<p>Another possible topic: asciidoc.</p>
<p><a href="http://evergreen-community-01.lyrasistechnology.org">http://evergreen-community-01.lyrasistechnology.org</a><br>
<a href="http://sourcefreedom.com">http://sourcefreedom.com</a><br>
Apache developer:<br>
<a href="mailto:wolfhalton@apache.org">wolfhalton@apache.org</a></p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On May 26, 2012 2:40 PM, "Michael H. Warfield" <<a href="mailto:mhw@wittsend.com">mhw@wittsend.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
As long as we're on the topics of topics...<br>
<br>
Based on recent threads, discussions, and presentations...<br>
<br>
Robust DNS deployment and management or more.<br>
<br>
Grub2 themeing.<br>
<br>
Multiboot USB (related to grub2).<br>
<br>
I might be able to do one or two of these in the future (just not in the<br>
next couple of months).<br>
<br>
I've seen a couple of other threads in the channel that could be<br>
developed into good talks and presos. We got some good stuff here,<br>
people!<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Mike<br>
<br>
On Sat, 2012-05-26 at 13:47 -0400, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:<br>
> Hi all,<br>
><br>
> At the risk of opening a big can of worms for myself, I'd like to<br>
> mention two potential meeting topics, which, if there is interest, I'm<br>
> willing to do presentations on.<br>
><br>
> The first, which I've put a fair amount of time and energy into, and<br>
> which I've mentioned in a previous thread, is using the OBD (onboard<br>
> diagnostics) system of a car in conjunction with an android tablet to<br>
> display virtual automotive gauges reading the car's vital statistics<br>
> and show the results on the screen of the tablet. This is very cool,<br>
> and, when I mentioned it before, there seemed to be some interest in a<br>
> presentation. The one potential hitch in doing such a presentation, is<br>
> that I cannot bring the car into the classroom. Therefore, I need an<br>
> OBD-II simulator, which I can plug my OBD scanner into, and thus show<br>
> what appears to be live data to the group. I don't know where to get<br>
> such a thing, so, if anyone does, please let me know.<br>
><br>
> PS I'm not using the OBD scanner in my car as much as I was. I<br>
> discovered that the MPG estimates, which were one of my primary<br>
> purposes, are extremely inaccurate. You can put a fudge factor in the<br>
> program to compensate, but then you have to measure your MPG the old<br>
> fashioned way first.<br>
><br>
> The 2nd thing, which I've invested several months learning about, is<br>
> using NTP with GPS to run my own time server. I am nowhere near an<br>
> expert on the topic, however, I am happy to say that I now have a (non<br>
> public) fully cross platform stratum 1 NTP time server running at my<br>
> house using GPS with PPS as a time source and providing time service<br>
> to the PC's on my LAN. GPS time is maintained by the DOD to within + /<br>
> - 100 ns of UTC as far as I know. So that's + / - .1 us. My time<br>
> server maintains its time to within + / - 30 us or so. The accuracy on<br>
> my NTP clients' side is variable, depending on the load on my wifi,<br>
> and runs from a few ms to a bit more.<br>
><br>
> What I'm somewhat proud of, and what was not easy to learn how to do,<br>
> is that I've made everything totally cross platform. The NTP server<br>
> runs and reads the GPS and serves time whether it's booted into<br>
> Windows or Linux, using a different software stack, I might add, but<br>
> still NTP. (Sorry Mac people, I don't have a Mac.) Also, the clients<br>
> access the server whether they are booted into Windows or Linux. Not<br>
> only that, the server may boot on either of two wifi routers I have,<br>
> using two different wifi adapters, and everything still works. That<br>
> presents problems because the server gets different IP addresses from<br>
> the different routers. Getting all these various permutations to work<br>
> was very complicated and tedious.<br>
><br>
> As with the OBD stuff, the hitch is caused by the classroom. There is<br>
> no way to get GPS signals in there. So, I need a GPS simulator. If<br>
> anyone knows how to do that, please let me know.<br>
><br>
> I did have a thought along those lines. Rather than simulating the<br>
> radio waves the GPS device receives, we could simulate it's output.<br>
> The NMEA output of a GPS is nothing but a bunch of ascii text on a<br>
> serial communications port coming in at typically 9600 baud. The text<br>
> includes coded information strings which specify things like time,<br>
> latitude, longitude, data for satellites being tracked, etc. Suppose<br>
> we were to simply capture all the output from the GPS for a few days<br>
> into a file. If we could create a virtual com port, then we could dump<br>
> the contents of that file into the virtual com port at 9600 baud. The<br>
> NTP program could read the virtual com port, and it would think it's<br>
> attached to a GPS. That could serve as an independent simulated time<br>
> source.<br>
><br>
> I see two potential problems. First, the PPS (Pulse Per Second) pulses<br>
> would not be appearing at the DCD line of the virtual com port, and<br>
> therefore, the PPS functionality of NTP would be dormant. Second, the<br>
> time stamps in the recorded data stream would not agree with the rest<br>
> of the world. So, if we let the NTP server communicate with any<br>
> servers in the outside world, it might mark the GPS as a falseticker<br>
> and ignore it.<br>
><br>
> Please let me know what you guys think of these topics as<br>
> presentations, and how we might be able to arrange the technology so<br>
> it will work in the classroom. If anyone wants to collaborate with me<br>
> on a joint presentation, I'd be glad to have the help.<br>
><br>
> Sincerely,<br>
><br>
> Ron<br>
><br>
><br>
> --<br>
><br>
> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.<br>
> Please excuse my potential brevity.<br>
><br>
> (To whom it may concern. My email address has changed. Replying to former<br>
> messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong<br>
> address. Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)<br>
><br>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to<br>
> call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy<br>
> mailing lists and such. I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)<br>
><br>
> Ron Frazier<br>
> <a href="tel:770-205-9422" value="+17702059422">770-205-9422</a> (O) Leave a message.<br>
> linuxdude AT <a href="http://techstarship.com" target="_blank">techstarship.com</a><br>
><br>
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--<br>
Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | <a href="tel:%28770%29%20985-6132" value="+17709856132">(770) 985-6132</a> | mhw@WittsEnd.com<br>
/\/\|=mhw=|\/\/ | <a href="tel:%28678%29%20463-0932" value="+16784630932">(678) 463-0932</a> | <a href="http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/" target="_blank">http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/</a><br>
NIC whois: MHW9 | An optimist believes we live in the best of all<br>
PGP Key: 0x674627FF | possible worlds. A pessimist is sure of it!<br>
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<br></blockquote></div>