zen.org Communal Weblog

June 26, 2009

Copying between MythTV and TiVo

Filed under: — brendan @ 13:15 GMT

I put a bunch of shows from our MythTV box in Ireland, and want to copy them onto a Series2 TiVo in the US.

I got TiVo Desktop, paid $25 to make it TiVo Desktop Plus, and configured it the way I was told. But no matter what tricks I play, I can’t get it to actually start copying stuff—well, usually. I did “Add Video…” and picked a folder named “tivo-transfer” with two test mpeg show files in it. Once, and I’ve not yet figured out why, the Now Playing list showed “tivo-transfer” (with the description of the first show in that folder) in progress. Hmm. Meanwhile, the non-Plus approach of making it get a file from the “My TiVo Recordings” folder and selecting it on the TiVo itself worked.

For the moment, I just went into the TiVo Desktop -> Preferences and made it use the ‘tivo-transfer’ directory, then on the TiVo selected a bunch. It’s started transferring stuff (though it’d sure be handy if the “Transfer Status” display of TiVo Desktop, which shows files you’re getting from the TiVo, would also show transfers going from a PC back to the TiVo).

I submitted this stuff as a Feedback message on the TiVo website, but I’ve no idea if I’ll actually hear back. In that message I offered to help beta-test any development version they may have going which avoids this.

I’ve also tried the previous 2.6.2 version, but at least under Vista that blew chunks and wasn’t willing to get started.

Also looked at their support page, but no golden answers.

June 25, 2009

Cobol to Java — with only a click?

Filed under: — brendan @ 00:31 GMT

This is awesome: in a fully automated way, convert a Cobol application to its iso-functional Java equivalent.

Hmm, garbage collect my savings account?

June 22, 2009

Random info on surviving HughesNet satellite Internet access

Filed under: — brendan @ 22:25 GMT

You can telnet to 192.168.0.1 to get the HN7000S’s vxWorks command prompt; for username do brighton and password do swordfish. Or telnet to 192.168.0.1 on port 1953 to get the menu interface.

Browsers can use the HN7000S box as a proxy to get traffic accelerated quite a bit by configuring to use 192.168.0.1 port 87 as the HTTP proxy (In the past some things have failed when going through this, though, but we don’t have any notes yet on what those were.
). In the list of exceptions to using the proxy, remember to put 192.168.0.1 itself there, as well as ‘localhost’ and 127.0.0.1, at least. I added our local subnet as well with 10.9.79.0/24 so I can properly visit the various access points, etc.

To get at the advanced configuration page, point at the URL
http://192.168.0.1/fs/advanced/advanced.html

Best Father’s Day activity

Filed under: — brendan @ 00:33 GMT

I had the best Fathers Day experience this morning: at the hotel in Portland Maine after landing from Ireland, I took our two boys (ages 7 and 2) to the hotel’s pool for an hour. Lots of playing and laughing by all of us. Walking from the pool to start the process of heading up to Islesboro, Patrick, the 7 year-old, said enthusiastically, “That was SO much FUN!!”

It sure was.

June 16, 2009

Make a proxy so people in Iran can get the truth out

Filed under: — brendan @ 14:21 GMT

I set up a proxy to contribute to the effort to get information out of Iran after the nutzo election. Whether Linux, Mac, or Windows, you can too.

cf. http://blog.austinheap.com/

P.S. I think you need a static IP address, otherwise when you reconnect your broadband the address you shared will no longer work. It should also be a system that isn’t closed/turned off.

June 8, 2009

Talking about gcc, eh?

Filed under: — brendan @ 17:58 GMT

Cool gathering of dedicated GNU hackers in Montreal this week. Many, it appears, are here on their own dime/pence/whatever, with most companies not forking out the cash this time around.

June 7, 2009

Why Legos are a great parenting aid

Filed under: — brendan @ 16:12 GMT

… they give you reasons to get great pictures when you’re away from home and miss your family. :)

April 29, 2009

What would *you* do for a school?

