18 November 2021

Vindriktning air quality sensor

I have a Home Assistant server setup so I thought I would make an wireless air quality sensor using Ikea's Vindriktning and an ESP that so it can be monitored. But I ordered a few ESP32-C3 which is at the moment bleeding edge tecnology and isn't compleatly implimented in ESPHome. So.. at the moment this project is on hold.

05 November 2021

Ikea Billy short bookcase

Okay so I have a wall with some bookcases on it and  clearly I need more shelves but I also want to keep the short bookcase in the middle as kind of a display area. Also I would love for them to all look the same.

The problem is, I do not have room for 3 bookcases without covering up a light switch. If I just had an extra 4 inches I could squeeze them all in. Now Ikea does sell a slimmer one but... (I often wonder what's the point, I mean I am sure it has its place but 15 inches is just not big enough.) Anyway I think it would just look odd.

So the plan is to make the short full width bookcase that Ikea sells a little skinnier. But after purchasing it I wonder why I didn't just buy a full size and only fill the bottom half with shelves. I would still have to make it skinnier but for the price and future movability it would have been the smarter move. Always second guessing things after it is done and cannot be returned! Or maybe It will just have to be version 2, oh well. Better luck next time 🤨? This is why I never get anything done!

But I digress, back to the plan! After measuring and then sitting on it for a day or two I measured again and realized I was off by almost 2 inches. Thankfully I had not made any cuts yet, but now I am mostly absolutely positive maybe that I need to take about 4 inches off the width of the bookcase. Maths is hard! Oh that made me remember the book I read Humble Pi, It's good and funny.

Yeah so... back to it... again. This is where I am currently with the project but I'll update this post and maybe add some pictures of the process once I'm done.

===== Update 6/??/2024 =====

So it's finnaly done! I finish the bookcase months ago but it has a wonkyness to it I'm sure one of my angles are off by a fraction of a degree causing it to skew just right jutting out one of the top corners by about a quarter to half an inch. I know not a big deal, but it is; it could be better. The second issue was the getting the shelves to fit right and drilling the holes for the Ikea shelf "pegs" on the shorter shelf planks. Which is what took so long, as I wanted to make sure they were square (eventhough the bookcase is awry) and I didn't have the equipment to do it and apparently I was having a difficult time asking a "friend" to use their table saw (I swear I don't have social issues). Anyway it's done, I wish I had done things differently, but I guess we can't know everything before we start a project.

03 November 2021

SDR HD Radio

This was saved as an unfinished daft from a few years ago... figured I would post it anyway.

I just spent a ton of hours getting nrsc5 installed on my macOS without using ports or brew. The question is was it worth it?

Dependencies
- git
- cmake
- autoconf
- libtool
  - help2man
  - xz
  - automake
- libao
- libfftw3
    ./configure --enable-threads && make -j8 && sudo make install
    ./configure --enable-float --enable-threads && make -j8 && sudo make install
- librtlsdr
  - libusb
  - pkg-config
      ./configure --with-internal-glib
  edit CMakeLists.txt
    cmake_policy(SET CMP0075 NEW)
    set(CMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH 1)


nrsc5
edit CMakeLists.txt
  -check_symbol_exists (_Imaginary_I complex.h HAVE_IMAGINARY_I)
  -check_symbol_exists (_Complex_I complex.h HAVE_COMPLEX_I)
  +check_symbol_exists (I complex.h HAVE_IMAGINARY_I)
  +check_symbol_exists (complex complex.h HAVE_COMPLEX_I)
sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/libtoolize /usr/local/bin/glibtoolize
cmake -DUSE_COLOR=ON ..
make -j8
sudo make install

and it works...

Would I do it again? Probably, but only now that I have this info on what I needed and what to change for it to work. Heck you could almost make a script out of it...

