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Article posted on Mar 22

My WAP11 needs an IOS interface

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on March 22, 2003, 10:42 pm

Networking giant Cisco Systems on Wednesday said it would buy Linksys, a manufacturer of networking gear for consumers, in a stock deal valued at $500 million.

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Article posted on Mar 21

No Title

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on March 21, 2003, 10:43 am

I am now officially sick of the following war-related buzzwords:

* embedded
* reconvergence [1]
* a-day
* shock & awe
* coalition
* solidarity [1]
* liberated [2]
* weapons of mass destruction

[1] Just because it didn't come from The Man doesn't mean it's not annoying.
[2] Quoth cyantist: "The streets were lined with trash. I repeat, the streets were lined with trash. The streets were _liberated_."

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Article posted on Mar 18

No Title

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on March 18, 2003, 6:25 pm

Just now, my brain jumped 8 years in the past. I wanted to search for something, so I opened up a browser and typed in akebono.stanford.edu.

I have no idea how the hell that happened.

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Article posted on Mar 17

No Title

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on March 17, 2003, 12:55 am

So, my latest project... I'm going to turn my car into a mobile entertainment network. As you know, the prius has a small LCD display in the console. I want to get the viewtech mod to add an external video source. Then I'll get a Cubid 2688R (which has a native DC power supply, so I won't have to use a power inverter), and throw in a motherboard, wireless card, etc. I plan on splicing the three buttons on the prius dashboard which are normally used for the toyota nav system so they go to a keyboard. This creates a simple user interface for things like switching MP3s, pausing, etc. Anything more complicated is handled by connecting your laptop to the car's WAP and going to a web site. I've begun hacking together a display interface using Perl/Tk. Behold:

This is actually outdated by now, the main menu now has "Next Song", and will automatically disappear after 5 seconds, so the "Close" option became useless. Yes, that's XMatrix. Of course the reason why it's so tiny is because we're dealing with a composite video input, which is limited to 320x240.

Currently, upon starting up, the program reads a file with a list of directories, finds all mp3 files in the structure, randomizes them, then starts playing. Then a file with a list of xscreensaver programs (ones that looks decent when placed in a 320x160 window), randomizes the list and starts playing one every 5 seconds (for testing, will probably be 5 minutes). If you press F1, the popup menu appears. F2 goes through the list, and F3 selects the command. Pause and Next Song don't need any explanation. Neither does Eject CD, but it's there because I plan on the ability for friends to bring a burned CD with MP3 files on them, and the app will automatically build a playlist of them when a CD is inserted.

It also periodically check for a file called "popup", and if it exists, it will read and delete it, then display it on the screen (and give me an audio cue to let me know to glance over at it). This is so strangers can connect to my car, go to its web site, and send me messages :)

As I mentioned, a web interface will be available for things like setting up playlists and setting configuration options. There will also be a graphical front-end for kismet, for war driving. I'm close to having a DVD player option, but my code is so horrible that it made it extremely difficult to add additional operational modes. I will release the code, but like I said, I am far too ashamed at the current state of the code to let anybody else see it :)

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Article posted on Mar 15

No Title

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on March 15, 2003, 6:45 pm

What do soccer moms do? Why, on-roading, of course!

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Article posted on Mar 15

No Title

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on March 15, 2003, 1:31 am

I was going to wish xiology a happy birthday, but then I realized it's APRIL 15. Lord knows why I thought it this month...

Though I think she should just overload with all the pi day festivities, followed by a birthday.

It's amazing I can remember anybody's birthday, with the exception of my family, for the most part. Sister is May 16, 1986. Dad is October 30, 1950 (10/30/50, cool huh?). Mom is August somthing-or-other, 1955. For some reason I can never remember the exact day, but I do know it's what they said Judgement Day was on Terminator 2.

And of course I'm March 19, 1981. Yes, that's in 4 days. Have you all bought me presents yet?

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Article posted on Mar 14

No Title

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on March 14, 2003, 6:47 pm

There is a woman at work who has a candy jar on her desk for people who stop by. The idea is fundementally flawed. Who would want people to actually come to their desk?

Yes, I know I haven't posted in a month. Blow me.

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