Bootmap - Generate static, dynamic and editable maps from semantic HTML

I started a small open source project called Bootmap (http://dyve.github.com/bootmap/) on GitHub. The idea is to generate maps from semantic HTML without the need for JavaScript.

Bootmap-2012-01-27

To make this work you have to include jQuery and Bootmap files in your pages, but you do not have to write any JavaScript code yourself.

Live examples are available on http://dyve.github.com/bootmap/. The GitHub repository is at https://github.com/dyve/bootmap.

South migrations for geospatial field types

Problem:

When converting a Django app to South fails with the message:

! Cannot freeze field 'FIEDL_NAME'
 ! (this field has class django.contrib.gis.db.models.fields.PointField)

 ! South cannot introspect some fields; this is probably because they are custom
 ! fields. If they worked in 0.6 or below, this is because we have removed the
 ! models parser (it often broke things).
 ! To fix this, read http://south.aeracode.org/wiki/MyFieldsDontWork

Thanks to Reinout van Rees for figuring this out.

Solution:

In order for South to work, you have to add django.contrib.gis ro the INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py.

Mac Mini and Apple TV 2 Setup

Here is my current setup for finding, downloading and viewing TV shows.

Devices

It uses 2 devices, a Mac Mini and an Apple TV 2. The Mac Mini is run headlessly (without a monitor, without a keyboard) from a closet. The Apple TV is connected to the big screen in the living room. The Mac Mini and the Apple TV are "connected" using iTunes Home Sharing.

I use both the original Apple TV remote as well as the Remote App for iPad and iPhone. The Apple TV 2 is also connected a 5.1 surround receiver. Using AirPlay I can play music from iOS to the Apple TV (which is my main way of listening to music).

All of the devices run the regular Apple software, no jailbreaks applied.

The Mac Mini's jobs are:

  • Keep a list of TV shows I like.
  • Find new episodes of my TV shows and download them.
  • Convert downloaded TV shows to iTunes format, if possible by remuxing, if needed by reencoding.
  • Accept manually added torrent files from trusted locations.
  • Download added Torrent files.
  • Keep iTunes running.

The Apple TV 2's jobs are:

  • Be quiet and unobtrusive.
  • Play audio and video when told.
  • Do AirPlay magic to TV and receiver.

Software

The Mac Mini uses this:

  • uTorrent
    • downloads torrent files from a ShowRSS feed (TV Shows)
    • downloads torrents from a shared Dropbox folder (anything else)
    • stores finished downloads in a folder for incoming media
  • iVI
    • converts incoming movies to MP4-format
    • adds TV- and movie information
    • adds downloaded subtitles
    • adds the file to iTunes
  • Subler
    • for manually adding/removing MP4 audio and subtitles
  • iDentify
    • for manually adding TV-show and movie information
  • HandBrake
    • if iVI fails to convert a video, HandBrake comes to the rescue
  • Hazel
    • for automatically moving files
  • jBierSubDownloader
    • for downloading subtitles
  • Screen sharing so I can access the Mac Mini from my iPad, MacBook, et cetera.

The essential apps in the above list are uTorrent and iVI. My setup is a little complicated because my wife prefers to watch shows and movies wih English subtitles.

No jailbreaking

I spent a lot of time hacking and jailbreaking an Apple TV 1 to do it all. The results were pretty good, but the setup was prone to crashes, overheating. Also, every Apple software update meant my setup would stop working. So when the Apple TV 2 came out, I bought a use Mac Mini. It was an investment, but it's working like a charm. Also, it doubles as my e-mail backup machine (POP3 Gmail), CrashPlan backup location. Now every time a software update appears, I can just install it, and the setup continues to work like a charm.

Downloading TV Show torrents

Recently I noticed I wasn't getting my TV show torrents from ShowRSS anymore. A little investigation revealed that they were not serving 720p episodes when they became available.

Googling for a better solution led me to this:

Works like a charm, and I'm getting all my shows again.