Nothing more to say really. I just wanted something that had a little more polish and looked very unobtrusive when stowed away.
8/22/2011
Musicbox V2
This is simply a revamp of my previous wireless jukebox setup posted here http://wolfebaine.blogspot.com/2010/06/project-musicbox-portable-hidden-and.html
Nothing more to say really. I just wanted something that had a little more polish and looked very unobtrusive when stowed away.
Nothing more to say really. I just wanted something that had a little more polish and looked very unobtrusive when stowed away.
7/14/2011
(UNDER CONSTRUCTION) BlueBell - The household audible alert system
What is BlueBell?
BlueBell is the evolution of one of the last, untapped pieces of technology in your household; the doorbell. Your doorbell is probably the only audible alert system heard throughout your entire house yet it is limited to a single sound and triggered by one physical button. BlueBell seeks to improve upon this antiquated technology by transforming your doorbell into an household audible informational system that requires as little physical intervention as possible. BlueBell takes the traditional doorbell to it's logical extremes by incorporating wifi, bluetooth, and audio to bring you, the homeowner, a limitless notification system.
(in these examples, John and Marsha are the home owners and Eric and Trent are the guests)
- Bluetooth Doorbell
- Personalized Indoor Notification System
- The system will announce a guest by name before they even arrive at the door
- UNDER DEVELOPEMENT: The system will also notify the homeowner via SMS at the same time
- Example: "
Eric and Trent have arrived" - Personalized Outdoor Greeting System
- The system will greet a known guest by name and alert them as to whether whether or not one more more of the homeowners are currently present
- UNDER DEVELOPEMENT: The system will also notify the homeowner via SMS at the same time
- Example 1: "Welcome Eric and Trent. John and Marsha are home and will be with you shortly"
- Example 2: "Welcome Eric. No one is currently home but they have been alerted to your presence
" - Generally Interactive Realtime Vocal Information System (GIRVIS) (ha! can't sue me now!!)
- The Arrival System
- A personalized audible reading of live internet-based information designed to operate when you return to your house
- Example: "Welcome home, John. The current temperature is 88 degrees and mostly cloudly. The forecast for tonight is clear. You have 8 unread emails and 9 facebook notifications. Here are the tops stories in the news...."
- UNDER DEVELOPMENT: The Departure System
- A personalized audible reading of live internet-based information designed to operate as you leave your house
- Example: "Marsha today you have a doctor's appointment at 11:30. Don't forget to pick up your drycleaning before 9pm. There is currently and accident on I-81 northbound at mile marker 100. Today's forecast calls for an 80% chance of rain."
- Remote Controlled Wireless Music System (via MPD)
- Wireless Jukebox
- By utilizing the thousands of MPD clients available (from web browsers to iphone and android apps) your doorbell becomes a household jukebox system that be controlled by any person on your wireless network.
- COMING SOON!! Bluetooth Party Mode
- A dynamically shifting music playlist based on the presence of known individuals. The program will detect who is present at a party and automatically shift the genres of music according to user-defined likes and dislikes. The system will also work in tandem with The Personalized Indoor Notification System to pause a live playlist, announce the arriving party instantly start playing their user-defined 'theme song'.
- COMING SOON Wireless web-accessible CCTV system (via usb webcam)
BlueBell operates by utilizing one of the most commonplace of all wireless protocols; Bluetooth. Bluetooth exists on over 90% of all cell phones and since Bluetooth is designed to work over relatively short distances (30 feet or so) and each bluetooth radio has a unique identifier (it's MAC address) it makes it an ideal candidate for proximity detection.
These unique identifiers are then compared to a list of known people, a 'Rolodex' of MAC addresses if you will, and executes a certain task based on who has arrived and when. The output or 'notification' can take form of a spoken voice, and sent text message, playing of a song, or hundreds of other programmable actions. Basically, if it can be plugged into a wall, then your presence will be able to activate it!
By combining this bluetooth proximity detection with internet access (via wifi) and audio (via text to speech engine or mp3 library), you have real-time access to a world of information that can be delivered to you simply by walking into your house.
How can I get BlueBell in my house?
