For this project I’ve created a Project Page, in which I will be updating in a regular basis.

So I want to invite you to take a look at the OPEN HARDWARE MOODLAMP PROJECT PAGE.

I am saving my pictures on my computer, but WHAT IF something goes wrong with my computer?
So what I am doing is backing up my pictures (also other things as work files) to my NAS SERVER in Brazil during the night, using RSYNC via SSH (Of course it’s an incremental backup, as I have more then 300GB of photos).

On my server I don’t run SSH on the regular port 22. I use, for example the port 223.

[cc lang="bash"]rsync -av –update –delete -e ‘ssh -p 223′ /Users/dansku/MyDocs/Fotografias user@servr:/home/daniel/SERVER/Backups/[/cc]

Where /Users/dansku/MyDocs/Fotografias is the local dir, and /daniel/SERVER/Backups is the remote dir.

This way, even if my computer is stolen, I know my data is backed up!

Just want to share this cool Association that is being created:

The Open Source Hardware Association is Coming Soon! It will be a non-profit organization (status pending) working to spread the love of open source hardware. We’re working out details, and as soon as we know, you’ll know! Check back at oshwa.org for upcoming news.

They are asking people to fill a survey so they can know which path follow to make the association. You can help them by filling it here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OSHW

Some proposed purposes this organization aims to do are as follows:
(1) Educate individuals and the general public about Open Source Hardware.
(2) Organize the Open Source Hardware movement around shared values and principles.
(3) Provide information and advice on best practices and standards for Open Source Hardware.
(4) Encourage collaborative learning, knowledge exchange, and social cohesion through conferences and other events focused on Open Source Hardware.
(5) Promote the use and development of Open Source Hardware, including to encourage educational and economic development.
(6) Collect, compile and publish data on the Open Source Hardware movement.
(7) Conduct any and all lawful activities which may be useful in accomplishing the foregoing purposes.

Keep posted on their website: http://www.oshwa.org/

Well, since last September I’ve been living in Italy, I guess that’s the reason why I haven’t updated the website in a while, but I will make up to you, good things to come!!!

I moved to Milan on 16th of September 2011 for a “Erasmus” Program (it’s a exchange program, but here, saying Erasmus is easy to make people understand) at the Politecnico di Milano, which is one of the biggest universities in the fields of Engineering of Italy.

It took one month from the time I arrived to the university to start, we, foreigners just couldn’t understand the system in the beginning, which is kinda of a mess until you can figure out how things work.

Besides the university, which was the less interesting thing I did this past months, my stay in Italy have been really productive and amazing as a life experience, I met lots of cool people, learned Italian (work in progress), traveled whenever possible and the also managed to work as a teacher assistant in a course of Physical Computing taught by Maximiliano Romero for Design Students. Also I will start my Internship at D’Appolonia, one company situated in Genova.

Traveling:
As in Europe, you might just travel! Hell yeah!
Some places I visited already:
Italy (many places), Budapest, Prague, Paris, Finland (went to spend Christmas and New Year with my exchange family), Amsterdam, Munich and many other to come.
Traveling is easy and cheap, now that there are so many budget flight companies as Ryanair and EasyJet.

Physical Computing:
Before leaving Brazil, I wanted to find a place where I could keep doing my electronic projects and keep learning, as I wouldn’t have my home lab. That’s when I found out about PychoLab, which is a Physical Computing Lab in PoliMi (Politecnico di Milano), where they invited me to help in the lectures to the design students. That was really cool, as this way I could practice more italian and help consolidate my arduino/electronics knowledge.

Electronics Jam Session:
This was the game; 8 teams of 5 people, during two days, build a game combining design and electronics. The result? Awesome!
During 36 hours, the groups had to develop a game using electronics components provided (Arduino, Shields, RFID sensors, temperature, distance and so many more), also using Laser-cutters, 3D Printers, Sticker printer and a CNC. By the end of the event, groups would present the game, and judges would vote for the best project.
I worked as Staff helping groups with programming/electronics questions, as most of them were design students, so what i had to do too was to show what would be possible to build in that short period of time.
I remember that after like 6 RedBulls and really late, my body was rushing but my brain stopped working, so I had to take a nap in order to help others with problems (it’s really hard to think on good algorithms when you can’t thing!!!)

