's only likely to last until October. Cams will likely only point outside to monitor the sprinklers, with a single cam in here. In regards to the current crisis, it has been resolved permanantly. It's been fun, but nothing lasts forever. :(
August 15, 2003 15:54
More stuff workingI have one cam working. The rotor isn't working yet and it looks out a window so the lighting isn't great, but it's currently the best location for it until I can rearrange things a bit. I got the doorbell server up and running so the comments work, as well as the lamp links, although there aren't any lamps to control yet, so we'll work on that. There's a 13 stage sprinkler system here with an unlimited water supply, although I can't subject it to the same hammering effect that I did at the old place, so I will devise a scheduling system by which people can control it.Remember, I'm on a 64kbps isdn line right now, things WILL be slow. I don't want to hear complaints about it. There's nothing I can do and no broadband opportunities available here. In the near future, I'll attempt to offload some of the data to an offsite server, but for now, I'm stuck with this. As with the previous crisis, we're working it out. It's going to be a long slow painful process to be sure. I'll keep you updated.
August 13, 2003 09:35
Site WorksBarely. I'm currently on a 64kbps isdn line and I have no cams or appliances working yet. I will likely employ the use of an externally hosted server to take a load off the bandwidth here, but for now this will suffice. There will be changes over the next couple days, just be patient please.
August 03, 2003 00:16
UpdatesFirst, the TechTV interview. LOTS of fun. And I think they had more fun than they were expecting to. Some interesting tidbits: The camera cost $50000. The Tripod is $8000. Amy is camera shy. Yes, I realize she works in TV. Yes, I find this strange. The car WILL break at the most inconvienent moment. Like, right before TechTV shows up. Wireless mics are annoyingly painful. Saturns really do bounce. Hats are not an acceptable form of payment. There is a possibility that the inside of my refridgerator will be broadcast on national TV. I'm not really sure what to think of this. "Don't worry, it's not recording". Famous last words.
July 29, 2003 12:50
I'm MovingMy Landlord is planning to sell the house I live in and wants me out quickly. So in exchange for a break in the rent, I agreed to leave on or before the 8th of August. I've already made arrangements for a new place and there will be sufficient internet access there to run the site, so the site will continue, just get a makeover and be down perhaps for a couple days during the move. I intend to keep it running as long as possible here. Tearing down the network will be one of the last things I do. For now, make sure you're using the domain. It will follow me. The IP address range will not. More news as I have it.
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