I've got two words that are going to make all the pain go away. Miniature Golf.

Mayor ,'Lies My Parents Told Me'


Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."

Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!


Gudanov - Feb 22, 2012 1:11:24 pm PST #19542 of 25501
Coding and Sleeping

What's your current network configuration? I can't put it together in my head. If you have 8+ wired devices and a WRT54G then you must already have a hub/switch.

Is it that the WRT54G is in your bedroom and the hub/switch in another room and you're out of ports on the linksys?


omnis_audis - Feb 22, 2012 3:20:13 pm PST #19543 of 25501
omnis, pursue. That's an order from a shy woman who can use M-16. - Shir

Many of the router/switch guys have little slots on the backside for screws. If you have a desk, you could screw it to the underside of the desk, to reduce the aesthetic problem in the bedroom. Just an idea.


§ ita § - Feb 22, 2012 3:20:36 pm PST #19544 of 25501
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Is it that the WRT54G is in your bedroom and the hub/switch in another room and you're out of ports on the linksys?

Yup.

I decided to map it out (also to make sure I am efficient doling out static IP addresses, and getting the old phones out of the system), and the bedroom ports are taken up with:

  • server
  • PC
  • NAS
  • link to living room

and then all the other wired devices are on the switch in the living room:

  • TV
  • TiVo
  • work laptop
  • BluRay player
  • Apple TV
  • printer


§ ita § - Feb 22, 2012 3:21:54 pm PST #19545 of 25501
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

you could screw it to the underside of the desk, to reduce the aesthetic problem in the bedroom

And increase the chances of banging up against it...it's just a nightmare back there. I get so jealous when those people post their gorgeous workplaces on lifehacker. I have no idea how they manage what they do.


Gudanov - Feb 22, 2012 6:24:34 pm PST #19546 of 25501
Coding and Sleeping

And I'm going to guess your cable/DSL modem is also in your bedroom preventing the swapping of the two and adding a switch in your living room instead of the bedroom.


§ ita § - Feb 22, 2012 7:18:24 pm PST #19547 of 25501
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Bingo.

However, my network is now clearly diagrammed with wired and wireless devices alike. Static DHCP leases are up to date, and the serial number/model panels of all major electronics have been photographed and uploaded to Evernote. Some manuals have been added.

Maybe next weekend I'll consolidate network shares, and see if I can either get rid of the Linux box (weeps at reduced diversity) or make sure it's being used in an automation workflow. Or I can verify VNC is up and working, and maybe move its noisy ass into the living room. Right now it's just a backup iTunes server and a file server.

How much backup iTunes do I need? The PC and the Linux box run off the same files, the Linux box broadcasting music using firefly, and the Apple TV has a dupe of the library, the iPod has the same, and the MacBook and both Android devices have all the purchased non-DRMed files. God forbid I should be without music.

I'm choking trying to work out how to organise the information to stream with uPNP, though. I have found apps that will poll and rename, but I need to combine that with transcoding somehow.


Typo Boy - Feb 23, 2012 4:07:35 am PST #19548 of 25501
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.

Can any of your wired devices be made wireless?


§ ita § - Feb 23, 2012 5:05:50 am PST #19549 of 25501
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

The ones that are wired are wired because it's the only adapters they have, or because I regularly move large files to and from them and want a big stable pipe. In fact, I'd like to have a cable for my MacBook too, I think. And I need to check and see if my DVD player gets cabled.

Looks like my Firefly media server is down anyway.

I mean, it seems to be running--I can access the web server and make config changes, but none of the iTunes installs can access it. And development is stalled on it. Now I see a bunch of media servers that run off a NAS, but not the one I have. I wasn't thinking of that when I was shopping, dammit.


Gudanov - Feb 23, 2012 5:25:37 am PST #19550 of 25501
Coding and Sleeping

I've got this little guy for my living room stuff. It draws a maximum of 3 watts.

[link]

It's smaller than a paperback. (Well, smaller than my SciFi and Fantasy paperbacks, maybe not smaller than a short mystery)


tommyrot - Feb 23, 2012 5:34:39 am PST #19551 of 25501
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

Dear Microsoft, Google and Netflix,

Fuck you.

-tommyrot.

Microsoft, Google and Netflix want to add DRM-hooks to W3C HTML5 standard

OK, the whole thing is technical and wouldn't have any immediate effect, but...

A proposed anti-copying extension for the WC3's standard for HTML5 has been submitted by representatives of Google, Microsoft and Netflix. The authors take pains to note that this isn't "DRM" -- because it doesn't attempt to hide keys and other secrets from the user -- but in a mailing list post, they later admitted that this could be "addressed" by running the browser inside a proprietary hardware system that hid everything from the user.

IMHO, making people use computers with a proprietary hardware system that hides everything from a user would be a Very. Bad. Thing. So if that's their long-term goal, then hang on to your open-architecture computers....