labby.co.uk

I just tried turning the TV on and for some reason the red light on the front of the TV was constantly flashing.

I know that this light is to show when the TV is receiving an infra-red signal from the remote control but I was not sure if the light was also a sign of system failure.

Hoping for the best I tried searching the room for a remote that had disappeared and was more than likely being sat on, causing the red light on the TV to flash.

I couldn’t find the remote but it did give me the opportunity to get close to the TV and put my hand over the infrared receiver in the TV and check if the light stopped flashing. It did, which meant that a wayward remote was indeed the problem and not that my TV was on its way to the scrap collector, which made me happy.

I remembered an old tale about mobile phone cameras having the ability to see infrared LEDs and show them on the camera screen so I thought I would give it a go.

I tried and panned the camera around the room watching the screen. Imagine my joy when I saw flashing on the screen and could find the missing remote.

As always, I hope this post helps someone :)

Raspberry Pi, the tiny but powerful computer recently had its first birthday.

To celebrate this milestone the Raspberry Pi Foundation has made a limited edition run of 1,000 blue Raspberry Pis and is donating most of them to charities.

A very limited number of them are being given away as contest prizes and I have been extremely fortunate and won one.

My prize arrived this morning and I immediately began to open it to get some shots.

Here in all its glory is the sequence of pictures I took.

Note that I have not yet broken the security seal on the Raspberry Pi box itself.

The RS components bag

The box protected by Bubble Wrap

The box in all its blue glory

The Certificate of Authenticity

The Raspberry Pi snuggled in its custom designed box

The Raspberry Pi and the custom case

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Gregory FentonAll Rights Reserved

Why, whenever I buy new audio/visual equipment do the salesmen always ask me whether I want gold plated cables to match, at only 10% of the cost of the equipment I am buying?

I go into a shop with an exact idea of the connections I want, resolution, size, everything. They still try to convince me they know more than me about what my exact needs are – “Sir are you sure you need HDMI in on your surround sound bluray player? I think you mean HDMI out”.

Guess what? I do need HDMI in, I have a HDMI HD satellite box that I wish to pipe through my surround sound.

“But sir, you can do that with a TOSLINK fibre optic cable, which we have in stock for the low price of £35, if you use a HDMI cable it costs £59.99 with – wait for it – gold plated connectors. These are what all the high end studios use and they know their equipment and the gold plating makes a massive difference to both picture and sound quality.”

You, my learned little friend straight from Acnetown, know nothing. Allow me, some random bloke with a pile of money in his hand, to school you in the fine art of digital data transfer.

Back in the good old days of analogue audio (remember that – scratchy LPs, tinny cassettes) it never made a difference. A bad connection was a bad connection. Squeeze the end of the RCA (phono) plug with a pair of pliers, try plugging it in again. If that didn’t work it invariably meant you had pulled on the wire and broke the connection. Throw it away and get a new one from the pound shop (it was 50p stores back then). Problem solved. The question whether the plug had been dipped in gold was not germane to the issue. All the gold plating in the world won’t stop your baby daughter pulling on a dangling wire.

On that note, strain relief plugs don’t work either. Just a heads up. If you want strain relief, tie a loop in the end _O____ with some slack in it. When you pull it, the loop closes a little which you can feel when you pull. Slacken it off every now and again to ensure it is doing its job. You can give that a fair yank as there is slack in the cable. Plug something in without that loop, give the cable a yank and watch your TV fly off the stand. Another handy tip by Greg.

Back to the point of the post – “King of Acnetown, stop dumbing me down”.
Digital data has a wonderful characteristic that negates the use of high end (read expensive and great for his bonuses) cables that can be summed up in a 6 word sentence:
it either works or it doesn’t.

It won’t sometimes work and cause breakup of your picture every now and again. If it works it keeps working – digital information is made up of high and low voltages. If the transmitter sends a 1 (high), then the receiver will see a 1.

If however the cable is damaged it won’t sometimes see information and not other times unless you are playing with the cable and make the broken ends of the wire touch, in which case it is simply time to buy a new cable.

If the digital signal can’t get through, you won’t see sparklies, dropouts or broken frames. That’s something completely different in either your transmitter or receiver.

