| I have gotten tired of our cat Simon waking me up at 6:00 am (or earlier) demanding to be fed, so I have been looking into an automatic cat feeder.
I ran across this review of the CSF-3 Cat Super Feeder on Amazon and it started to give me some ideas:
"The Super Feeder was made for nerds like me. I have mine attached to a network power controller next to my server cabinet. I wrote several UNIX shell and expect scripts to control the feeding behavior. The cats are fed at every even hour of the day (12 times a day). This prevents the cats from getting too excited when food is dispensed and prevents overeating and eating too quickly. I also authored a password protected website that allows me to feed the cats from anywhere in the universe with the click of a button, as well as capturing a photographic image of the cats eating so I know that they are safe and that the feeder is working correctly. Every time the cats are fed I receive a page to my telephone showing me the output of the scripts to verify that everything is working correctly. "
What's even more amusing is that I have a spare network power controller lying around that could be used in a similar way.
| comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment   |
| Recently there has been press about ZigBee on the web, including CNN.* Not necessarily good news, but free publicity nonetheless.
While surfing around retorts to the above article, I came across this amusing quote on the Freaklabs blog:
"However the Zigbee smart energy transceiver market is pretty much dominated by a company called Ember who decided to include the microcontroller and radio inside the same chip..."
This quote makes us sound like some sort of massive chip manufacturer that throws our weight around and pushes out the little guy. Really we are the little guy. We are the ones going up against the big companies like Texas Instruments (yes, the calculator makers).
I suppose it's good to at least get some recognition.
* Technically the stupid article never mentions ZigBee but the Smart Grid technology that has been cracked is running ZigBee. And no it is not a flaw in ZigBee security. It seems like the security research company is spreading FUD to drum up business.
| | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| I recently got a phising email that evaded Yahoo's filter grids and managed to get into my Inbox. It is your standard Nigerian scammer email promising a cut of a $30,000,000 transfer. This one is rather professional looking email and not the poorly written spams I have seen before. However the amusing thing about it is that it briefly breaks into slang in an otherwise completely formal writing style.
With Due Respect,
I am Cathy Raymond of INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL SOLICITORS LTD (ICSL), a financial consultancy firm. This is a Management Placement on behalf of my client, Mr. Peter Leslie Ambrosy. I have contacted you a couple of times but you have not responded. This may look surprising to you 'cos we have never met but I found your contact particulars from an address journal and have summed up the courage to contact you.
Really, you guys totally had me until that. Better luck next time.
| | comments: Leave a comment |
| Last Wednesday we had one of the most karate strenuous classes I have had in quite some time. The class generally focused on moving quickly against serious incoming attacks. While difficult, this was still within what I would consider my comfort zone. It is something we have done in class many times before, the attacks were ones I had seen before and had been prepared for with our training.
But the final exercise we did in class was much more chaotic and challenging. We had two lines setup facing one another with eyes closed. At various points the Sensei would quietly tell one of the group to open their eyes and attack someone else in the one of the lines. As the defender the first thing we would feel might be hands around our neck, a slap in the face, or a punch in the gut. At which point we would open our eyes and explode with the appropriate self-defense.
I have done similar exercises before and the aspect of it that is always the killer is the anticipation. Waiting for that hand, that kick, that grab or whatever makes you tighten up, it makes you tense, and it wears you out. Similar situations I have trained in were more rigidly structured. The Sensei would setup the two lines as pairs of partners. He/she would announce one of the two lines as the attacker, one as the defender with eyes closed. The beginning of the attack would be announced to the whole class, allowing a defender to bound their anticipation and relax. This time it was not so straightforward.
As my eyes were closed I could hear the frantic movement of bodies attacking and defending nearby, and yet I had to keep them closed. It was not clear when or if an attack would occur despite all the commotion surrounding me. When it did happen it was a quick few seconds with a flurry of techniques without any time to truly assess, only react. Afterwards it was back to eyes shut, waiting, feeling the adrenaline continue to pump making it incredibly hard to relax and not waste energy with tense muscles.
