There’s still plenty of work to be done, and lots of stuff isn’t finished yet, but I figured it was still alright to publish.

It aggregates all the blogs I maintain (personal, photo, work), and will soon list all of the stuff I do on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and more.

Since I am a programmer, I figured that computers could automate part, if not most, of the process for me. I generally prefer to use SubVersion as my Source Control Management system, and there is a handy api out there called pysvn. Using this and the Django web framework, I cooked up a neat little application that automatically creates a report based on the messages logged with each check-in.

This is a 0.1 release, so it doesn’t do a whole lot other than look pretty and make a report. But, here are some other features nonetheless:

• Works with a password protected repository, just enter the username and password (these are not stored).
• Intelligent date ranges. If you enter a start date and no enter, it assumes you want every check-in from that date on. Vice versa with end date as well.
• Check-in messages can be formatted using the Textile markup generator to look extra pretty.

Additionally, if and when bugs are discovered, they can be logged in FogBugz. I do have a slate of features I want to implement in the next revision, but I’m not sure when I will have the time.

Screenshots

Link to the site: http://krazyyak.com/svnreport

• Date uploaded is now displayed. My wife showed some confusion over the ordering of the photos. This should clear things up.
• EXIF info is now available for those of you that are interested in that sort of thing. Click on the “info” button to display it.
• Administration functions improved. A file upload control is available rather than manually FTPing the photo.

Development is progressing slowly, but surely. It’s not really an ambitious project, but I’ve gotten to know Python and the Pylons framework pretty well over the course. Next update will fix a few minor bugs and add more admin functions.

I’ve written about having a server at home before, but I’d like to re-evaluate my thoughts on it. I had a quick little Twitter conversation with Mark last night, and felt I should write a bigger blog post a bout my thoughts. Here is my current home network scenario:

I have a Vista based Media Center in the closet recording TV and an XBOX 360 running as an extender to serve it back up to the family room. The XBOX is very loud, but isn’t too big of a deal when video/music is playing.

Our backup system pretty much sucks right now. It consists of burning stuff to DVD-R’s, whenever I remember to do so. I realized last night that I hadn’t done so in a few months and had about 10 gigabytes of photos not backed up. That is really not good.

So, I’ve been looking at improving our backup solution. We’re probably going to end up getting an HP Media Vault, but I considered a few other options as well.

Microsoft released a Home Server product not too long ago, and by all accounts, it looks to be pretty good. It does backups very well, and serves all the standard media types out to clients. But it just doesn’t do enough for me. Here’s what I would consider to be a bunch of killer features:

• The current backup system is good. Maybe as an added cost allow for online backup over the Internet as well. Kind of like amazon S3, but geared towards home users. Or Mozy integration.
• Time Machine like UI. I personally think the whole “space” thing in Time Machine is pretty silly, but the concept is good. Windows actually has the functionality already (before Apple even), but the UI is poor.
• User management. All I would really like is syncing usernames and passwords across different pc’s, and maybe some parental controls. Call it Active Directory Lite.
• Media Center integration. I would love to be able to consolidate all my extra computers into one box. So this would have a tuner built in and record to its local drives. It would need all the necessary ports to connect it to a home theater.
• Quiet and cool. If this is out by the TV, then it can’t be XBOX loud, and since it will be on all the time, it shouldn’t be an energy hog. If the new Atom CPU can do HD video, it would be perfect.

I realize most of these are rather pie-in-the-sky, but if something like that were squeezed into the form factor of the HP MediaSmart, then I would be all over it. Some of these things may be in the next version of Home Server, so I am eagerly anticipating it.

I considered using flatbread instead of tortillas, but I think that would be too thick. Some fresh basil might be good as a garnish too, I’ll try that in the future.

And considering I made this up as I went, the measurings are probably inaccurate, use your own discretion.

Ingredients, 1 serving:

• 2 T Diced Shallots (or onions)
• 1 T Sun Dried Tomatoes, diced
• 1 T Kalamata Olives, diced
• 1 Clove Garlic, diced
• 2 T butter or olive oil
• 2 T Canola Oil
• 2 Tortillas (I prefer the “raw” ones that need to be cooked)
• 1/4 Cup Shrimp, chopped
• 1 T Lemon Juice
• 1 T White Wine
• 2 T Feta cheese
• Salt for taste

Put shrimp in glass bowl and add lemon juice and wine.

Cook up the tortillas (if needed) and set aside.

Melt butter and saute shallots for several minutes over Medium heat. Add tomatoes and olives and continue to saute. Add some white wine to deglaze pan if needed.

Add garlic and shrimp. Cook for a couple of minutes until shrimp is done.

In a clean pan, add canola oil and a small pinch of salt. Turn heat up to medium high. Rub a small amount of salt onto the tortilla. Place one tortilla in pan and add the shrimp/olive/tomato mixture. Add feta cheese and cover with the other tortilla. Brown each side to make it crispy. Remove to plate, and cut into quarters.

Media Center is basically the exact same thing that was introduced back in 2003. Yes the UI has been updated, and some things have been added, but the main selling points are the same. It’s seen about the same level of commitment as Vista’s "Ultimate Extras."

What could be done to help right the ship? Firstly is the whole "Internet TV" thing. Hulu.com is awesome, and would be a killer feature if it were built into Media Center. Netflix’s Watch Instantly is similar, and already has a 3rd Party plugin, but should be bought or re-created in-house.

The second is to focus on one product. The truly amazing thing is just how many separate technologies Microsoft is developing that do the same thing. MSN TV is a set top box designed for streaming television over the Internet. Media Room has nearly the same feature set as Media Center, and a confusing name to boot. Has anybody even heard of these products?

Additionally, they need to move Media Center to the living room. The Xbox is just too hot and loud, and Extenders are still poorly designed and ugly. If Microsoft could release a set-top box that functioned as a complete Media Center, without the need for a PC, they would have a killer product. Give it a modest hard drive (say 80 gigs) with the option to stream to and from a networked PC. Give it DVR functionality, Flickr, Hulu, Netflix, Joost (maybe), YouTube, and Rhapsody or a similar music streaming service. Dump the worthless and clumsy "stores" that are currently offered: MovieLink, CinemaNow, etc, and tie it into the Xbox Live store. Sell it for $250 - $300 and you’d have an amazing product that would sell very well if marketed properly. I’d buy one anyway.

Of course, the cynic in me sees this happening instead: someone (probably Apple, since they’ve already done it, several times) swooping in and releasing that product and stealing their lunch. Microsoft tries to do something similar, but can’t keep up (eg. Zune) and fails for several years before pulling the plug.

– Anne Lamott

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As my wife can attest, I had become a little disgruntled with the whole thing, since there wasn’t any extra space to actually do anything. So, I did something about it:

I got a small shelf thing from IKEA and put the monitors and laptop on top of it, freeing up a ton of space. I use Synergy to allow me to use the same mouse and keyboard on both the desktop and laptop. I still need to work on the wiring a bit to make it extra pretty, but I definitely enjoy it more.

More notes on the desk at Flickr