So what's up?
Well lot's actually.
We've got a few projects on the go and all of them very exciting. There's the WeatherStation http://weather.postcarbon.org , the new phone system using Asterisk http://www.asterisk.org/ and of course all the cool features coming soon to our web sites.
The WeatherStation is built using low cost recycled computers, free open source software http://www.wviewweather.com/ and the Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 http://www.davisnet.com/productpics/H-Res%20JPEGs/6162_parts.jpg. Pretty cool stuff for the Energy Farms. The Weather station will allow us to measure ambient conditions against energy costs and come up with some useful statistics. We still have some minor configuration to complete but it's looking good and I'm pretty psyched about the tech. This is a prototype for us in that we're using Fedora 6 (Linux) with VMWare http://www.vmware.com/virtualization/ running a virtualized installation of Windows2000. This allows us to configure some of the niggly bits in Windows and then run a web server with the data on the same machine. The installation had several glitches but we managed to overcome them with patience and determination. Our next install will go much smoother.
On another front, we've been exploring a better office communication system than we have now. We currently use a rather outdated, cumbersome, and expensive system for managing our phone calls. It's been very frustrating because programming our existing PBX requires access to an elusive manual or hiring someone to program it. In any case it's time for a change to a more flexible solution. Asterisk is another free open source software that allows us to used recycled hardware, using adapters or Ethernet connections to replace expense proprietery (PBX) phone systems. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

We'll also be seeing some new features for making our site friendlier and more useful. I'm sure Mack and Zoe have something to share so keep your eyes open for their updates/blogs.

Cheers,

Hello Everyone,

Yep my first blog. I've set up and tested several blogs but never used one myself in production. So here goes.

First off I'll be providing web support. If you have questions about using our website or you just want to chat and get to know what we're about, drop me a line. Some of this will be new to me as well so I look forward to learning together.

There are no stupid questions.

I have lots of questions. Most of them require a technical answer and some I ask just because I like to have the background or an opinion on something. My questions may start off sounding unfocused or just plain dopey but I believe they're all good questions. This is usually how I learn and it also helps me to create connections with other like minded people. In the past I felt it was better not to ask a lot of questions for fear of showing my ignorance and missing out on interesting discussions. I thought if I listened long enough I'd pick up what I needed. Well that didn't always work out and I would get more confused by the discussion. Nowadays I'm more concerned about learning than appearing ignorant besides I'll always be ignorant.

I was lucky to have enough to have good teachers who often said the only stupid question is the one not asked. I'm sure this wisdom repeated often.

Tim