keverets

Finally got around to hooking up the outdoor antenna. Without any adjustment, the following come in clear:

2.1 2.2 2.3
4.1
5.1
7.1
9.1
11.1
17.1 17.2 17.3
23.1
25.1
29.1 29.2
36.1
41.1
44.1
49.1 49.2
57.1
64.1
66.1

Channel 49 is actually a little flaky and drops out. Perhaps turning the antenna a bit (tricky in the current setup) would help with this.

Next step: attempt to get the WinTV HVR 850 working with the MythTV setup.

Playing with a new (to me) console based posting client: charm.

If this works out well, I may actually get back to posting on this blog.

One of the annoyances when setting this up was the hashing of the password required a manual python run, during which the ljcharm.py could not be found. This was fixed with a setting of PYTHONPATH before the invocation.

I'm now attempting to work more seriously with git. Unfortunately, I have to interact with a CVS server at the same time (for final commits, etc). I still haven't found a really good way of doing this (initially with ideas from a blog entry). git-cvsimport works fine for pulling things down from CVS into the local git repository, but going in the other direction seems to require a separately checked-out tree and some annoying steps. I also tried an alternate approach where it's all in one directory, but that makes the git history much less useful and there's still weird conflicts after committing.

If anyone has a good way of working with a remote CVS server and local git repositories, I'm all ears.

Saw reference to this page:

http://linux-wless.passys.nl/

Which will come in handy the next time I need a wireless NIC that will be supported under Linux.

This banana bread recipe worked well:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_9722,00.html

Uses a large portion of shortening, but is quite tasty.

I've got a Garmin Forerunner 301 that I use for running/biking/car trips. It sometimes takes a long time to pick up a signal which is kind of annoying, but otherwise seems to be a nice little unit with built-in heart-rate monitoring and the like. I wanted to use it on Linux as I don't use Windows. A quick search revealed this entry which gives a couple of command lines to grab data off the GPS. After a quick apt-get install, I tried them and they seem to work. The first just gives a long series of coordinates. The second gives a .kml file which I was able to import into Google Earth (though that's extremely slow on my hardware, so not very useful to me).

gpsbabel -t -i garmin -f /dev/ttyUSB0 -o gpsdrive -F tracks.gps

gpsbabel -t -i garmin -f /dev/ttyUSB0 -o kml,points=0,line_color=ff0000ff -F waypoints.kml

I'd really like to put some data into Open Street Map. It would be a fun project for the summer to bike around the neighbourhood and fill out their data.

I was just given a new bike: a Specialized Hardrock Sport. It's my first new bike since 1992 (approximately). My old bike was starting to have more issues and was becoming increasingly frustrating, so this is a welcome change. I find myself becoming increasingly interested in alternative forms of transportation. Currently, I'm pondering the ability of a semi-enclosed recumbent trike to service the majority of my transportation needs. I'd really like a human-powered (or human/electric hybrid) version of the Volkswagen 1-litre Car. The 1-litre car itself would be great, but I doubt that will hit sufficiently mass production to make it affordable any time soon. With Ontario trying out new e-Bike legislation, this could lead to some interesting new vehicles.

Thinking about the whole iPhone thing (had a few discussions at work about it). Will be interesting to see if it makes the difference (and convergence) that it promises. OpenMoko sounds like an interesting variant (cheaper, and out sooner).

I've been re-evaluating my mobile phone usage. I currently use very little time (normally less than 30 minutes per month), so the pay-as-you-go plans make perfect sense for me. I'm currently using an old Nokia phone with Virgin Mobile, but I don't like being tied to a particular phone model. Unlocked GSM phones seem like a good idea (as long as my assumption that they can be made to work with the carriers in Canada holds true). Unfortunately, there's only Fido and Rogers that support GSM phones in Canada (and they're even the same company now, from what I've read). Well, there's one other GSM carrier, but they only serve the northern territories. So, is that even an option for me?

Looking at my usage patterns, Virgin Mobile currently costs: $25+tax every 3 months ($9.50/month in Ontario with 6% GST, 8% PST)
and you get 33 minutes (anytime) with that. (33*0.25 = 8.33)

For Fido's cheapest pay-as-you-go plan it's: $10+tax+911 fee ($0.50) per month, so $11.90/month in Ontario, and you get 33 minutes (anytime) for that. Not too bad... only about $2.50 more per month.

Really surprising to me is Rogers. It's actually comparable (from the web page, anyway... Rogers has a way of adding unnamed "extra" charges, similar to Bell). Rogers' cheapest plan is: $10+tax+911 fee (doesn't say, but assume $0.50): again $11.90/month, this time getting 30 minutes for that.

It's starting to look like GSM might be a viable option for me.

One may wonder: is 30 minutes enough? I currently have $42.56 available on my phone, or 170 minutes of talk time, as the minutes roll forward (as long as you renew in time... which is easier to do every 3 months rather than every month). This just supplements my Primus TalkBroadband ($34.15 per month after taxes, with unlimited North American long distance) and my internet ($34.19 per month with Cogeco cable). So, for me, 30 minutes of portable talking is more than enough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index
http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/

I'm currently pining for a Pentax K100D. Probably not going to get one (at least not any time soon, and by the time I can scrounge the cash there will probably be a nicer model), but it's still fun to think about/try out in the shops. I thought that it was on sale during boxing week, but that turned out to only be the K110D (which lacks the in-body image stabilisation). Some nice things about the K100D: it takes all the old Pentax lenses (my dad's old camera is a Pentax, so there'd be some cheap telephoto in store for me), it takes standard AA batteries instead of the proprietary Li-ion that's dying yet again in my old Canon S100, and seems to be about as standards compliant as any DSLR in the market. Currently going for about $730 with a 18-55mm lens (on sale at Black's, which seems to be about the cheapest I've seen it for). I'd really like a camera with an external flash so that I could do more bounce lighting. It's fun to try with a film SLR, but expensive since I can't see whether a shot worked or not until weeks after the fact. Though, I could burn through a lot of film+processing for $730, so for now I'll just continue pining.

Recently viewed: Happy Feet (in the AMC with my son... his first movie going experience). Nice seats - able to put the armrests up to get a lot of space - but pretty pricey. Will probably go to the Encore Cinemas (either in Oakville or Burlington) next time. There's better popcorn at the Encores, anyway.

For TV shows, I'm still going through Dead Like Me; into the second season now.  Watching 'Til Debt Do Us Part to get some interesting financial tips, Good Eats for some good food knowledge and ideas (still have to see Feasting on Ashphalt also starring Alton Brown) and Nanny 911 for some parenting ideas.  Recently got a recommendation to check out Heroes (a new show this year), so will have to see if I can find some of the early episodes.  Most of the shows I really like only seem to have lasted a year or two, and even then I only find out about them after they're out on DVD.

The laptop I'm using seems to think that it's out of battery long before I actually am. Currently running linux - Ubuntu 6.04 (plus regular updates) - and the gnome battery meter keeps telling me about "Critical action" and that it will power-off when the battery becomes completely empty (I turned off the automatic suspend, as I still have about a half-hour of juice left and just have to put up with the annoying pop-up until it actually dies). I've tried the advice of friends and let it run down completely a few times, but it still seems confused. I really wish I could calibrate this to be a more accurate measurement of the time I have remaining.