Solaris10 on Old Pentium II 333mhz

Ironically almost exactly a year ago I posted a blog entry on how I was repurposing my old Pentium II computer from 1998. It’s currently running Ubuntu and serves as my local apache webserver, web proxy, and web content filter. It also hosts my external USB drive with documents, music, photos, etc.

Here I am one day past a year from that project and its time to switch things up a bit. That system has been very stable even on such old hardware. So I was thinking about converting my Pentium II PC from Ubuntu LINUX to Solaris 10.  Crazy..huh? I believe it should run just as well..the beauty of *NIX systems is that they are as lightweight as you want them to be or as scalable.  The Solaris 10 system will still serve as my apache web server, web proxy and web content filer server.  If I decide to make that switch then I will also change the backup software I am currently using from backintime to Amanda (Community Edition of Zmanda). Amanda runs also on LINUX and Solaris which is great since my environment will be mixed with both.

CarPC Project: Possible Remix…

So…I came across the Arcos 9 PC tablet and by looking at the specs it has everything I basically have or plan to have for my CarPC. It runs windows 7 and has USB ports …blah blah.. LED backlit 8″ screen..

Hmmm…I see a remix to my CarPC project. This would make my CarPC ultra mobile like when I had my EEEPC as my CarPC.

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Turn Old VCR into Media PC

I was at it again with my gadget and mods. I felt like building something one day using some computer parts I had sitting around.? I went to a thrift store and purchased $10 dual VHS player/recorder. I went with that because it had the perfect size for my motherboard and PSU.

I gutted the VCR and only had to few minor modifications to the box.The motherboard was a perfect fit. Learn more »

CarPC Project: Future Enhancement Idea for Side View Video Input

My project basically has about 5 phases which is listed below.

1. Design
2. Build
3. Test
4. Install
5. Video Input Enhancement

My future plan after my CarPC build and installation is complete will be to add another monitor in the dash dedicated to a constant video feed from the side view mirrors. I’m still working out the details on the design but this will be cool once completed. I also want my rear view camera to be a constant feed as well rather than switching only when I reverse.

I don’t want to use a video “switch” design because that would cause for manual intervention at some point. I want one display with two (split) views, the right side view and the left side view (similar to what is used in video surveillance).

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CarPC Project: Back on Track

View my latest CarPC project updates at the MP3Car forum.? I’m happy with how things are going. The PSU and PC are mounted to the console walls.

The next step is to purchase my monitor. I also need to perform some cosmetic mods to the console…but that’s minor and doesn’t impact the functionality of the PC.

CarPC Project: Preparing PC Case and PSU Case

I started my CarPC project back up. I decided to redesign where I’m going to mount the PC. I am going to mount it under the passenger seat along with the automotive PSU. Due to the size of the M4 ATX PSU I will not be able to mount it in the case with the motherboard. Instead I am mounting the PSU externally in it’s own factory designed case. For now I mounted the motherboard in the mini atx case and mounted the PSU in it’s case.

My next task will be cable management which involves wrapping and organizing the cabling (i.e. atx, LED, USB ). This will prevent all of the cables from “knotting” up all over the place and also protect them from damage and heat.

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Record Droid Eris Display on your LINUX Desktop

I am preparing to release an enhancement to my HexxWear website for mobile devices. I wanted to share a video demo of how I was able to record the display of my Droid Eris from my Ubuntu LINUX desktop using androidscreencast. In the video below I am navigating my mobile HexxWear site on my Droid Eris demonstrating how you will be able to shop right from your smartphone (i.e. Android, Windows Mobile).

Here is the video:

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How to Import your Cafepress Shop Data into MySQL Database

I own a Cafepress Premium shop called HexxWear and for the past month or so I have been working on optimizing my shop for mobile web and smartphones. My mobile site is not yet ready for purchasing product from it but I do have featured products displayed with links to them in the main desktop version of my shop.

As with most web development one of the keys to owning a website is ensuring that there is as little manual maintenance as possible. This is done by developing or integrating dynamic elements on your page by means of scripts or other software.

Previously, on my HexxWear mobile site, I had to manually post five featured products. This is approach is not very convenient. So I decided to add PHP into the mix by displaying random featured products. In order to do that I needed a database of my products that the PHP can pull from. Cafepress, as far as I know, will most likely not provide me with a database dump of my shop products (no one has answered my question in the forum yet).? So how can I obtain the necessary data from my shop that I can import into my own SQL database?

The answer to this question is not quick and simple and takes a little time to cleanup prior to importing. However, I have proven that it is possible using a combination of a third party tool called podToolbox, Microsoft Excel (or equivilent spreadsheet application), basic text editor (i.e. notepad, wordpad). There may be quicker procedures for obtaining your cpshop data, but I could not find one aside from the third party tool cpshop. I may look into that later, but from what I saw from the sample sites they are not mobile compliant.

You can also download and view the .pdf of this procedure for viewing later. I also have this posted on Instructables.com.

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My Geek Projects for 2010

The year 2009 was a fun year for learning and experimenting with various technologies as a hobbyist. I worked on a CarPC project using my EEEPC 2G surf as my CarPC which was fun. Along with that project came development of bluetooth solutions for internet connectivity and integration with my Wii remote. I also starting a new CarPC project which involved building a small footprint, mini pc system from scratch and integrating it in my Car. This project is still on going but I have learned a lot from it. This year I also repurposed an old Pentium II 333 mhz machine from 1998. It has been successfully running Ubuntu Linux 9.04 hosting Apache webserver, Tinyproxy and Dansguardian web content filter. The Pentium II is also hosting my files, pictures and music. I enhanced my home LAN by implementing a network based system backup using Secure SSH. My latest project involved optimizing my websites for the mobile web and smartphone devices. These are all just a few of my ‘Geek’ projects from this year, 2009.

Next year for 2010 I plan on working on the following projects and I’m sure more will be added as the year progresses. Learn more »

Mobile Web Project: Do You Have to Purchase a .mobi Domain?

A website with a .mobi domain rather than .com helps identify that it is a mobile website. That means that it complies with the strict standards for displaying properly on mobile devices. A website with .mobi domain also may help it display on results from mobile web searches. However, it is not necessary for you to actually purchase a .mobi domain.

We are in a time where money may be tight for many due to the economy. This should not be a deterrent because as long as you follow the mobile web standards for your webpage or website, you can keep it on your current domain, but you it is recommended that you place your mobile sites on a subdomain. This is will help with organizing and identifying your mobile sites from your normal ones. For example, my domain is hexxamillion.com and I created a subdmain which contains my mobile websites call mobi.hexxamillion.com. This saved me from having to spend money on additional domain because my web host along with most others offer free or unlimited subdomains with their account. Notice that by looking at the name mobi.hexxamillion.com you have an idea that the websites are for the mobile web.

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