tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132234362024-03-07T05:04:13.924+00:00unounoduetrecinqueottotredici<i>Questo blog non ha (quasi) niente a che fare con la riproduzione dei conigli. <br> This blog has (almost) nothing to do with rabbits breeding.</i>pieffehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17513784397227182890noreply@blogger.comBlogger882125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-57412673966248536762016-12-29T10:03:00.002+00:002016-12-29T10:04:40.225+00:00Miele vacuum cleaners, extreme vs "non-extreme"Currys has two types of Miele Compact C2 Vacuum Cleaners: "Compact C2 Extreme PowerLine Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner" and "Compact C2 PowerLine Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner". The difference is in the word "Extreme". They look very similar, so I only discovered when trying to get John Lewis to price match and JL told me:
<br />
<blockquote>
The MIELE Compact C2 Extreme PowerLine Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner - Blue Product code: 146058 showing on Curry's website is £119.99. The MIELE Compact C2 PowerLine Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner - Marine Blue Product code: 152450 showing on Curry's website (which is the model you purchased from John Lewis) is showing on Curry's website at £199.99.</blockquote>
I have put together a side-by-side of the specs on Currys website. Highlighted in green things that are listed with different wording but should actually be the same. Highlighted in yellow items that are different. Main difference seems to be maximum power 1.6kW vs 1.2kW and size. So the "Extreme" model looks on paper smaller and more powerful.<br />
<br />
Since the "Extreme" version is not on the Miele website, it's hard to compare specs exactly. This picked my interest so I called Miele. They told me the "Extreme" is a special version made exclusively for Dixons Currys PC World in the UK.<br />
<br />
The size of the vacuum cleaner, although listed differently by Currys, should be the exactly the same across the two models.<br />
<br />
The maximum power however is different. I am not sure whether it is actually a different motor (would have to buy both, open it up and look inside) and Miele could not confirm. But I am told by Miele that both motors would run at a similar power (around 1.1kW) in normal circumstances, however when they encounter "resistance" the extreme model goes up to 1.6kW while the non-extreme model only to 1.2kW.<br />
<br />
Also note that several other retailers (e.g. Tesco) don't sell the non-extreme version but still list the Compact C2 as 1.6kW maxium power, which according to the above, is incorrect.<br />
<br />
This is as far as I got - posting here for posterity.
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CbtF2vFgOjzLt7kIJVmfDJC7mMAlwNBXKFVQj8wAPUmlvqAkSyxsG7dOzSPXpxgetymEWmW0JgyUWumP-wn-mHH1by-Z8B9Jd1nIhO88G5Dj2qrOB3mLNJb3vBOutUutRlFX/s1600/C2+specs.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CbtF2vFgOjzLt7kIJVmfDJC7mMAlwNBXKFVQj8wAPUmlvqAkSyxsG7dOzSPXpxgetymEWmW0JgyUWumP-wn-mHH1by-Z8B9Jd1nIhO88G5Dj2qrOB3mLNJb3vBOutUutRlFX/s320/C2+specs.PNG" width="307" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-42928547158285881832015-08-11T18:42:00.001+01:002015-08-11T18:42:49.325+01:00ABC<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Alphabet is about businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence. In general, our model is to have a strong CEO who runs each business, with Sergey and me in service to them as needed. We will rigorously handle capital allocation and work to make sure each business is executing well.
<br /><a href="https://abc.xyz/">abc.xyz</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Charlie and I mainly attend to capital allocation and the care and feeding of our key managers. Most of these managers are happiest when they are left alone to run their businesses, and that is customarily just how we leave them.
<br /><a href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/owners.html">www.berkshirehathaway.com/owners.html</a></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-5509175464607780752015-07-29T12:53:00.001+01:002015-07-29T12:53:00.069+01:00It's a beautiful day<a href="https://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/2285/2850/original.jpg?w=600&h" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/2285/2850/original.jpg?w=600&h" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-35902564688331723052015-07-05T16:49:00.001+01:002015-07-05T16:51:15.620+01:00Openhab alsa/amplifier linkA simple openhab script that monitors the ALSA sound device and switches on an amplifier if there is something playing. If there isn't anything playing, wait 10 minutes and then turn off.
