Ξ November 11th, 2008 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Geek |
I’ve had to do a couple of updates this weekend and tonight:
- Performance on Alexandria dropped with the addition of the external hard drives to add storage. I’ve removed the drives for the time being.
- I will have to source additional memory from another system (more than likely either shockwave or tsunami Mk. 1) to add to Alexandria. With the installation of Sharepoint, I believe that system resources are being taxed too much. I’ll do some more tests later this week.
- I have also begun uploading/organizing the image collection on Alexandria’s Sharepoint. Once I have enough of a starting point, I will be opening a Beta Test to a handful of outside users.
- One major accomplishment: Alexandria can now stream Blu-Ray movies (really they’re .mkv files)directly to the TiVo, without the need of a Blu-Ray player. W00t!!!
- Hurricane, the newest addition has been birthed. She will be tasked as a PC that will be fitted into Ronan (Amante’s Saturn VUE).
I’ve also created a new Amazon Wish List for my current Geek Projects. Christmas is coming up.
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Ξ November 7th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Geek |
So… what do you do when you suddenly find yourself with a lot of time on your hands?
Well, you catch up on the geek projects waiting for you at home.
Here’s what I’ve got done so far:
Alexandria:
- Alexandria is back online from Myrtle Beach, and is in its home. It’s connected to the outside Internet and is accessible to registered users.
- I’ve also got Sharepoint services up and running on Alexandria. This will be used to provide the front end for the registered users when they connect.
- I’ve also increased the total capacity of Alexandria to 1.37Tb
The Den / Twister:
- Twister has been resurrected and has been re-purposed as a computer for the Den. (I’m sure that Amante will talk about what we did in the Den in her blog)
- I’ve taken the monitor that was originally running the previous computer setup and it is now acting as a monitor for Twister, and a HDTV display for the Den.
- In the future, the cable box will be replaced with a TiVo. This will give us a total simultaneous recording ability of 4 channels. Estimated HD recording capacity of 20 hours (180 hours in standard).
Amante / Blizzard:
- Installed connector to Alexandria for Blizzard. Created user account for Amante.
- No major upgrades planned for Blizzard.
Amante / Tsunami:
- Moved all data to Alexandria and began preparations to rebirth Tsunami for a future role.
Me / Shockwave:
- Prepare to move all data to Alexandria. Plans to rebirth Shockwave as possible weather station / house surveilance & automation station.
Master Bedroom:
- Replaced cable box with HDTV box. Plans will include a TiVo for this room in order to use the Multi-Room Viewing.
Kitchen 2.0 / Typhoid:
- Typhoid is ready with a dual display and will be placed at the island when the cabinets come online (which is currently obviously on hold)
- I have begun the framework for a kitchen database, and have acquired a UPC database which has millions of products to source from. The initial design will track groceries and costs.
Family Room:
- This has been the biggest bit of work in the house. We have replaced the television with the one that I had up in Myrtle Beach, and installed the TiVo and extended storage.
- I’ve hooked up the X-Box Gen. 1 to the television.
- In order to properly configure the TiVo, X-Box and Television, I will need to bring a network drop to it, which means crawling in the roof amongst the insulation to pull the cable. I did some preliminary work this afternoon, and should have that roughed in tomorrow.
- The cable company comes tomorrow to give me the Cable CARD. After that, we can return to the Family Room.
Ξ August 3rd, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Geek |
Grrrr… so I still can’t figure out how to embed videos into my blog, but until then:
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v7310191nhWQFT9R
So for those just tuning in, I’ve been reading Gibson’s “Pattern Recognition”, (I finished it last night) and I must say, that it’s an excellent read, and if I were to ever do a crappy movie on the Sci-Fi channel, this would be the one that I do.
Anyway, without getting too much into the story, shortly after 9/11 there is this mysterous footage that is released on the Internet, and an entire subculture is built around it. The footages is what drives the characters in the book.
Because I am just that geeky, and can’t leave things alone; I scoured the Internet, and lo and behold, around 3:24am this morning I find this bit of the “footage”.
Cool.
It makes something imaginary, real, but still in effect imaginary.
I like it when the line between reality and imagination is blurred. Perhaps it’s a metaphor for my own life.
Ξ July 22nd, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Geek |
I received the new chassis from HP to fix Alexandria today, and made a trip back to the condo for lunch. Within a few minutes, I had the drives swapped and I was in business. Alexandria stays powered up now which is good, and I began the process of recreating the factory defaults for the little server which can take up to an hour. So when I return tonight, Alexandria should be all ready (and still powered on). Saturday geeking can pick back up.
The first thought was ‘This reminds me of San Jose’. Although the beer to soda mix is a little too light for me 
and the only reason why there is water is only because it *does* get hot out and I need to keep the ducks hydrated. I have found that doing this about every two or three weeks has increased department loyalty exponentially in comparison to other endeavors I’ve participated in. Which leads me into my thoughts of leading vs. managing, especially when it comes to geeks in general, but can aptly be applied to any type of technical thought process job.