Tom Igoe’s Presentation at Lugano:
Tom Igoe came to Lugano, Swiss, to give an presentation about the university which he teaches in New York, the NYU. With him was also Massimo Banzi, the big head behind arduino. It was really cool to be able to talk to them, exchange some ideas and talk about the new Arduino Due while drinking beers!

Internship:
Well, as I was already in Italy, why not find a internship here? As I need to work in some company in order to graduate, I decided to look for a company where I could work for 4 months and then go back to Brazil to finish my Graduation.
Tomorrow I will start my internship in a company called D’Appolonia in a cool European Union project which is to build Smart Sport Centers, I believe I will learn lots of things in the field of communication, electronics and specially Smart Grid, which I believe is the future of Electrical Engineering.

Other things:

Italy is know by it’s bureaucracy! And believe me, nothing is easy here! I need to renew my Visa to stay here long. Guess what?! I had to come back all the way to Brazil to make a new one. This wasn’t very nice, but at least I could enjoy some summer time there, go to the beach, pool and managed to gather people to start building the first HackerSpace in my town (Florianópolis), but this I will talk in another post.

Also last night I’ve been working on my Moodlamp, thing that I wanted to make for a long time, and release it as a Open Source/Hardware project to the web, so anyone could build a cool lamp at home, instead of paying lots of money to Phillips (for example). Tchan Tchan Tchan!?! Bellow you can take a look at the circuit I’m doing. For the next weeks, I will make the first prototype of the version 2.0, and if everything works, I will release on this blog.

The Innovators. With a lot of makers! Get inspired, go and start making it happen!

You can find the original file ≈ 15mb, also 1920×1200, 1680×1050 and 1280×800.

Image 01

[Original] [1920x1200] [1680x1050] [1280x800]

Image 02

[Original] [1920x1200] [1680x1050] [1280x800]

Image 03

[Original] [1920x1200] [1680x1050] [1280x800]

Image 04

[Original] [1920x1200] [1680x1050] [1280x800]

Image 05

[Original] [1920x1200] [1680x1050] [1280x800]

Image 06

[Original] [1920x1200] [1680x1050] [1280x800]

Image 07

[Original] [1920x1200] [1680x1050] [1280x800]

What do you think?

Back in 2003, I used to connect my computer on the my old 32′ TV, those huge and heavy TVs, to watch stuff from the internet, at that time, eMule was ruling the p2p community (can’t talk about USENET right? :} ). Then in 2008 I decided to build a better HTPC (Home Theater PC), a full dedicated computer connected to my TV, with good MotherBoard/VGA/SoundBoard, well, a good computer, with gaming capacities. It was good while it lasted, but you know, it was huge black box below my TV, bit noisy, but it did the job.

Early this year, I got a 2TB Lacie Network Space 2, which is a simple NAS Server, and a WD Plus Live. The WD PLUS LIVE is nothing more than a small computer with an operating system to playback videos and music. He has no storage, so it should you have to plug a thumb-drive, external hard drive on it or connect to the network, which will give access to shared files over the network, in my case, files are stored at the Network Space 2 connected to the router. When I bought the WD, I was impressed with the image quality, and how he can play heavy files without any choke. I watched the Band of Brothers show recently co-directed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in FULL HD 1920×1080 , where files were like 7GB for episode of 50-60 minutes. I played all over the network, and it worked perfectly.

Anyway, my Lacie NAS stopped working, some problem with the file system, but the HD was still working great. There is a way to re-format the Lacie’s file system, but it’s a pain in the as*. So that’s when I decided to build a real NAS Server, running UBUNTU and using that Network Space’s hard drive and another 1TB driving that was laying around. I based my NAS on the DIY 200U$ PC from Paul Stamatiou, I don’t even know if he still has his own NAS, but I’m really enjoin mine.

Hardware

For the hardware, I ended up with a fanless MiniITX motherboard Intel D510MO, which has a Atom processor, Gigabit ethernet (all my home network is Gigabit, so it does make a difference). I am also using a 2GB 800Mhz Kingston RAM memory, and both two SATA connectors. The MOBO has up to seven 2.0 USB and one mini PCI Express, in case I want to add more SATA drives in the future.

As I told before, I am using a 2TB HD from my old NAS, and also a 1TB HD that I had, so ≈ 3TB, good enough for now… for now!