<pre>
.items
Switch WemoAmp "Amplifier" { wemo="WemoAmplifier" }
.rules
rule "Switch off amplifier if alsa not playing for 10min"
when
Item Alsa_State changed or
System started
then
logInfo("alsaMonitor", "state changed: " + Alsa_State.state)
if(Alsa_State.state=='STOPPED') {
logInfo("alsaMonitor", "Start timer for amp switch off")
timer = createTimer(now.plusMinutes(10)) [|
logInfo("alsaMonitor", "Switch off amp")
sendCommand(WemoAmp,OFF)
]
} else if(Alsa_State.state=='RUNNING') {
if(timer!=null) {
logInfo("alsaMonitor", "Cancel amp switch off")
timer.cancel
timer = null
}
logInfo("alsaMonitor", "Turn on amp")
sendCommand(WemoAmp,ON)
}
end
</pre>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-12784175578992119602013-06-25T07:34:00.000+01:002013-06-25T07:34:57.366+01:00Song of the dayAlan parsons project - Children of the MoonUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-13837773397676336122013-04-22T16:30:00.001+01:002013-04-22T16:30:22.446+01:00Aeotec Labs z-wave touch panelsAccording their rep the z-wave <a href="http://aeotec.com/z-wave-wall-switch">touch panels</a> should be available 3 Quarter 2013.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-5027338128219090392013-04-04T21:26:00.001+01:002013-04-04T21:26:27.639+01:00Princeton's Marriage Market Theory Worked for Me<p dir=ltr><a href="http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-03/princeton-s-marriage-market-theory-worked-for-me.html">Princeton's Marriage Market Theory Worked for Me - Bloomberg</a><br>
</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-89379150055896429612013-03-16T05:05:00.001+00:002013-04-22T10:56:24.183+01:00Renaming BT billsBT pdf bills come with a filename in DDMMYYYY format, which is not good for sorting. One liner to rename in YYYYMMDD:
<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">
rename s/\([0-9][0-9]\)\([0-9][0-9]\)\([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]\)/\3\2\1/ *.pdf
</pre>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-86120703470004419922013-01-29T19:03:00.000+00:002013-01-29T19:03:00.209+00:00Custom law searchI had started a similar projet but now discovered that <a href="http://www.feefiefoefirm.com/uk/">http://www.feefiefoefirm.com/uk/</a> provides a great way of searching articles written by UK law firms.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-83353243784953265622013-01-15T06:50:00.004+00:002013-01-16T06:21:39.720+00:00Imdb vote historyI had not noticed that following the IMDB redesign the "Voting history" has changed place. Now it is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/user/ur6861833/ratings">here</a>, called "your ratings".Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-23351652815299188132011-03-18T08:58:00.002+00:002011-03-18T09:00:21.981+00:00LS9 shortcutsCourtesy of Yamaha, <a href="http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/training/self_training/data/ls9_short-cut_list_en.pdf">LS9 shoutcut sheet</a>, a must read.<br /><br />I must admit I had missed one (namely the screen contrast adjustment).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-77157714733393157192011-03-15T10:10:00.002+00:002011-03-15T10:19:26.127+00:00Getting the college of law calendarFor those who wish to get the CoL timetable on Google calendar/Outlook etc without having to type it all in manually: it can be done from the Groupwise application. It is is locked down, but there is a workaround.<br /><br />1. Type mailto:// in Internet Explorer, this runs grpwise.exe<br />2. Right click on the calendar and select export<br />3. Edit Calendar.ics to remove the UIDs (they are not Unique, so they confuse Google Calendar). Quick way: sed '/UID:.*/d' Calendar.ics > newcal.ics<br />4. Upload to Google Calendar, profitUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-24317234155274790892011-02-16T08:09:00.002+00:002011-02-16T08:23:31.332+00:00Price for contentThis is <a href="http://www.pwc.com/us/en/industry/entertainment-media/publications/consumer-intelligence-series.jhtml%3Cbr%20/%3E">exactly the right kind of report</a> on piracy. The price I am willing, (not just "willing": I <i>want to</i>, please!) to pay is around $3 per film and $1 per TV episode. In GBP I would make it £3 per film and 50p per TV episode. So I normally only buy DVDs when they reach that kind of price.