[NBLUG/talk] My Linux alarm clock

Lincoln Peters sampln at sbcglobal.net
Tue Jan 17 10:01:57 PST 2006


On Monday 16 January 2006 23:26, Aaron Grattafiori wrote:
> Simulated sunrise... that would be cool.

Something like:

for n in 5 {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}{0,5} 100
do
	# run appropriate X10 utility to set light level to $n percent.
	sleep 60
done

The simulated sun would go from crack of dawn to full "daylight" in 20 
minutes.  And it would integrate easily into the shell script I wrote 
earlier.

And if the sunrise seems too "jerky", you could increase the number of steps 
and decrease the delay without difficulty.

> mpg123/mplayer/beep media player (http://beepmp.sourceforge.net/)
> would've worked good for this too... but as troy said, using the 'at'
> command and xmms is best...

My only problem with this is that "at" needs to be reset every day; "cron" 
doesn't.

>
> > The only thing that's stopping me
> >from doing this is that I still haven't been able to justify the cost of
> > X10 hardware for the things I'd use it for.
>
> I used to have an X10 camera... but sold it (this was around 5 years
> ago...) maybe craigslist?
> I'd be intrested in hearing about some cool X10 hacks... (someone want
> to donate a camera to the cause?)

Some tricks I've heard of or can envision:

* Install a motion detector in the bathroom.  The alarm clock would 
automatically re-engage 5 minutes after it's turned off unless motion is 
detected in the bathroom.  (And if you think that this sounds creepy, you 
could instead install it just outside the bathroom.)

* Just as you could attach a lamp to the X10 network, you could have the alarm 
clock activate a kitchen appliance that was set up the night before.  I think 
I mentioned a coffee maker in my original post as one candidate, but you 
could just as easily attach it to a bread machine or similar appliance, and 
add some olfactory stimulation to your alarm clock rig.


This doesn't require X10, but I saw a recipe on the Food Network for oatmeal 
that can be made using a slow cooker.  That way, you start it cooking the 
night before, and it's ready when you wake up.  The only criticisms I've 
heard about this particular oatmeal recipe is that it requires you to be 
using a GOOD slow cooker; if the temperature is too high, you'll wake up to 
burned oatmeal.

The recipe is available at :
<http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_17138,00.html>
DISCLAIMER: I haven't actually tried to make this recipe, but I've made 
several of Alton Brown's other recipes, and they have ALL turned out well.  
This particular recipe even got good reviews from people who thought they 
didn't like oatmeal!

>
> Yeah.. I often have trouble waking up... (i recently removed the snooze
> button from my alarm clock (now its worse because i try and re-set my
> alarm for another 5 minutes while half asleep). Currently my alarm clock
> radio is on full blast hispanic station... (im thinking of setting up my
> computer to play some military song though...

Do you have k3b installed?  Just listen to the WAV file it installed 
at /usr/share/sounds/k3b_success1.wav and see if THAT would wake you up!

>
> This is one of the many reasons I love Linux, your only real limit.. is
> your own time and ability.

That's a very good way to put it.


-- 
Lincoln Peters
<sampln at sbcglobal.net>

We don't know who it was that discovered water, but we're pretty sure
that it wasn't a fish.
	-- Marshall McLuhan

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