JoyWarrior24F14 Udev rules

The JW24F14 device is accessible as a HID only as root. In order to access it as a user, I had to write a UDEV rule with the help of this post. more info about udev rules can be found here.
issue the command:
> sudo vi /etc/udev/rules.d/10-JoyWarrior24F14.rules
and when in editing mode (i) add:

# Rules for accessing JoyWarrior24F14 HID as user:
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07C0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0140", MODE:="666", GROUP="users"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07c0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1116", MODE:="666", GROUP="users"

Python Event Listener - multiprocessing deamon

I wanted to have a file change listener such that if new data is added to a file I could run a code.
Following this post, I've written a modification so now the listener is working in multiprocessing.

#!/usr/bin/python
# A code to stream file as it grows
# by Ran Novitsky Nof Oct 25, 2012

import os,time
from multiprocessing import Process,Pipe

# change this file name
FileName = 'stream.txt'

# adapted from http://www.valuedlessons.com/2008/04/events-in-python.html


# the Event class take care of adding, removing and executing the functions
class Event:
    def __init__(self):
        self.handlers = set()

    def handle(self, handler):
        self.handlers.add(handler)
        return self

    def unhandle(self, handler):
        try:
            self.handlers.remove(handler)
        except:
            raise ValueError("Handler is not handling this event, so cannot unhandle it.")
        return self

    def fire(self, *args, **kargs):
        for handler in self.handlers:
            handler(*args, **kargs)

    def getHandlerCount(self):
        return len(self.handlers)

    __iadd__ = handle
    __isub__ = unhandle
    __call__ = fire
    __len__  = getHandlerCount
 
# the stream class takes care of the
# function to fire in case of an event
class Stream:
  def __init__(self,fname):
    self.fname = fname
    self.fd = open(fname,'r')
    self.get_stream()
  def get_stream(self):
    # this is the actual function to fire
    print self.fd.read(),
  def restart(self):
    self.fd.seek(0)
 
# the MockFileWatcher creats the multiprocessing deamon to alert on file change
class MockFileWatcher:
    def __init__(self,source_path,sleeptime=0.1):
        self.fileChanged = Event()
        self.source_path = source_path
        self.running=False
        self.deamon=False
        self.fd = None
        self.sleep = sleeptime
        # the next two lines can be set outside the class
        self.stream = Stream(source_path)
        self.fileChanged += self.stream.get_stream # add event handler
    def watchFiles(self):
        # open the file in non-blocking read mode
        self.fd = os.open(self.source_path,os.O_RDONLY | os.O_NONBLOCK)
        # go to the end
        os.lseek(self.fd,0,2)
        self.running=True
        self.deamon=False
        while self.running:
          # try to read
          if os.read(self.fd,1)!='':
            # New data was added
            os.lseek(self.fd,0,2) # go to the end of file
            self.fileChanged() # fire the event
          # see if the parent process has a message
          if self.chiled_conn.poll():
            # execute the message
            eval(self.chiled_conn.recv())
          # sleep for a while
          time.sleep(self.sleep)
    def watchFilesDeamon(self):
        # start the deamon
        self.parent_conn,self.chiled_conn = Pipe()
        p = Process(target=self.watchFiles)
        p.start()
        self.p = p  
        self.deamon=True
        return p
    def stop(self):
        # stop deamon/process
        if self.deamon:
          self.parent_conn.send('self.stop()')
          print "Hold while stopping child process..."
          # hold depends on the sleeping time
          if self.parent_conn.recv():
            pass
            #print "chiled is stopped"
          self.p.terminate() # terminate multiprocessing
          self.deamon=False
        # stop process
        self.running=False
        self.fd=None
        # if this is the process make sure parent know we are done
        if not self.deamon:  self.chiled_conn.send(True)      
        return True

if __name__=='__main__':
  watcher = MockFileWatcher(FileName)
  p = watcher.watchFilesDeamon()
  print 'from this point the listner is running at the background'
  print 'add more code here so you can see how it works.'

Try this by changing the file name at the top and run it. then add new lines to the file.

