I couldn’t install anything “modern” on it. Funny how I take for granted the Intel chip in the newer one… so it then became a project for what I could actually use it for. First thing’s first – I had to update the OS. As it’s a PowerPC processor, there’s no way snow leopard would go on and I didn’t want to fork out for more memory (it only has 512mb) to run Leopard. So I bought Tiger OS. (10.4 I think). Once updated, it was time to install something… anything.

Sabnzbd – download slave

Sabnzbd is the be-all-and-end-all of usenet downloader applications. I’ve used a whole host of packages to download usenet files before and always struggled with unpacking or fixing etc. This does everything for you. It will even connect to the nzbmatrix and newzbin API for quick bookmarking.

You either use the web interface to add an NZB or bookmark it (on Newzbin or NZBMatrix) for sabnzbd to pick up automatically. It goes away and does it’s thing – unpacking & repairing (if need be). You are left with the finished article. It also allows you to run shell scripts on completion – so you can move the file to your network drive for example. Or, in my case, move to the external drive and add music to iTunes. (I’ll post a script for that later).

Sabnzbd is available for Mac OSX, Windows and Linux from www.sabnzbd.org

iTunes – music slave

I have a few Veho wireless speakers dotted around the house and it’s always frustrated me having to turn on a mac to play iTunes so I can have a listen. Queue the always on mac mini music slave! The Veho speakers have a USB transmitter which each of the speakers automatically connect to.

Using the iPhone or my iPad as a remote control allows me to connect any time to the “music slave”. Switching the speakers on and bang – always on music! If you’re not happy with the sound produced by these Veho speakers, check out my post on modifying them. I hacked it up to work with my Bose speakers. Works a treat!

Other options

Although this isn’t running on my ancient mac mini, I do use Plex on my newer Intel Mac Mini. It’s an amazing bit of kit. If you have at least 1GB ram, you could run this on your “always on” mac mini to watch movies on your iPhone or iPad. Of course, you can always hook it up to your TV as we have done with the newer one. www.plexapp.com

Using Mame OSX (http://mameosx.sourceforge.net) you can turn your old mac mini in to an arcade machine. Play all the old classics (Track & Field is still my favourite). Check out http://mamedev.org for more information and how to download some ROMs (games) to play on it.

Put the mac mini in your car or campervan! Check out http://www.macvroom.com for more information and project ideas.

Any other ideas?

I’m keen to try other ideas so please post and let me know!

Lounge

The lounge has changed probably the most. There’s been at least 4 paint changes and countless furniture changes and move-arounds. I was obviously most sorry to see the carpet go…. honestly. I also built a cupboard under the stairs.

Kitchen

The kitchen was the first room to be completed and hasn’t really changed much… other than a paint job and removing the “pantry” cupboard.

Nursery (nee Spare room / office / games room!)

So the spare room became the games room which in turn was my office. Now with the baby due in September, it’s become the Nursery. We’ve decorated it and now it’s all furnished ready for the little one. I’ll update these photos once it’s 100% finished (just waiting for some paint to dry on the custom shelves!)

Garden

This has changed a lot. It was a mass of bushes and pot plants when I moved in. Now it’s a nice sleek (ish) back yard which the wife and I created last summer (2009).

I’m not a bath person really, I much prefer taking a shower. This however, is bound to change my mind! The TV arrived along with the waterproof speakers so I started work straight away. A quick test showed it was working nicely and picking up my sky signal along with terrestrial TV. (I also found that it has Tetris on!)

I’d already put a power cable and TV aerial inside the wall cavity. All I needed now was to wire in the speaker cable to the loft for the ceiling speakers.

One hole in the plaster board later and I have a TV in my wall! You’ll notice there are no tiles around the bath – this is the next thing to do. (eventually!)

The sound from the 4″ speakers is actually quite good. I was worried they may be a little tinny, but so far so good. Hopefully we’ll get around to plastering around the bath soon, so I’ll post some updated pics shortly.

Update: 16-11-06

The tiling has now been done around the screen…

All the walls have been wallpapered (lining paper) as they were in pretty bad condition! So it’s taken twice as long to do this room up. (Thanks to Lucy for the help, what a paster!)

(also the bed arrived a little earlier than I’d hoped so that was a problem as it’s pretty big)

Once I’ve finished glossing I’ll post some more “finished” photos

Here’s a shot of the room when it was furnished… (before I bought the house)

So this room is to be my office/spare room. The idea is to have a sofa bed at one end and my office at the other. It has a couple of network points installed and the TV / Sky is piped in there. The office also houses my “hub”.

(more pictures to come of that) The hub basically houses the networking equipment: switch, NAS, VPN router, Loftbox for TV/Sky distribution etc. All sitting neatly inside a cabinet (eventually!)

So, some shots of the room as it was painted…

With all the painting done, it was time to lay the floor. Good old laminate.

So it’s all pretty much done now – I’ll post some more pictures up soon once it’s 100% finished.

Also note the awesome paint work on the back wall – that was done by my good friend Lucy C Pembertonshire. Isn’t she good!

Woooop! The kitchen has arrived! We’re about half way through putting it all in now. A few of the units need to be hacked a little to get them to sit flush – and these bloody walls are NEVER straight. Great!

I’ll add a few more photos once we’ve made some more progress.

Update: 12-11-06

I’ve now tiled and grouted the floor and levelled the cupboards off ready for the surfaces. Just a few pics at the moment…

Back to those tiles. Cork tiles do not come up easily, let me tell you! I used around 5 different tools and in the end favoured the heat gun and spade method. (Which in the process I managed to crack the loo…. oops)

Now all that’s done, we moved on to the good stuff. Smashing and taking to bits. First to go, the cracked toilet, as that pretty much lifted off the fixtures. Really safe. Then the sink…. Snore….

…Then outcame the sledge hammer. The bath was made from cast iron so weighed a tonne. The only thing to do – smash it to bits surely?!

The sledge hammer came out for a second turn in helping bring down the wall which previously housed the hot water tank. This bit was the best. Lots of noise and dust.

The end result being a nice mess which hopefully tomorrow Glen (plumber) and my Dad (builder & superman) will make nice!

Update: 19-09-06

The new stud wall has been put up and covered with plaster board, and the floor has been covered with plywood so the tiles can be placed on top. New bath has arrived (as the old one had wonky taps!) – it’s a bigger, better bath too for no extra cost! Tiling is starting tomorrow – so hopefully will have some more interesting pictures by thursday/friday!!

Update: 08-10-06

Quite a lot has happened since the last update – we have working fixtures now which helps! The sink and toilet are in, all the tiling has beein done (except for around the bath). It’s finally starting to look like a bathroom! Oh, and my new mirror is up – which apparently is good for putting on make up. Super!