USA Spec PA15 – INFI iPhone/iPod interface for Infiniti G35x

By Jimmy January 13, 2012 Cars, DIY, Electronics, Infiniti No Comments

I have a 2005 Infiniti G35x and have been wishing for years that the car had come with an AUX plug, or iPhone/iPod interface for almost the whole six years that I have owned it. Several years back when looking for a solution, I found an interface that claimed to work, however it required the removal of the dash. This was not an exercise that I was interested in undertaking, nor paying for. Removing the dash did not look like an easy task, not as simple as in many cars.

Fast forward a couple years… A couple weeks ago I get my yearly XM radio renewal (another topic I will discuss in future post) and decided I needed to get my iPhone talking to my Infiniti pronto. I quickly found out that several vendors now sold Infiniti/Nissan to iPhone/iPod interfaces. Interestingly, USA-Spec was touting an interface that connected between the cars existing XM Radio and the in-dash stereo. And, on the G35x sedan, the XM Radio was conveniently mounted in the trunk. This unit also works with many other Nissan and Infiniti cars, but please take a look at the manual here to insure compatibility with your auto.

So, I purchased the unit from Amazon, and got it two days later (thank you Mr Prime). In preparation, I cleaned out my trunk and did some searching for the XM tuner. After popping the trunk, you will find a trim panel across the top of trunk. Carefully remove several of the plastic pop-rivets using a blunt knife and lower the trim panel, it will still be attached to the piece that covers the rear-seats. On the upper right-hand side you will find the XM tuner mounted in a rack on the bottom with the connecter located on the right side. This connecter is removed and the connecter from the PA 15 – INFI is mounted in-between the two.

I simply snaked the control unit cable under the rear seats and up along the drive tunnel. You can be ultra-clean and run under the carpets, or go ghetto and just thread it out the ski pole opening. Once everything is connected, connect your iPhone and run through the simple setup instructions in the manual. This will allow you to choose via playlist, artist, or song. In addition you can run in direct mode, the cool part of this is it allows you to access any audio application on your iPhone, including Pandora! Lastly, there is also an Aux interface that allows you to plug in any device that can connect via a 3.5mm AUX jack.

While the manual does a pretty good job walking through all the options, walking through playlists/artist/songs can be a bit tedious if you have large song collection, but a little bit of practice will help. The audio quality is very good, the integration is surprisingly good considering USA Spec has basically just hacked the system to make your iThing look like a XM tuner or CD Changer.

In the end, USA Spec has a real winner. As mentioned, I found the sound quality to be excellent, and installation was a breeze. If you run into any issues, just leave me a message here and I will try to help out.

Linux Question of the Day – How do I Grep Recursively?

By Prodromus December 14, 2011 Linux No Comments

Another common question that I hear on a weekly basis. You would think this would be a pretty straightforward answer, and it is. I think the shear number of options available with Grep is what confuses folks. So, here is the basic way to perform this task.

grep -r “texthere” .

Simple, right? “texthere” is the string that you are searching for, and the -r says search recursively starting from the current directory (.). You can also specify specific filenames or types that you would like to search, such as *.txt, *.php, etc.

On some older Unix versions, you may find that Grep does not support the -r syntax. In that case, try the following :

find ./ -type f | xargs grep “texthere”

Also som version also will not support searching for *.txt as the filename, in that case, try the following :

find /dir/to/search/ -iname *.txt -exec grep ‘texthere’ ‘{}’ ;

Little known piece of trivia, GREP stands for Get Regular Expression and Print

A Hellcat that Got Its Feet Wet

By Warbird December 8, 2011 F6-F Hellcat, Planes No Comments

I recently heard about a Grumman Hellcat that is now a popular scuba wreck site in Indochina. Not only is it a perfectly preserved plane that can be explored, it has a very interesting story to go along with it.

The F6-F Hellcat , like the Wildcat, was built by the U.S. firm Grumman. Grumman produced 12,275 copies of the plane from 1942 to 1945. It was a formidable fighter, 56% of all Japanese losses, more than 5,000 aircraft, were attributed to the Hellcat. The Hellcat had a wingspan of 13.05 m and a length of 10.2 m. It was powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt and Whitney R-2800-10, and could reach 605 km / h with a ceiling of 11,450 m. Its range was 1,755 km.