If your satellite receiver picture breaks up, don’t think “it must be the cable”, instead look at your dish and the sky. Snow, rain, wind, trees, birds all cause problems with satellite reception. Your satellite receiver will try its best to fix any breaks but it does not know exactly what is being transmitted until it safely arrives so it can only do “best guess” which causes breakup of your picture. Nothing to do with the £1 HDMI cable you got from eBay.

With digital transfer, a cable is a cable. The box doesn’t care if the cable is made from bent paper clips as long as there is a path for the data to travel.

And as for the other buzzwords “oxygen free”.. the only time oxygen will affect a lead carrying digital information is if someone cuts through it. There I said it.

Save your money. Get the cheapest you can. Heck, buy a couple at the same time in case your aforementioned daughter rips one out. You’ll probably get a discount.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Gregory FentonAll Rights Reserved

You know when you see another “You’ve Been Framed” clone programme and you think “it was great for the first three episodes but there are only so many water-skiing dogs I can laugh at before the novelty wears off”?

Chuck it on the pile of those programmes, along with Big Brother, Geordie Shore and whatever the TV execs think us dumb little peons want to see.

Remember classics like Dad’s Army, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Porridge et cetera? People want to watch those whenever they are put back on. How many people want to watch a rerun of Big Brother 2006?

Bring back some originality to TV schedules.

Today I had a spreadsheet that had a field populated by letters to represent missing fields (no telephone number? put a “T” in the column etc).

I could have ended up with up to 21 letters to represent the missing fields.

I needed to have a better representation so I could fill in the missing fields.

To accomplish this I had to do it in stages but I could do it all in one line:

=CONCATENATE(
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"A","title_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","title_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"B","firstname_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","firstname_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"D","surname_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","surname_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"G","address2_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","address2_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"H","address3_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","address3_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"J","town_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","town_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"K","county_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","county_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"L","postcode_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","postcode_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"M","sex_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","sex_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"O","dob_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","dob_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"P","telephone_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","telephone_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"Q","mobile_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","mobile_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"R","email_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","email_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"S","service_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","service_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"T","RBL#_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","RBL#_________ "),
	IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"U","join date_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","joindate_________ ")
)

Basically I need to check if the letter exists in the column and if so print the matching text with a line to write the missing information in.

To paste it into openoffice calc you need it all in one line:

=CONCATENATE(IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"A","title_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","title_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"B","firstname_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","firstname_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"D","surname_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","surname_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"G","address2_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","address2_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"H","address3_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","address3_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"J","town_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","town_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"K","county_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","county_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"L","postcode_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","postcode_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"M","sex_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","sex_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"O","dob_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","dob_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"P","telephone_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","telephone_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"Q","mobile_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","mobile_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"R","email_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","email_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"S","service_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","service_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"T","RBL#_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","RBL#_________ "),IF(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2.F2,"U","join date_________ ",1)=Sheet2.F2,"","joindate_________ "))

I hope this helps somebody with the same general problem.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Gregory FentonAll Rights Reserved

I have an issue occasionally – sites refuse to load for me.

Having a dedicated server allows me to come up with fun ways to do stuff.

Today I decided to register a domain name – http://404s.co.uk/ and use it as a simple check of the responses I get from a site.

Type in any web address and see the HTTP response code my server sees when it tries to connect to that site.

The site is not intensive – it works by requesting the first few bytes of a file. If the server can handle partial content then very little is transferred.

If however the server cannot handle partial content and tries to send a 4GB iso file then after a short delay the connection is terminated to prevent bandwidth abuse.

Feel free to bookmark the page, and tell your colleagues if you think they may find it useful.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Gregory FentonAll Rights Reserved

I have set up a server with an SSH connection.
I want to use this as a proxy server for my ubuntu laptop at home.

This is the steps I have taken:
1: Create a passwordless login on the server using ssh keys and copy it to the remote server

ssh-keygen -t rsa -f ~/.ssh/serverkey_rsa
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/serverkey_rsa user@remote

Enter your remote password (for the last time!) when prompted.
Optional but recommended: Try your new login

ssh user@remote

If you are logged in without a password you are now safe to proceed to step 2.