WHY

Soo… it's been awhile, and well right now things are tough. Simple things that most of the population seem to have no issues with tend to bog me down and imobilize me. Nothing gets done, nothing progresses, and it sucks! It's not like I don't want to do things I just don't want to do anything. For example I have a few projects that would be great if they were done, meaning that I would personally enjoy them being done, but every time I look at them I just feel overwhelmed and give up. I don't even try! And it feels pathetic, I feel like I'm pathetic and not worth anything. And I know that's the shame talking but it still takes it toll. It's buggy that what should modivate just overwhelms me and pushes me further down. Perfection is a hinderence and struggling doing a first draft, a failed run, just seems wrong. I know… well I understand that failure is one of the ways we learn but school taught me that failling is bad and I'm bad for doing it. WHY? Why does living have to be so hard? What's the point? Simple daily tasks like getting out of bed, finding food, or showering shouldn't be this difficult! And it is, it is…

13 March 2017

RPI Blank/Black Screen

While trying out the latest Raspbian with PIXEL on Raspberry Pi using the Window Manager I noticed that the screen would only go blank/black and never went into standby mode. Now I don't know if this has to do with my cabling setup but I am using an HDMI from the RPi with a converter to DVI into the monitor. After searching for a while I came across a few different suggestions. The following is what I feel is the simplest and most reliable mix of my findings.

The simplest and cleanest way to get the monitor in and out of standby is by using the commands below.

$ vcgencmd display_power 0
$ vcgencmd display_power 1

xscreensaver has a watch option for checking when it blanks, locks, or unblanks the screen.

#!/usr/bin/perl

my $blanked = 0;
open (IN, "xscreensaver-command -watch |");
while () {
    if (m/^(BLANK|LOCK)/) {
        if (!$blanked) {
            system "vcgencmd display_power 0";
            $blanked = 1;
        }
    } elsif (m/^UNBLANK/) {
        system "vcgencmd display_power 1";
        $blanked = 0;
    }
}

Now I'm sure there is a way to get this working at startup, but I'm not that skilled, and as this was just to tryout and temporarily play with that's as far as bothered with.

Enjoy!

wpa_supplicant.conf

Reference info for wpa_supplicant.conf:

I got tired of looking through pages of documents to find the information I mostly use for setting up wpa_supplicant.conf on my Raspberry Pi devices. So, I'm putting it here.

If you are looking for a way to setup DHCP or Static settings for your networks follow the example under ### Other Options ###.

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1

#
# home network; allow all valid ciphers
network={
    ssid="home"
    scan_ssid=1
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
    psk="very secret passphrase"
    priority=5
}

# This will connect to any open wifi connection
# if no other connection is available.
network={
    key_mgmt=NONE
    priority=-1
}

### Other Options ###
network={
    ssid="SCHOOLS NETWORK NAME"
    psk="SCHOOLS PASSWORD"
    id_str="school"
}

network={
    ssid="HOME NETWORK NAME"
    psk="HOME PASSWORD"
    id_str="home"
}

The following is part of the ### Other Options ### setup. Edit /etc/network/interfaces with iface school inet static and iface home inet dhcp in it so it looks something like this:

auto lo

iface lo inet loopback
iface eth0 inet dhcp

allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet manual
wpa-roam /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

iface school inet static
address 192.0.2.7
gateway 192.0.2.254
netmask 255.255.255.0

iface home inet dhcp

06 February 2016

Sep165

This was a hard week. I'm not sure when it started to go down hill but I know by Wednesday evening I was out of it mentally and physically. I know I wasn't sleeping well and I guess the added stress of the divorce paperwork put me over the edge. I had lost all vitality and mentally I became easily distract.. Squirrel! Hm? Oh right, Anyway if you're wondering what it's like to deal with depression there is a TED talk which describes it well.


So, what got me out of the funk you ask? Well Wednesday night I prayed, something I had gotten out of the habit of doing. I basically said that I'm really struggling and asked for a lifeline –someone to talk to because I didn't know who to contact (I blame this on the mental mush, I've had a number of friends tell me I can call and chat any time)– and I guess I also wanted someway to know that God was really listening.