Taking for example work here, there are many managers; not so many that the workplace is a bureaucracy like my previous job, but enough in place to theoretically managed the entire work staff. Of the two dozen VPs, Sr. Directors and upper level management in the organization it appears to me that there are few leaders - people who are running their departments while understanding that they are responsible for people’s lives and act accordingly. This isn’t to say that the entire company should be staffed with leaders, as there are plenty of departments that need to just be staffed solely with worker bees. However, there are some key positions in this company that are critical to be only leadership positions. Let us worry about how to row the boat, we just need someone to read a map, chart a course, and have the gravitas to point out into the starless night and say “Go that way”.
Sadly, what we have is too many people who think that they should be in that role when they really shouldn’t be, and the people who should be, sans gravitas. All of this frankly, pisses me off; so I decided early on that I would manage my people by leading them. I’m lucky in that my entire staff is rather young so they are easily malleable, and can learn (not just technically, but also socially, and emotionally) new things more so than someone who has been in the same position for even just, say, five years.
I’ve taken a lot of lessons from the book “Leading Geeks” by Paul Glenn. In it, he makes the case on how to properly manage today’s geeks. The good thing was that as I was reading it for the first time, many of my core beliefs were validated. So at least I could be assure that I was somewhat correct in what I was doing, and how I was executing it. I’ve looked at my team more as a family than a confederation of independents. I’ve based decisions from that viewpoint and it’s rubbed off on the ducks. Mohawk duck and Angry Black duck were quickly put into position where they directly reported to Raider duck and they were responsible for keeping the rest of the ducks in line. Mohawk and Angry Black duck both took on the role and quickly transformed into ducks that not only took pride in their jobs, but made sure that the rest of the ducks took pride in their job.
Throughout it all, the team bond is strengthened and the ducks look to themselves as family first, and individuals second.
For me, I hope that this is a lesson that they take with them for the rest of their lives.
Ξ July 19th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Geek |
It’s Saturday so, I started on the newest member of the Network; Alexandria (as in the Library of). As mentioned previously, this is the Windows Home Server and I was looking forward to playing with it today. As you can see from the picture, it’s quite small, compact and surprisingly quiet.
I got it started up, and started to get it configured when all of a sudden it just powered off for no reason. After a few more attempts at it and I knew something was up, so I finally gave up and decided to call back to the Mothership to see what they recommended.
I do have to say, that the mechanisims for tech support have gotten exponentionally better, especially that of HP. I was on hold for maybe a total of two minutes during my entire call, and throughout the process, I spoke with a Canadian (the o’s gave it away) instead of the percieved stereotypical “foreign tech support person”. Within a few minutes, we were able to diagnose the problem as a bad chasis. They are sending out a replacement and I should have it by mid week.
Ξ July 17th, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Geek |
I’m not even finished the first phase of this project, and I’ve started charting a course for the next milestone:
HAI Introduces WL3 for Windows® Home Server; a Cool New Way to Access and Control All of Your Home Functions
New Orleans, LA - HAI (Home Automation, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of integrated automation and security products since 1985, has announced a new software product called WL3 for Windows® Home Server. WL3 is an Add-in for a Windows Home Server that allows you to monitor and control your HAI Home Control System from any device with a web browser, including the newly announced iPhone™ 2.0, iPod Touch™, BlackBerry™, Smartphone, computer, PDA, etc.
WL3 allows you to change your home’s temperatures, adjust the lights or security settings, or view any supported camera securely and easily. WL3 automatically configures supported UPnP IP cameras on your home network and allows you to manually configure other IP cameras on your network or cameras that reside anywhere on the Internet. It also allows you to view and record video from cameras in your home or from public IP cameras around town, such as traffic and weather cameras. Regardless of the brand of camera, the video is displayed in the WL3 format so that all camera feeds have a consistent look and feel. Easily select any camera, choose the frame rate and screen size, manually start and stop video recording, take a snapshot of the video image, and play, pause, or stop the video stream.
The site is here. I can easily see us hooking up the thermostat to the WHS, and then putting a webcam in front of the front door and the driveway as a security system…. and I can have it go to an iPhone?!?!?!?!
Maybe this iPhone isn’t as bad as I want it to be. Grrrr….
Ξ July 16th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Geek |
I managed to get a really good deal on a Windows Home Server for my Geek Project from my Behind the Green Door contact this week, and it is due to arrive tomorrow. Sweet!!!
Saturday geeking will be busy this weekend.
I was the first one to get the new iPhone at work, and while I think it’s “functional”, by no means am I in love with it, or think that its the best thing since putting babies on spikes. Anyway, King Henry is flying from the Empire to New Amsterdam tonight, and wants his iPhone too. So, after a good 30 minutes, his is all configured and ready to go; now packaged for overnight delivery. He should get it soon after he lands.
The one good thing out of all of this, is that I’ll be able to get rid of all of our blackberries. That makes me happy, and makes the rest of the little ducks happy as well.
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