HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) looks pretty easy to do with VLC.
http://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:Streaming_HowTo/Streaming_for_the_iPhone

It requires having a local web server. xampp is my favorite way to install apache on windows. You could also use IIS.
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

In these examples, my laptop is 192.168.5.55 and I’m using C:\xampp\htdocs\stream\ for the output folder. You will need to adjust for your environment.

If you don’t care about audio, you can use the built-in screen:// source for VLC

"C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" -I dummy screen:// :screen-fps=10 vlc://quit --sout=#transcode{width=1280,height=720,fps=10,vcodec=h264,venc=x264{aud,profile=baseline,level=30,keyint=10,ref=1},acodec=mp3,ab=96}:std{access=livehttp{seglen=1,delsegs=true,numsegs=5,index=C:\xampp\htdocs\stream\mystream.m3u8,index-url=http://192.168.5.55/stream/mystream-########.ts},mux=ts{use-key-frames},dst=C:\xampp\htdocs\stream\mystream-########.ts}

To capture both screen and audio and video with VLC requires using dshow. Free and works:
https://github.com/rdp/screen-capture-recorder-to-video-windows-free
https://github.com/rdp/virtual-audio-capture-grabber-device

NOTE: If the screen width isn’t an exact multiple of 8, the video grabbed by dshow won’t play correctly in VLC. It will look garbled like black with diagonal lines.
For example: my laptop’s resolution is 1366×768. 1360 is a multiple of 8, but 1366 isn’t. It wasn’t until I had dshow scale the output to 1280×720 that I was able to get usable video into VLC.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\screen-capture-recorder]
"last_init_config_was"="default/from reg read config as: 768x1366 -> 720x1280 (0top 768b 0l 1366r) 10fps, dedupe? 0, millis between dedupe polling 10, m_bReReadRegistry? 0 "
"last_run_performance"=""
"capture_height"=dword:00000300
"capture_width"=dword:00000556
"start_x"=dword:00000000
"start_y"=dword:00000000
"default_max_fps"=dword:0000000a
"stretch_to_width"=dword:00000500
"stretch_to_height"=dword:000002d0
"stretch_mode_high_quality_if_1"=dword:00000000
"hwnd_to_track"=dword:00000001
"disable_aero_for_vista_plus_if_1"=dword:00000000
"track_new_x_y_coords_each_frame_if_1"=dword:00000000
"dedup_if_1"=dword:00000000
"millis_to_sleep_between_poll_for_dedupe_changes"=dword:00000000
"capture_transparent_windows_with_mouse_blink_only_non_aero_if_1"=dword:00000000

Now that I can view the dshow video without trouble, I’m ready to encode to h.264 and segment for HLS.

VLC_Desktop_Stream.bat

@echo off
rem Start Stream
del /q C:\xampp\htdocs\stream\*
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" -I dummy dshow:// :dshow-vdev=screen-capture-recorder :dshow-adev=virtual-audio-capturer :dshow-aspect-ratio=16\:9 vlc://quit --sout=#transcode{width=1280,height=720,fps=10,vcodec=h264,venc=x264{aud,profile=baseline,level=30,keyint=10,ref=1},acodec=mp3,ab=96}:std{access=livehttp{seglen=1,delsegs=true,numsegs=5,index=C:\xampp\htdocs\stream\mystream.m3u8,index-url=http://192.168.5.55/stream/mystream-########.ts},mux=ts{use-key-frames},dst=C:\xampp\htdocs\stream\mystream-########.ts}

Note: Some devices honor the video stream’s stated aspect ratio, even if the video dimensions are different. My screen is 16:10, but I’m smooshing to 16:9. To make this work correctly, I had to specify the dshow aspect ratio as 16:9. No amount of fussing with it on the transcode side will fix this. It defaults to 4:3.

:dshow-aspect-ratio=16\:9

Next Step: Roku
Sign up for roku developer account and download the SDK.
http://www.roku.com/developer

The simplevideoplayer example will play HLS and is simple enough for this.
RokuSDK_v41.zip\examples\source\simplevideoplayer

Comment out the other video source lines in appMain.brs and change the URL under Apple’s HLS test stream to your local webserver.
Note: For some reason, this did not play unless I had srt = “” set.

appMain.brs

    'Apple's HLS test stream
    urls = ["http://192.168.5.55/stream/mystream.m3u8"]
    qualities = ["HD"]
    streamformat = "hls"
    title = "Apple BipBop Test Stream"
	srt = ""

While browsing reddit a couple days ago, I came across this post about using a USB webcam with an OTG adapter.