<br /><br />The other big factor is "Who actually needs a DVD anyway"? With space in London costing £10,000 per square meter, why would you fill it up with plastic discs? Hard disks are cheap, networks fast enough, why the heck would anybody want a DVD.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-91929544574029871692011-02-14T08:46:00.002+00:002011-02-14T08:55:12.234+00:00Living without content farmsI've started a little experiment with a google custom search engine which excludes a list of useless websites (about.com/ehow/dict etc etc) and promotes good websites (bbc, guardian, instructables etc etc)<br /><br />I'll try to use it as default search engine for a few days and update the index and see how it goes. The only problem is that google automatically puts loads of advertising.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=012910397933466076001:3bw_gaikygm">Here it is</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-21055733250438946942011-02-03T10:11:00.005+00:002011-02-03T10:44:50.325+00:00Dear AnnaHello My Friend!<br /><i>Hi</i><br /><br />I write to you the letter, and I hope to receive the answer from you. <br /><i>Thank you for writing me the letter</i><br /><br />My name is Anna.<br /><i>How do you do</i><br /><br />I the young woman, average years.<br /><i>Hello again, the young woman. I assume you mean median, that would make you <a href="http://world.bymap.org/MedianAge.html">28.4</a>.</i><br /><br />I have brown hair.<br /><i>Brown is indeed a beautiful colour.</i><br /><br />I the beautiful woman :)<br /><i>I not</i><br /><br />And live in Russia, city Zelenodolsk. My city is in 920 km from Moscow. <br /><i>Cool</i><br /><br />And if you wish to get acquainted with me, I shall be very happy to answer your letter.<br /><i>I am afraid I have no such wish</i><br /><br />And I would like to tell why I write to you. <br /><i>Go ahead</i><br /><br />The matter is that in 2 weeks I shall visit the UK or other country in the Europe. Now I have the plan to visit UK.<br /><i>I am glad to hear you are considering the Europe as a destination</i><br /><br />But I have no friends or relatives in the UK or other country in the Europe.<br /><i>That's a shame. Perhaps acquaintances?</i><br /><br />And while I at all do not know what country better to visit. <br /><i> While I wouldn't know what to say to that</i><br /><br />In WHAT CITY OR ANOTHER COUNTRY YOU LIVE NOW? We could have our meeting? Tell to me more about your country or city? What interesting?<br /><i>It is LONDON, I expect one could write a book. TripAdvisor?</i><br /><br />I shall have the tourist visa, and I can visit any country in the Europe. And can travel in USA. <br /><i>Perhaps you meant "the" USA </i><br /><br />But main my purpose, it to find the good friend for me.<br /><i>I am afraid the good friends are hard to come by</i><br /><br />The man for serious attitudes and if you are now alone?<br /><i>Serious attitudes?</i><br /><br />You have not the wife or children I ask you to write to me the letter. And we<br />could learn better each other.<br /><i>I have no desire</i><br /><br />I have not boyfriend, and I have not children.<br /><i>Given your average age and the beautiful woman, no doubt this is because of conscious choice</i><br /><br />To write to you the letter, I have addressed in agency of acquaintances, and to me give yours e-mail.<br /><i>This agency of acquaintances of yours, they seem fun</i><br /><br />It not a spam or other bad things. So, please, answer me!!!<br /><i>It not ham either, and certainly not a good thing</i><br /><br />My letter, this offer to acquaintance and to learn better each other.<br /><i>Please stop saying acquaintance</i> <br /><br />In my next letter I will send you my photo!!! I hope you will be like see me. :)<br /><i>No, I will not be like to see you</i><br /><br />And I would like to receive your photo too.<br /><i>Good luck</i><br /><br />Please, answer only my personal e-mail: _______@rambler.ru<br /><i>Thanks for letting me know, I was going to answer you at work</i><br /><br />The best regards,<br /><i>The fervent wishes,</i><br /><br />Yours Anna.<br /><i>You're not mine.