Security cameras now running under Fedora Linux (64 bit)

June 21, 2015 Mike Brenegan Leave a comment

Well, I managed over the past few days to get the security cameras up and running on Fedora 21 Linux 64 bit using Zoneminder. The cameras were running under WebCamXP under Windows 7 64 bit, but I grew tired of Bill Gates deciding to reboot the server, even though I instructed it not to perform updates. Microsoft would occasionally decide that it was in my best interest to apply an update automatically, and do a reboot, rather than allowing me to do that.

Click here for some screenshots from the zoneminder site of it in action. I’m already a fan of it since it’s running under Linux and utilizing mysql. For right now, it’s running ‘in parallel’ to the Win 7 server, to make sure that there aren’t any issues. In a week or two, I shall finalize the migration. Another point that would have probably been an issue with running two security servers ‘in parallel’ would have been overloading my wireless network, so I converted everything to ‘wired’ with the two servers in a temporary location to make sure everything is working properly. I left the wireless access configured for it to use it as a ‘fallback’ in case the wired ethernet fails. (The picture above is not my actual cameras, btw.)

Another upside to this is that the zoneminder console is far less cpu hungry than its windows counterpart. It’s running at around 75% to 85% cpu free. For you hardware geeks out there, it’s running Fedora 21 (64 bit) on a compaq (or HP, if you would rather) machine with an Intel i5 quad core 3.10 Ghz cpu with 8 GB of ram. (I checked, and got similar numbers on Fedora 21 32 bit with 4GB of ram.) (The picture above is not my actual console, or web address.) (Yes, I have my console password protected.) If anybody is inclined, and needs help to set things up, just ask, and I’ll be happy to post a tutorial here. (Since it’s linux-based, its hardware requirements aren’t that high.)

Computer, Computer - Windows

Versatile Bandwidth Monitor

April 6, 2015 Mike Brenegan Leave a comment

I managed to find a great, free bandwidth monitor tool that is not crippled or limited except for one minor thing that mostly won’t cause grief. If you need that, then activate it. 😉 It’s called Netbalancer, by seriousbit. Here is the tray icon. It actually turns transparent when you move your mouse over it. It can also be hidden down to the taskbar, where if you double click it, it will lauch the main program task window. Next is the larger popup that you get when you mouseover the double red and green arrows in the task bar, you get what’s on the right. A bit more information than the smaller one, and as soon as you move your mouse away, it goes back into hiding. Now, if you double click the little tray icon, you will get the main program window with all the details and controls that you could imagine. If you notice if you expand the graphic, it says that the trial period has expired. It still works, and even asks if you want to upgrade to the latest version. Been using this for a month or two now, and it’s really slick. Click here to download the program. And, click here to go to the main webpage for detailed info. Enjoy. I used Bandwidth Monitor Pro for many years, but it didn’t do half of what this program does. It would not allow you to throttle bandwidth, or the real deal breaker, it wouldn’t allow you to see WHICH application was using all of your bandwidth. 😉

Guitar Information

Zoom G2 Multi-effects Guitar Pedal Manual

March 7, 2015 Mike Brenegan Leave a comment

I should really post this manual here, as I am going to loan out this pedal to a friend, and this is far easier than trying to keep track of the little paper pamphlet. 😉

I got this sweet little pedal as part of a package deal when I bought a ’93 Samick copy of a Fender Precision bass for $100. My friend tossed in this brand new pedal for $50. Nice thing about this pedal is that I have been known to just plug headphones into it, and they are driven quite nicely. Lots of sounds in this pedal. It’s almost like a pedal board packed into one pedal.

You can either view the manual by clicking the navigation buttons at the bottom, or download it by clicking the download button at the top.

Guitar Information

FULL min-etune manual for Gibson guitars by Tronical

March 6, 2015 Mike Brenegan Leave a comment

Gibson is shipping almost all of its Les Paul and SG lineup with the Min-etune (now G-Force) automatic tuning system. However, Gibson only includes a small quick reference card, or a short pdf that you can download. This is the full manual from the manufacturer (Tronical) that details things like calibration, etc.

I have no idea why Gibson decided to trim the manual so badly, except possibly for the fact that you could probably really mess it up if you aren’t carefull with the additional options and settings.

Here, you can either browse the pdf manual using the viewer navigation buttons below the pdf, or simply just download the 3MB pdf file using the button at the top. (You may also view it fullscreen, if you choose.)