Which lead me to this page about Nexus 7 webcam.

I am a huge fan of Torque OBDII reader for android (Torque Pro) with Torque Track Recorder. It kinda sucks on my original Motorola Droid so I wanted to get it working on my Nexus 7. Which got me really excited about hooking up a webcam to my nexus 7. (I currently have an iPhone 4 so that’s not an option)

So I rooted my nexus 7.

A couple Google searches later, I was reading about swapping cameras on android. This was really helpful to know to look for nvcamera.conf

which lead me to this google+ post about usb=/dev/video0 in nvcamera.conf

YAHTZEE!

Once i knew what I was modifying, I had to mount /system as rw
mount -o remount rw /system

A reboot later and I was looking at myself through a USB webcam in Torque Track Recorder

I’ll export video tonight. I wasn’t expecting to see wifi sync!

http://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Exporting_Video

/system/etc/nvcamera.conf

# format, cameraName=device,direction,orientation,type
# type can be ‘stereo’ for stereo capable, ‘mono’ for not stereo capable,
# ‘usb’ to enable searching for a usb device and where to put it in the list
# if found. Lines must be shorter then 256 characters
version=1
camera0=/dev/mi1040,front,270,mono // front camera
usb=/dev/video0

Overview:
I’m using Perl with Win32::SerialPort to control the autoloader. I’m using Win32::DriveInfo to get the volume name of the DVD. I’m using TMDB on the off chance the volumename will pull up the movie. I’m using DVDFab 8 to rip mainmovie to an ISO file. I’m using Handbrake to encode to iPad preset. In my testing, this looks just as good as the ISO file and uses only 20-30% of the space.

To use I batch together either all movies, or all TV shows. I rip my movies into my mapped network drive, V:\queue\ and my TV shows into V:\TV_queue\
I have my faster computers actually do the encoding. Multiple computers. I map the V:\ drive to the same fileshare. I encode my movies to V:\Encoded\ and my TV shows to V:\TV_Encoded\

Requirements-Hardware:

• Rimage RAS13 autoloader
• Custom serial cable – DB-9 to 8 pin mini din
• Firewire cable
• Firewire interface
• Serial interface

Requirements-Software:

• Windows
• Perl
• Perl Modules – install through Perl Package Manager
  • Win32::SerialPort
  • Win32::DriveInfo
  • TMDB
• DVDFab 8
• Handbrake
• nircmd
• A big stack of DVDs
• A large hard drive

Files
traycmds.pl
ripper.pl
ripinator.pl
gripper.pl
encodetv.pl
encodemovies.pl
cmdtest.pl

ripinator.pl
Main program. It requires gripper, ripper, and traycmds. I broke this into multiple pieces to make it easier for me to keep track of.
Enumerates all CD/DVD drives attached to the computer and iterates through them probing the gripper arm to each tray. If a tray is detected, the drive number and drive letter are noted.
It then checks the levels of the bins.
If there are discs in the desginated input bin, it will load them into the drives and start the ripper.pl script
If there are discs done ripping, it will unload them into either the reject bin, or the output bin, depending on the exit code
This will continue until either something crashes, a disc is completely unreadable, or there are no more discs left to rip.

gripper.pl
Description:
Contains subs
Required Setup:
Set COM port on line 218

getVersion()
Returns the version of the autoloader’s firmware
getSerialNumber()
returns the serial number of the autoloader
goHome()
moves the gripper arm to the top of the unit
getStatus()
Queries the autoloader’s status. See command notes for more info
getPosition()
Gets the current position of the gripper arm
getBin($bin)
gets a disc from the specified bin
putBin($bin)
puts a disc in the specified bin
getDrive()
gets a disc from the specified drive
putDrive()
puts a disc in the specified drive
probeTray()
probes the gripper arm to the disc tray, returns drive number
sendCommand()
sends a command to the autloader. see command notes for more info

traycmds.pl
Description:
Contains subs
Required Setup:
Put nircmd in C:\nircmd\nircmd.exe

