Is anyone using Ruby to feed an Ambient Orb data
http://www.ambientdevices.com/cat/orb/
using Ambient's serial port hardware developer kit?
http://www.ambientdevices.com/developer/
I'd like to use the Orb to monitor our Continuous Integration
along the lines of,
http://blogs.msdn.com/mswanson/articles/169058.aspx
but instead of paying for the premium service fee to interface
via the web/wireless routine, I would like to control it
via a direct serial connection.
Currently, I'm browsing their sample Java code and planning
to use
http://ruby-serialport.rubyforge.org
unless someone has already been there, done that.
Thanks,
···
--
Bil, Hampton, Virginia
Bil:
Have you seen this:
http://www.pragmaticautomation.com/cgi-bin/pragauto.cgi
The top article is a guide to using Lava Lamps to achieve the same thing. Mike looked at using Ambient orbs, but they cost a lot more than a Firecracker controller and a couple of cheap lamps.
Cheers
Dave
···
On Aug 26, 2004, at 10:42, Bil Kleb wrote:
I'd like to use the Orb to monitor our Continuous Integration
along the lines of,
Dave Thomas wrote:
I'd like to use the Orb to monitor our Continuous Integration
along the lines of,
Have you seen this:
http://www.pragmaticautomation.com/cgi-bin/pragauto.cgi
Cool. --except for the Java bits 
However, after Columbia, safety is number one; and so we'll
have to go with the expensive, LED-powered Orb.
I did snag the CVS loginfo RSS feed script -- excellent!
Thanks,
···
On Aug 26, 2004, at 10:42, Bil Kleb wrote:
--
Bil Kleb, Hampton, Virginia
Hi Bil,
Cool. --except for the Java bits
However, after Columbia, safety is number one; and so we'll
have to go with the expensive, LED-powered Orb.
I did snag the CVS loginfo RSS feed script -- excellent!
If you wouldn't mind contributing a few paragraphs or so describing how you end up using Ruby to control the Orb, I'd love to post it on http://pragmaticautomation.com. You'll get full credit, of course.
We have a few posts highlighting Ruby, but I'd like to showcase more automation techniques using Ruby on the site.
Regards,
Mike
Mike, what kind of things are you interested in with regard to Ruby
automation? I use some Ruby scripts to automate regenerating sendmail
database tables, to monitor/stop/start Iowa application processes, to act as a
smart(ish) FTP proxy to fetch data files from one site and transfer them to
another, to automatically load data feed files to database tables, and stuff
like that. It's all pretty mundane, but easy to setup stuff with Ruby.
Kirk Haines
···
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 11:02:30 +0900, Mike Clark wrote
If you wouldn't mind contributing a few paragraphs or so describing
how you end up using Ruby to control the Orb, I'd love to post it on
http://pragmaticautomation.com. You'll get full credit, of course.
We have a few posts highlighting Ruby, but I'd like to showcase more
automation techniques using Ruby on the site.
Hi Kirk,
Mike, what kind of things are you interested in with regard to Ruby
automation? I use some Ruby scripts to automate regenerating sendmail
database tables, to monitor/stop/start Iowa application processes, to act as a
smart(ish) FTP proxy to fetch data files from one site and transfer them to
another, to automatically load data feed files to database tables, and stuff
like that. It's all pretty mundane, but easy to setup stuff with Ruby.
Yes, I'm definitely interested in the mundane stuff! 
Readers of that site are pretty much interested in anything related to project automation. Basically, how can I put my computer to work doing mundane, repetitive tasks so I have more time to write good code?
Dave's piece on generating RSS from CVS loginfo using Ruby was very well received, for example:
It's a cool and effective technique, and the fact that it uses Ruby gets folks thinking about using Ruby to automate other project tasks. Tasks like monitoring processes, transferring files, priming databases, and such are all fair game. Readers in general aren't Ruby programmers, but I think they appreciate solutions that use different tools.
I hope that helps. I'm open to ideas, so feel free to send me a paragraph or two describing how an automation technique makes your life better and a snippet of Ruby code.
Regards,
Mike