Bluebell is currently in the development stages and not yet available for distribution. Our goal is to integrate a low-power platform using a lightweight application structure that is both modular and scaleable. We currently have a prototype in operation, but are looking to gauge public interest in this project before moving forward with an alpha release.
By combining this bluetooth proximity detection with internet access (via wifi) and audio (via text to speech engine or mp3 library), you have real-time access to a world of information that can be delivered to you simply by walking into your house.
How can I get BlueBell in my house?
Bluebell is currently in the development stages and not yet available for distribution. Our goal is to integrate a low-power platform using a lightweight application structure that is both modular and scaleable. We currently have a prototype in operation, but are looking to gauge public interest in this project before moving forward with an alpha release.
Until that time, please enjoy this brief video highlighting some of the features BlueBell is currently capable of and the current platform we have chosen to use for the prototype.
[COMING SOON]
2/21/2011
Kitchen PC - Part II
The first bout with a usable kitchen PC consisted of mounting an old Armada E500 laptop within a picture frame. It's primary purpose was to act as a digital photo frame, but I also tried to squeeze some music, video, and dashboard capability out of it. Needless to say, the 800mhz processor and 256mb ram had some difficulties accomplishing this task in a pretty, user-friendly desktop style.
So I did what any good repurposer does. Buy my wife a new laptop and appropriate her old one. The Acer Aspire ____ had more than enough power to handle Ubuntu 10's netbook frontend and all the streaming video I could throw at it in an ascetically pleasing format. The entire setup is mouse controlled only. It still has the slideshow screensaver set to show pictures and I'm using IGoogle as an informational dashboard.
This time, though, instead of trying to mount this in a picture frame, I wanted the system where all the cooking action is (so you can browse through recipe sites, or just watch a movie while cooking). So I decided to try and under cabinet mount. This proved to be MUCH easier than an expected.
Step 1 - Flip the resolution vertically on Ubuntu
Step 2 - Mount the laptop under the cabinet using some aluminum ducting tape
Step 3 - Plug in wireless mouse
Step 4 - DONE
So I did what any good repurposer does. Buy my wife a new laptop and appropriate her old one. The Acer Aspire ____ had more than enough power to handle Ubuntu 10's netbook frontend and all the streaming video I could throw at it in an ascetically pleasing format. The entire setup is mouse controlled only. It still has the slideshow screensaver set to show pictures and I'm using IGoogle as an informational dashboard.
This time, though, instead of trying to mount this in a picture frame, I wanted the system where all the cooking action is (so you can browse through recipe sites, or just watch a movie while cooking). So I decided to try and under cabinet mount. This proved to be MUCH easier than an expected.
Step 1 - Flip the resolution vertically on Ubuntu
Step 2 - Mount the laptop under the cabinet using some aluminum ducting tape
Step 3 - Plug in wireless mouse
Step 4 - DONE
1/13/2011
Project Vixen
Not so much a how-to, just a record of this year's holiday accomplishment.
Here is our xmas lightshow. Created via an 8 channel parallel port controller driven by Vixen software.
More after the break:
Here is our xmas lightshow. Created via an 8 channel parallel port controller driven by Vixen software.
More after the break:
11/03/2010
Google Street View + Treadmill (made easy)
Premise
I've seen quite a few posts lately around hooking Google Street View up to exercise equipment of some sort. Most tend to use sensors to detect a passing rotation. I love the idea, but not enough to spend the time or money necessary to make it a reality. So I improvised.
What you need:
(more after the break)
I've seen quite a few posts lately around hooking Google Street View up to exercise equipment of some sort. Most tend to use sensors to detect a passing rotation. I love the idea, but not enough to spend the time or money necessary to make it a reality. So I improvised.