@allDVDdrives = closeAllDrives()
Closes all CD/DVD drives. Returns an array of all the CD/DVD drives attached to the computer.
closeDrive($drive)
Closes the specified drive
openDrive($drive)
opensthe specified drive
getVolName($drive)
gets the volume label of the specified drive

ripper.pl
Usage:
perl ripper.pl $drive $tray
Description:
Rips DVD to specified location. makes and removes lock files for ripinator. Looks up TMDB, if available, uses moviename and year for filename, if not, uses volumename.
Required Setup:
Get an API key for TMDB
set $dest_dir where you want ripped DVD ISO files to be stored
set $dvdfab as path to dvdfab.exe
enter TMDB API kay on line 96

cmdtest.pl
Usage:
perl cmdtest.pl !e1C
Description:
Allows sending commands to the autoloader

encodemovies.pl
Usage:
perl encodemovies.pl
Description:
Encodes ISO files to iPad preset m4v with handbrake.
Required Setup:
Set machine name, path to handbrake, source and destination folders.

encodetv.pl
Usage:
perl encodetv.pl
Description:
Encodes ISO files to iPad preset m4v with handbrake. Splits each title into a separate file.
Required Setup:
Set machine name, path to handbrake, source and destination folders.

Back Story:
A few years ago, we had a Rimage DVD production robot at work. I dubbed it Trogdor the Burninator. Rimage had some pretty scummy practices… The ink cartridges are standard HP cartridges, but had a little tag in the label that will keep the software from loading if you don’t buy the Rimage branded cartridges. I’m sure they would have gouged even more if they could think of a way to do it. So we replaced it with a newer, nicer one from Primera. It was an improvement in pretty much every way. I got the old one since no one else wanted it. SCORE!

I took it up as a project again. I had saved the old software from Rimage and was able to get it to run for 30 days between wiping and reloading the computer it was attached to. This was enough time to determine that the connection between the printer and the RAS 13 autoloader was RS232 serial. I sniffed the traffic between long enough to figure out which commands did what, and what replies meant. This is by no means definitive, but it’s enough to use an otherwise useless piece of equipment.

I had popped the side off my RAS 13 and looked at the port that had been used to control the autoloader. It was a mini din 8 pin port. It was connected to a serial level converter chip. I took this as a sign it used RS232. There were 4 pins actually connected to the chip, 1, 2, 3, and 8. Pin 5 was connected to ground. Picture: Control PCB inside RAS 13

Some trial and error with the breadboard. Picture: Messy Breadboard

Once I had the proof of concept, I wanted to order some connectors to make it a little tidier.

Diagram of cable connection. Note: both ends are looking into male connectors. Check out my Skills of an Artist!

Connectors are pretty easy to find. I ordered from mouser and sparkfun since I was ordering other stuff too.

• 8 pin mini din connector
• Break Away Headers – Straight
• Breakout Board for Serial DB9
• 9 Pin Female Serial Connector – PCB Mount
• Ribbon Crimp Connector – Breadboad Friendly (2×5, Female)
• Ribbon Cable – 10 wire (15ft)
• Serial Connector – Ribbon Cable (Female, 9-pin)

I’m using DVDFab to rip since it doesn’t seem to get tripped up as often with weird copy protection crap.

Luckily, Win32::DriveInfo will give me the volume name of the DVD. If I get time, I’ll rewrite so it checks for duplicates and appends the date&time to get a unique filename for output. It’s a little annoying when 3 discs are all named “DVD_VIDEO”.

I’m not setting it as an autorun action for the DVD drive because I’m going to call it from the ripinator script.

ripdisc.pl

use strict;
use Win32::DriveInfo;

my $dvdfab = "C:\\Program Files\\DVDFab 8\\DVDFab.exe";

my $dvd_drive =  "D";
my $dest_dir = "C:\\ISO";

my $mode = "mainmovie";
my $titlemode = "auto";
my $audio = "English";
my $audiotype = "AC-3/5.1&AC-3/2";
my $removedts = "yes";
my $removemenu = "yes";
my $removepgc = "yes";
my $subtitle = "English";
my $displayforcedsub = "yes";
my $outdisc = "dvd5";

