xPL Dockstar

Installing xPL-Perl was uneventful. I wanted to install the Linux::Joystick package for Perl, but that required make and some other Linux tools. That wasn't much of a problem since using apt-get to install everything worked flawlessly. Installation was quick and the joystick package compiled fairly fast. Even installing the full Emacs distribution was easy. This is unlike my experience with the Linksys NSLU2 (aka slug), which has a processor that's 4.5 times slower than the Dock. With Linux::Joystick installed, a cheap $5 USB gamepad from DealExtreme and a free 4GB flash drive, I now have a $30, 10 input IP based contact closure device. Best of all, it uses only 3 watts of power. I am contemplating replacing my 2 Slugs with Docks and maybe getting a few more to have just in case I find something to use them for - so you better buy some before I do! ;)

New Toy - Seagate Dockstar

Just received the Seagate Dockstar that I got for $25 shipped. It's another one of those devices looking for a problem. Not exactly sure what I'm going to use it for, but it's getting hacked first. I've installed Debian on it via this method. Obviously, the first thing I'm going to try to get running on it is xPL and xPL-Perl looks like the way to go.

I also just received a Pandigital Novel 7" EReader/Android tablet. This is my second go-round with this device. I did buy it when it first came out and played around with it, but ultimately returned it as it's a bit sluggish. Since then, there's been a lot of work done on custom firmware mods that may make it a little more bearable. So, that's something I plan on testing out on it. I got it from Kohl's for about $85+tax.

xPLGMail Now Sends Mail

The next logical evolution for xPLGMail is to expand from checking to sending email. Version 1.1 does just this and is available now. Now, you don't need to install an SSL gateway like Stunnel to send short email messages through GMail - just issue an xPL command to xPLGMail and it takes care of the rest. More details available here.

xPLGPower - Interface to Google powermeter Released

I've released xPLGPower, which lets you upload your power measurements to Google powermeter using simple xPL control.basic messages. Check it out and donate if you like it :)

xPLGMail Application Released

I had originally hacked up a Python script to use as a GMail notifier. I finally decided to write an app to do it instead. The app will check up to 5 accounts. Version 1.0 is available here.

Consolidation and Clean Up

It's been about 10 years since I started using the first beta copies of StarCOM with our home automation system. That was when I learned how to build ASP pages to communicate with StarCOM. About 3 years ago, I started building our floorplan GUI using AJAX and MySQL, which required running Apache web server. So the last few years I've had Apache and IIS running, but this week, I decided it's time to get rid of the ASP stuff. I've been converting 10 years worth of ASP pages (it's not really that much) over to CGIs running on Apache. Last night, I finished converting all the heavily used ASP pages and pulled the plug on IIS. As a result, the server gained about 100-150 MB of free RAM in addition to a little more stability and simplicity.

A Productive Weekend Home Sick

I spent the weekend cooped up inside with a cold, but I actually got some things done. The wife's laptop was hit by a drive-by virus, so I took the drastic measure of installing Ubuntu on it. She doesn't actually use any Windows apps and all her docs are done on Google Docs anyway. I set up all her Windows shares with CIFS and installed her printer driver and that's all she needs. She seems happy with it. I liked it so much I loaded my old Acer Aspire One netbook with Ubuntu Netbook Remix. The kids' netbook has already been running a flavor of Ubuntu - they've been using Jolicloud on their Dell Mini 10. So it was easy to add the printer driver and network shares to their machine. I don't really like Jolicloud a whole lot, especially since version 1.0 seems to have slowed everything down. I would have preferred Ubuntu Netbook Remix, but for some reason, it can't deal with the Dell Mini's graphics chip. Jolicloud works flawlessly with the Mini's graphics and even supports an external monitor. Couldn't do that with the Remix.

xPLGVoice is Out

Ok, I've decided to toss it to the masses. Go get it!

Quick Post - xPLGVoice Preview

Here's a quick screenshot of my new xPLGVoice app. It allows control of some aspects of Google Voice via xPL messages - specifically, sending SMS, initiating calls and enabling/disabling your forwarding numbers. I hope to release it soon.

BlueBlabber Released

The first release of our hybrid bluetooth tracker with IM is available here. Follow the link for more information.

BlueBlabber Coming

I just wanted to post an update on something new I'm working on called BlueBlabber. I tweeted about it earlier today. It's a bluetooth proximity app like BlueTracker and BlueTrackerScript. BlueBlabber mixes BlueTracker and Blabber together, removing the xPL component, and communicating via IM.

I built this to use at work. At my previous job, I used BlueTrackerScript and scripted up HTTP GETs to my webserver - one URL for when it detects my phone and another for when my phone disappears. I figured I'd try out this method since I've been IMing status between homes. I've been tweaking it the last couple days and I should be releasing it shortly.

EventGhost Disappearing From Our System

Given my latest effort to bridge our remote network via IM, I've started scaling back our usage of EventGhost on the remote thin client and our HA server. This weekend, I started converting the automation code on the remote thin client over to xScript. I've had it running overnight and it's been working so well I've shutdown EG. It hasn't been running on the HA server for a few weeks since I extracted the network sender/receiver plugins to Python scripts. The server actually seems more stable. I've always suspected EG of having memory leaks that force me to reboot the HA server and remote thin client periodically. At one point, I had 3 machines running EG and now I don't have any. EG is also facing an uncertain future as the developer is planning to stop work on it, and now seems like a good time to transition away. This also means I will probably stop maintaining the xPL plugin. There aren't any outstanding problems with it and I haven't touched it in over a year, so it's not a big deal.