Author: Keegan

SSHFS From Windows to Ubuntu

SSHFS is a file system that works over SSH, this allows for a secure connection to remote file systems and in my case will allow me to use the Windows based tools I’m familiar with against files on a remote Linux machine.  I’m planning on getting to grips with Linux but it’s daft not to use the tools you know and this will likely prove very useful with the Raspberry Pi too.

The best method of using SSHFS with Windows I’ve found is outlined here, I’ve not tried with anything but a password yet but I’ve now mounted the disk of a user I have in a virtual Ubuntu server I’m running on my laptop.  Seems to work a treat though not tried it over the network yet, with an upcoming move from Home Server to Ubuntu at home soon that will be likely be heavily tested.

New Job!

Things have been a bit manic since the last post, both in job hunting and random other things that have made the last few weeks disappear, including the inaugural Reading Hackspace Hackathon at Horniman Gardens!

The most important part is the job hunt, which was both successful and massive successful.  The repetition is entirely justified as I appear to have landed a job in the space industry!  I started work at the Satellite Applications Catapult as a Software Engineer a few days ago, I’m still getting to grips with the culture of the company but as the place has the feel of a hackspace I can’t imagine that will take long.  Hopefully with time I’ll have projects to share, a lot of what I’ll be working on will be open source, in the mean time I’m enjoying the challenge of learning new technologies as this role will involve a lot more focus on Linux as a development platform.  Not a bad thing as it’s something I’ve wanted more experience with anyhow as I’ve always felt I’ve been missing out and it means Raspberry Pi projects are a go!

SatApps also has a hackathon coming up in October which looks to be very interesting, well worth checking out.

Interesting times indeed!

TaW: 18 – Engine Trolley

A quick thing this week, a trolley to hold a currently stationary engine in my garage.  With an old pallet I got from my old job and some cheap, yet 200KG capable, caster wheels from eBay it’s a cheap solution to making space in the garage more manageable.

Engine Trolley

Also, this is the first post to neave-eng.com despite the banner.  Old links to jedibowler.com will still work and I’m going to set up IIS URL rewrite tomorrow to handle mapping properly as well as unveiling the new logo.  A full how to guide will be the next Thing.

 

On The Topic of Redundancy and Hackspaces

As is a risk working for a small company, I was made redundant last week when the company decided on a change of direction. Not ideal but I’ve a good skill set and live in a tech rich area of the country, finding a new job should be a case of when rather than if, though likely I’ve jinxed it now…

The thing is that I now have “mandated free time” while looking for a new job, a long list of unfinished projects and full membership to the local Hackspace. A plan forms;

I’ve decided not to sit idle and instead to use this time, between job hunting, to learn and develop skills for personal projects that have been allowed to atrophy as well as keeping my professional skills sharp. This includes soldering, welding, electronics, photo/video editing and the brains for my Mini digital dashboard project. I’ll also be helping with any remaining works at the Hackspace itself, seems daft not to help out while I’ve time to do so.

Stay tuned for more on this as it happens as well as the Neave-Eng.com redesign and migration.

Keegan

TaW: 17 – Camera Stabiliser

A quick and simple hack this week, a handheld camera stabiliser and multi purpose mount.  Made from an old rack mount from a server and bent in a few places, the camera can be mounted and used handheld or mounted to a ceiling using a tripod bolt at the top.  The front of the handle is also wrapped around to allow for the mounting of both a light on the front and a microphone above, those will be hacks for another week.

Made at Reading Hackspace using parts lying around.

TaW: 17 - Camera Stabiliser

The Old New Thing – Site Rename

So, I’ve been running this blog for a while now and though the name is cool it’s never really felt like a good fit.  I grabbed the domain many years back and used it out of habit more than anything, now I’m starting to take things a little more seriously, for a given value of serious, I thought it time for a more suitable name.

In the next few weeks the site will be renamed to Neave Engineering, named after my Dad’s company, but otherwise it’ll be business as usual.  It’s an evocative name to me and one I hope I’ll be able to live up to.  The new url will be www.neave-eng.com and it is already redirecting to this site.  I’m intending to keep the jedibowler.com domain pointing here too to make sure the RSS feeds and old links continue to work.

I have already renamed my Facebook page, feel free to head over and get a sneak peak at the new logo!

TaW: Week 14 – Messenger Bag Tripod Straps

This “weeks” instalment is a simple, temporary, hack of a bag I’ve just bought to hold a tripod as well as my other camera gear.

After a long, long search for the perfect bag, and even thinking of making one, I decided to buy a bag that was anonymous enough but easy to hack.  I ended up buying a plain canvas messenger bag from Fat Face and a camera bag insert from Amazon.  Slot it into and bag and your camera kit is safe, take it out and you’ve a multipurpose bag.  The added bonus is that, without the tripod attached at least, it looks like a normal bag.  My issue with camera and laptop bags is that they advertise what they carry…

I’m going to add some colour matched straps with proper buckles at some point but as I’m heading to London Animecon to do some filming with my friend Mojo Jones, I needed something nice and quick to get me going.  I went with a pair of strips of double backed Velcro and hand-stitched them to the front of the bag.  Nice and easy but this one holds my DSLR, camcorder, microphone, various cables and the tripod with room to slip a slim laptop in too.  I’ll be adding a protective sleeve for my tablet, if it ever reappears, in a future hack.

Hacked Bag

Regarding the Thing a Week challenge, I have been making things but utterly failing to blog them!  I’ve a load of photos of various projects to upload and will get up to date asap.