2: Start a proxy forwarder on your local machine

ssh -C2TnN -D 8080 user@remote

3: Start google chrome with proxy settings

google-chrome --proxy-server=socks5://localhost:8080 --no-proxy-server="127.0.*;localhost;192.168.*;10.10.*"

If you have certain servers that you want to skip the proxy for (such as http://www.whatismyip.com or the short version of it http://wimi.com) then add them to the –no-proxy-server section:

google-chrome --proxy-server=socks5://localhost:8080 --no-proxy-server="127.0.*;localhost;192.168.*;10.10.*;*.wimi.com;*.whatismyip.com"

I recommend not adding wimi.com to the section first to check if you are indeed routing through the server. If you are then the IP address displayed should be the IP address of the server rather than your own IP address.

You can make this system-wide if you wish, I will create a new article with a howto for that.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Gregory FentonAll Rights Reserved

16 January 2013

Delivery for Mr. Assange (if not trojaned by spooks)

Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:58:50 +0100
From: “!Mediengruppe Bitnik”
To: nettime-l
Subject: Fwd: DELIVERY FOR MR. ASSANGE

DELIVERY FOR MR. ASSANGE

A LIVE MAIL ART PIECE

A parcel containing a camera is sent to Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London through the Royal Mail. Through a hole in the parcel, the camera documents its journey through the postal system.

The images are transferred to our website & twitter, where the status of the parcel can be followed in realtime.

http://bitnik.org/assange/

http://www.twitter.com/bitnk/

!Mediengruppe Bitnik posted the parcel at 12:43 GMT on Wednesday, 16 January 2013. The parcel is due to arrive at its destination within 24 hours. Should the first parcel fail to reach Julian Assange, a second and third attempt will be made within the next few days.

We want to see where the parcel will end. Which route it takes and whether it reaches Julian.

We just sent out the following message to Julian Assange.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject:
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:43:04 +0100
From: !Mediengruppe Bitnik
Organization: !Mediengruppe Bitnik
To: XXX[at]XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.ORG

Hi Julian.

We have just come back from the post office where we posted a packet to you at the Ecuadorian embassy. The packet contains a cell phone, camera and battery pack. Through hole in the packet the camera takes pictures of the packets surroundings and uploads them to our website.

The Parcel Live:

http://www.bitnik.org/assange/

We will be tweeting updates of the parcel on twitter:

https://twitter.com/bitnk

This is where you can follow the status of the packet in realtime.

The parcel is a live mail art piece. It is intended as REAL_WORLD_PING, a SYSTEM_TEST inserted into a highly tense diplomatic crisis. Since you took refuge there in June last year, the Ecuadorian embassy in London has been the spectacular staging of an intense clash between the international order and freedom of information activists.

We want to see where the parcel will end. Which route it takes and whether it reaches you.

There are over 9000 identical parcels! So, if the first parcel fails to reach you, we will undertake a second and third attempt.

When you receive the packet, could you please:

1. Show us your view of the diplomatic crisis unfolding outside the embassy

2. Send the camera on to a person of your choice.

We will ensure the tracking server stays online for future use.

All the best!

Cheers!

!Mediengruppe Bitnik

http://www.bitnik.org/assange/

connect[at]bitnik.org

# distributed via : no commercial use without permission
# is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
# more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l
# archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime[at]kein.org

I repeatedly get the message
“The Google Publisher Toolbar requires you to be logged in to one or more Google Accounts.” and I could never figure out how to fix it – sometimes it fixed itself after restarting chrome, sometimes it didn’t.

I figured it out today, finally.

Here is the solution:
Click the button on the top right of the Chrome window.
Go to Tools-Extensions and scroll down to “Google Publisher Toolbar”.
Tick the “Allow in incognito” checkbox.
At this point the extension crashed when I did it and Chrome popped up a nice balloon saying “click the balloon to restart the extension”, which I did. Yours may not crash, hopefully :)

Close the Extensions tab and click again on and choose “New Incognito Window” (or press shift-ctrl-n).

You will see the new incognito window. Look at the top right and you will see the adsense button

Click on this. You will be prompted for your adsense username and password. Type them in and the box should now work.

Close the incognito window and the button will now work in the normal Chrome window.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Gregory FentonAll Rights Reserved