View Full Version : Out of Ideas ...
down_to_earth_sort_of_guy
February 26th, 2011, 07:24 PM
Hi Guys,
I am a (self proclaimed) Geek! I program, admin, hack & reverse engineer (in a good-guy sort of way), etc, etc, etc. This system at home uses ubuntu and does the following:
1. Does daily scheduled back up 3 laptops and 1 server with incremantal and full backups upto 30 days.
2. PVR + XBMC media center with network access etc so I don't need to connect my TV to the internet (slight mistrust of security on those devices).
3. NAS server off a 2TB mirrored drive
4. Poke, prod, filter and convert dozens of RSS feeds to email notifications as emails seem to be more intuitive in my workflow than multiple smartphone apps.
5. Monitors all family mobile phone contracts and notifies us when we start encroaching montly quotas.
6. Does fancy graphs with month-on-month tracked call-analysis for outgoing calls. (saved me 50quid a month)
7. Acts as a dev machine for all things fun and geeky.
8. Has a SSH and proxy server for when I need to access things from outside the country.
This averages the system load of <45% (well playing movies does stress it to ~70%). killing xbmc (self developed web-app) overnight drops the usage to average to < 20%.
So basically mostly idle. btw, this is a 4 yr old laptop so has it's own backup battery in case the mains fuse trips because of something else and power consumtion is less than 50 Watt with the lid closed (which is 99.9999999% of the time) this is a great cheap way to have a server with 24x7 uptime ...
... but here is my problem:
I don't know what else can I do with this? I appreciate the ideas that are in other threads like develop or document or make wallpapers but clearly that is not what I am lookg for here .. I want to know what others are doing to solve their real world problems?
I am really out of ideas now! Help! :-)
down_to_earth_sort_of_guy
February 27th, 2011, 01:07 AM
Wow! averaging 10 views an hour and seems like no-one uses ubuntu for solving anything pratical ..
... zero replies ...
... c'mon guys I am sure there has to be some practical problems for which people use ubuntu except as a desktop!!
Is this the wrong area to post this question? :confused:
cariboo
February 27th, 2011, 01:15 AM
Find a new hobby? :)
MisterGaribaldi
February 27th, 2011, 01:18 AM
Man, if you're a geek, you're making folk like me seem like mere pedestrian users of computer technology. :)
I have a Debian file server set up at home, and I've run both Ubuntu and Fedora (Fedora/KDE is my main squeeze atm), but I don't code and I haven't done 3/4 of the things you've mentioned.
OTOH, I don't have any contracts to keep track of, and I D/L or stream all the TV I watch, so our needs are fairly different.
Hmm... so... how's your weather over on the other side of the pond?
down_to_earth_sort_of_guy
February 27th, 2011, 01:21 AM
Find a new hobby? :)
LOL! Yeah, maybe I should :P
But really ... I feel that machine can do a huge lot more .... it started its life as a automated backup and proxy server and seems to have grown over the last 3 years... as I found things I wanted to do ...
.. this morning I thought I should add something more and could not think of anything cool to do on it .. hence the question .. ideas?
down_to_earth_sort_of_guy
February 27th, 2011, 01:23 AM
Man, if you're a geek, you're making folk like me seem like mere pedestrian users of computer technology. :)
I have a Debian file server set up at home, and I've run both Ubuntu and Fedora (Fedora/KDE is my main squeeze atm), but I don't code and I haven't done 3/4 of the things you've mentioned.
OTOH, I don't have any contracts to keep track of, and I D/L or stream all the TV I watch, so our needs are fairly different.
Hmm... so... how's your weather over on the other side of the pond?
.. I just add things as I need them done. That is what I think the whole linux thing is about .. solve real life problems :-)
btw the morning was a bit gray with a drizzle got better later in the afternoon... allowed me to work on the patio :-)
lsaplai
February 27th, 2011, 01:27 AM
What about video surveillance of your home that you would stream to your cell phone via your web browser? Of course, you would have to backup the recording live to an off-site server for safe keeping...
down_to_earth_sort_of_guy
February 27th, 2011, 01:30 AM
What about video surveillance of your home that you would stream to your cell phone via your web browser? Of course, you would have to backup the recording live to an off-site server for safe keeping...
Thanks lsaplai, that is a good one!
Now that is what I am talking about !!!!
cariboo
February 27th, 2011, 01:37 AM
A PBX ala Asterisk (http://www.asterisk.org/)?
handy
February 27th, 2011, 01:41 AM
Some people apparently use X10 to control their home in many ways; heating/cooling, blinds, lights, turn on the microwave, run various types of security systems. X10 can be accessed via Linux, & I believe you can apparently interface with the X10 system via your transmitter (computer) via a mobile phone, so you can remotely trigger events, events that could be pre-programmed to have multiple effects. Apart from just having such compound events running on a schedule, heat or other type of sensor.
What you could do in your home with X10 is only limited by your imagination. & being a programmer you could very likely get far more involved in it if it takes your fancy.
You'll find plenty on the topic if you do a search.
