Linux-Based Cat Feeder 420
prostoalex writes "Chris McAvoy is a UNIX administrator and an owner of two cats. So as a natural application of his work to his hobby he built this Linux-based cat feeder. A little hardware hacking and Python scripting can get you a device that would automatically disperse a yummy fish at specified intervals."
Re:Slashdotted, here's the Google Cache (Score:4, Informative)
Coral Cache Mirror (Score:3, Informative)
Mirrordot Mirror (Score:5, Informative)
Feed his cats (Score:2, Informative)
http://kittens.lonelylion.com/index.py [lonelylion.com]
Go ahead
Re:Litter box (Score:3, Informative)
No need for cron even-- just get Litter Robot [litter-robot.com], the self-cleaning robotic litterbox! It looks futuristic...oddly like one of those pods from 2001: A Space Odyssey. But does it run linux?
Re:the world needs more vets.... (Score:3, Informative)
Cats that are regularilly allowed to roam live an average of less than three years. Cats that are kept indoors live an average of 15-18 years according to the Humane Society of the United States. [hsus.org]
And if your pets are not spayed or neutered, I suggest you go talk to some of the people who have to perfom euthanasia every day. Of shelters that responded to a federal survey [petpopulation.org] of the 1,759,743 cats that entered shelters in 1997, 71.0%, or about 1.25 MILLION were euthanized. The actual numbers are actually much higher as not all shelters responded, and only shelters which can house over 100 animals were questioned for the survey. Many of these cats were euthanized simply because there are not enough homes available to place them all. And that's the cats that were lucky enough to make it to a shelter in the first place and don't die on the streets from starvation, cold, infected wounds, parasites, dog attacks, cruelty of strangers and on and on.
Re:Sounds like... (Score:4, Informative)
It's red dwarf. www.reddwarf.co.uk
RTF (Score:3, Informative)
he _is_ using a simple microcontroller.
The linux system is just there so that the microctonroller can be interfaced with his network, and the internet, so that one can feed the cat through a browser.
overkill perhaps, but pretty useful IMHO while you're away on a trip.
Re:ALF (Score:3, Informative)