Category Archives: life

Automating NZB Movie and TV Downloads

SABnzbd
http://sabnzbd.org/

SABnzbd is a usenet reader/downloader that is highly extensible and handles downloading, verifying, repairing and unpacking .nzb files for you.  Its lightweight, written in Python and runs on almost every OS; OSX, Windows, Linux, BSD.

CouchPotatoApp
http://couchpotatoapp.com/
http://forums.sabnzbd.org/index.php?topic=4636.0

CouchPotatoApp connects with SABnzbd and nzbmatrix.com and lets you maintain a want list of movies and helps automate searching, handoff, and post download file modifications.

CP scans every X hours for titles you add and allows you to configure with different options such as file size and quality.  It also renames and moves files which is very useful if you download and store on two different machines or drives.  This app is also Python based and multi-platform.

Have a look at some of the work this app is doing for you in the log

15:06:52 INFO  [     app.lib.cron.renamer] XBMC metainfo for imdbid, tt1542344, generated
15:06:44 INFO  [    app.lib.cron.subtitle] Finding subtitles for: /Volumes/My Passport/New Movie 2010)
15:06:44 INFO  [     app.lib.cron.trailer] Finding trailers for: /Volumes/My Passport/New Movie (2010)
15:00:22 INFO  [     app.lib.cron.renamer] Moving file "/Users/michaelkahn/Downloads/complete/Movies/-----/newmovie.avi" to
/Volumes/My Passport/New Movie (2010)/New Movie (2010).avi.
15:00:22 INFO  [     app.lib.cron.renamer] Quality Old: 0, New 700.
15:00:17 INFO  [     app.lib.cron.renamer] Creating directory /Volumes/My Passport/New Movie (2010)
15:00:17 INFO  [     app.lib.cron.renamer] Trying to find a home for: newmovie.avi
15:00:17 INFO  [          app.lib.library] Retrieved metainfo: {u'common': [{u'comment': u'Has audio/video index (5.6 MB)',
u'mime type': u'video/x-msvideo', u'image height': 304, u'frame rate': 24.0,
u'producer': u'VirtualDubMod 1.5.10.2 (build 2540/release)',u'image width': 576, u'endianness': u'Little endian', u'duration':
 u'1:32:49', u'bit rate': 1000000.0}], u'audio stream': [{u'compression rate':
11.300000000000001, u'compression': u'mp3', u'sample rate': 48000.0, u'duration': u'1:32:49', u'bit rate': 135800.0,
u'channel': 2}], u'video stream': [{u'image height': 304, u'compression': u'xvid', u'image width': 576, u'bits/pixel': 12,
u'duration': u'1:32:49', u'frame rate': 24.0}]}
14:33:27 INFO  [        app.lib.cron.yarr] Finished search.
14:33:27 INFO  [          app.lib.sabNzbd] NZB sent to SAB successfully.
14:33:26 INFO  [          app.lib.sabNzbd] URL: http://localhost:8080/sabnzbd/api?apikey=-----&mode=addurl&name=http%3A%2F%2Fnzbmatrix.com
%2Fapi-nzb-download.php%3Fid%-----%26username%-----%26apikey%-----&cat=Movies
14:33:26 INFO  [          app.lib.sabNzbd] Sending 'New Movie 2010 DVDSCR XviD PEER' to SABnzbd.
14:33:15 INFO  [.lib.provider.yarr.search] Checking if http://nzbmatrix.com/api-nzb-download.php?id=-----&username=-----
&apikey=----- is valid.
14:33:05 INFO  [pp.lib.provider.yarr.base] "New Movie (DVDSCR) (2010)" is too large to be Screener. 2775.04MB instead of the
maximum of 1000MB.
14:33:05 INFO  [pp.lib.provider.yarr.base] "New Movie 2010 DVDSCR AC3 XViD T0XiC iNK (diff group)" is too large to be
Screener. 1413.12MB instead of the maximum of 1000MB.

Very convenient.  After CP finds a movie that I added to my want list, it sends it to SABnzbd, then it moves it over to my SAN (/Volumes/My Passport).  From there my boxee box has the SANs location saved and scans for folder updates every few hours.  So all I have done is added a movie I want to see to the CP want list and soon after its released its ready to play in my living room.  I have heard that Sick Beard is good for TV shows but I do not miss too many on cable with my DVR.  I highly recommend SABnzbd x CP x Boxee for automation and ease with viewing movie downloads.  Enjoy!