31 January 2016

Sep159

I know it's been some time since I posted last, but not much has really happened. I feel like all I've done is run and recover and I mean that literally. Back in November I was enticed by a friend to run a marathon. This is something I've wanted to do for some time now and with everything going on I needed a change and a goal, so I signed up. Now this isn't my first sporting event I've signed up for but it's been years since feeling like I could even attempt something of this magnitude and even then I wasn't sure I could do it.

This month I've run for 10 hours and 55 minutes completing 63.7 miles and burning almost 8,000 calories. The marathon takes place at the end of May in Utah. At this rate I should be able to finish without much trouble, but right now it feels like a constant battle and a lot of recovery. Just yesterday I ran 12 miles and tomorrow I'll probably run about 6 miles. I never thought I would say this but a 1 mile run is a piece of cake, two miles isn't really even that bad. Crazy right! I guess with all things in perspective 1 mile compared to 26.2 miles really isn't a lot.

17 January 2016

Sep145

It's been a couple of busy weeks. Although I'm realizing I can't remember half of what happened off the top of my head. I may have to start doing this once a week, maybe even every few days. But I think for now it will be a weekly update; and as this process of journaling becomes more accustomed –causing either the posts to be longer or written faster– I will look into updating more often.

Well since today is the freshest in my mind I'll start there. Hmmm.. on second thought I suppose it's better to start with what lead up to today's events. So I'll be starting with what happened this last week.

03 January 2016

Sep131

The past year has been... well, let's say the events in my life have changed things drastically. And today I stand looking at a closed door, struggling to find hope and encouragement; contemplating what I'm doing and why I should bother pushing forward. Alexander Graham Bell once said, “When one door closes another door opens, but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” and he's right. I've had doors close before and it was challenging. Sometimes I've even seen the new ones open, but this, this is different. Maybe it's not, maybe I just want it to be; but, for arguments sake, right now, as I'm writing this, it's different.

I'm sure by now you're thinking, "Enough with the thoughts and emotions, what happened?" Well, the reason I'm telling this is to get those emotions and thoughts out of my head; call it therapy. If you don't like it you don't have to read it. But, just to warn you from this point forward the blog will be about me blabbing about my life.

08 March 2013

TFTP Server in Snow Leopard

I have an old WRTP54G from Vonage and wanted to unlock it so I can setup my own VoIP with Asterisk. But in order to do that the instructions indicated I needed to have a tftp server setup using windows and that just looked like a lot of setup/work. So I looked at how to do it on a Mac and this is what I found.

You can start and stop tftp using the following commands

sudo launchctl load -F /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/tftp.plist

sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/tftp.plist

tftp files are stored in /private/tftpboot


Now That was Easy!

I did however still need a windows vbox to run cyt35.exe and I don't have the code or know what it does so I couldn't hack it from the mac. Maybe I'll dig into it some day.


TFTP [source]
WRTP54G Unlock [soruce]

11 January 2013

Raspberry Pi

A number of moths ago I purchases a Raspberry Pi. It is basically a computer smaller than a 3x5 card with a price around $35. You can find out more about it and the number of amazing things they are capable of at raspberrypi.org.

I may have to get a few more...

As for the ONE that I do own I've followed a few steps and set it up with XBMC (which is a nice little media center). You can read how to do it at raspbmc.com.

01 December 2010

Terminal and PATH

After installing the latest MySQL for education/testing to my Mac I noticed I still needed to add the mysql/bin directory to my $PATH. I thought okay this should be simple to do right? But, following a mind numbing searching through a bunch of .shell_name_profile_info files in my home directory I became frustrated. So where is the correct place to store a new path for just installed software (assuming it didn't do it for me?)

The final answer should be simple right? Well, (and I'm lying here) it depends, who do you want to have easy access to the new path? For instance if you use su - and you add the path to just your stuff your out of luck when root or any other user is trying to get things started.


