GoPro camera fun and table hack idea

So, the new year is here and I've not done much to the house over Christmas. The main bedroom is almost ready, but we need to pick a carpet. We have everything else ready (furniture, fittings, etc).

I did add an extra security light to the garage, which is connected to a mains remote controlled switch. This means Becky can turn the light on from her car as she reverses along the dark driveway behind the row of houses (as the normal security light only gets activated once someone is outside of their car). I might hook into this remote control system in the future, either by decoding the wireless signals used or by adding a spare remote and patching its buttons into an Arduino or raspberry pi or something else.

I did however get a nice shiny GoPro HD Hero 2 camera for my birthday from Becky. After getting used to its wide angle, and the fact that it has no viewfinder, 

I've finally got some good photos of the house! I've also spent plenty of money on a WiFi BacPac add on, Class 10 32Gb SDHC memory card, and a few other bits and pieces.

 

It is going to be perfect for running a time lapse recording of me and Becky doing significant changes to a room (e.g. the main bedroom), although I have to calculate the photo interval properly. On a recent trial time lapse I recorded I set the interval for 2 seconds, and ended up with over 9,000 3mb photos! It almost filled the new memory card up! I will post completed time lapse videos and photos on here soon.

Still, there are many ideas and plans for things that can be done in 2013. One of the best ones yet was suggested by Becky. I was fed up of the amount USB cables cluttering up our coffee table when charging phones, PS3 remotes, etc. I thought of adding a USB powered hub into the IKEA LACK coffee table we have. Then Becky suggested "why not just add mains extension sockets so we can plug in our laptop chargers as well.

So, I've decided I can recess some sockets under the table (as it is mostly hollow anyway) and add some cable management hooks. A powered USB charger/hub and some spare USB cables. If I'm cunning enough I can hide all the wires in the table frame, with a power cable for the mains coming out of a table leg and under the rug/sofa.