Susan Komen Race for the Cure 5k 10/17/2010

This past weekend a few of us from the HostDime office did the Susan Koman Race for a Cure 5k.  It was our second time doing this run at UCF.  Last year we had a great time did a casual jog/run and this year we took it a bit seriously.  Alex V and myself trained for about 6 weeks, Alex F jumped in a few weeks in.  We started off on the treadmill working on pacing and eventually did a few weeks outside at local park.  There were a total of 7,565 participants, 545 survivors and 334 race teams.

This was everyones first chipped (timed) race.  Alex F ended the race at 25:01 @ #102, my time was 27:38 @ #226, Greg was a second behind me at 27:39 @ #227 and Alex V had a 29:07 @ #347.  Not bad out of 1170 chipped runners.  Full results here.

Starting Line (I am right in the middle) Route around UCF
The team pre race The team with Chester Cheetah post race

We are looking forward to our next 5k and we plan on doing another in Dec and January.

Nike + iPod

Currently I’m doing some light training for a Susan G. Komen 5k next month.  I’m trying to start participating more in any charity runs in the area and I would love to complete a marathon in the next few years.  I told myself if I could stay in a decent training routine for 3+ weeks that I would buy a new pair of shoes.   My Asics were pretty beat and the backs were giving me blisters.  I was able to get to the gym after work and complete 3-4 decent runs a week in the past month.  I think the key for me was bringing my gym clothes in the car and going on my way home.  Give that a try if you are having difficulty getting into routine.

So this past weekend since I was able to meet my goal I picked up a new pair of shoes (Nike Lunarglide+ 2) (love them) and also picked up a Nike + sensor over the past weekend.

Nike + iPod is awesome.  The iPhone 4 has built in capabilities to obtain run data from the shoe sensor. During your run it tracks your distance, pace, and calories burnt.  There is also an GPS app available that tracks and maps out your route.  After your run it syncs with your account on nikeplus.com.  Nikeplus.com lets you add friends, challenge friends, and set every type of goal imaginable.  This sensor and app make me want to run everyday.  Its really a great motivator and good technology to help you run more often.

My nikeplus profile: http://my.nike.com/mikeyr0x

Left: Both apps, Not sure which one I’m going to use as my primary.  For now I’m using the Nike+ GPS app for outdoor runs and Nike + iPod app for indoor.  Right: the start a new run menu on the GPS app.

Left: the run summary view within the GPS app.  Right: the run history summary within the Nike+ iPod app.

Earlier today I found that the run data is stored in xml files from http://runometer.com/howto.html. I’m going play around with the xml tonight to see if anything fun can be done with the data I’m generating during my runs. Should be cool 🙂

Non Selective Weed Killer and Lawn Resod

Selective vs Non-selective weed control
-Selective is the weed killer like round up that you use on weeds in between sidewalk and creases
-Non selective you can spray on lawns to help control weeds. This type of weed control needs to be used with extreme care and caution on lawns. I recommend not using it at all. Use a weed and feed if you are comfortable fertilizing or go with TruGreen to help with weed control in florida yards.

I made the mistake of using too much non-selective weed killer on the front of my yard. Its was a mistake I’ll never make again. After about 3 weeks of waiting to see the result of my non-selective overuse I laid some top soil per advise of Dad, yet I wasnt confident it would come back and I didnt want to wait. I had someone from Drake pest control/lawn service come and give me a professional opinion. They said that the rule of thumb is if a brown patch is greater than the size of a football it would need to be resodded. The next day I made some calls as I was eager to have my lawn fixed. St Augustine sod runs about $1.00-1.20/sf and I had about 600 sq that I nuked. Fortunately I got in touch with groundsourcefl.com right after they completed a big job and the were able to offer me a rate of $0.65/sf. Really happy that my yard is looking decent again. In the next few weeks it should root and start getting green. Live and learn.

Followup September 10, 2010:
30 days after I am satisfied with the Resod. The lawn is still not 100% but I’m confident that it will improve within the next 60 days after more fertilizer and a round of turf builder is applied.  Week 4 and 5 after pictures below.