Power supply, well, just got a regular one, but another good solution would be a tiny power supply, for example the picoPSU.

Building the case

As the MOBO is fanless, I don’t think it would be a good idea to let it locked in a box somewhere in my apartment, so I decided to build a acrylic case and leave the sides open for air circulation.
You just need to get a drill, make some holes and you are done.

Software

O/S

There is nothing better then Linux for any kind of server, and my distro of choice is UBUNTU, quick to install, easy to configure get it running smooth.

For installing it, you could use a USB stick with ubuntu on it, and set to install from the stick, and you are good to go.

When UBUNTU was installed, internet started working right away and there was no extra driver needed, just what I like about this distro.

You may want to update the packs from your server. I like using the Terminal, you can do it simply by typing:

[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-get update[/cc]
[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-get upgrade[/cc]

Torrenting

For downloading stuff from the internet, such as my Linux distribution, I like using torrent, the best p2p protocol ever!
I like leaving torrent open 24/7, and my choice for this task is Transmission-daemon, it runs on the background, I can access it using any Browser, iPhone using a app called iControlBits or even using a super cool and multiplatform GUI called Transmission-Gui.

You can check HERE for a detailed tutorial on how to set the daemon + Gui.

Backups

For backups, I am using Super Flexible File Synchronizer, and backing up my files via SFTP.

For backup I use SSH and RSYNC via terminal. It’s simple, light weight and funcional, you don’t need to use ShareWare software for this, and the way I’m doing it, you can even backup to your server through the internet.

I am not using any RAID to clone my disks because one is 1TB and the other is 2TB, the second reason is that I don’t really need to backup all data on that disks. My main concern is Documents and Pictures, especially pictures! So these are the files I save on both drives. What i’ve done is, I always sync my files to one folder on the NAS via SFTP, then with RSYNC and Cron, everyday at 3AM, it checks if files are the same, otherwise they sync both HDs. Maybe not the best ou easiest way, but it works.

Next month I will move to Italy for one semester, and I know I will take many Gigs of pics. University’s internet connection will probably be fast, so I will backup everything from there to my NAS Server. So if something goes wrong with my files there, I will still be able to access them from home.

So, for backing up my photos via SSH to the NAS, I always want to make an exact copy of the files on my Macbook, so the code below does the job.
You can remove the -e ‘ssh -p 224′ part if your SSH uses the default port 22. And my server IP is 192.168.1.104, you should change to your IP.

[cc lang="bash"]rsync -av –update –delete -e ‘ssh -p 224′ /home/path/to/folders user@192.168.1.104:/home/path/on/SERVER/[/cc]

Webmin

Webmin is a great application to help you manage your server. I use it to create FTP users, manage crons and much more.

“Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using any modern web browser, you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and much more. Webmin removes the need to manually edit Unix configuration files like /etc/passwd, and lets you manage a system from the console or remotely.” Text from Webmin’s website. There you can find all information on how to install/configure it.

You should take a look!

Apache/Mysql/PHP/PHPMyAdmin

I like building websites, I usually run websites on my own computer before launching it to the world. But I am enjoying more creating websites and accessing them from my NAS Servers.

To install all this, just time on terminal:

[cc lang="bash"] sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-server-5.1 php5 php5-mysql php5-cli[/cc]

Your default home folder will be /var/www

FTP

Right now I am using proftpd to run all my ftp file transfers (but today I usually just transfer files over SSH). You can use WEBMIN to handle the FTP, or you can follow many tutorials found on the internet. For example THIS.

SSH

To install SSH on your server, just use this:

[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-get install openssh-server[/cc]

A good thing to do is to change your default SSH port, it can help on the security of your server. For that, edit the config file:
[cc lang="c"]gksu gedit /etc/ssh/sshd_config[/cc] where it says PORT 22, change to something like PORT 224.

Subsonic – Free Music Streamer

OMG, I wish I knew this software before, it AMAZING! Check the description from their website, I’m highlighting what I think amazing:

“Subsonic is a free, web-based media streamer, providing ubiquitous access to your music. Use it to share your music with friends, or to listen to your own music while at work. You can stream to multiple players simultaneously, for instance to one player in your kitchen and another in your living room.

