> msync help
usage: msync <subcommand> [options] [args]
msync command line client
Type ‘msync help <subcommand>’ for help for a specific subcommand

Available subcommands:
    library (lib)
    playlist (pl)
    synclist (sl)

> msync help library
library (lib): modify or read the library.
usage: library <subcommand> [args]

Available subcommands:
    add
    check
    delete (del, remove, rm)
    list (ls)
    paths
    playlists (pls)
    rescan (rs)
    update (up)

> msync help library add
add: add a file or directory (recursively) to the library.
usage: add <file|directory>

> msync help library check
check: checks the sanity of the library compared to the files on disk.
usage: check [directory]

Notifies the user of any files in the library that it can no longer access.

> msync help library delete
delete: delete a file or directory (recursively) from the library.
usage: delete [file|directory]

WARNING: running this command without arguments will erase the contents of the
library from the database.

> msync help library list
list: list the files in the library.
usage: list [--artist|--album|--title|--genre|--year|--filename] [arg]

Files with attributes matching the option and argument passed will be
shown. For example, if run as ‘list –genre “Punk”‘, it will show all tracks
in the library with the genre Punk. If no options are passed, it will list
all files in the library.

Wildcards are permitted, but the argument must then be enclosed in quotes
so the shell does not try to expand the wildcard character (*).

> msync help library paths
paths: list the base paths in the library.
usage: paths

> msync help library playlists
playlists: show all playlists bound to this library.
usage: playlists

> msync help library rescan
rescan: scans and adds or updates all files whether or not they’ve been updated
on the filesystem.
usage: rescan [file|directory]

Running this command without arguments will rescan all directories and files.

> msync help library update
update: rescan the library for new files or modifications of existing files.
usage: update [file|directory]

Running this command without arguments will rescan all directories and files.

> msync help playlist
playlist (pl): modify or read the playlist.
usage: playlist <name> <subcommand> [options] [args]

Available subcommands:
    add
    copy (cp)
    create (new)
    delete (del, remove, rm)
    export (ex)
    info
    list (ls)
    move (mv, rename, ren)
    position (pos)
    sync

> msync help playlist add
add: add a file or directory (recursively) to the playlist.
usage: add [--artist|--album|--title|--genre|--year|--filename] <arg>

The file will be added depending on the option passed. For example, if run as
‘add –artist “Converge”‘, it will add all tracks in the library by Converge.
If no option is passed, it defaults to filename.

> msync help playlist copy
copy: copies the contents of one playlist into another.
usage: copy <playlist2>

If the second playlist does not exist, it will be created.

> msync help playlist create
create: creates an empty playlist.
usage: create

> msync help playlist delete
delete: delete a file or directory (recursively) from the playlist.
usage: delete [--artist|--album|--title|--genre|--year|--position|--filename] [arg]

The files will be deleted depending on the option passed. For example, if run as
‘delete –album “Termites In His Smile”‘, it will delete all tracks in the library
on the album Termites In His Smile. If no option is passed, it defaults to filename.

If called with no options or arguments, it will remove this playlist from the database.

> msync help playlist export
export: write a playlist to the filesystem in the form of an m3u file.
usage: export <directory>

> msync help playlist info
info: prints the length and size of the playlist.
usage: info

> msync help playlist list
list: prints the files contained in the playlist.
usage: list

> msync help playlist move
move: moves the playlist from one name to another.
usage: move <new playlist>

The operation will not continue if the second playlist already exists.

> msync help playlist position
position: changes position of a file in the playlist.
usage: position <old> <new>

> msync help playlist sync
sync: synchronizes a playlist to a remote directory.
usage: sync [--remove|-r] <directory> [[--size|-s SIZE]|[--format|-f FORMAT]]

> msync help synclist
synclist (sl): modify, read, or synchronize a playlist tracker.
usage: synclist <subcommand> [args]

Available subcommands:
    list (ls)
    mark
    sync
    unmark

> msync help synclist list
list: prints the playlists currently set to sync.
usage: list [all]

If passed with the ‘all’ argument, it will print all playlists currently available,
with an (X) next to the ones that are currently selected to sync.

> msync help synclist mark
mark: sets a playlist’s status to sync.
usage: mark <playlist name>

> msync help synclist sync
sync: syncs all currently selected playlists to a remote directory.
usage: sync <directory> [[--size|-s SIZE]|[--format|-f FORMAT]]

> msync help synclist unmark
unmark: sets a playlist’s status to not sync.
usage: unmark <playlist name>

#! /usr/bin/env python
 
import os
import sys
import shutil
import string
 
for root, dir, files in os.walk(sys.argv[1]):
    if len(dir) == 0:
        copy_from = sys.argv[2] + '/' + root.replace(sys.argv[1],'').translate(
                string.maketrans(':<>\|*?','_______'))
        try:
            for file in os.listdir(copy_from):
                if file == '.directory' or file.endswith(('.jpg','.jpeg','.png','.gif','.bmp')):
                    copy_file = copy_from + '/' + file
                    shutil.copy(copy_file, root)
        except OSError: pass

Anyway, the project page is available behind the link on the right (or right here).

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
 
require 'find'
 
bad_str = ":<>\\|*?\""
bad_files = Array.new
 
Find.find(ARGV[0]) do |file|
	bad_files.push file
end
 
# reverse array so bad directories come after the files
bad_files.reverse!
 
bad_files.each do |file|
	basename = File.basename(file)
	if basename.count(bad_str) > 0
		dirname = File.dirname(file)
		new_file = File.join(dirname, basename.tr(bad_str, '_'))
		puts [file, ' -> ', new_file].join
		File.rename( file, new_file )
	end
end

Here it is before I skinned it down past the membrane. At this point, it looks the most like a “real” metroid.

Skinned it down past the membrane, and now it’s ready to be lit up for the first time.

You can’t actually see the real first time it was lit up. I only used one candle at first, and no light came through. I had to add 5 more to make it look good. For the rest of the process of carving it, I used a flashlight instead of lighting six candles every time I made a small change.

The pincers were cut out fully to make that part shine the brightest.

Here is a picture of me carving it. I started it while my wife was at work, so she took it when she came home.

This is the final revision. All of the metroid is completely skinned. The brain things in the center are rounded, and the things that attach them to the rest of the metroid fade away into the rest of it now.

Here it is lit up with a flashlight in the kitchen. This picture was taken with a muffled flash, so I could show more detail.

This is it outside on our makeshift patio. The process is complete.

Also, there were definitely some bugs in the version 0.1 that I originally released. Turns out, I forgot to add a lot of source files to Makefile.am, which caused a lot of files to go missing when I ran make dist-gzip to create the archive. I fixed that, and now the archive reflects it, but there were some other show-stopping bugs I ran into on a different test machine regarding locales. The fixes for those problems are not in the archive, but a patch exists (conveniently in the bitbake package files) that will bring the source up to svn revision 61, which also incorporates a few items that were planned for the 0.2 release.

Please download it and give me feedback, especially if you own a Neo1973. I’ll not be able to purchase one as soon as I’d hoped, so every bit of feedback is helpful. And if you encounter any bugs, or would like a feature implemented, please file a new ticket in Trac.

I’ll keep posted on developments for it and create a project page soon. Until then, the trac page is available to look at the source code or submit tickets.