Friday 19 July 2013

XBMC - WAF2 - Mark I

 Some time ago when I was presenting one of my earlier creations to a workmate when he told me that it didn't have "Wife factor" (if you are nerd illiterate you can check the meaning here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_acceptance_factor)

I had to agree with him, but decided to start creating machines with more WAF from this moment.



Obviouslyif you are wondering now WTF means all those acronyms then this is no longer your blog ... anyway I will translate to earth language saying that XBMC is this, WAF is that, 2 becouse it is the second one created even if the first one will never see the light, and Mark 1 is because I already know that there will be a MArk 2 :-)

The motherboard is an industrial mini-itx board, with everything integrated (net, USB, video,...)
The power comes from a small PSU (400W max I think it was).
Of course it has Ubuntu 13.04 integrated with autologin and XBMC configured to start automatically.
It has enough power to decompress 1080p and still only use 10% of the dual core p7300.

The transparent "screen" allows me to protect the innards from "unauthorized fingers" while providing enough cooling power.
The PSU has been covered with some fabric just to make it look better, and the stand has been fabricated from Leroy Merlin shelves, plastic corners and anti-slip fabric.

Of course it has "dual layout capability" meaning that it can be laid on its back if it creates a better look to the living room :-)

Monday 15 July 2013

The engine of life

The engine of life is what pushes us to go ahead, to break barriers and think out of the box to get what we envision.

I have my engine.

Holidays are for the summer