(my $volumeName,
my $VolumeSerialNumber,
my $MaximumComponentLength,
my $FileSystemName, my @attr) = Win32::DriveInfo::VolumeInfo($dvd_drive);

my $dest_file = $dest_dir . "\\" . $volumeName . ".iso";

my $dupNumber = 1;
while (-e $dest_file) {
	$dupNumber++;
	$dest_file = $dest_dir . "\\" . $fileout . " (" . $dupNumber . ").iso";
}

my @ripcmd = ($dvdfab,
	"/mode \"" . $mode . "\"",
	"/src \"" . $dvd_drive . ":\\\"",
	"/dest \"" . $dest_file . "\"",
	"/title \"" . $titlemode . "\"",
	"/audio \"" . $audio . "\"",
	"/audiotype \"" . $audiotype . "\"",
	"/removedts \"" . $removedts . "\"",
	"/removemenu \"" . $removemenu . "\"",
	"/removepgc \"" . $removepgc . "\"",
	"/subtitle \"" . $subtitle . "\"",
	"/displayforcedsub \"" . $displayforcedsub . "\"",
	"/outdisc \"" . $outdisc . "\"",
	"/close");

system(@ripcmd);

Each command starts with the nonprintable ascii character ESC (x1B) and ends with a capital C.
Each reply starts with the nonprintable ascii character ESC (x1B) and ends with EOT (x04). Since that looks pretty ugly in a terminal, I replace ESC with a + sign and the EOT with an = sign.

In the known command list, the commands aren’t indented and the known replies are indented.

I smacked together a little bit of perl to verify I was understanding the commands correctly.

perl cmdsend.pl !f12600C

cmdsend.pl

#use Device::SerialPort;
use Win32::SerialPort

my $DONE = 0;

#my $ob = new Device::SerialPort("/dev/ttyUSB0") || die;
my $ob = new Win32::SerialPort("COM1") || die;
$ob->user_msg(1);
$ob->error_msg(1);

$ob->baudrate(38400);
$ob->parity("none");
$ob->parity_enable(0);
$ob->databits(8);
$ob->stopbits(1);
$ob->handshake('rts');

$ob->write_settings || undef $ob;

print $ARGV[0] . "\n";

$ob->write("\x1B" . $ARGV[0]);

while(!$DONE) {
	if(my $result = $ob->input) {
		$result =~ s/\x1B/+/g;
		$result =~ s/\x04/=/g;
		print $result . "\n";
		$DONE++;
	}
	select undef, undef, undef, 0.25; # short sleep
}
undef $ob;

Known Command List

!f:C Query Serial Number

!e0C Get Version

!e1C Get Status
	!e1000000C - Ready
	!e1002000C - Wait?
	!e1003000C - No Disc
	!e1007000C - No Drive Tray Detected

## Setup / Initialization
!f12402C Probe to Disc Drive Tray
	!f10C - No Disc
	!f11C - Disc Was In Drive

!f0240C Get Result of Probe to Disc Drive Tray
	!f01300241C - Bottom Drive
	!f01300242C - Third Drive From Top
	!f01300243C - Second Drive From Top
	!f01300244C - Top Drive
	!f01365534C - Error

## Grabber Arm Movement
!f12600C Move To - Home Grabber Arm - Stop Above Printer
	!f11C

!f12400C Move To - Above Top Drive

## Load / Unload Drives
!f12440C Move To - Top Drive
!f12441C Put Disc - Top Drive
!f12442C Grab Disc - Top Drive

!f12430C Move To - Second Drive From Top
!f12431C Put Disc - Second Drive From Top
!f12432C Grab Disc - Second Drive From Top

!f12420C Move To - Third Drive From Top
!f12421C Put Disc - Third Drive From Top
!f12422C Grab Disc - Third Drive From Top

!f12410C Move To - Bottom Drive
!f12411C Put Disc - Bottom Drive
!f12412C Grab Disc - Bottom Drive

## Get Disc From Bin
!f12002C Grab Disc - Bin 1
!f12012C Grab Disc - Bin 2
!f12022C Grab Disc - Bin 3

## Put Disc In Bin
!f12001C Put Disc - Bin 1
!f12011C Put Disc - Bin 2
!f12021C Put Disc - Bin 3

## Inventory Bins
!f0200C - Query Discs in Bin 1
	!f01000000C - 0 discs
	!f01300003C - 3 discs
	!f01365534C - Error

!f0201C - Query Discs in Bin 2
	!f01000000C - 0 discs
	!f01300003C - 3 discs
	!f01365534C - Error

!f0202C - Query Discs in Bin 3
	!f01000000C - 0 discs
	!f01300003C - 3 discs
	!f01365534C - Error

## Get Grabber Arm Location
!f0220C - Query Current Location
	!f01000500C - Top
	!f01002585C -

## Useless Since The Printer is Crippled
!f12602C - Grab Disc - Printer Tray
	!f10C -

Install instructions
http://www.subsonic.org/pages/installation.jsp#debian
http://dilerium.se/musiccabinet/#installation

I’ve kept notes for when I end up rebuilding this server.

