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Linux Powered Christmas Tree

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the hey-why-the-hell-not dept.

_xeno_ writes "Ever wondered what happens if you cross a Christmas tree with a Linux server? You get ChristmasTree.WPI.EDU. It's a Red Hat 7.2 server running on an artificial Christmas tree as a decoration. You can make the tree play different songs (no, not your browser, the tree's soundcard) by clicking on the pictures. Apparently, the ability to control the tree lights is coming soon." Just when you think you've seen it all, someone changes what "It" is.

1 of 287 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Correction by _xeno_ · · Score: 4, Informative
    You're missing some of the backstory by not being from WPI...

    The tree is located in the CCC shop (CCC = College Computer Center), which is the place A) where WPI computers that break are repaired (I think student computers can be brought there if they were bought via a WPI sponsored vendor, but I'm not sure...) and B) where Network Operations is located (making this slightly funnier IMHO).

    For the past couple of years, there has been a tree in the CCC shop which is decorated with computer parts. This year, Paul Reitchel and Chuck Anderson decided to make those parts actually work. So they powered up the board with a power supply at the bottom of the tree and set it up to play Christmas songs via a web interface (although the speakers were, while not off, turned down to inaudiable when I swung by the shop - it was already popular enough around campus to drive everyone nuts, which doesn't surprise me).

    Also, a "Christmas" tree has ornaments, lights, tinsel...christmasy things...

    It does have lights, and, again, it's in the CCC shop, so it's decorated with hardware mostly as a joke. (Plus, if Chuck gets around to X10-ing the tree lights, it'll really be "Linux powered" - I think the fact that it plays music via the board is makes it "powered" enough... How would you use Linux to power a tree? Make it rotate or something?)

    And if you want to see something really funny, take a look at the I2 link upstream/downstream graphs. You can see when the story was posted on the daily graph at about 20:00 EST.

    (Plus the idea of NetOps taking up more than the maximum allowed bandwidth per system is a rather amusing idea to a WPI student...)

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.