Slashdot Mirror


Linux Powered Christmas Tree

_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.

39 of 287 comments (clear)

  1. Brings new meaning by Fillup · · Score: 5, Funny

    Brings new meaning to the term "fire hazard."

    --
    "I think there is a world market for, maybe, five computers." __ IBM Chairman, 1943 __
  2. urk by faeryman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Please tell me the didn't choose Red Hat because Santa Claus wears one.

    --


    ,
    faeryman
  3. race conditions by Proud+Geek · · Score: 2

    I can barely believe this site is still up. I wonder what happens with race conditions in those music playing cgi scripts. I wish I was in the CCC Shop so that I could find out. I guess I'll just have to imagine the frantic beeps and wails as the mighty slashdot effect takes its toll on the tune.

    --

    Even Slashdot wants to hide some things

  4. here is a clue on how not to get a christmas date by linzeal · · Score: 5, Funny

    do not tell some girl that you have a linux powered christmas tree, and never ever give her the url for it with you standing next to it.

  5. I hope Santa... by thelen · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...brings a fire extinguisher this year.

  6. Hmm... by appleprophet · · Score: 4, Funny

    First tree in history to be slashdotted?

  7. web fridge by Beowulf_Boy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    www.hamjudo.com
    has a webfridge,
    its the oldest running webpage I know of.
    also has "Wave to the cats" and "check pauls hottub"

  8. insanity by brain+damage · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How long do you think it will take them to unplug the speakers?

    This reminds me of a Jersey Mike's that got one of those stupid singing bass things. I couldn't help but notice the tremendously annoyed looks on their faces when customers would walk in and push the red "press me" button.

    The next day the fish was gone.

  9. Better check out the page quick.... by moniker_21 · · Score: 5, Funny
    Yes, that computer you see in the christmas tree is the actual one serving this web page and music! It is a Pentium 100 with 64MB RAM, running Red Hat Linux 7.2.


    Lets count the seconds until the /. effect kicks in....

    4... 3... 2... 1...
    --
    I posted to /. and all I got was this stupid sig
  10. Obligatory Beowulf cluster comment by flegged · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of these?

    Or would that be a Beowulf forest?

    --

    "I think he was truly surprised at how little I cared about how big a market the Mac had" - Linus on Jobs
    1. Re:Obligatory Beowulf cluster comment by flegged · · Score: 2, Funny

      Or how about running a cvs server? I wonder what would be in their tree?

      (Sorry)

      --

      "I think he was truly surprised at how little I cared about how big a market the Mac had" - Linus on Jobs
    2. Re:Obligatory Beowulf cluster comment by flegged · · Score: 5, Funny

      What if you were to log in as root?

      --

      "I think he was truly surprised at how little I cared about how big a market the Mac had" - Linus on Jobs
    3. Re:Obligatory Beowulf cluster comment by bonzoesc · · Score: 2

      But would you miss your Beowulf fores for the trees?

    4. Re:Obligatory Beowulf cluster comment by DigitalEntropy · · Score: 3, Funny

      I guess if one were to fall, it probably would make some noise ("Jingle Bells... Jingle Bells...") whether or not anyone was around.

      --

      Thank you for reading One Man's Opinion. No participation necessary. Offer void where deemed by law or PATRIOT Act.
    5. Re:Obligatory Beowulf cluster comment by dstone · · Score: 2

      Oh man, this guy can't tell the nodes from the cluster.

      I just hope someone wires the cluster in parallel. Otherwise, "Honey, everything just froze. Can you go outside and find the hung node?"

      - Hung Node.

  11. but where is the monitor displaying xsnow? by green+pizza · · Score: 2

    But where is the monitor displaying xsnow?

    I've been running that every December since 1994. Don't like the new Sanda art, though. Outta dig out my Sun SPARCstation IPC and see if I still have an ancient vesion of it installed.

  12. Wow, a new low! by JohnnyBolla · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I guess this was a slow news day.

    --
    Carpe Deez
  13. It comes back every year... by Kirkoff · · Score: 4, Funny

    So let's sing it again and spread some Christmas cheer!

    better !pout !cry
    better watchout
    lpr why
    santa claus town

    cat /etc/passwd > list
    ncheck list
    ncheck list
    cat list | grep naughty > nogiftlist
    cat list | grep nice > giftlist
    santa claus town

    who | grep sleeping
    who | grep awake
    who | grep bad || good
    for (goodness sake) {
    be good
    }

    Think this code is on the tree?

    --Josh

    --
    There are exactly 42,935,718 letter sized sheets in a square mile.
  14. /. descends to a new low... by Usquebaugh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't get me wrong I usually love hacked stuff, portable 2600, tetris on a building, laser mame etc. But this is shite. Take a pentium out of a case and throw it into a tree, big deal. Anyone want to see my linux bookcase?

    I cannot believe the russian chappies freedom doesn't make the front page but this does, arrgh.

    1. Re:/. descends to a new low... by krogoth · · Score: 2

      If slashdot editors should read slashdot, whiners should too. Dimitry Skylarov's freedom has already made it to slashdot (and the front page, no less), but I'm guessing that if you were an editor it would be up there again today..

