Re: Switching audio via an Ocelot and SECU's

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

> In defense of ADI, most of their personnel are engineers. Some got drafted
> to do the documentation and set up the forum. It's really outside their
> skillset.

That's a basic problem with engineers - so many attempt work clearly outside
their skillset.  <grin>  Seriously, if you get a toothache, you go to a
dentist, you don't buy MicroSoft's "Dentist on a Disk" and try to do it
yourself because it looks like you can.  If you know something's outside
your skillset there are better options than just muddling through and hoping
for the best.  The ADI forum started as a mailing list.  Why it couldn't
stay that way is anybody's guess.

> And the HA market is much, much smaller than all the sturm und
> drang in CHA might lead one to believe.

I guess that's still the "read it and weep" bottom line.  HA, particularly
at the Ocelot level is really niche stuff.  Still, your website efforts show
that a nice, simple, hierarchical design that presents the information in a
format that's easy to understand *isn't* beyond the reach of even
"engineering types."  :-)

> Also, running a forum on a company server requires some real expertise to
> avoid security issues. One "security expert" who spews BS here frequently
> runs a system that's wide open to exploitation and hasn't the foggiest
> glimmer of what he's risking. ;)

Which is precisely why running a forum *shouldn't* be part of their
business.  At least 1/2 of the posts in the forum have relevance outside of
ADI.  Usenet has search engines, newsreaders, easy-to-save messages, etc.
Reinventing the wheel and using a hexagon instead makes for a bumpy ride.
I'm not sure what was wrong with a mailing list or Usenet, but it seems they
opted for the least optimal solution.

It's been a useful examination, though, and I'm sorry if I riled any
feathers.  I've been fussing with teaching my CPUXA IR codes that the X-10
remote can't learn and the results haven't been encouraging.  I've also been
struggling with C-MAX and I realize now that I'd be much better off
polishing up my Unix than learning C-MAX.

More importantly, I also realized that if I want to avoid obsolescence, I
should stick with mini-PCs.  They aren't a "sole supplier" item like the
Leopards - years of government procurement experience makes me shiver when I
see those two words.  A Leopard and a mini-pc with a USB touchscreen LCD
cost about the same, but their capabilities are a galaxy apart.

Wasn't it you that said once you've seen full motion video on an LCD screen
it's hard to settle for static bitmaps?  Well, if I am going to deploy LCD
control panels throughout the house, they *have* to be capable of showing me
who's at the front door.  Perhaps I missed it, but that sort of home
automation doesn't seem to be part of the Leopard's skillset.

--
Bobby G.