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Showing posts from January, 2020

PDF export

I have a Linux instance (CentOS 7) setup under VMware that enables printing to PDF via CUPS PDF. (That used to work on OS X, but for the last several versions, I haven't been able to get it to work anymore.) Problem: The PDFs generated sit on the desktop of the Linux instance. Solution: A simple script that runs from rc.local in the background (actually in a screen session) and copies them to my macOS machine via SSH, as they're created. (Yes, I know I can "normally" print to PDF in Mac applications, but that doesn't work for Judicial Council forms I have to fill out in Acrobat Pro, dump to an unprotected populated PDF, and then paste on my electronic signature for e-filing.) First, setup the instance to stop booting into the heavy GUI: [root@localhost system]# systemctl set-default multi-user.target Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/default.target. Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/default.target to /usr/lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target. [

Sony BDP-S6700. Definitely not “[t]he ultimate in wireless streaming.”

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I picked up a Sony BDP-S6700 from Best Buy last night, to add HD HomeRun Prime (etc) capabilities to the bedroom setup. Verdict: Disaster. It only plays about 1/2 the channels on the HD HomeRun Prime (vs. all or nearly all, for VLC on the Apple TV 4, or Media Player on the PS4), and can’t digest any of the streams off my NAS ( Plex DLNA ). And the streaming software is really “meh,” to be honest. It comes bundled with: Netflix Amazon Prime Video YouTube And a bunch of random stuff no one will ever use. (Note that Sony’s website doesn’t list what services it will stream from.) There doesn’t seem to be any way to add functionality, either. So, no HBO Now, no Disney+, no Hulu. It’s going back. Maybe a Roku Ultra is in the cards after all.

autossh and port forwarding (a cheap and easy VPN alternative, macOS to Linux)

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I have a simple unsecured web service running on my home network, that I need to access from the office. Before, I was using Viscosity to connect to an OpenVPN instance running on a DD-WRT router at tome. But I also connect to home using the official OpenVPN client for iOS , which started complaining - and eventually stopped working - due to weak encryption in my 2011-era 2.4 install. I did a wholesale upgrade (new DD-WRT install, new keys, etc), and broke the VPN tunnel. Of course. I’m trying to figure out where it’s failing, and will likely eventually return to OpenVPN, but in the interim, I dusted off my SSH knowledge and redirected local ports on my macOS box to servers on my home network. .ssh/config First, I setup a private/public keypair and created an entry for my home network using a Dynamic DNS address I have setup (all addresses have been changed to protect the idiotic): $ cat .ssh/config  Host home Hostname myplace.adynamicdnsprovider.com User root Ide

Streaming from the HDHomeRun Prime

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In lieu of huge, clunky, rented cable boxes, I have a Silicon Dust HDHomeRun Prime device hooked up with a cable card, and it exports unprotected basic cable streams to my LAN. (I don’t watch much TV, get no OTA reception, but our HOA includes a few channels “for free,” so why not. Football.) The streams are 1080 and fairly large, and WiFi in my condo sucks (lots of competing signals). So Ethernet and a beefy-enough client device (i.e., not  my circa-2012 Panasonic Bluray player, BTDT) is required to really watch the streams. The HDHR Prime exports streams via UPnP, but client support is ... Spotty. I really want to watch it using the Apple TV 4 I got for Xmas this year, but so far, no joy. Here’s what I’ve tried so far. iPhone X Works perfectly under VLC. Just opened up the app, tapped the cone in the upper left corner of the screen, then Local Network, and it appears under Universal Plug'n'Play (UPnP). Streams the video perfectly, albeit limited by the WiFi connectio