One of the principles taught in martial arts is that of zanshin, relaxed alertness. Learning to be aware of what is going on without being unnecessarily paranoid about what might be a threat. I have never quite understood that concept as well as did that night.
| | comments: Leave a comment |
| A recent debate at work (don't ask me how it started) about how the government names U.S. military vessels led me to Wikipedia, where I started looking up the Seawolf-class submarines. That in turn led me to this amusing picture of a polar bear attacking the rudder of a seawolf submarine that had poked up through the surface of the ice.
At least I found it funny.
| | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| While trolling through Wikipedia, I found this gem in the Terminator (1984 movie) entry under Production:
Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that "such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer".
This supposedly is a quote by Cameron in one of the DVD booklets.
| | comments: Leave a comment |
| Apparently it was not a just a problem with the washer. This morning the shower caused the water waste pipe for the washer to overflow again. It had done that twice last night when we ran the washer. Looks like we have a main drain clog of some sort that is causing overflow whenever we use large amounts of water at once. I suppose the one nice thing is that it isn't a complete clog, just a slow flow. This means we can at least use the toilet.
So I call up the plumber to send a guy down here to use some sort of super plumber's snake to clear the drain. He shows up quickly, within an hour, and starts inspecting the plumbing in our house. After he looks at everything he comes to this startling conclusion: we are not actually on sewer, as we thought, but we are on a septic system. This of course makes no sense to me.
First, we were told the house is on sewer. Second, we have a pool in the backyard where a septic system would be. From what I understand, it ain't legal or safe to install a pool next to a septic system. (Granted our pool was green at one point last year but that was not due to a septic system.) Thirdly we had the old jacuzzi in our backyard removed and that involved digging right next to where the septic tank would be. Presumably we would have found evidence of it when we did that (like a disgusting black geyser when we struck it). Lastly we have been getting billed for sewer service in our town.
However the evidence was against a sewer hookup. First the street (where the main sewer line would be) is uphill from our house. Second the main sewer pipe in our basement slopes away from the street. Thirdly, we had no evidence in our plot plans of a sewer connection. We had only the original plot (circa 1965) that had a septic system clearly listed on it. Fourthly, the sewer bill means nothing. The town measures only the water coming in and assumes the same amount comes out via the sewer. Lastly, the overflow problem we were seeing could have been caused by recent weather conditions. Lots of snow (20") and then a couple of warm days caused massive melting. The melting would saturate our leech field (if we had one), and when combined with a full septic tank (assumed) it would cause an overflow when we used the shower or washer.
The moral of the story is that our plumber doesn't do septic. Without knowing one way or the other, he didn't want to do the work.
I furiously started calling around to the Town of Billerica Sewer Department and the Assessor's office, and anyone else that I thought could help me sort this silly thing out and determine which was it: sewer or septic? Eventually I was directed to the Waste Treatment Facility Offices, which are located at... you guessed it... the Waste Treatment Facility. After driving down a long road with signs warning that I was trespassing unless I was conducting official waste treatment business, I finally arrived at a small office building nestled alongside a large Aeration Basin. An aeration basin is an open, swimming-pool-like structure where the waste mixes with the air to culminate in the most disgusting smell you will ever smell.
However having previously called ahead the nice woman at the administrative offices already had a photocopy of the proof I needed: A sewer inspection certificate from 2003. Success!
So I called the plumber back and said come on back! And hopefully soon I will get to take a shower.
| | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| So our mailbox was whacked yet again by some careless driver and knocked completely off the post. This is the second time this winter season, but does not seem to have anything to do with the plows. In fact the first time there was no snow on the ground at all.
Having done this twice before, I set about the simple task of affixing the mailbox and its wood supports back to the post (which is completely fine). To do this I needed a 6" long bolt that I could drive through the post and into the 4x4 support beam. I went to the hardware store and grabbed two (I have a feeling I might be doing this again) and came home.
As I actually set about to do the work I noticed that the old, diagonal cross beam was breaking apart and would probably not reasonable hold new screws, and the previous screws were damaged such that they could not be removed. So that meant buying new wood support and cross beams. Back to the hardware store.
My local hardware store did not actually stock lumber so I went to a nearby Home Despot and bought treated lumber there, with plenty of extra (in case I might need to do this again). I carted it home and broke out my mitre saw to begin trimming the lumber to the sizes I need.