SeisComp3 - get events data

After installing  Seiscomp3 and running it for a while, now it is time to play with the data.
As a first step I want to be able to see the events outside the SeisComp3 environment.
This will later serve me when exporting the data to a web page or reports.
The steps described here are: 1) get a list of events, 2) export the data to an xml file and 3) print the data as a bulletin.
1) Get a list of events:
scevtls -d mysql://sysop:sysop@localhost/seiscomp3
Will give a list of event codes like:

Wrong 'begin' format -> setting to None
Setting start to 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Setting end to 2012-10-24 08:17:13
gfz2012uizn
gfz2012atlf
...

where gfz will be the agency prefix and the last 4 letters will be random code.
You can also set begin and end time to get only a time window events. see scevtls documentation.

2) For this example I select one event (in csh environment):
set EVENT = gfz2012uizn
Now we can export the event data to an xml file:
scxmldump -d mysql://sysop:sysop@localhost/seiscomp3 -E $EVENT -P -M -A -o test.xml
see scxmldump for more information

3) Print the data to stdout:
scbulletin -i test.xml
Note that it is possible to skip the xmp part by using:
scbulletin -d mysql://sysop:sysop@localhost/seiscomp3 -E $EVENT
also adding -3 as a flag will output even more details.
see scbulletin for more info.

I'll update later with a python script to export the data to a Google Earth kml file.

Installing SeisComp3 on fedora 17

After installing Fedora 17  I will now describe how to install MySQL server and SeisComp3.

first, install MySQL (following this):
> sudo yum install -y mysql mysql-server

enable and start MySQL service:
> sudo systemctl enable mysqld.service
> sudo systemctl start mysqld.service

Next, secure the server:
> sudo /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation
(answer yes to all questions and change the MySQL root password)
If you need to change the database location from the default follow this (source):
Stop the service:
> systemctl stop mysqld.service
Copy from default to new location:
> cp -R -p /var/lib/mysql /path/to/new/datadir
Clean unneeded files:
> rm /path/to/new/datadir
(don't worry about error messages - the undeleted files are the databases)
Edit the configuration file:
>  gedit /etc/mysql/my.cnf
(change keyword value of datadir to the new location)
Restart the service:
> systemctl restart mysqld.service

Now to the SeisComp3 install (Zurich version for fedora16 modified for fedora 17):
Add needed packages:
> sudo yum install -y boost-filesystem boost-iostreams boost-program-options boost-serialization boost-signals
boost-thread boost-wave boost-regex boost-devel ncurses python-numeric numpy alsa-utils festival
Link installed libraries (so.1.48) to the needed packages (so.1.47):

> sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libboost_iostreams.so.1.48.0 /usr/lib64/libboost_iostreams.so.1.47.0

> sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libboost_filesystem.so.1.48.0 /usr/lib64/libboost_filesystem.so.1.47.0
> sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libboost_system.so.1.48.0 /usr/lib64/libboost_system.so.1.47.0
> sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libboost_regex.so.1.48.0 /usr/lib64/libboost_regex.so.1.47.0
> sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libboost_thread-mt.so.1.48.0 /usr/lib64/libboost_thread-mt.so.1.47.0
> sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libboost_program_options.so.1.48.0 /usr/lib64/libboost_program_options.so.1.47.0
> sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libboost_signals.so.1.48.0 /usr/lib64/libboost_signals.so.1.47.0
Put key files in ~/.seiscomp3/key/ directory
Install using the setup and seiscomp config procedures described in the SeisComp3 documentations
add a source to env.sh file in your .bashrc:
source ~/seiscomp3/lib/env.sh

For the seattle release use:
>sudo yum install -y boost boost-devel python-numeric


Don't forget to download and extract to the seiscomp directory, the correct fedora seiscomp package (e.g. seiscomp3-zurich-xxxx.xxx.xx-fedora16-x86_64.tar.gz), the maps (e.g. seiscomp3-maps.tar.gz) and the methadata of GE network (e.g. seiscomp3-metadata-GE-2010.tar.gz).

