Linguistics

I have managed to configure the fire wire digitizer station to capture and the allow for saving, editing and exporting a nicely compatible mp4 file.

This is how I did it:

I used kino with the following command line changes after it was installed:

sudo chmod a+rw /dev/raw1394

That will change the file permissions to allow all users read and write access for firwire. If this isn't done kino wont work unless launched as a super user.

Kino is needed to preview and manipulate the tape being viewed to the point before capture. If the whole file was being captured I would have used dvgrab, which is a command line way of simply sucking the video in dv format onto the hdd.

After it is saved as a .dv I used openshot and imported the .dv file in and added a title and simple fade in fade out. (openshot has no capture capability) I then exported with the following settings:

Profile: All formats
Target: mp4 h.264
Everything else left on default.

This exported a 6 minute video in less than 6 minutes.

Met with Jason Castor and Corey Scholefield regarding using LDAP to authenticate in the Ling labs.

Jason said he would add 549 to allow for authentication and then configure in the new year. I will check later today or on Monday to see if authentication works.

Update: It works!

Sonya and I discussed refreshing the hardware in D345. What is there now I consider to be obsolete.

What is needed to restore the sound booth to operation while taking advantage of what linguistics has left that is still useful -- mostly XLR mics of pretty good quality and some older reference speakers -- is a new audio interface which will allow for two-way communication from the booth and back.

Here's some preliminary equipment I'm looking at:

• Focusrite usb audio interface ($199)
• DVI2USB 3.0 video grabber ($930)

I need to get some recycling stickers to move some of the old computers out of linguistics. Great masses of what I call junk is now out of the store-room and out of my hair.

The iMac that went down is now worse. The recovery partition is not functioning, nor is the network utility that allows for a net install of Mavericks. I'll try and track down an install CD on Tuesday. I will likely poach the RAM from this machine, which I suspect has a failing HDD for the HCMC machine that was to be my original Guinea Pig for my workstation image.

Spoke to Greg Fanning this morning on how the CALL facility administers their dual-boot iMacs. The system -- Deploy Studio -- is excellent but overkill for the 14 workstations I am responsible for. The time was not wasted, however, as I went into some detail into the EFI volume they use for their dual boots that will likely prove useful for the iMac I leave as a two headed beast.

Met with Sonya in the afternoon again and she said she would like to have one or maybe two iMacs remain with Windows installed. We also hashed out a basic software list she would like to see on the computers. Finally, she agreed to be my liaison with Linguistics department as far as the labs are concerned. Licenses must be buried in the storeroom...

Most of the iMacs are not authenticating with net-link right now, although three are. I'll sort this out quickly, maybe with help from Greg's post on this blog.

In preparation for a v-lan i prepared a rough port map for the 3 Linguistics labs. In the process of putting them into a graphic now. Two ports are behind a recording room's "movable" partition. I'm reluctant to body check it for the time being so I'll see what the help desk can tell me.

Began boxing e-waste for eventual removal. Hopefully UVic's surplus and asset disposal works with some alacrity.

I'm heading out now to deal with my own HR tasks as a new UVic employee.

Managed to get the recording studio up and running by transferring the old m-audio delta 192 from the dead box to an almost dead box. After some more trouble shooting, including replacing frayed and damaged wires, I managed to get in running.

Following that I resumed my inventory of linguistics audio and computer hardware. I spoke to Sonya about the possibility (suggested by Martin) of auctioning old and unusable hardware if it is valuable (by collectors and hipsters). Unfortunately there is no easy mechanism for doing this, as Surplus Services at UVic will exercise their own judgment and either junk or auction unwanted items themselves.

Finally I delved into ending the dual-boot to Win7 that all of the Mac workstations currently allow. Again Sonya was agreeable, saying that as long as one system (likely the only 27") retains the capability for supporting some legacy hardware.

I also looked into the various ways of remotely administering the workstations once things become settled. Of course SSH with an update all command will work per station, but I'm also looking at Apple Remote Desktop as an option to allow easy updates that run simultaneously.

After meeting with Sonya Bird today I started my inventory and clean up of the language labs. It will be slow going at first but I'm optimistic that I'll smooth things out quickly.

Sonya agreed that she would like to simplify as much as possible the workings of the lab as long as it meets the requirements of the students and profs who work there.

I first will prepare at up-to-date list of what hardware is actually present in the labs and storage and then move get rid of the old hardware and accumulated clutter that is not useful. Then I'll organize the storage of the useful equipment that remains.

Concurrently I am running some basic housekeeping on the computers, mostly running updates that are needed, and doing some minor trouble shooting.