Start by updating the system

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Install Oracle Java 7

sudo apt-get install python-software-properties
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer

Reference Links
http://www.webupd8.org/2012/01/install-oracle-java-jdk-7-in-ubuntu-via.html
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-2000856.html

Install Subsonic

http://www.subsonic.org/pages/installation.jsp#debian
wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/subsonic/subsonic-4.7.deb
sudo dpkg -i subsonic-4.7.deb
sudo service subsonic stop

Install musiccabinet

sudo apt-get install unzip
wget http://dilerium.se/musiccabinet/subsonic-installer-standalone.zip
unzip subsonic-installer-standalone.zip

sudo cp ~/subsonic-installer-standalone/subsonic-booter.jar /usr/share/subsonic/subsonic-booter-jar-with-dependencies.jar
sudo cp ~/subsonic-installer-standalonesubsonic-main.war /usr/share/subsonic/subsonic.war

Set a password for the “postgres” database role using the command:

sudo -u postgres psql postgres
\password postgres

Give your password when prompted. The password text will be hidden from the console for security purposes.
Type Control+D to exit the posgreSQL prompt.

Reference Links
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PostgreSQL

Start Subsonic Service

sudo service subsonic start

Connect to the IP address of the ubuntu server using http on port 4040, default username / password is admin / admin

I have to agree with the musiccabinet installation instructions for the last step “Start and log in to Subsonic as usual (normally via localhost:4040) and click the big “Configure MusicCabinet” header link. It should be pretty self-explanatory from there.” It really is self-explanatory.

I love iSub for streaming to my iPhone, DSub for streaming to my android tablet. I think “donating” to the project is a good idea, but if you don’t feel like it…
https://gist.github.com/andycandet/1611509 will enable subsonic after the “trial” has ended.

This is what I came up with

There are more options than I expected but two really stood out to me, xibo and concerto. Both are built with php/mysql.

My first attempt was xibo on ubuntu 12.04, which only ended in tears. I tried again with 10.04 and had some success. The client (display) is written with python for linux, .NET for windows. I got everything set up and running, but not running well. I want it to play a video that’s just over 5 minutes in length. The .NET client hangs at the end of the video and doesn’t progress to the next slide. I was unable to get the python client to play video well at all.

Moving on.

I eventually found a simplified install guide for concerto. It isn’t very complicated at all, but the instructions could have been better.

Concerto Overview – http://www.concerto-signage.org/deploy
One thing I like about Concerto is the flexibility. It’s very simple to have it geographically distributed over the internet or a VPN or WAN, or across multiple buildings at a single site, or limited to a single stand-alone machine that’s both server and client.

I wanted the frontend and backend to be the same machine, so I installed the backend and used chromium in app mode for the display.

Official instructions – http://www.concerto-signage.org/help_pages/30
Better instructions – https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/concerto-digital-signage/NJbhl0CwshQ

A few things to note about concerto.

• the screens (displays) are identified by MAC address
• you have to import templates before you can create a screen (http://www.concerto-signage.org/help_pages/38)
• changing a screen’s size or template will disassociate everything

the URL for viewing a screen is http://127.0.0.1/?mac=00:00:DE:AD:BE:EF assuming 127.0.0.1 is the concerto server’s IP address and 00:00:DE:AD:BE:EF is the MAC address you entered for the screen

I found an excellent guide for building a browser kiosk. Arch linux wiki has an interesting page too.
http://www.alandmoore.com/blog/2011/11/05/creating-a-kiosk-with-linux-and-x11-2011-edition/
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Creating_a_Web_Kiosk

I also wanted to be able to trigger a video to play on demand. I was able to get xbindkeys to run a script. arch linux has an excellent guide for xbindkeys.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xbindkeys

I was able to get mplayer to play full screen
mplayer -vo xv -fs -stop-xscreensaver -zoom /opt/test.mpg

.xbindkeysrc

#start video
"bash /opt/launchvid.sh"
    grave

#kill session
"kill `ps aux | grep .xsession | grep -v dbus | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}'`"
    control + 0

.xsession

xset s off
xset -dpms
matchbox-window-manager -use_titlebar no &
/usr/bin/xbindkeys &
while true; do
    rsync -qr --delete --exclude='.Xauthority' /opt/kiosk/ $HOME/
    chromium-browser --app=http://127.0.0.1/screen/?mac=00:00:DE:AD:BE:EF
done

launchvid.sh

#!/bin/sh

if ps ax | grep -v grep | grep mplayer > /dev/null
then
        killall mplayer
else
        mplayer -vo xv -fs -stop-xscreensaver -zoom /opt/test.mpg
fi

http://www.itninja.com/question/silent-uninstall-java-all-versions

The post almost to the bottom by SpellJammer | 02/28/2012 | is pretty awesome.