Howto write to stdout XY

how to use python to write to a certain location (x,y) on the stdout (terminal):

copied form here

import sys
def print_there(x, y, text):
     sys.stdout.write("\x1b7\x1b[%d;%df%s\x1b8" % (x, y, text))
     sys.stdout.flush()

Creating a software raid

1. format the hard drives to raid using fdisk (gdisk in fedora 17)
or with parted (for 3TB disks):

> parted /dev/sdx
        (parted) mklabel gpt
        (parted) unit TB
        (parted) mkpart primary 0 3001G
        (parted) print
        (parted) quit

2. Create the raid device (change level and devices as needed):
mdadm --create --level=1 --raid-devices=2 /dev/md0 /dev/sd[bc]1
3. format the file system of the new device:
mkfs.ext4 /dev/md0
4. create the mdadm.conf file:
mdadm --detail --scan > /etc/mdadm.conf
5. add mail alert:
echo "MAILADDR your_mail@somthing.com" >> /etc/mdadm.conf
echo "MAILFROM your_server" >> /etc/mdadm.conf
6. test mail alert:
mdadm --monitor --scan --test --oneshot
7. start mail alert deamon:
systemctl enable mdmonitor.service
systemctl start mdmonitor.service
8. edit the mail aliases file to forward root messages to your email:
vi /etc/aliases
add your mail under the line:  # Person who should get root's mail

run newaliases command

see also at:
http://www.iceteks.com/articles.php/linuxmdadmraid/

* after name change, create the /etc/mdadm.conf file and run:
sudo update-initramfs -u
or
sudo dracut -f /boot/initramfs-[current].img

Installing Fedora Core 17

based on my-guides post-install post

1. Add to sudo:
> su --login -c 'visudo'
add under the line:
root    ALL=(ALL)       ALL
the line:
username ALL=(ALL)      ALL
and remove the sign # from the line with %wheel
save and test using the line:
> sudo whoami
(answer should be root)
2. Disable SeLinux and firewall:
> sudo vi  /etc/selinux/config
change enabled to disabled
> sudo systemctl disable iptables.service
> sudo systemctl stop iptables.service
3. change autologin for user:
sudo vi /etc/gdm/custom.conf
under [daemon], add:
TimedLoginEnable=true
TimedLogin=yourUserName
TimedLoginDelay=1
4. Switch to gnome3 fallback mode:
> gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.session session-name 'gnome-fallback'
5. enable sshd:
>sudo systemctl enable sshd.service
> sudo systemctl start sshd.service

6. auto rotate screen on login:
add to .profile on home:
xrandr --output VGA-1 --rotate left
7.add daily update report (as root):
following this:
> vi /etc/cron.daily/yum_update_note
#!/bin/sh

if [ ! -f /var/lock/subsys/yum ] ; then
        msg=`/usr/bin/yum check-update 2>&1`
        i=`echo "$msg" | wc -l`
        if ((i>1)); then
                echo "$msg" | /bin/mail -s "yum check-update output" root
        fi
fi

and chnage mode for executable:

> sudo chmod +x /etc/cron.daily/yum_update_note

Dead Sea rising: how the lowest place on Earth is getting (slightly) higher - GeoSpace - AGU Blogosphere

See a blog post about my recent paper:
Dead Sea rising: how the lowest place on Earth is getting (slightly) higher - GeoSpace - AGU Blogosphere

Howto run a process automatically when a certain mail is downloaded by Thunderbird

In order to run a file whenever a certain mail arrives to my inbox I created a filter using the Thunderbird add-on FiltaQuilla. The add-on expand the messages filtering options and add an option to "run a file". when a certain mail match the filter, Thunderbird will run the file specified. I use a python code - code.py so in the filter configuration under Linux (Fedora core 14) I use this line:

/usr/bin/python,/home/UserName/code.py,-a

The line is a comma separated 3 parts line. The first part is the python interperter, the second is the script name to run and the last part is an argument needed for the script to run. Omitting the first part and the filter wont work.