1.26 - Touchscreen is now installed!

I finally managed to complete two major projects: the touchscreen interface for the bar soundsystem and the Asteroids Deluxe arcade game.

The bar soundsystem consists of a computer in the soffit with a touchscreen and remote attached -- no keyboard or mouse. I'm still writing the software for the interface, but for now I just use my streaming MP3 server (TVDinner) and Winamp.

The Asteriods Deluxe was an excellent find -- a freebie! I've documented the restoration process from start to finish (if I can say I'm finished.)

2.10 - Soundsystem

I've been working on getting the bar soundsystem done. So far, I have most of the case construction complete though I still have to figure out a way to mount the LCD panel. The whole unit will mount up in the bar soffit and plug directly into the receiver.

The system will be able to stream music from my TVDinner server and from internet radio stations. Eventually, I'd also like to add HTPC (Home Theater PC) support.

11.3 - Halloween Party

The Halloween Party turned out great -- the bar was a huge success! We managed to get the sound system hooked up and tested a couple of hours before the party.

Red gave me a tuner and an amp, the speaker ports were already installed in the walls. I used my laptop plugged into the CD input on the amp via a DS9->RCA cable. The software is a combination of my streaming MP3 server project (TVDinner) to provide over 40GB of tunes and WinAMP as a player.

Also: Now that the bar has had some use I know what kind of shelves I'm going to need behind it and in the soffit. I'm also considering things like built-in bottle openers, towel holders, and a space for a garbage can. I didn't really think of this kind of thing when we first designed the bar.

10.10 - Major TVDinner Changes!

I've been making some major changes to my TVDinner Streaming MP3 player project.

I've jazzed up the interface a bit (with icons) and added some really neat new functionality. If you want to check out a live server, you can play with mine, but please don't abuse the account and remember that it's still in BETA testing stages. If you'd like to contribute, please send me an email. Enjoy!

8.22 - Great To Be Back Online!

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, spookyworld is back online. This time, the extended downtime was not due to a power outage, but rather a move. The house that we had been building was finally ready and we moved in August 4th. Well...sortof. We are still technically moving in, but at least everything is somewhere in the house.

Currently I have put aside the LCD project for TVDinner due to time constraints with trying to get the network up and running in my house. I've become very familiar with my 110 patch panel, 66 block and tangled mess of CAT5E. I'll post some pictures plus a "how I did it" when I get a spare moment.

I've also been playing around with MRTG -- a nifty little program that draws some really nice graphs like this:

More on that later...the dust is still settling, but stay tuned for some project updates and more pictures.

6.21 - TVDinner MP3 Server

I now have a guest account set up so that people can take a peek at TVDinner. Unfortunately, I don't have the bandwidth to enable everyone to stream MP3's off of the server, but at least you can take a look at the interface and tell me what you think. To get to the server, click here:

TVDinner MP3 Server

If that link isn't working, please let me know and I'll fix it. The user name and password is 'guest'. Please play nice.

6.18 - Spamfilter and other things

I'm starting to get sick of this website design, so I'll probably be changing it soon. Plus, I haven't touched it in almost a year and I've been working on a lot of new projects since then. Here are a few of those projects:

TVDinner - Mason and MySQL based searchable, streaming MP3 server. Works with Apache (mod_perl) on OpenBSD and Linux (and probably other *nix systems.) I'm currently working on an LCD interface for a standalone unit. No link yet, send me an email if you're interested.

Spamfilter.pl - This is a Perl procmail filter for killing spam. I've tested it with Procmail and Pine and I assume that it will work with other MUAs.

5.4 - TVDinner

Originally started as a modification to Apache::MP3, this project has grown into a streaming MP3 server with plans to make it a standalone unit that can sit with my stereo equipment. Some of the features include a searchable MySQL database, secure login, ID3V1.1 tag editing, favorites, recommended songs and playlists.