Info for Mac OS X 10.6:
I like TextMate but vi is free and included. (info on using vi)

Strictly You PATH:(or the person you are logged in as)
vi ~/.profile
edit or add if it's not already there
export PATH="/path/you/want/to/add:$PATH"
and save the file.

All User PATH:
go to
cd /etc/paths.d
make a new file
sudo vi mysql(SoftwareName)
enter your new path
/usr/local/mysql/bin
and save the new file

And because I'm still somewhat new to this if anyone has info on the proper place to setup PATH just for root please let me know and I'll add it in. Thanks.

21 November 2010

Seperation of Tech and Food!

I have decided to split my blog into two. I have realized that this blog lacks a clear focus. Therefore, Gray Thought will become home to all my tech hacks and computer support. If you have any computer problems you'd like hacked or discussed, I'd love you to provide me a challenge! Just leave a comment on one of my existing posts and I will research accordingly.

As for my food posts, I will move that to Pepper's Cheesecakes. You will find most of my food posts have already moved to the new blog. I am hoping to update it with a current list of available cheesecakes, their sizes and prices for those of you who may want to share one with family and friends. Also check frequently for my other adventures in the food world. I never thought I'd be a baker, but it turns out I love to bake! I am sure this love will lead to destinations yet to be determined.



15 August 2010

Apple's Dictionary/Wikipedia Bug!

Update: Apple fixes Dictionary in 10.6.5, released today(10 Nov. 2010)!
Here is the File they changed:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/DictionaryServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Wikipedia.wikipediadictionary/Contents/Info.plist

And What they changed in the Info.plist file:
<key>WikipediaDataURL</key>
<string>http://%@.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%@&amp;useskin=monobook</string>
<key>WikipediaDataVariantURL</key>
<string>http://%@.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%@&amp;variant=%@&amp;useskin=monobook</string>

I guess they liked my fix so much they decided to use it! And why couldn't they update this earlier?
====== End Update ======

Okay, I was about to post something completely different, but as I went to look up some information in Wikipedia (via Apple's Dictionary app) I ran into a snag. I could no longer scroll beyond the bottom of the window. (Ok you Mac users give it a try.)  I use Spotlight (command-space) then type in a word like "tree," select Definition and it brings up the Dictionary app. Now click on Wikipedia and you have some good info on trees except like I said you can't scroll any further down.

So, Why did this happen? Well, it's rather simple Wikipedia wanted to enhance/update their user interface. You can read about the changes here. No fault there, they have every right to innovate and improve. So now it's up to Apple to fix. "Well, what are they waiting for," you ask? That's a good question considering Wikipedia has been testing these changes since November 2009 and I'm sure Apple has known about it.

Alas, I guess it's up to the hackers and tech geeks to fix until the big companies decide it's important enough for them to do.

Here's the info and education on the fix:

Wikipedia default skin(look) was Monobook, their new one is Vector. If we modify the Dictionary's Wikipedia search string we can force it to use the old skin by adding useskin=monobook. (You can read more fun stuff to do with the search string @ MediaWiki.)

The file to change is deep in the system frameworks so be careful not to edit anything else or it could break something.

Warning: Edit the file at your own risk, I am not responsible if you break something!

The file: (starting from the root directory)
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/DictionaryServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Wikipedia.wikipediadictionary/Contents/Info.plist

What to change:
<key>WikipediaDataURL</key>
<string>http://%@.wikipedia.org/wiki/%@</string>

To:
<key>WikipediaDataURL</key>
<string>http://%@.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%@&amp;useskin=monobook</string>

The file (Info.plist) and the folder it's in (Contents) have read only privilege's, so if you really want to make the change and you don't know how you will have to look up file/folder permissions and how to change them on a mac. Good Luck!

Note (16 Oct. 2010):  I mentioned this in a comment below. If you decided to test out the URL in your browser you will get an error when using &amp; However Dictionary.app WILL crash if you only use &! 