In addition to being a streaming media server, Subsonic works very well as a local jukebox. The intuitive web interface, as well as search and index facilities, are optimized for efficient browsing through large media libraries. Subsonic also comes with an integrated Podcast receiver, with many of the same features as you find in iTunes.”

Here is what I am doing, when I am home, I simply use the browser to access all my songs. As it re-sample the music files on-the-fly, I created a user that I use when I’m not home, re-sampling files to 128kbps. And when I accessing via my iPhone’s 3G network, it goes down to 64kbps (slow 3G!!!).

On my phone, I am using a App called iSub, you can configure different bit-rates if you are using Wireless or 3G, and it also caches all songs played. So I don’t need to sync songs with my iphone no more, I just listen to songs on Subsonic and then shuffle them when I on the road. I am impressed, you should check it out!

To have it up and running, there are plenty of information on the website!

Now you have some pictures of the server up and running:

If you enjoy this post, or has something to say,
just leave a commend below.

Thanks for reading

The software I used is called Gawker really good!

You can also use to create your own gallery, simply by going to http://www.danielandrade.net/picplz/?u=USERNAME, changing the USERNAME to your own. And then you have it.

Ah, take a look at my gallery here.

Hope you like it, and use it!!
Let me know what do you think of it.

I got my Dotklok up and running some days ago, I am really enjoying it on my room.
But I want to do more with it. Too bad right now I don’t have much time to play with electronics and build cool things.

Anyway, today I decided to spend some time learning the Dotklok’s code and add a temperature sensor to it. The result was really cool, and now I am sharing the bit of code I added to the clock.

To make it work in your clock, you must add a new effect called temperature(); in the switch area, then in
time animations, add the code below. And for the hardware, I used a LM35 Temperature Sensor connected in 5V, GND, and AD3, but can use any AD available, just change the code afterwards.

Here is the code, but you can check the RAW file too.
[cc lang="c"]

// temperature()
// Temperature Sensor + Clock – by Daniel Spillere Andrade – www.DanielAndrade.net
// Should Change the Temperature Only when minutes change, to prevent floating on temperature
// Based on http://www.danielandrade.net/2008/07/05/temperature-sensor-arduino/ – Daniel Spillere Andrade – daniel [a] danielandrade.net

void temperature(){

ht1632_clear();

plot(0,0,1); plot(0,15,1); plot(23,15,1); plot(23,0,1);

//Draw Dots and Temperature

plot(7,3,1);
plot(7,5,1);
plot(16,3,1);
plot(16,5,1);

plot(13,9,1);
plot(13,10,1);
plot(14,9,1);
plot(14,10,1);

// Drawing the ‘C’, it’s ugly I know
for(int i=16;i<19;i++){
for(int j=9;j<14;j++){
if(j==9 || j==13) { plot (i,j,1);}
else { plot(16,j,1); }
}
}

int temppin = 3; // Define LM35 PIN
int tempval; // Temperature Read Variable

tempval = ( 5.0 * analogRead(temppin) * 100.0) / 1024.0; //Makes the first read

/* TIME LOOP */
do{

time_now = RTC.now();

if( ( time_now.minute() != time_prev.minute() ) ){
if( !power_up && midnight_random() ) return;

tempval = 0;
for(int i=0;i< =9;i++){
tempval = tempval + (( 5.0 * analogRead(temppin) * 100.0) / 1024.0); // Reads the Variable and converts to Celsius
delay(100); // tempf = (tempval * 9)/ 5 + 32; to converts to fahrenheit
}
tempval = tempval/10;

}
// Here starts the code.
// Draw Temperature, only when minute changes!

putchar_3x5(5,9,(tempval%100)/10);
putchar_3x5(9,9,tempval%10);

//Draw Time
putchar_3x5(0,2,(time_now.hour()%100)/10);
putchar_3x5(3,2,time_now.hour()%10);
putchar_3x5(9,2,time_now.minute()/10);
putchar_3x5(12,2,time_now.minute()%10);
putchar_3x5(18,2,time_now.second()/10);
putchar_3x5(21,2,time_now.second()%10);

time_prev = time_now;

/* CHECK BUTTONS, return if necessary */
if( change_animation() ) return;

while( PAUSE && b5.isPressed( )); // pause mode for photos

} while(1);

}

[/cc]

Some more pics and video.

What do you think?
If you modify the code, don’t forget to share!

Thanks for reading!