Sunday, July 24, 2011

Electrical Department Now Open

Spread the word, Robin is now a Registered Electrician.
Here's the proof http://tinyurl.com/3f6k6fo

When I was 18 I began an electrical apprenticeship and changed careers before getting registered. I have done electrical tasks since then, including wiring our own house, but until now had to get another sparky to sign-off the work. In June I completed the final step and now I am all wired up and ready for action.

The IT side of the business will still have a major focus, however now I can compliment this with power related jobs such as:

  • portable appliance testing and tagging (3760)
  • power sockets - hotpoints
  • lighting
  • computer cabling / networking
  • phone cabling / voip
  • home automation
  • Home wiring
Call me for any electrical related tasks +64-6-9294141

Friday, July 22, 2011

Video editing on the command line

A client gave me some video clips of their work that they wanted to use in a presentation.
The clips were ok but they were too long and he only had 10 minutes to speak
The quickest way to trim the clips was using the brilliant command line programme ffmpeg.
ffmpeg is like a swiss army knife for video and audio.

This command can be used to trim a video clip without any transcoding
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:00 -t 00:02:45 -i sampleinputvideo.mpg -acodec copy -vcodec copy sampleoutputvideo.mpg

-ss means to start at the timepoint indicated (hh:mm:ss), which in this example is at the beginning, or 00:00:00

-t means to process this much of the sampleinputvideo (in hh:mm:ss), which in this example is 2 minutes 45 secs of video.

Source: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=964631&page=2

The command line is so powerful one you learn to love it.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Up-skilling

 Recently I completed the last step involved in becoming a registered electrician, the stage 3 practical assessment. I spent the week at Weltec in Petone and completed the assessment a day early. This was the last step that I needed to complete all the requirements of the Electrical Workers Registration Board (EWRB).

I have applied to the EWRB and should be a fully qualified Electrician in about a weeks time. Inspired Ideas will still have a major focus on providing "Creative ICT Solutions", but will now be able to provide a whole range of other related services such as PAT Testing and compliance - AS/NZS 3760.
In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipmentAS/NZS 3760:2010 provides a process to reduce the risk of electrical shock to users of electrical equipment. The Standard covers electrical equipment that connects to the mains supply by a flexible cord and plug. AS/NZS 3760 is used by electricians and electrical contractors that inspect electrical equipment.
Watch this space! 

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A time to blog

Hi,
I am Robin and I run a small business called Inspired Ideas Ltd, based in Palmerston North, NZ
As is true with my business name I often have lots of ideas. Some are inspired others are simply taking up space in my brain. So this blog will be a space where I can dump all the ideas in one place.

You may also see from time-to-time my musings on Christianity, thoughts or discoveries relating to technology.

Not too worried if I get readers or not, but I think it will help to write and store ideas in one place.

Blessings

Robin