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-91054331591872113952010-11-19T10:07:00.005+00:002010-11-19T10:28:10.935+00:00Emulate PS3 controllersI had a play around in the past few days on how to emulate the ps3 controller from a PC with a bluetooth dongle. There are a few things one might want to emulate:<br /><br />1. Six-axis<br />2. BD remote control<br />3. HID Keyboard & Mouse (for faster typing)<br /><br />All the keys from the six-axis can be used from either the BD remote or the keyboard. The HID protocol doesn't seem to be able to transmit the stick movements, so it is useless for playing. There is a work around (as in, a properly reversed engineered six-axis protocol implementation) at <a href="http://diy-machine.blogspot.com/">diy-machine</a>, which supports up to 7 controllers and it's being developed actively.<br /><br />I was mainly interested to emulate the remote/keyboards in order to be able to play/pause etc a DVD from my iPod/phone through a web page. I will not post the details of the web server (yet) as it is too messy, but if google picks this up it might useful to other people to know where the resources are.<br /><br />Useful python code can be found in <a href="http://www.valeriovalerio.org/?page_id=174">bluemaemo</a> (for Nokia phones) and <a href="http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/ReMoko">remoko</a> for the openmoko phone. At the heart of the implementation there is a HID server that pretends to be a HID device. There are quite a few lying around, for example hidserv.c (in bluemaemo), <a href="http://anselm.hoffmeister.be/computer/hidclient/index.html.en">hidclient.c</a>, <a href="http://www.mulliner.org/bluetooth/xkbdbthid.php">xkbdbthid</a>. This server opens a Bluetooth (L2CAP) socket and writes to it according to the HID protocol . <br /><br />To establish a connection with Bluez4 one needs to load the SDP record of the device (specifications of the SDP protocol can be found on the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluetooth.com%2FSiteCollectionDocuments%2FCore_V30HS.zip%3Fiframe%3Dtrue%26width%3D100%25%26height%3D100%25&rct=j&q=bluetooth%20volume%203%20specifications&ei=HU_mTLLtLJKKhQeJkIW4DA&usg=AFQjCNE4ljnR4ssYbjI2PJHRXVbrkf1ONA&cad=rja">Bluetooth v3 specifications (volume 3 part C)</a>). One such service record can be found in bluemaemo (for a keyboard + mouse HID device). The record will contain the HID descriptor (according to the HID specifications, on the USB website). <br /><br />The HID descriptor for the PS3 BD remote can be found <a href="http://wiki.ps2dev.org/ps3:hardware:remote">here</a> and <a href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/PlayStationBDRemote#Output_of_Command_Line_Tools">here</a>. On these websites there is also a SDP service record of the remote, that can easily be converted to xml.<br /><br />That's all for now, I might post the code at some point if it turns out to be readable.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-30848636681019426502010-10-26T13:27:00.001+01:002010-10-26T13:28:07.299+01:00Clipping and tweetersA <a href="http://www.adx.co.nz/techinfo/audio/note128.pdf">fairly definitive</a> article from Rane on what blows tweeters (read: volume) and what doesn't (read: clipping).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-13811202403896119932010-10-20T11:56:00.005+01:002010-10-20T15:03:02.215+01:00From father to sonYoung Italians often complain that one of the reasons why graduate jobs are hard to come by is that hiring is often based on family relationships rather than merit. It's like an unwritten precedence rule. I was taken by surprise by the fact the rule actually <em>is</em> written.<br /><br />In its negotiations with the trade unions Unicredit (one of largest European banks) <a href="http://www.ilpost.it/2010/10/19/accordo-sindacati-unicredit-figli/">agreed on Monday</a> to hire first the sons of the employees that take voluntary redundancies. I could not believe it. <a href="http://newrassegna.camera.it/chiosco_new/pagweb/immagineFrame.asp?comeFrom=rassegna&currentArticle=UQEXE">This article</a> on Il Mattino suggests that the practice is widespread in industrial agreements in the italian financial services, citing also Intesa San Paolo and BCC di Roma.