Now this mitre saw was one of the so called bonuses that the last owners left behind. They did this not out of kindness but because they were idiots and didn't plan well enough to move all of their stuff out of the house on the day that we closed. However the saw did prove quite handy a couple times in the past and I was hoping to continue that. No such luck.
The saw was not well maintained; it is rusted in many places and the blade is as dull as a Woody Allen movie. I managed to cut the 2x4 but only after the saw put up quite a fight with lots of smoke and a horrible burning smell. No way was I going to be able to cut the 4x4.
So I thought maybe I can just replace the blade. Don't be silly Rob, of course you can't. The nut holding the blade on is wedged tight (probably rusted) and slightly stripped. No amount of herculean force will budge it. Back to the store again.
At Sears I decided I wanted the new mitre saw that everyone in the online reviews seems to like. At that point the sales clerk, his name was Murphy I think, informs me that they don't actually have that one in stock. But he can order it. *sigh*
Destiny would simply not allow me to fix my mailbox. Maybe it is a sign that I should just boycott receiving snail mail altogether. All we get is bills and circulars anyways.
| | comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
| I finally finished watching the season finale of The Shield. The show focused on Vic Mackey and his ends justify the means mentality as he does whatever is necessary to put the "bad guys" behind bars. At the same time, he was not above profiting while doing so. The series had done most everything it could do with the characters and so it was about time for it to end. Vic and his partner Shane fought, stopped being partners, were enemies, and then were back to being partners at least twice in the last couple of seasons.
This was season 7 and they established very early on that death or prison for the main character Vic were not the only two options for the way it could end. This of course got my head racing to try and figure out how it could end up. It wasn't immediately apparent since it took a couple of episodes to get to the main plot. Once they did, it started to become clear how it would go downhill from there and crash and burn. I can't say I predicted everything but I did see it coming. That being said it was still very tragic and appropriate. In the end a price was paid for all that was done by the "good guys" in their pursuit of justice.
| | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| There is a great article over at the NYTimes.com about Washington Mutual's suicidal desire to sign off on as many loans as possible, regardless of whether the recipients could likely pay them back. WaMu even signed off when the evidence that the loan was fraudulent was extremely high. Of course it came back to bite them in the ass.
The $800,000 loan was approved, but not by Ms. Cooper. Six months later, it defaulted, she says. “When they went to foreclose on the house, they found it was an empty lot,” she recalls.
Was There a Loan It Didn’t Like? | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| Recently there was a Wall Street Journal Article talking about the stuff I am currently working on. It's always fun to see the main stream media pick up on this instead of only seeing articles in Obscure Technobabble Quarterly.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122227828522871887.html
I will warn that it reads like a Press Release that is being passed off as news. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| You know the financial markets are in trouble when people start doubting a company simply because it has a similar sounding name to another financial institution in trouble. My 401k at work is through ING. Recently we were forwarded some documents from ING that included a letter to all their plan participants. This is an excerpt:
"First, we would like to set aside what has been a source of unnecessary stress for a number of customers. Some plan sponsors and participants have been confused because our company’s name – ING – is similar sounding to the corporate name of AIG, the American International Group. As you know, AIG’s recent liquidity issues have been the focus of much recent publicity. Please be assured that ING Group and AIG are entirely separate companies and are not affiliated in any way."
Obviously this was enough a problem that they felt the need to address it, which would be more amusing if they didn't hold my retirement savings. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| A week ago Tuesday (I know, I have been late in posting this) I flew down to Atlanta, Georgia to give an exciting presentation on Zigbee
wireless security at the Utilimetrics Autovation show.
On the way back I went through the usual rigamorole and hassle that is airport security. This involves removing shoes, belts, emptying my
pockets, opening up the suitcase and pulling out my toiletries bag so they precisely measure my liquids to make sure I don't exceed the
maximum 2.5 ounces, and then reversing the whole process to put myself and my stuff back together.
I consider myself pretty organized and the act of going thru security seems like a determined attempt to dishelve, disorient, and mess me
up. Even having gone through it a number of times before it still throws me off. It feels like a whiffle ball game where you have to
put your head on the batt and spin around a number of times before hitting the ball and running to first base. Just before you get up to
batt you have a very clear path of where you need to go and what you need to do, therefore they have to make you do things to throw you off
and make it difficult.