What you need:
- Treadmill
- TV, projector, or mounted display (maybe next time)
- a Stealth Switch (actually, any momentary button would work....middle button on a mouse for instance)
- a long usb cable (probably)
- Autohotkey
- Google Street View
(more after the break)
10/10/2010
Project DeepThought ($320 CarPC)
Backstory -
Five years ago I had a 2003 Chevy Cavalier, and I was bound and determined to stuff a PC in it. The first incarnation was beautiful in function, not in form. I had a 7" in-dash motorized touchscreen LCD (that didn't quite fit in the console) and a Compaq E-42 mini PC (now being used in Project Musicbox) stuffed in the glove compartment (the door didn't shut, so the door had to go). It worked beautifully, but eventually the LCD went out and the PC was never nearly powerful enough to do what I wanted it to. It was around that time that we got a new car, and after the damage I did to the cavalier it took quite a bit of convincing for the wife to let me do it again. The rules for the 2nd installation were simple:
1) Has to look like it belongs in the car.
2) Has to be quickly removable
3) Has to not look 'geeky'
So by the time I got around to this project my wife and I brought our little bundle of joy into the world. With that, I had to add a forth condition to the list.
4) Cheap!!!
I easily spent over $600 on my last CarPC endeavor and now I had to try to cram function, form, and financial responsibility into an '02 Acura RSX
The Solution:
Five years ago I had a 2003 Chevy Cavalier, and I was bound and determined to stuff a PC in it. The first incarnation was beautiful in function, not in form. I had a 7" in-dash motorized touchscreen LCD (that didn't quite fit in the console) and a Compaq E-42 mini PC (now being used in Project Musicbox) stuffed in the glove compartment (the door didn't shut, so the door had to go). It worked beautifully, but eventually the LCD went out and the PC was never nearly powerful enough to do what I wanted it to. It was around that time that we got a new car, and after the damage I did to the cavalier it took quite a bit of convincing for the wife to let me do it again. The rules for the 2nd installation were simple:
1) Has to look like it belongs in the car.
2) Has to be quickly removable
3) Has to not look 'geeky'
So by the time I got around to this project my wife and I brought our little bundle of joy into the world. With that, I had to add a forth condition to the list.
4) Cheap!!!
I easily spent over $600 on my last CarPC endeavor and now I had to try to cram function, form, and financial responsibility into an '02 Acura RSX
The Solution:
A quickly removable, simply controlled, fewest cords as possible CarPC (otherwise known as DeepThought). This knob controlled system can play video, music, and launch external programs (such as GPS, SNES emulator, internet browser, etc).
(more after the break)
7/02/2010
How to get free SMS (on your work restricted phone)
Backstory - I've had a work phone for years now, to the point where I don't have a personal cell. The company has an unlimited voice and data plan, but (smartly) no sms messaging. This comes at great frustration to my friends in that they wonder why I'm never privy to the plans they've already made. To which my response is constantly "I can't get texts!".
So then Google Voice goes public, and now all is right with the world.
What you need
-A cellphone with email capabilities (IMAP or POP3)
-A Google Voice account (and gmail address)
What you do
-Sign up for a Google Voice account and get your new phone number
-Enter your contacts' phone numbers in Google Voice
-Goto Google Voice Settings -> Voice Settings -> Voicemail & Texts
- Check Text Forwarding
-Setup your gmail account on your mobile phone (IMAP works best because it's instant delivery)
-Send a text to all of your friends from the Google Voice account saying something like "It's me, save this number in your phone as [Name]Text."
-When they respond it will forward to your gmail account
Result:
Now you have a phone number dedicated to just text messaging which will instantly forward to your gmail account and thus, to your phone. When you receive the text you can just reply to the email and it will automatically forward to their phone as SMS.
So then Google Voice goes public, and now all is right with the world.
What you need
-A cellphone with email capabilities (IMAP or POP3)
-A Google Voice account (and gmail address)
What you do
-Sign up for a Google Voice account and get your new phone number
-Enter your contacts' phone numbers in Google Voice
-Goto Google Voice Settings -> Voice Settings -> Voicemail & Texts
- Check Text Forwarding
-Setup your gmail account on your mobile phone (IMAP works best because it's instant delivery)
-Send a text to all of your friends from the Google Voice account saying something like "It's me, save this number in your phone as [Name]Text."
-When they respond it will forward to your gmail account
Result:
Now you have a phone number dedicated to just text messaging which will instantly forward to your gmail account and thus, to your phone. When you receive the text you can just reply to the email and it will automatically forward to their phone as SMS.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)