Read the rest of this entry »Earlier this week, I stumbled upon an iPhone app that allowed users to receive push notifications on XBMC.
When a notification is received in XBMC, it appears in the lower right corner of the screen.
Pretty cool.This made me think it would be nice to see incoming phone calls there.
So I took out the Ovolab Phlink device I had sitting on a shelf, and created a small ‘ring’ script for it. That (Apple)script checks for the caller ID when the phone rings (and for a matching entry in my address book), and if it is available, calls an external PHP script that handles the network-wide notifications.
Archive for the ‘DIY’ Category
Network-wide incoming calls notifications using Growl, Boxcar and XBMC
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010Building a hush box to quiet a projector
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010Read the rest of this entry »A projector and 120″ screen sure are nice to watch TV shows and movies, but having them on the 3rd floor of the house makes the projector unhappy.
Being on the ceiling of the almost highest point in the house, during hot summer days, that projector can become quite hot. And when it does, it tries to compensate by fuelling it’s fans with enough voltage to make them sound like jet engines.
To try to quiet it down a notch, I built what some people call a hush box.
Remote-controlled air conditioning using Mac OS X and Shion
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Read the rest of this entry »My central HVAC system has issues cooling down the 3rd floor of our house during the summer.
To solve the problem, I started using my central HVAC system to cool the 1st & 2nd floor only, and I’m using a portative air conditioning unit on the 3rd floor.
To control the AC unit, I use my PowerMac (which is always on), to which a SmartHome PowerLinc USB Controller is connected.
I created a small PHP script which runs every minute, and determine if the AC should be on or off, and tells Shion to turn it on or off. Shion talks to the USB controller, which in turns talk to the SmartHome ApplianceLinc, which then either activate or desactivate the power outlet.