If you do take to it please let us know what you are up to? ;)
MisterGaribaldi
February 27th, 2011, 01:45 AM
Well, I dunno if you have any graphical design skills, but have you thought about doing anything with Gimp, Scribus, or Inkscape and maybe create new icons, or desktop backgrounds, or maybe make some shirts/mugs/etc. and sell them on CafePress?
Just some thoughts.
Oh, wait. Have you done any video editing? I've futzed around a little bit with kdenlive, and it actually doesn't suck with video editing.
TeoBigusGeekus
February 27th, 2011, 01:45 AM
Forget all this server amateurish stuff, learn how to program and make me a serious FOSS CAD program.
Please?...
handy
February 27th, 2011, 02:18 AM
Forget all this server amateurish stuff, learn how to program and make me a serious FOSS CAD program.
Please?...
Check "7." in the OP, he can already program.
Perhaps he may suggest that you do it yourself. :)
TeoBigusGeekus
February 27th, 2011, 02:39 AM
Check "7." in the OP, he can already program.
Perhaps he may suggest that you do it yourself. :)
I can be the beta tester...
The thing is, I've started learning C (C++ is cr@p) having this dream: to create a competent CAD program one day.
I believe, with my current planning of course, to be able to achieve this goal by my 70s or 80s.
Now, if only I could see it a bit earlier...
down_to_earth_sort_of_guy
February 27th, 2011, 03:07 AM
handy: X10 ... mmmm.. I wonder if I will be able to afford the h/w .. but sounds like a dream :-)
MisterGaribaldi: Thanks, but graphics and videos are good for the desktop, I want the machine to do the hard work I would have done. An example, if I may: I wanted to be notified of whenever there are good offers on any baby products (at the time my son was 6 month old and I realised how expensive baby pruducts and how much btter the prices get every few weeks when they are on offer esp when they are on offer in one supermarket one week then the another supermarket the other week) so I made a script which trawlled daily to various rss feeds and scraped web sites and told me when and where the prices dropped or anything was on offer so I could buy/stock them as needed. Saves cash I can use elsewhere. A real problem, the computer helps me solve :-)
TeoBigusGeekus: CAD program, eh? You will need some serious object oriented skills for that ... C will work for the first 1000, or maybe 10000 lines then you will see marked decrease in cost/benfit ratio for the work required to get anything done in the code also with CAD you will end up building heirarchy of elements so C isn't really best tool for this. And with CAD programs you will want to make things expandable, extensible, plugable, and C will only make it difficult. It can be done in C, my college project actually proved object oriented programming in C with TurboVision-like interface and some novell netware magic all written from scratch, but CAD in C today would be a mamoth task considering there are better languages and frameworks available ... remember to choose right tools for the job ;)
MisterGaribaldi
February 27th, 2011, 03:10 AM
The single biggest limiting factor for most companies and individuals not using Linux right now are programs which have no (or limited) equivalents in Linux. I agree that it'd be awesome to have commercial-grade CAD software available for Linux. However, I humbly submit we also desperately need the following:
Cash register software with easy-to-customize UI (seriously, you could probably do this and make a bunch of money at it)
More brain power applied behind LibreOffice (got to make it 100% comparable to MS Office 2010)
Accounting software and Tax software (this involves CPAs and other educated/certified/licensed professionals)
HTML and CSS-generating Web Design software that beats software such as Dreamweaver, iWeb, and RapidWeaver to their knees and keeps them there
Full professional-caliber desktop publishing software (Scribus is a good start, but only that) which can dislodge InDesign and QuarkXPress and liberate the industry
Many, many more educational software titles and an aggressive push/outreach of Linux and F/OSS into the educational world
Full-blown replacement for Photoshop, CorelDraw, Canvas, and Illustrator
Lots more development effort for kdenlive, which has a LOT of promise as a video editor
Full-on competitor for GarageBand (though, tbh, this would be very hard given the amazing things Apple has as a part of the latest version)
More effort put behind Audacity to make it better than Adobe SoundBooth
Musician-friendly authoring software for music, including commercial-grade DJ software
Oh shoot, I almost forgot: GAMES!!! Sauerbraten is amazing, but it needs to be taken a LOT further to compete with WoW, etc.
So, down, I know it's quite a list, but I'm certain you can find something of interest. :)
Khakilang
February 27th, 2011, 06:03 AM
Had a camera surveillance on your front door. So if anyone who walks in to your front door will get an image scan and load into your computer and match the person's profile with the FBI main computer and if the person is not a criminal than only you open the door. Better be safe than sorry.
TeoBigusGeekus
February 27th, 2011, 11:05 AM
TeoBigusGeekus: CAD program, eh? You will need some serious object oriented skills for that ... C will work for the first 1000, or maybe 10000 lines then you will see marked decrease in cost/benfit ratio for the work required to get anything done in the code also with CAD you will end up building heirarchy of elements so C isn't really best tool for this. And with CAD programs you will want to make things expandable, extensible, plugable, and C will only make it difficult. It can be done in C, my college project actually proved object oriented programming in C with TurboVision-like interface and some novell netware magic all written from scratch, but CAD in C today would be a mamoth task considering there are better languages and frameworks available ... remember to choose right tools for the job ;)
Two things: the linux kernel and this (http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/Beowulf/c++_interview/c++_interview.html).
@Mr Garibaldi: +10^10
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