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/finanza-e-mercati/2010-10-18/unicredit-siglato-accordo-esuberi-085240.shtml?uuid=AYF1bKbC&keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=650&width=850">These</a> <a href="http://www.corriere.it/economia/10_ottobre_18/unicredit-accordo-esuberi_f6c1774c-da7c-11df-b6f8-00144f02aabc.shtml">other</a> <a href="http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/economia/201010articoli/59549girata.asp">articles</a> from major Italian newspapers report on the same news. But it seems so unreal that I wanted to find the primary source for the agreement. The news broke at <a href="http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/collection/rubriche_economia/10/18/visualizza_new.html_1731639856.html">8:05 on 18/10/2010</a>, but there is no mention of the father-son agreement. It is also not mentioned in the <a href="http://www.unicredito.fisac.cgil.it/record.php?ID=100261">Fisac/CGIL (Union)</a> <a href="http://www.cgil.it/DettaglioDocumento.aspx?ID=14796">statements</a>, they only say "fostering youth employment" or something like that.<br /><br />With a bit of Googling I found a <a href="http://www.fabiugis.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Accordo18ott.pdf">scan of the original union agreement</a>, the declaration is on page 28. The Italian wording is:<br /><blockquote>Su espressa richiesta delle OO.SS., Unicredit (...), ferma restando l'ineludibile esigenza di pieno rispetto delle caratteristiche meritocratiche che stanno alla base delle politiche di recruiting del Gruppo, conferma che non sara' posta in essere alcuna limitazione connessa al vincolo parentale nei confronti dei figli di dipendenti cessati per pensionamento volontario in possesso dei requisiti richiesti per la selezione (laurea triennale e conoscenza delle lingua inglese), determinando, a parita' di valutazione in sede di selezione, una priorita' nell'assunzione.</blockquote><br />This is a single long sentence of the finest Italian legal prose meaning:<br /><blockquote>On request of the Unions, Unicredit, while following its overarching aim of meritocracy in hiring decisions, will favour the sons of employees who have taken voluntary redundancy over other candidates with the same qualifications, as long as they have a degree and can speak English</blockquote><br />It is normal practice to encourage employees to put forward people they think valuable (sometimes offering <a href="http://www.oneonetwothreefiveeightthirteen.com/2008/07/raccomandazioni.html">money on top as a reward</a>). There is nothing wrong in using staff as head hunters, but it is not quite the same thing as trading voluntary redundancies of senior employees in exchange of hiring their family.<br /><br />I expect the next step is to rank second cousins just below sons in law but above nephews, with grandsons somewhere between third cousins and godchildren.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-84733549786492836012010-10-10T21:29:00.002+01:002010-10-10T21:30:11.408+01:00256 colours in screenSometimes screen does not inherit the right terminfo from the terminal. This fixes the 256 colour problem:<blockquote>terminfo rxvt* 'Co#256:AB=\E[48;5;%dm:AF=\E[38;5;%dm'</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-3517156626231478892010-10-09T23:28:00.003+01:002010-10-10T15:22:30.673+01:00Current Cost CC128, part 2The CC128 rj45 pinout is like <a href="http://www.techtoniq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=385">this</a>, i.e. <br /><blockquote>1 = +v Unregulated (Same as the PSU input)<br />2 = PIC chip pin 52 (PGC)<br />3 = +V Regulated<br />4 = GND<br />5 = PIC chip pin 47 (PGD)<br />6 = PIC chip pin 9 (Program Voltage (nMCLR))<br />7 = Unit RX<br />8 = Unit TX</blockquote><br />The stock RJ45-USB cable uses pins 1,4,7,8. I suspect you don't need 7 to just read the output of the meter, but you definitely need both 1 and 4.<br /><br />Note to self: current setup<br /><blockquote><br />Input:<br />1 = 1 CC128<br />2 = 4 CC128<br />3 = n/a<br />4 = Phone<br />5 = Phone<br />6 = n/a<br />7 = 7 CC128<br />8 = 8 CC128<br /></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-7322912589378088672010-10-08T11:37:00.002+01:002010-10-08T11:38:43.010+01:00Orange databaseAfter nearly two years of being with O2 I still get texts from Orange every month or so, informing me that my point balance is 0.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-34827181249404274742010-10-04T10:20:00.004+01:002010-10-04T15:47:49.004+01:00LS9 tips: recall safeI've decided to share a few tips about not so obvious things on the Yamaha LS9, with the hope that they will be useful.<br /><br />Recall safe is probably the only good thing about the scene recall on the LS9, because otherwise recalling a scene would recall the whole desk, which you very rarely want (I can think of only one occasion: the beginning of a show to reset the desk).