Add articles

content/acoustic-panels.md

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+Title: Theatre Acoustic Panels
+Date: 2021-10-21
+Category: Creations
+Summary: Panels for acoustic treatment in my home theatre.
+Short: 3
+
+Acoustic treatment is one of the most overlooked aspects of home audio. There's
+no point in spending money on premium speakers if the room they are playing in
+has poor acoustics.
+
+The primary purpose of acoustic panels is to reduce the reverberations caused by
+sound reflecting off the smooth walls of the theatre. The path of the reflected
+sound is a longer distance to your ear compared to the sound coming directly
+from the speaker. This causes the reflected sound to be delayed by the time it
+reaches your ear. The delayed signal interferes with itself, causing comb
+filtering which distorts the signal.
+
+Acoustic panels are placed geometrically where the sound from the speakers would
+reflect off the wall to reach the listener's ears. The insulation inside the
+panels absorbs energy from the soundwave which reduces its volume and
+interference.
+
+![twelve L-shaped corners of the panels stacked together leaning on a table saw in a wood shop]({static}/images/panel/panel1.jpg)
+
+I made six frames in the wood shop of my local makerspace, Protospace.  After
+cutting the 1x4" pine boards to length, I made a jig so I could quickly join
+them together with screws.
+
+![a panel with insulation inside on the ground about to be wrapped with black fabric]({static}/images/panel/panel2.jpg)
+
+I added 4" batts of Rockwool insulation into each frame after it was assembled.
+I then wrapped the frame with black speaker fabric and stabled it in place while
+trying to pull it taut.
+
+I sat in my theatre while a friend slid a handheld mirror along the wall until I
+could see the middle of the speaker in its reflection. This told me the centre
+point of where to mount each panel because the reflected sound would take the
+same path to my ear.
+
+<span class="aside">Four in the front, two in the back</span>
+![four black acoustic panels mounted on the walls in my home theatre]({static}/images/panel/panel3.jpg)

content/garage-door-opener.md

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+Title: Garage Door Opener Hack
+Date: 2021-12-26
+Category: Creations
+Summary: Hacking my garage door opener to work over Wifi.
+Short: 5
+
+In the quest to automate as much of my house as possible, I thought it would be
+useful to be able to remotely control my garage door from my home automation
+system. If I suspected that I forgot to close it while leaving, I could check in
+my security cameras and then close it from anywhere. It's nice having this peace
+of mind, even if it almost never happens.
+
+Instead of reverse engineering the wireless protocol, cracking the encryption,
+and sending my own commands, I figured it would be much easier to hack the
+hardware. I cracked open a spare remote to find that it contained a basic PCB
+with simple tactile switches.
+
+![the six parts of the spare remote on my desk: metal clip, plastic buttons, battery, PCB, and two halves of the case]({static}/images/garage/garage1.jpg)
+
+My plan was to solder an Arduino controlled relay in parallel with the button
+that toggled the garage door. I would also power the remote from the 3 V pin. I
+soldered four wires on to the appropriate pins.
+
+![a closeup of the green PCB with two wires soldered to the battery terminals and two to the button pins]({static}/images/garage/garage2.jpg)
+
+I drilled a hole in the plastic case and routed the wires through it while
+reassembling the remote. It's connected to an Adafruit ESP8266 Arduino with a
+relay module shield.
+
+The Arduino joins my isolated home automation Wifi network and connects over
+MQTT, a simple messaging protocol, to my automation server. When it receives a
+command over MQTT it toggles the relay on for a quarter of a second and then
+off, simulating a button press.
+
+![the completed system: an arduino with a white relay and wires leading to the reassembled garage door remote]({static}/images/garage/garage3.jpg)
+
+Update: this system has been flawless for two months now. It's worked every time
+I've tried to toggle the door and has never opened by mistake.

content/hand-of-ozymandias.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Title: Hand of Ozymandias
 Date: 2012-03-23
 Category: Creations
 Summary: A withered hand I welded out of scrap metal.
-Short: 3
+Short: hand
 
 I was visiting my cousins in Radium, BC and decided to learn stick welding at
 their shop. I wanted to create a sculpture, so with pieces of scrap metal I

content/light-switch.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Title: Remote Control Light Switch
 Date: 2014-10-09
 Category: Creations
 Summary: A device to toggle my lights remotely.
-Short: 5
+Short: remote
 
 I wanted the ability to toggle my bedroom light remotely for convenience. I
 designed a circuit that allows me to control my light with any

themes/lite/templates/article.html

@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ p, h2, h3, h4, h5 {
 .toc {
 	display: none;
 }
+img {
+	width: 600px;
+	height: auto;
+}
 </style>
 {% endblock %}
 

themes/lite/templates/index.html

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {% extends "base.html" %}
 {% block content %}
-Hi, I'm Tanner! I like home automation, <a href=d>sensors</a>, bots,
-privacy, Python, Debian, coffee, and makerspaces.
+Hi, I'm Tanner! I like home automation, privacy, bots,
+Python, <a href=d>sensors</a>, Debian, coffee, and makerspaces.
 
 Please sign my <a href=g>Guest Book</a>!
 

themes/theme/templates/projects.html

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{% extends "base.html" %}
+{% block meta %}
+{% endblock %}
+
+{% block style %}
+{% endblock %}
+
+{% block content %}
+Nothing to see here...
+{% endblock %}

themes/theme/templates/writing.html

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{% extends "base.html" %}
+{% block meta %}
+{% endblock %}
+
+{% block style %}
+{% endblock %}
+
+{% block content %}
+Nothing to see here...
+{% endblock %}