https://by.arran.nz/ Recent content on Arran's Blog Hugo -- gohugo.io en [Home](/) · Powered by [Hugo](https://gohugo.io/) Fri, 15 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/smarthome/seamless-complexity/ Fri, 15 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/smarthome/seamless-complexity/ It’s all starting to fall into place; the arduous research, sifting through documentation, and good old trial and error are paying off in spades. The house is coming alive, becoming a part of our daily lives. We’re in the future, and it’s free and liberating. I’ve been building my smarthome on open standards and technology, it’s self-hosted and doesn’t cost anything but a few watts. This post describes a vertical slice of one single automation within my home, and an appreciation of the many layers of free and open source software. https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/restic/ Sun, 06 Nov 2022 12:47:40 +0100 https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/restic/ I did not write this article, this is a living “fork” including modifications that works for me. Thank you and Credit to: https://roote.ca/about/tutorials/restic-backups/ Reliable Backups on a Linux System with Restic and systemd Backups are a critical part of ensuring your data stays safe. Losing data is not something anyone wants to experience and reliable backups are how to ensure this never happens. Backup infrastructure is critical but shouldn’t require large amounts of time to maintain. https://by.arran.nz/posts/surron/surron-build/ Sun, 05 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/surron/surron-build/ Deep in the woods The Surron is a complete hack for urban and rural mobility - Fly through the woods and nip between streets - Here’s how I made my street-legal and off-road capable Surron. Part List ⚙️ Mounted: Surron L1E Seat riser, SeatRiser Handlebars, Ergotech 70mm Single rear mirror, Gazzini Indicators, Devil Eyes Numberplate braket, GruberParts Front Headlight, OSRAM VX80-WD LED Switches, Wires & Misc Tyres, MITAS-Terra-Force-MX-SM-70-100-19 56T Sprocket & Chain Extension Foot-pegs, YCF Pegs Extras: https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/retropi/ Sun, 30 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/retropi/ Here’s how I made and configured my RetroPie gaming console! Installing Firstly, download the image for the hardware and install it onto a MicroSD Card. Configuring Now, slam that MicroSD card into the Pi and boot it up and follow the onscreen instructions! Built-in Audio I’ve installed a I2S Mono amp to power a small speaker that fits inside the housing. To configure the PI to send audio via the GPIO pins, visit this AdaFruit page. https://by.arran.nz/tmp/ Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/tmp/ Ignore this page. I need somewhere to put this: arran.uber.space:41060 https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/worst-oneliner-ffmpeg/ Wed, 25 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/worst-oneliner-ffmpeg/ I have an external HDD with all my old gameplay footage I want to keep for my archive. However, It’s all raw from the recording software and therefore HUGE. The Solution Use ffmpeg to encode the videos. ffmpeg -i game.mp4 ~/Videos/Gameplay/game.mp4 But, use my AMD Graphics Card. ffmpeg -hwaccel vaapi -hwaccel_output_format vaapi -vaapi_device /dev/dri/renderD128 -i GAME.mp4 -c:v h264_vaapi -profile:v high -level 41 -c:a copy -b 15000k GAME.mp4 Automate it all I don’t want to type this command for every file, that’d take years. https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/webhook-deploy/ Tue, 17 Nov 2020 12:47:40 +0100 https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/webhook-deploy/ Ever wanted to run an arbitrary script from anywhere with flexible authentication? Let me introduce Webhook! I’ll show you how I setup this Hugo site to automatically render and deploy everytime I push to master on a Gitea instance. Install Go download the Webhook binary, or build it yourself. $ go get github.com/adnanh/webhook Configuration Create hooks.json and a folder to contain everything. $ mkdir webhook && cd webhook $ touch hooks. https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/flash-sd/ Mon, 09 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/code/flash-sd/ After seeing the ocean of search results for a trivial task, I’ve decided to document how I flash my SD Cards. Locate the SD Card $ lsblk NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT ├─sdd1 8:49 1 256M 0 part /run/media/card/boot └─sdd2 8:50 1 14.6G 0 part /run/media/card/rootfs If you’re unsure, use dmesg after you’ve mounted the device to locate the device. $ dmesg | tail [ 3233.883672] usb-storage 4-6.2:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected [ 3233. https://by.arran.nz/about/ Tue, 22 Sep 2020 10:37:58 +0530 https://by.arran.nz/about/ How did you find this? Go to my website https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/australia/outback-outline/ Sat, 10 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/australia/outback-outline/ We’re traveling Australia in a pimped-out 98 Honda CR-V, roof top tent equipped and a custom kitchen in the boot. This excuse for a “4WD” will take a beating hauling ass across the land down under, with the stressed rear suspension screaming for help all 20,000 kilometers. We left Melbourne a week ago and we’ve been hooning north since, we’re headed up past Sydney to a Bed and Breakfast to WWOF for a bit then we’re doing a full anti-clockwise rotation around Australia with only a handful of mechanical breakdowns planned. https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/vietnam/vietnam-pt1/ Sat, 23 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/vietnam/vietnam-pt1/ Arrival 2016-10-14 Departure 2016-11-12 I hadn’t really traveled overseas, I wanted to do something outrageous for my first trip, something really strange. I decided to ride a deathtrap from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. What started as a joke between me and my parents, soon developed into an obsession. I was reading articles about similar trips, watching YouTube videos, browsing forums and remaining purposefully ignorant to the countless posts condemning such trips as “death wishes”. https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/vietnam/vietnam-pt2/ Sat, 23 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/vietnam/vietnam-pt2/ I had bought a bike, but there was only one small problem.. The engine. As it turns out, I should of listened to the two very persistent Vietnamese gentlemen when I was viewing the bike. They repeatedly pointed to the engine and shook their heads, even going as far as showing my an image of a head gasket. As with many Vietnamese merchants, I thought they were attempting to scam me. https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/vietnam/vietnam-pt3/ Sat, 23 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/vietnam/vietnam-pt3/ We had successfully escaped Ho Chi Minh City, we had begun our adventure to Phan Thiet! Riding out of the city and into the country was a fascinating experience, being the first time I had seen anything like this I was in awe - Farmers working the rice fields, people herding their cattle and endless runs of markets kept me amused for the long trip. We had made good distance but we we’re still an hour away from Phan Thiet when the weather changed it’s tune. https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/vietnam/vietnam-list/ Fri, 22 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/travel/vietnam/vietnam-list/ For an overseas trip, preparation is key. When packing don’t forget the essentials such as a first aid kit, copies of important documents and a Forrest Gump hat. Electronics BaoFeng UV-5R Radio Headphones Torch x 2 Samsung S6 Smartphone 32GB Micro USB Charger 2.4A UE BOOM 2 Wireless Speaker Camera Nikon D5200 Body 50mm Prime Lens 55 - 300mm Tele Lens 10 - 20mm Wide Lens Charger Car / Plug USB SD Card Reader OTG Adapter (Micro to USB) Extra Lens Cap 3 x SD Cards ( 8GB x 2 , 32GB x 1 ) Lens Cleaning Solution Manfrotto Tripod Neutral Density Filters Clothes Underwear x 12 https://by.arran.nz/posts/gamedev/crowd-pleaser/ Tue, 04 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000 https://by.arran.nz/posts/gamedev/crowd-pleaser/ After participating in Ludum Dare 38 and creating Roo’s World in 48 hours, I was convinced I could design, draw and polish a simple Android game in 5 days, so that’s what I did. The idea was as simple as you could ask, a tap to jump reaction based game with increasing difficulty over time. I got to work immediately after breakfast, sitting down and creating a 2D array of objects, adding a simple sprite and looping through them to create the wave effect.