Ibn's blog

Last time I wrote about the HTPC project (though I wrote HMC), nothing was working, today it's quite the opposite. Sometimes, in order to solve a problem, you have to just grind - and if you do that long enough you will solve the problem. At other times, the solution will be quicker/better if you take a step back. The HTPC project is a case of the latter.

Created by Train Horns

To my great surprise, and relief.

When my son Vidar was 4 years, I happened to tell him he would probably move into a place of his own in the distant future. This really provoked him, and he told me he would never do such a thing. A more experienced parent would have answered something along the lines of: "Of course you won't, dear." But since Vidar is my eldest son, I said no such thing.

A brother of mine (Swedish) took a test, so I had to best his score. Among the questions was: "Did you take this test to beat someone elses score?" Hell, yes! :)

I didn't even lie all that much...

A month or two ago, our cheap DVB-T to PAL converter died a tragic death. The most tragic thing about it was that we were pretty indifferent about it. It wasn't very good, and we don't watch TV very much. After a while though, we started looking for a replacement. Pretty quickly we decided that timeshift and recording are essential features, so we started looking around for a replacement with those features.

The replacements were not very cheap (by our standards), ca 2500SEK (ca $300US) - and that was when the geek was awakened from its oh so short slumber. I spent a day or two (or five) browsing for parts - and came up with a supperior solution for the same money. After a (suspiciously short) period of convincing, Linda agreed that we ought to buy the parts and build our own HMC (home media center).

V & H has gotten a sister! Last saturday (10/1 -09), at 18:09 little Sylvia ("forrest girl") was born. Both she and Linda have managed very well, so me and the boys got them home from the maternity ward the day after (ie yesterday).

Labor started in the night before (around 2:00), but Linda let me sleep til 8:30. Then we called a friend about taking care of the boys. When we called the maternity ward - they said they were full, and pomissed to call back. A couple of minutes later - they called and asked us to wait until 10 o'clock. Not a perfect start.

To those who didn't get a mail, I either didn't succeed in obtaining your email address - or I forgot to add you. (Probably both, since I added most people in my address book - and a ton bounced.)

Anyway, what I sent was this here photo of V&H - taken on Christmas eve.

If you grep through the latest Linux kernel (2.6.27) for my real name - you'll actually get a hit! Since all the l33t haX()rz have a patch in the kernel, I'm very pleased - but how the * did that happen?

...for arbtrary meanings of done. That is to say, unless something acts up - I'll probably have the car running inside a week.

Things that might act up is:
* The distributor cap is to large. I either have to find a smaller cap or move the timing stuff over from the old engine.
* The exhaust manifold is not in place, and I have ordered new bolts and gasket since the old ones are broken. It's been more than a week in the coming...
* Two philips head screws are worn out, and won't come out.

Sometimes when you program (ok, ok, when I program at least), you commit one of those stupid errors - that completely sidetracks you. So you use every tool you have at your disposal, include google and gmane, but come up with nothing. This is where best practices may save you.