Bye bye blogging (& Twitter ...)

In an effort to spend more time focusing on what I enjoy, and less time writing about it, I'm no longer blogging or Tweeting.

I now have a static website up at http://duncan-bayne.github.com/, and once Westiamp is completed I'll add an entry to my Hacks and Projects page.

Hobo-based media player for Westiamp

I've decided that the Westiamp will be controlled through a web front end, developed using Hobo, which in turn will drive Rhythmbox using ruby-dbus. The front end will be called Andelys, and lives in my GitHub repository at http://github.com/duncan-bayne/andelys.

USB interface kit on the way

I've just purchased a Phidget 1018 USB interface kit. I'm going to use it to connect the netbook that I'm planning to use as the heart of WestiAmp with the front panel.

I bought it through OzzieSim which cost me ~ AUD$20 more than buying it direct from Canada, but entails only a four day shipping delay. Seems a worthwhile trade-off to me.

The 1018 has 8 digital inputs, and I have two rocker switches to monitor - one to skip back & forwards between tracks, the other for playlists. Talking to the kit seems quite easy; Phidget supply a range of SDKs for just about every language and operating system.

I'm currently dusting off my C coding skills as I'm writing a small, high-performance daemon to control Rhythmbox via the rhythmbox-client CLI app.

All is progressing nicely with the Westiamp (after a several-year hiatus) and I'm tentatively scheduling a release party for mid next month ...