Taking off one's shoes seems like such a waste of time and needlessly slows things down to protect against one very specific avenue for
malicious activity. I really want some idiot to smuggle something in his underwear and get caught. That way TSA will respond by forcing
everyone to remove their unmentionables, which will last a week before passengers revolt and start a riot at LAX.
So after my latest run thru the Atlanta security checkpoint's barrage of trials I then took the escalator down to the terminal train
and hopped onboard. It was at this point that I realized I had somehow forgotten my rollerbag at the security checkpoint.
I immediately got off the tram and proceeded to try and backtrack to the checkpoint, but found that this was not possible. The escalators going down had no alternative escalator going up. I tried a few other promising options but they all ended up in dead-ends, or worse, going through some door that I probably shouldn't go through. So I had no other alternative but to exit the secured area and re-enter.
Now one of the strange things that they do before you get to the X-ray machines is that they have a TSA employee verify your ID and check your boarding pass. Once they have done this they take a magic marker a put a little squiggle on your boarding pass. What this squiggle means and why they do this is beyond me. Because when I got back up to the nice man at the checkpoint he almost didn't notice the pre-squiggled boarding pass. And when he did, I simply told him I had left a bag at the security checkpoint and needed to get back through again. He waved me on through, probably because this is something that happens from time to time.
I of course went through the entire security dance again, and then proceeded to the lost luggage counter. I got my bag back and was on my way. What has this taught me.... well nothing really, other than don't ever leave your bag at the checkpoint in Atlanta.
| | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| I did something last weekend I had never really done before and that is give a best man toast at a wedding (Marc and Stephanie's). Now this is quite unusual for me because I am not known for my public speaking appearances. However I think with taking the time to prepare and organize my thoughts on paper I was able to write something that people appreciated.
It seemed to be received well and I am really glad it is done now. Getting up in front of a group of people and giving a speech is not where I am most comfortable. But it is definitely a good way to stretch myself.
( Here is the final version of the speech that I ended up writing. ) | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| So last night I accidentally spilled beer on the sofa. I can't wash the cushions because of the foam they have sewn into the top. So we have to Febreeze it and let it air out. It was late, and I didn't particularly feel like dealing with this late so I left it.
In the morning Katie noticed that Simon (our cat) had been sleeping on that exact cushion. And somehow Katie discerned that his stomach now smelled like beer (I am not exactly sure what might have possessed her to put her nose near his belly).
So the cat smells like beer now. There is only one thing left to do... throw him in the pool and give him a bath. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| When we replaced the filter for our pool, we also added a Chlorinator to the plumbing system. Chlorine is a very nasty chemical and in concentrated amounts can do damage to the pipes if it just sits there dissolving in water. The chlorinator is a device that can contain the chlorine when the pool is not running so that it does not damage the rest of the plumbing, and it has the added bonus that the amount of chlorine released into the system can be controlled with a dial.
Physically it is a small cylindrical canister about 1.5 feet tall and a 6 inches across. It honestly looks like it could be a chemical weapon container that the bad guys use on 24. And what's more it actually does contain potentially lethal chlorine gas.
To use this thing, we fill it up with Jumbo Slo-Poke Chlorine tabs (they look like round bars of soap) which slowly dissolve. The difficulty is that the cannister has no indicator on the outside as to how many tabs are left in the container. The only way to determine this is to unscrew the cap and look inside. If I do this, it releases the concentrated chlorine gas into the air in our small shed. Now I really only need to briefly look down inside to determine whether or not I need to add more tabs, so I end up trying to hold my breath and putting my face right over the cannister to see the number of tabs I have left. This is probably not a good idea.
I started looking online to see if I could get a mask that protects against this sort of thing. As with many searches online, this did not turn up the results I was looking for. Since chlorine gas was used as a chemical weapon in World War I (and probably many other wars) the gas masks that I found where all scary looking military garb that cover the entire head. Acquiring one of these would only make it even more likely that the Department of Homeland Security will come knocking on my door to inquire about my plans with the gas.
As I don't need complete protection for an extended period of time, I would prefer something lighter. But most simple masks protect against dust particles as opposed to airborne weapons. I'll have to keep digging. | | comments: Leave a comment |
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