This copy was bought by France in 1950 had served in Indochina before being repatriated in Hyères in August 1954. The sunken wreck was discovered in 1999. The archives of the Navy mention a ditching following an engine failure during an exercise to fly landing configurations designed to test the reactions of the plane at a reduced speed. But when Jean-Noël Duval, Patron of the CIP Lavandou and discoverer of the wreck, contacted the pilot Jack Langin in July 1999, he told him the real reason for the presence of the aircraft under the sea.

On May 14, 1956 young pilot, Jack Langin headed off for a training flight. Joined by another driver, they had fun doing low altitude passes above the sea, but a slight mistake caused him to touch the surface of the sea. The engine stalled and Jack no longer has as an option but than attempting a water landing, which he did. He left the cockpit and was recovered in his rescue dinghy. If he told the truth, his career would have been over before it even began! This accident led to the invention of this story about an engine failure before the Commission of Inquiry by the Navy.

This is the ultimate aircraft wreckage. The wreck lies at a depth of 57 m off of Cape Negro in Indochina and is reserved for experienced divers. It is located on the flat sandy bottom. During the descent, the Hellcat feels like its going to take off again because it appears absolutely flawless even after more than 50 years spent under water. The landing of Jack Langin had to be perfect, the fuselage , tail , as well as the wings are intact. In addition the guns and the cockpit canopy are still attached. At the front the engine is in good condition, however the propeller is missing.

PHP Code to Open Zip Files and Extract the Contents

By Prodromus December 8, 2011 PHP, Zip Files No Comments

I recently was working on a project for a dynamic website that presented a huge collection of files available for download. All of the files (over 25,000) were stored in the ubiquitous ZIP format. This is great for reducing the amount of disk space required, however it can make it challenging to work with them. What we wanted to do was allow the visitors to the site to be able to review the contents of the file, and view any of the files that are contained within the ZIP file. PHP has some handy functions that allow you to manipulate ZIP files, however they are not well documented. Although fairly straight-forward, I am including some example code here that will allow you to quickly copy and paste it for your requirements.

The core routines include zip_open() that opens the ZIP file for use. zip_read then allows you to transverse the ZIP directory to identify the files contained within. The zip_entry routines provide additional details about the file enclosed, and zip_entry_open() provides the door that allows you to open a specific file and then zip_entry_read allows you to extract the contained file. On our site, the contained files were mostly text files that could be easily displayed. Simply iterate through the file collecting the contents into a temporary variable. If displaying on a webpage, use the handy nl2lbr() function to convert line feeds into HTML line breaks.

All in all, PHP’s built-in ZIP functions are a handy tool, a few simple lines of code will allow you to easily manipulate ZIP files and allow individual files to be viewed. Leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions. You can see the final site at The Programmer’s Corner.

Code that will allow you to open a ZIP file, iterate through the directory, and retrieve the files contained within.

   $zip = zip_open('PCorner/' . $_GET['category'] . '/' . $_GET['file']);
    while ($zip_entry = zip_read($zip)) {
        $output.= '<tr class="' . $class . '">';
        $output.= '<td>';
        $file = strtoupper(basename(zip_entry_name($zip_entry)));
        $size = zip_entry_filesize($zip_entry);
        $csize = zip_entry_compressedsize($zip_entry);
        $type = zip_entry_compressionmethod($zip_entry);
    }

Code that will allow you to open a ZIP file, find a specific file, and extract it for viewing, or further manipulation.

