This is a computerized system which provides audio programming for me at home. It uses 5 thrift-store salvaged computers running Slackware Linux in different rooms of the house, all networked through NFS.
The time and temperature system automatically uses lynx every hour to get National Weather Service data and then uses grep to extract the text string for the temperature. For the time, NTP is used to keep the time synced to greenwich mean time.
Then, the flite text-to-speech program converts the time and temperature data to speech which is saved in a wav file and then is inserted into the audio playlist of music. The Cmus command line music player is used to play back ogg files transcribed from phonograph records.
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October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I actually have one …
I actually have one windows XP machine in the kitchen that I use to upload the videos.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
wow so you dont …
wow so you dont even use windows or have a windows machine at all?
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Yeah, most do, but …
Yeah, most do, but there are a few, especially OEM machines, that do not.
my Compaq server lacks this option. But I have a small keyboard I just leave connected to it. Works in a pinch. They do make PS/2 connectors that can fool the machine into thinking there is a keyboard attached to it.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Thanks for the tip. …
Thanks for the tip…I will double check that. I had problems one time with one of the servers going down on a power outage and I couldn’t log in to it as it never got past the “no keyboard” error….never found that out till I hooked a monitor to it. The two main audio computers are now on a UPS and it worked today as there was a power outage but everything kept going.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
look in the BIOS …
look in the BIOS settings on those computers. most have a setting to allow it to boot without a keyboard
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Retrochad, you are …
Retrochad, you are a genius.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
THanks for your …
THanks for your comment…I haven’t tried using samba…I think samba has the capability to interface with windows machines as well.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Nice recycling of …
Nice recycling of thrift shop computers. Is NFS better than samba for lan file sharing?
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Wow!! At work, I …
Wow!! At work, I wish they had time announcements every 15 minutes so I wont have to clock watch as much to keep from accidentally working over
I wish they had news at the top of the hour also.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I would love to …
I would love to find an actual VT-100. I can remember one in use at the library when they first got computerized card catalogs and I actually used it! Using the VT-320 is so nostalgic for me…I used an Ampex orange screen dumb terminal and 2400 baud modem in the early 90’s to connect to BBS’s and I thought that was almost like magic.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
That is truly …
That is truly amazing, especially the combination of new and vintage technology in this system. Looking forward to seeing the VT320 demo, terminals have always fascinated me. A VT100 would look great connected to your system, with the 70’s look all around and the blue display…
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! …
b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! (music from Prince, I presume)
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I always wonder …
I always wonder what ever happened to the HAL 9000.
Very nice setup and the Linux OS makes it very stable and reliable.