bmabray's Journal: Movin' Right Along

(Somehow, my last journal entry got lost somewhere in the depths of cyberspace. If anyone sees it, please give it money for a phone call so I can come pick it up. Until that happens, here is my attempt at recreating it.)

Well, things are slowly returning to normal. The plumber has finally finished the repairs -- and I can't tell you how happy that makes me. The windows should be done this week, and that will be the last of the repairs that the previous owner is paying for. Our Internet service is working again, and the good people at Dell are sending someone to replace the motherboard that did not survive the move. Things are finally starting to fall into place.

Which means it must be time for Christmas! I love Christmas -- even if I am horribly behind on my shopping. I actually haven't even started yet. I had it all planned out, too -- I was going to do nearly all my shopping on the Internet this year. But, it's hard to have things delivered when you don't know where you are going to live. I do have my list mostly done, though, so it's just a matter of going out and doing it. And, I don't really mind Christmas crowds. Crowds any other time of year drive me insane, but there's something about Christmas shopping that makes it not so bad. Maybe it's all the eggnog coursing through my system... :-)

In other news, I now have 3 projects I hope to eventually find time for. One is the new weblog, which I've already mentioned here. I think the first version will be a simple perl script, which will allow me to update it via the PDA. The next version, after we (hopefully) move Smart Goat to a new host, will feature PHP & MySQL, so I can have comments on each entry, just like the Slashdot system -- even though that feature has yet to be used on my entries (*sniff*).

The next project I'm researching is an MP3 server. I want something I can connect to my TV and control via IR remote. I'm about ready to give up on finding a set-top box that would look nice in the entertainment center and just settle for a computer hidden behind the entertainment center with an IR sensor sitting on a shelf. I can build one relatively cheap, with either new or used parts. Above all, I want it to be Linux. Eventually, I want this to be part of a wireless network, with (for lack of a better term) dumb terminals in various locations that would simply accept streaming sound and output it to speakers.

My other project is stuff for the sun room. We're already planning to put a pool table out there. If there's room, I'd also like to build a MAME cabinet and possibly an MP3 jukebox (connected to the network mentioned before). All of these things will be very cool, when and if I ever find time for them...