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1/15/06
So much to write about, so little time.

First off, I violated the first rule of hacking.  I didn't take lots of pictures.  However, I did turn an old Dell Latitude CP into a digital picture frame.  It turned out to be my mother's Christmas present.

There isn't a lot I can post that doesn't appear elsewhere on the web.  I did find, through my own experiences, that regardless of how well someone has written their "how-to" guide, something isn't going to work the way you wanted.  

3 webpages led me to the end of this project:

First, the beginning... brought about from this article on AppleFritter...
http://www.applefritter.com/hacks/duodigitalframe/

Much of what was written (and pictured) here ended up in the final product.  If I were using a Mac, I suspect this article would have covered it all.  It was this article, originally linked to on Slashdot, that put the idea in my head.

Step one into the non-Mac portion of this project:
http://briflo.com/pictureframe.htm
An excellent starting point, but on the CP PictureFrame.jar doesn't work as  it should.  This left me with a great idea, a directory full of pictures, and no way to display them in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

The finish line....
http://www.frontiernet.net/~beakmyn/pictureframe/

This guy's use of feh brought the project home when PictureFrame.jar wouldn't.  I recommend using this site, and the one above as a pre-read reference to help you through installing DSL.  Also remember: If you're using 800x600 (as a Latitude CP does), your boot from the CD requires the boot command of fb800x600.  Once you're in, and DSL does a disk install, it will automatically make this change based on your current running version. 

Keep something in mind... I don't know sh!t about Linux.  I wish I knew more, but I don't.... and both of these websites managed to talk me through installing, and configuring, for this project.

Version 2.0 is coming some day soon, and I promise to take pictures and do a better job of detailing the project.

Some things I'd like to do, although they may not make V2.0:

1.  Voice actuated picture changes.  Just a simple "code word" that will cycle to the next picture.

2.  Reading from USB key.  DSL uses an older Linux Kernal which doesn't recognize newer USB keys.  Ultimately, I'd like to use a USB key to store the pictures so I can send a new key, they can power down, plug it in, and it will display the new pictures when it comes up.

3.  Video playback.  It would be cool if it displayed the first frame of a video, paused for a few seconds, then played the video, before randomly selecting a new picture or video to play next.

4.  Webchecks.  The ability to check a pre-programmed website, for new pictures to add.  This would require that the picture frame have an internet connection, of course, but DSL is beautifully designed to get you straight on to the web with no hassles.

Remember when I said "First off" all the way up top?  Secondly, I've decided to try and build a simple robot based on 21st Century Toys M1A1 Abrams Tank tracked platform.  (By the way, buy cheap.  This thing absolutely SUCKS as a toy!  The first one didn't work out of the box, the second one locked it's left motor on about 15 minutes into play... and it is still on.)  If you'd like to see some early pics, and a video of it when it was still a "toy", check it out here.

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