VB Uninstall Script. Simple and Elegant

'###########Script Written By Dylan Ogle & Nainesh Bhavan - November 2011##########

'Start Script

On Error Resume Next
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

'Uninstall Java 2 Runtime Environment, J2SE Runtime Environment
Set colJava4dot3 = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_Product Where Name like 'Java 2 Runtime Environment Standard Edition %'")
For Each objSoftware in colJava4dot3
objSoftware.Uninstall()
Next

'Uninstall Java 2 Runtime Environment, J2SE Runtime Environment
Set colJava4dot3 = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_Product Where Name like 'J2SE Runtime Environment %'")
For Each objSoftware in colJava4dot3
objSoftware.Uninstall()
Next

'Uninstall Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE *
Set colJava4dot3 = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_Product Where Name like 'Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE %'")
For Each objSoftware in colJava4dot3
objSoftware.Uninstall()
Next

'Uninstall Java(TM) 6 Update *
Set colJava6dot = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_Product Where Name like 'Java(TM) 6 Update %'")
For Each objSoftware in colJava6dot
objSoftware.Uninstall()
Next

'Uninstall Java(TM) 7 Update *
Set colJava6dot = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_Product Where Name like 'Java(TM) 7 Update %'")
For Each objSoftware in colJava6dot
objSoftware.Uninstall()
Next

'Uninstall Java(TM) 7 *
Set colJava7 = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_Product Where Name like 'Java(TM) %'")
For Each objSoftware in colJava7
objSoftware.Uninstall()
Next

I wanted to test the house wiring before blaming the ISP or the house. Luckily CenturyLink has a support page on exactly this topic. http://qwest.centurylink.com/internethelp/wired-dmarc.html

Unplugged the house and plugged directly into the line feeding the house.

And compare the signal levels from inside to outside…

The only change I was able to find was the estimated loop length doubled. I have no idea what this means.

A full screenshot of the modem status from earlier in the day. The signal definitely does fluctuate through the day.

Better log its behavior to see if it gives any clues as to why it’s so terrible.

Instead of figuring out logging disconnections for myself, I remembered a post I had seen a while. While I modified it slightly, it’s almost exactly a copy of http://blog.thelifeofkenneth.com/2010/12/track-changing-public-ip-addresses-with.html

The connection is so unstable that I might miss a new IP if I were to run it on the hour, so I have it running every minute.

Data from Aug 3, 2012

 ---- Public IP Address Log ----

Fri Aug  3 00:06:01 CDT 2012 % 
Fri Aug  3 00:14:01 CDT 2012 % 97.119.60.227
Fri Aug  3 00:19:01 CDT 2012 % 
Fri Aug  3 00:22:01 CDT 2012 % 97.119.71.187
Fri Aug  3 00:24:01 CDT 2012 % 
Fri Aug  3 01:15:01 CDT 2012 % 97.119.58.160
Fri Aug  3 01:53:01 CDT 2012 % 97.119.70.121
Fri Aug  3 01:54:01 CDT 2012 % 97.119.65.81
Fri Aug  3 01:55:01 CDT 2012 % 97.119.68.169
Fri Aug  3 01:57:01 CDT 2012 % 
Fri Aug  3 10:09:01 CDT 2012 % 97.119.69.225
Fri Aug  3 10:11:01 CDT 2012 % 
Fri Aug  3 11:00:01 CDT 2012 % 97.119.57.95
Fri Aug  3 11:13:01 CDT 2012 % 
Fri Aug  3 11:24:01 CDT 2012 % 97.119.70.198

I’m starting with the assumption that line conditions aren’t going to change as quickly as IP. I’ve modified my cable modem monitoring to scrape the data from the ZyXEL PK5000Z DSL modem/router. http://www.ragingcomputer.com/2011/11/cable-modem-monitoring-w-perl

I’ve formatted the output to a table.