Apr 14

Laundry rebuild part 1

A part the laundry rebuild report – mostly for the pictures..

Ceiling

IMG_4906

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floor

IMG_4905

Apr 07

The updated coffee bench surface

New coffee bench surface

In the last two weeks I have fixed up the coffee making bench with a new file surface… Here is some pictures of the process and of the final product. Overall I am very happy with the results, and the bench actually looks good and is very usable:

Patial tiling - No 1 - bench with some tiles

Partial tiling -No 1 – no back edge yet

Partial tiling 02 - with back edge installed

Partial tiling – No 2 – with back edge installed

Grouted bench tiles

Grouted Bench

Final bench.

Final Product

Feb 03

Note to self: configuring extra IP routes on a BiPAC 5200S RD ADSL2+ modem

This post is a sort of a “memo to self”, so I don’t have to look too far for a solution next time I need to do this.

Sometimes one needs to add extra routes to the modem via the command line. The Billion modems have a relatively arcane command line interface built into them. It is not nice, and documentation for several models appears to be very, very bad to non-existent

Here is a lesson from work with the BiPAC5200RS ADSL2+  modem:

  • Syntax to add a route is : “ip route add <destination>/<netmask bits> <gateway> <metric>”
    • e.g. : biPac5200> ip route add  192.168.2.0/24 192.168.1.254 1
      • Note 1:  metric value is optional.
      • Note 2:  gateway address is assumed to be /32 address.

     

  • Syntax to drop a route is: “ip route drop <destination>/<netmask bits> “
    • e.g. : biPac5200> ip route drop 192.168.2.0/24

Yes, this particular modem is a a very simple beast, and I could get a better one. However  all that I want any ADSL router to do, is to shuffle packets between the ethernet interface and the PPPOE Bridge (aka  RCF1483 bridge).  Real work or filtering and routing is done by my dedicated firewall device.

Since that is all I require,  and this little box does it, and does it well, it is hard to beat when the price tag is circa 25 or 30 AUD.

Feb 01

mysql backup script goodness

The VRL bolg server now has a new backup script that does:

  • dump of all of the databases from a mysql instance
  • sha256 checksumming of db backups
  • sha256 checksumming tarballs of multiple db backups
  • gpg encryption of the tarballs once they are assembled
  • deletion of backup  files and other files older than 14 days

Dec 23

The keg of true soltice cheer…

I have found a 5 litre Keg of true solstice cheer:

20121223_160231-2

This is the “Jolly Miller” from the Gundaroo Cider Company… I am looking forward to this

Oct 10

recent events

Things that happened recently:

  • Reorganisation at work. Seriously thinking of finding another job.
  • Working on some new business stuff.
  • More photography stuff.
  • ohh… I also have ticket for the Linux.conf.au 2013 here in Canberra.

All of these topics deserve a larger post, but with now I have to get a coffee and food into me, iron a shirt and head off to work.

Aug 25

converting music file formats

Today I needed to convert a whole pile of flac and MP3 files to ogg, and to rename them to match a certain naming convention.

2 small shell scripts and about an hour or runtime later, it is done.

I will post the scripts here in the next few days

Aug 12

happy feet

my happy feet fivefingers

my happy feet fivefingers

One of the most comfortable pairs of shoes I have ever worn. Highly recommended.

Jun 03

Mr Whiskers

Somewhere in (or under) the warehouses, slums and tenements of the Long Shore there lives a certain “Mr Whiskers”.

He is a quiet and retiring individual, who has given much time to study and experimentation. When out and about town, Mr Whiskers tends to do so at night, hiding his features deep in folds of a cloak. There are a couple of locations where he can be found, and it is there he provides no-questions asked or answered access to various trade goods, legal and illegal, as well as to healing and magics. These back-alley clinics cater to (some) of the needs of Long Shore under-class, underworld and even more desperate of the wealthier people. By large those who come to see Mr Whiskers are those who can’t go elsewhere or who are in need of a “special” service that has to be completely “off the books”.

The fact he is tolerated by the underworld and the gangs in the slums, is due to the fact that he provides affordable and discreet services to all factions who seek his expertise.

Mr Whiskers is known to frequent The Blistering Barnacle, and may be reached (for a small fee) if one leaves a message there with the bar staff.

Jun 03

A new game after all

So those of you who saw/read this post about RP gaming, might remember mentions of DnD 4e.

After a few sessions turned out that while enjoyable, the game mechanics really annoyed the DM…

So we are of to try the Pathfinder system instead.

Will keep you posted on who things work out