19 May 2010

Doorbell Chime

Back in May of 2009 we decided to repaint our living room. In the process I removed the doorbell cover and chime. No big loss, I didn't really miss it (in fact we kind of regret having a doorbell at times now), but it did leave some wire's hanging out of the wall. I finally decided we needed to do something about the wires. Sure I could just reinstall the old one; everything worked, but I've never liked the whole look of a plastic box sticking out of the wall (If something goes on a wall it should be decorative or functional.) While, the doorbell cover is marginally functional (it covers the ugly chime,) it doesn't do anything but sit there and detract from the rest of the decor in the room. On the other hand a thermostat while it can be ugly it displays the temperature and allows me to control my environment (functional.) It was decided that our new doorbell chime should be decorative as well as functional.

The process of finding anything decorative my wife and I agree on is a lengthy and often stressful one. But along and alas we finally picked a new chime, the Craftmade Hand Carved Scroll Design Chime in Matte Black - (CH1515-BK.). After it arrived and we opened it up to take a look. It has real glass with an Tea stained/frost to it and the whole thing is very solid. After holding it up in place we decided it would look really awesome if it had a light in it, (considering it looks like an old time lantern.) I said, "Sure I can do that."

02 April 2010

HDTV

So the other day I was looking at some of the new HDTV's and came across all this hype about needing an HD antenna for free over-the-air broadcast. I thought to myself okay that's cool, but it just wasn't settling right. Later that day it hit me. You don't need a new antenna! The frequencies for UHF/VHF haven't changed, the only thing that has changed is how the information is sent on those frequencies and the bandwidth that is taken up by each station.

So to clear up the confusion here are a few links to info and such about antennas for digital TV:


Can I Use My UHF/VHF Antenna to Receive DTV?

Introduction to Over-The-Air Antennas

Digital Television (DTV)

12 March 2010

Teach the USA to cook.

After watching the video I went and looked at my son's milk that he gets from school (yes same as the ones in the store.) In 8 oz. of "1% Chocolate Lowfat Milk" there are 24 grams of sugars. Ounce per ounce, about the same as in a can of soda! And we think this is helping our kids?

But, he also doesn't drink it everyday and I know how to cook and make him a healthy dinner. Can you?

11 January 2010

To blog or not to blog...(or Ramblings of a Techie gone Foodie...)

When I created this I was sure It would be easy to come up with something to write about once a week let alone once a month. I envisioned writing about projects, ideas, concepts, hacks, and whatnot. I haven't done much of that, and it's been forever since my last post. Lately I haven't done much with technology aside from the day to day use.

No, my current focus appears to be cooking and food. New foods to explore or recipes to try. I can't be sure if this is permanent or merely due to the holidays and all that has been consumed in the past three months, but this blog has surely seen the deficit. To such an extent that I'm very intrigued with starting one for food and recipes and ending this one. But the question becomes once I start that one will it really be any different than this one? Fallen by the wayside, waiting for something ingenious to happen!

I guess only time will tell... meanwhile (and since it doesn't cost anything) I will probably start something about food and see where that takes me. If anything I will have a place for both of my passions.

If you are however reading this please do comment or email me. Maybe something may spark my interest and continue this endeavor.

14 July 2009

The best dang drink in the whole world!!!

Okay, well this all started a number of years ago during a trip to San Luis Obispo, CA. Now this being a collage town there is usually one street that is packed with stores. And not just your regular shops, I mean everything and anything you could think of. Most of them not more than 500 square feet.

Back then I had a taste for really spicy things. So when I saw anything touting spicy and/or hot it was purely natural to go into the shop. It was in one of these specialty shops (that I can't remember the name of now) that I found it. I had tried the salsa, peanuts, and other things. Now it was time to wet my whistle. So I went to the small drink chiller and that's when I saw it, ginger ale. I thought, "great I loved Canada Dry Ginger Ale", this should be good. But, it came with a warning. This wasn't your typical soda, the fizz doesn't come from the carbonation. It's more of a bite your tongue and kick you to the ground fizz, and it's from the ginger.