Filed under: — brendan @ 06:38 GMT

A friend did a skydive at the end of May in an effort to raise funds for our kids’ primary school. In terms of ways to help children, the bar has been raised pretty high: a few thousand feet, in fact.
It was a really great success.

March 28, 2009

Best movies for kids? Our list

Filed under: — brendan @ 07:45 GMT

With our older son making his way through age 7 and no sign of stopping, we decided to try to find out what would make for good movies for him to watch. He’s old enough to actually enjoy a lot more of them.

Are we missing anything? This is our list to use to make random selections. Not to check off each one like we’re expecting he’ll see everything. :)

  1. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
  2. The Adventures of Robin Hood
  3. Alice in Wonderland
  4. Annie
  5. Babe
  6. Back to the Future
  7. Bad News Bears
  8. Bambi
  9. The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen
  10. Batteries Not Included
  11. Beauty and the Beast
  12. Bedknobs and Broomsticks
  13. Bee Movie
  14. Beetlejuice
  15. Big
  16. Bolt
  17. A Bug’s Life
  18. Bugsy Malone
  19. Cars
  20. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  21. Chicken Run
  22. Children of Heaven
  23. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
  24. Chronicles of Narnia
  25. Cinderella
  26. Cloak and Dagger
  27. Coraline
  28. The Dark Crystal
  29. Eric the Viking
  30. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
  31. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
  32. Finding Nemo
  33. Flight of the Navigator
  34. Ghostbusters
  35. Groundhog Day
  36. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  37. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
  38. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  39. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  40. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  41. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
  42. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  43. Hook
  44. Horton Hears a Who
  45. Howls Moving Castle
  46. Ice Age
  47. The Incredibles
  48. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  49. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
  50. The Iron Giant
  51. James and the Giant Peach
  52. The Jungle Book
  53. Kikis Delivery Service
  54. Lady and the Tramp
  55. The Last Unicorn
  56. A League of Their Own
  57. Lilo + Stitch
  58. The Lion King
  59. Little Fugitive
  60. Little Mermaid
  61. Madagascar
  62. Madagascar 2
  63. Mary Poppins
  64. Meatballs
  65. Monsters, Inc.
  66. Mrs. Doubtfire
  67. The Muppet Movie
  68. My Life as a Dog
  69. My Neighbor Totoro
  70. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
  71. The Neverending Story
  72. Night at the Museum
  73. Peter Pan
  74. Pinocchio
  75. Princess Bride
  76. Princess Mononoke
  77. Raiders of the Lost Ark
  78. Ratatouille
  79. The Red Balloon
  80. Secret of Roan Inish
  81. Shrek
  82. Sleeping Beauty
  83. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
  84. Sound of Music
  85. Spiderman
  86. Spiderman 2
  87. Spiderman 3
  88. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
  89. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
  90. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
  91. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
  92. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
  93. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
  94. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
  95. Superman
  96. Superman II
  97. Superman III
  98. Time Bandits
  99. To Kill a Mockingbird
  100. Toy Story
  101. Toy Story 2
  102. Transformers
  103. Wall-E
  104. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
  105. War Games
  106. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
  107. Willow
  108. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
  109. The Wizard of Oz

I’m not going try to link all of those over to the IMDB. Heh.

March 14, 2009

2 year-old potty-training—himself?

Filed under: — brendan @ 10:32 GMT

A few days ago our two year-old son was convinced a number of times that he had to use the toilet. Gestures varied but the intent was clear. Each time, nothing happened. Again.

When he believed he was finished, he stood up and pulled up his pants. He looked at me questioningly with his hand reaching back towards the toilet.

“You don’t have to flush it, sweetheart. You didn’t actually go!”

His usual response was a contemplative, “Oh!” Then a nod of agreement as he exited the bathroom.

This last time, Slow-Brain Dad stayed behind for a moment to consider what had been happening. Every one of his little sit-push-nothing-getup actions was followed by a keen interest in flushing the toilet.

Tick tick tick

D’oh! He’s more interested in the fun of flushing the toilet then actually using it!

Deduction is clearly my true skill.

I wonder now if our seven year-old used the same trick. I must have blocked it from my memory.

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