<br /><br />However there are a few things that <span style="font-weight:bold;">cannot</span> be "recall safed", and they will bite you. The only way to find out what is actually safe or not is to look at page 256 of the manual, "Mixing parameters operation applicability". You will discover that:<br /><br />1. Pan cannot be safed unless ALL is selected.<br />2. To Stereo, To Mono, to MIX pre-post, and many other things such as Mute Assign also cannot be safed unless ALL is selected.<br />3. You cannot safe Mix to stereo for a MIX unless ALL is selected.<br /><br />This means that if half way through plotting you decide to send a channel (that you wish to recall) to the mono channel you will have to turn it on for each scene you have already plotted. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Most importantly</span>, and really not obviously:<br /><br />1. You cannot safe channel link<br />2. You cannot safe MIX/MATRIX bus settings in the System Setup screen<br /><br />These two are the most annoying things. It means that you cannot simply create an extra stereo bus on the second night of the show to record, because that setting "stereo bus" will have to be saved in every single scene.<br /><br />I guess the conclusion is that it is wise to the plotting as late as possible and be careful when designing the signal path to allow for modification that do not require you to replot the whole show.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-86471066802899190812010-10-01T10:36:00.004+01:002010-10-06T18:45:17.359+01:00Current Cost CC128Also known as Envi, given out for free by E.ON (got it for £12 on ebay, as I'm not on E.ON). The device transmits every 6 seconds a neat xml file with the power usage (and temperature) through a serial interface (an Rj45 socket so it can be run through cat5 quite easily), it comes with a serial-rj45 to USB converter.<br /><br />Useful websites:<br /><a href="http://www.linux-depot.com/?p=projects&s=googlepower">Perl script</a> to submit data to Google Power Meter<br /><a href="http://graham.auld.me.uk/projects/g-power/">Perl script</a> to read serial port (and submit data to Google Power Meter, but the code above is easier to adapt)<br /><a href="http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/tutorials/x-ameetut/section3.html">Ruby app</a> by IBM<br /><a href="http://www.silly-science.co.uk/2010/03/05/energy-monitor-part-2/">Access the UART</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-25695857375972904522010-09-29T14:17:00.003+01:002010-09-29T15:04:23.639+01:00CDDA, pre-gap, post-gapNotes on CD mastering to avoid tracks cutting off last few seconds. <br /><br />This is how a CD is made:<br /><br /><blockquote>Digital Audio, or CD-DA, was the initial compact disc format. The Red Book standard of 1980 was followed in 1987 by IEC 908. Sound is recorded in frames, each containing 24 bytes of digitized audio. A continuous, spiral track consists of lead-in followed by pre-gap, then a single physical track of audio frames, then post-gap, and finally lead-out. Multiple songs are accessed by dividing the physical track into as many as 99 logical tracks, and by subdividing logical tracks using indexing. All compact disc drives must be capable of playing this CD-DA format. <a href="http://www.mscience.com/faq60.html">[*]</a></blockquote><br />The specifications are contained in the Red Book (costs $100 and you have to sign a NDA), but there are alternative specifications (close enough) free from <a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-130.htm">ECMA</a>.<br /><br />The interesting fact is that by default the post-gap on each track is 2 seconds. The non-so-obvious fact is that this post-gap is not an <span style="font-style:italic;">additional</span> 2 seconds, but is the last 2 seconds of the track. The gap is simply an index to the last two second, that a player playing in gapless mode will automatically skip (sometimes switching the display to a countdown).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13223436.post-89288925386308728492010-09-24T17:11:00.002+01:002010-09-24T17:12:34.983+01:00Batch normalizationMake all the tracks in one folder the same volume (peak -3dB)<br /><blockquote>for i in *.wav; do sox "$i" "norm/$i" norm -3; done</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0