   $zip = zip_open('PCorner/' . $_GET['category'] . '/' . $_GET['file']);
        while ($zip_entry = zip_read($zip)) {
            $file = basename(zip_entry_name($zip_entry));
            if (strtoupper($file) == strtoupper($_GET['operation'])) {
                if (!zip_entry_open($zip, $zip_entry)) {
                    die('');
                }
                while ($data = zip_entry_read($zip_entry)) {
                    $output.= nl2br($data);
                }

            }
        }

   echo $output;

NetFlix – How to find that hidden gem of a movie to watch

By Jimmy December 4, 2011 Movie, Theater, War 3 Comments

I recently signed up for Netflix online. I have been pretty happy with the service so far, for $7.99 they have a huge selection of TV shows and movies. I use a Tivo Premiere to view shows on my TV that are streamed directly from NetFlix. However they also have the ability to stream to game consoles, iPhone, and of course your computer. Unfortunately, the challenge is to find shows that are worth watching. With thousands available, it can be hard to find that hidden gem. Because NetFlix does not have a lot of recent Block Buster releases, you mostly have the choice between older movies, or that hidden gem of a show or movie that was not super popular when released, yet is actually worth watching. I have a few favorites, and will post more in the future. Some quality TV Shows and Movies currently available are listed below in no particular order.

TV Shows

The Beautiful Jolene Blalock as Vulcan T’Pol

Star Trek Enterprise – Add to Your Instant Queue

Set prior to the events depicted in the original 1960s program, this series follows Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) and the crew of the Enterprise as they explore space and discover the technology taken for granted in previous Star Trek installments. This show was not very popular when it originally aired, mainly due to the story line flowing across multiple episodes. As a TV show, this was difficult to follow, but when you can now watch them back to back at your leisure, it is an enjoyable show. Jolene Blalock is also quite the hidden gem, beautiful and shows her ability to act as the role of the original Vulcan Second in Command.

Louie – Add to Your Instant Queue

Although Louie is currently in Season Two on the FX Channel, many people have missed Season One. This is a classic comedy, Louis C.K. does his take of a comedy sitcom, but this is no Seinfeld. Louie is raw and unapologetic. He has the ability to make you groan, and then say to your self, well, he does have a point. Well worth watching if you like edgy comedy that will make you laugh, and think.

Archer – Add to Your Instant Queue

Archer is an adult themed,politically incorrect animated TV Show. The basic plot revolves around Archer, an over-the-top portrayal of the classic womanizing secret agent with a dose of bumbling Inspector Clouseau. It is raunchy, full of one-liners that you have to listen carefully for as they explode across the screen, and generally always good for 19 minutes of entertainment. You will find yourself having to rewind a lot, you may find yourself laughing so hard you miss the next joke.

Movies

Shutter Island – Add to Your Instant Queue
Wow, where was this movie when released to the theaters? US Marshall Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from an insane asylum located on an isolated island. Throw in creepy inmates, a storm, and Teddy’s own personal demons, and you have the recipe for a thriller that will keep you glued to the screen. This movie will keep you thinking about what happened for the next week. Leonardo DiCaprio delights with his typical strong performance, it was if this movie was made with him in mind.

Letters from Iwo Jima – Add to Your Instant Queue
This is Clint Eastwood’s companion to Flags of Our Fathers (unfortunately not available on NetFlix). This is the story of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective, often told through letters sent back home from the doomed soldiers sent to defend Iwo. A strong performance by the main characters, not 100% historically accurate, but enjoyable none the less. It will help if you are a history buff, however it is a good enough story to keep the average viewer engaged.

Red State – Add to Your Instant Queue
Another movie that was released into theaters and never heard from again. However, this is a quality movie by Kevin Smith. It is a little heavy on anti-religion and anti-government themes, yet is still a good movie with some chilling scenes. I found myself keep saying, no, they would not do that, but yet they did. Does not follow the standard script for a thriller/horror movie. It is short at an hour and twenty minutes, so is a good movie to catch when you are short on time.

The Programmer’s Corner

By Jimmy November 8, 2011 Past, Software No Comments

Many, many years ago I ran a BBS called The Programmer’s Corner. It provided a place for software developers to hang out and share information, all pre-Internet. It was a great experience, and I met some great folks while building the platform. Recently I found my archive, and I have resurrected parts of the site on the domain that I first setup to provide access to the Internet from the BBS. You can find parts of the original site at The Programmer’s Corner. I have added over 25K files that were once available, many of them containing source code that is still useful today! Many of these files have not been available anywhere else.

It has been interesting going back into time and seeing what was state of the art twenty years ago. I am still restoring files, and hoping that I will soon have more info available. Check back often! A full listing of all the files available can be found here.

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Ramblings about everything from Cars to Computers