      --

      They that quote Benjamin Franklin on liberty and safety deserve neither.
  15. The origonal code used to run it by bluenirve · · Score: 3, Funny

    activate(SPY_CAM,1,cam1);
    cam1.monitor(BOYS,GIRLS);
    if (BOYS == "good")
    {
    give(presents, BOYS);
    }
    if (GIRLS == "good")
    {
    give(presents, GIRLS);
    }
    else
    {
    give(coal, BOTH);
    }

  16. Correction by pherret · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not a "linux-powered christmas tree". It's a tree with a computer placed on it. Just a computer without a case. A "linux-powered christmas tree" would mean that the tree is powered by linux. This is not the case as you can cleary see. Linux is not powering the tree in anyway, the tree is just sitting there.

    Nothing fancy here....move along.

    Also, a "Christmas" tree has ornaments, lights, tinsel...christmasy things....this tree has styrofoam and other computer junk to decorate it.

    It's just a tree with a computer in it.

    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.
    2. Re:Correction by nEoN+nOoDlE · · Score: 2

      well... looks like someone's jealous.

      --
      Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
  17. Errr... by Psarchasm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Chuck buddy... you are in dire need of a woman.

    --
    http://windows.scares.us
  18. C'mon everyone, have a heart! by Saint+Aardvark · · Score: 5, Funny

    Honestly, just imagine 80,000 attempts at starting "Silver Bells" that get no further than the first three notes. His office mates are gonna kill him.

  19. SSH exploit didn't give me tree /root by LM741N · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think its running the Secure Ornament Server.
    SOS

    Rob.

  20. Alma Mater by Cheeko · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well after 4 years and $125,000 I can honestly feel proud about something my school did. Even if not directly sponsored by the school. Probably the first time WPI has been /.ed too.

  21. Netops is jizzin in their pants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'll bet Charles R Anderson and the rest of the netops/ex-netops crew (yes that means you frank, phro, kozer, sean etc.) are coming all over each each other about excitement of being on slashdot!

  22. Tree falling down by Gogo+Dodo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If this tree falls down with nobody around, does the 'Net notice?

  23. Re:processor + tree ==bad by jeffy124 · · Score: 2

    i dont think it'll happen easily... the cpu appears to be far a few inches from the needles and branches in the third and fourth pictures. not to mention the tree's artificial, and probably fire retardant. besides, it's only a pentium 100, which doesnt produce as much heat as some newer cpus

    power supply is probably also a non-issue, it's being used under the base of the tree.

    --
    The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
  24. Well, you can control MY xmas lights if you want. by Restil · · Score: 2

    No direct line of sight to the tree, but you can
    see the lights draped around the room, controllable via the webpage, and viewed live via webcam.

    http://206.54.177.105. The Xmas lights are in the living room. I'm sure you geeks can figure it out. :)

    -Restil

    --
    Play with my webcams and lights here
  25. Re:Well, you can control MY xmas lights if you wan by JabberWokky · · Score: 2
    I've been to this site before - kinda nifty, especially the pan and zoom camera. But it seems to be down right now. Give it a shot in a few days... I'd say this has more credibility as a christmas hack than a fake tree with a motherboard slapped on the side.

    --
    Evan

    --
    "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
  26. um by nomadic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ever wondered what happens if you cross a Christmas tree with a Linux server?

    No.

  27. Dear chuck by PanBanger · · Score: 3, Funny

    There's a big yellow thing in the sky. It's called the sun. Check it out sometime!

    1. Re:Dear chuck by remande · · Score: 2
      This is WPI, in Worcester, MA. There is no sun. They've probably already started piling snow up on the quad.


      Seriously, WPI does this to people. I know somebody from there who turned a line printer into a railgun.

      --

      --The basis of all love is respect

  28. Alright... by cr0sh · · Score: 3, Funny

    As has already been posted numerous times - this isn't much of a hack - a server out of the case sitting in a fake tree - YAWN...

    So, here is a free project - do it this year (not much time left, but I bet somebody could do it), or next - or whenever...

    Get a piece of plywood or cardboard, cut it out in the shape of a christmas tree. Paint it (green for the tree, brown trunk, maybe some ornaments, or not).

    Arrange a buttload of LEDs - red, green, yellow (and maybe blue if you are rich) - on the tree, by drilling holes (or, if you cut out the tree from pegboard, it is pre-drilled!) - now, here is where you can go wild:

    1. Arrange them in a dense grid - and hook them up to the server to play tetris, etc (you know the routine). Add a web-cam, plus MP3 xmas songs through the sound card. Or use a SBC running Linux - or something.
    2. Arrange them randomly, and have strings pulsing and flashing to the music. Maybe do a double "tree" - with two pieces of pegboard at right angles, and careful wire arrangement (to make it look like decorations as well?), and have the tree spin on a turntable (power would have to be applied via batteries and and SBC, and a wireless NIC).

    Remember the web cam!

    Post it to /. and watch it melt down!

    Come on, someone should build this...soon!

    --
    Reason is the Path to God - Anon
  29. Insert Snide Fanboy Line Here by NeuroManson · · Score: 2

    Worst. Implementation. Ever.

    --
    Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
  30. Rooted by Ratbert42 · · Score: 2

    Ok. Who rooted the Christmas tree box?