2008 – Page 8 – Made by Mikal

MythNetTV release 5

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 31, 2008
Post category:Mythtv

New things in this release: There is now a users mailing list at http://lists.stillhq.com/listinfo.cgi/mythnettv-stillhq.com Moved to a public SVN server at http://www.stillhq.com/mythtv/mythnettv/svn/ Added the 'justone' syntax to the download command Another try at using gflags. This means that all the command lines have changed slightly. Moved the core of MythTV out of the user interface file. Started writing unit tests Changed user output code so that it doesn't insist on writing to stdout. You can now write to other file descriptors, which makes things like unit tests much easier to write. Added video/msvideo to the enclosure whitelist Added HTTP download progress information Added a flag which turns off the prompts for markread (--noprompt) Patches from Thomas Mashos Search ~/.mythtv/mysql.txt, /usr/share/mythtv/mysql.txt and /etc/mythtv/mysql.txt in that order for MySQL connection information A manpage setup.py video.py now has a simple command line interface to let you query it Fix update of inactive programs bug per http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=5580005&postcount=4 Better DB error handling Included a COPYING file with the right version of the GPL (it was missing before) Fixed a bug where programs would be downloaded more than once (found with a unit test!) Started raising exceptions instead of just sys.exit(1). This should make life easier…

Castle Of Wizardry

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 31, 2008
Post category:Book

This is book four in the Belgariad, and was as good as the others. This one only took a day to read, but that was helped a lot by the two hours I spent commuting to and from San Francisco today. This book is a little different than the others because it starts just as the quest for the Orb ends. Yet it turns out that the overall prophecy that the Belgariad describes is still incomplete, so the story continues. [isbn: 0345300807]

Magician’s Gambit

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 29, 2008
Post category:Book

This is the third book in the Belgariad (Book 1 and Book 2). This book like the others was an enjoyable quick and easy read. I am starting to rethink my comments about these books being good for young readers -- it just occurred to me that a lot of people die in these books. They're all bad guys, and the violence isn't all that graphic, but I guess it might worry some parents. [isbn: 0345335457]

Queen of Sorcery

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 27, 2008
Post category:Book

This is book two of the Belgariad (following on from Pawn of Prophecy). This book was a good quick read, and I think they'd be a good mid level reading book for a child. I liked it. [isbn: 0345335651]

First Family

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 26, 2008
Post category:Book

I finished this book on the bus into work this morning (I had a pretty distracted weekend, and didn't get much reading done). This is the second book in the Amtrak Wars series, and takes place immediately after Cloud Warrior. The book feels like it is only half a book -- there is plot development such as learning more about Roz, meeting the First Family, and the Iron Masters, but there isn't much action. Basically I look back on the book and wonder what happened in it -- it would have been better to combine this with the next book and have a complete story in one. [isbn: 0671655671;0722185170]

Please help me test trunk

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 25, 2008
Post category:Mythtv

I'm preparing a new release of MythNetTV, and would like some help testing the code, as I have re-factored how the user interface works and there is some risk that I have broken things in the process. You can get the code like this: svn co http://www.stillhq.com/mythtv/mythnettv/svn That will create a directory called mythnettv, with a subdirectory named trunk, which is the latest development version of the code. You should probably create that directory somewhere where you don't mind a new directory being created. The biggest change is that the command line syntax has changed slightly -- the dashes have been removed from the commands. Therefore, to update your list of feeds, you now use: mythnettv update Instead of: mythnettv --update And so on. This was done so that I could add "real" flags, which are used to change default values like where the database configuration is read from, as well as what the default location for the temporary data directory is. "Real" flags which are currently supported are: --datadirdefault: The default location of the data directory (default: 'data') --db_host: The name of the host the MySQL database is on, don't define if you want to parse ~/.mythtv/mysql.txt instead (default:…

The Spy Within

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 23, 2008
Post category:Book

LibraryThing, of which I am a member runs a program where members are shipped early copies of books for free, with the preference for them writing a review when they're done reading the book. The books are shipped by the publisher directly to the reviewers. This isn't that uncommon in the publishing industry -- both of my books have experienced a similar process, although less formal. (In fact, any very early review of a book on a site light amazon.com should be viewed with a little bit of caution I suppose. These people probably got their review copies for free from the publisher.) LibraryThing's implementation is a little different though, mainly because of the scale at which they hand out books, and the fact that the publishers don't appear to get any direct say in who gets the books. That means that there is less incentive to write a positive review, and that more people get access to early copies of new books. You can see a list of the books LibraryThing is currently handing out here. The Spy Within is the true story of a senior CIA agent who turned out to also be a Chinese spy. Its the…

Pawn of Prophecy

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 20, 2008
Post category:Book

The Belgariad is a pretty formula fantasy epic, with striking similarities to things like stories of King Arthur. The series is written in a style which is very accessible to younger readers, which might explain why I loved these books as a kid. Its also a pretty "safe" story, in that nothing truly bad is allowed to happen to the main character, who is a child who grows up during the books. That might be why I loved these books so much as a child, and read them many times. As an adult, this is a pretty easy read, and quite entertaining. I imagine its a lot like the Harry Potter series in its accessibility, although I haven't actually read Harry Potter as its not my kind of thing. I quite like this book, and would recommend it to young readers interested in fantasy books. [isbn: 0552148075]

Hotel Max

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 20, 2008
Post category:Travel

When I was looking for a hotel to stay at for SIGCOMM 2008, I had trouble finding one in downtown Seattle which wasn't insanely expensive. In the end I picked Hotel Max because it was only moderately expensive, instead of insane like the Grant Hyatt. The hotel is interesting because apparently it was quite run down until a few years ago when it was done up. Now every room has its own unique art, and the halls and lobby are filled with different bits of art as well. Very hip. The room itself is quite small by American standards, which means its about the same size as the room that I stayed in while staying in London a few years ago. The shower and bathroom are literally cupboards off a corridor, but the bed is a full size queen. I'm not surprised about that given the yelp.com reviews. Given all I do in hotels is sleep and work on my laptop, I like this place. If I had the kids with me I would go insane however. Also be careful to get a room that faces Stewart Street. Mine faces an alley and I can hear the binging noise from…

Cloud Warrior

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 19, 2008
Post category:Book

I read this post-nuclear holocaust book as a kid and liked it, so I thought I'd give it a try again. Given most second hand science fiction books are $2, the barrier to entry is admittedly quite low as well. This book revolves around two groups -- the Amtrak Federation (a military society formed from survivors of those who crewed MX missile trains, a real system of roaming trains carrying nuclear missiles from the late 1980s and early 1990s -- the idea was that something which moved was harder for the Russians to find) and the "Mutes" (the civilan survivors of the holocaust, who are now mutated by radiation). Its a good book, although very different from the Asimov I've been reading recently. That's a good thing, because I think I need a bit of an Asimov break to be honest. [isbn: 0671559729;0722185162;1857235355]