Irish Cream

Description

My grandmother made her own Irish cream for the holidays and I've been trying to perfect my own recipe now for years. My recipe started from a combination of several others, as is my usual MO and I've been experimenting with some different flavours. One year I tried it with both dark chocolate (melted) instead of the espresso powder, then I tried it with white chocolate... I liked them all.

Note: It goes extremely well with buttery Christmas cookies, but I can't recommend it due to health concerns.

Ingredients

0.5 L. Whipping/Heavy Cream
300 mL. Condensed milk (sweetened)
1.5 Tbsp. Powdered Espresso
1 Tsp. Almond Extract
0.5 L. Irish Whiskey

Directions

Dissolve espresso in 75 mL. of hot water, then add the sweetened condensed milk and almond extract and mix thoroughly, this will help thin the condensed milk, and then mix in the heavy cream. Gradually stir in the Irish whiskey and it's done (well you'll want to bottle it).

Try to keep the Irish cream in the refrigerator for one week before drinking for the best flavour.

Stores at room temperature for approximately 2 weeks, and in the refrigerator for two months; or so I'm told. The Irish cream has never lasted long enough for me to verify this statement.

Make Raspberry Pi More Secure

A couple of simple steps to make Linux (sshd) secure shell more secure, as a follow up to my previous post about setting up ssh access with a secure key:

a) Change the default port

In order to change the default port we need to edit our ssh configuration file and change the default port from 22 to something else:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Port 22

b) Disable the password

The password is still a vulnerability, so it's best to either change it to something very secure (long and highly randomized) or to disable it completely and limit access to the ssh key itself. To do this we edit the following line in the sshd_config:

# Change to no to disable tunnelled clear text passwords

PasswordAuthentication no

Telemetry Chart

I created a very simple line plot for displaying my data using the JavaScript library Chart.js, it has less bells and whistles than a library like D3.js but it has proven to be very easy to use. Even so, I ended up taking a course to introduce myself to JavaScript; with CodeSchool and their JavaScript Road Trip. I liked the course format with video tutorials and code quizzes; I always learn better through doing (and breaking things) and their browser hosted code editor was well done.

I did have one notable issue with previous charts being cached and showing through when I would mouse over certain data points. Luckily this was a fairly well known issue and there was a simple solution, using the destroy() method.

chart.destroy();

I am still working on a few more controls, I've provided controls for entering specific start times and selecting the number of samples to display:

var start = document.getElementById("tbTime").value;

As you can see this is still a work in progress. Next thing I want to work on is a listview to select multiple data streams from the given table, connecting to (ftp) online data sources and updating my database automatically (differential updates) so I can collect data from different sources online. This may take me a while to complete (what with coding full time at work) but that's the plan.

You can see the completed code below:

	@{
	ViewBag.Title = "Plot";
	}
	<h3>Time Based Plot </h3>
	<div>
	<cpanel class="plotControls">
	<input class="btn btn-default" id="btnGetData" type="button" value="Plot" />
	<label for="tbTime" class="plotControls">Time Start</label>
	<input class="tb" type="text" name="time" id="tbTime" />
	<label for="tbSpan" class="plotControls">Num Samples</label>
	<input class="tb" type="text" name="samples" id="tbSamples" />
	<label for="tbId">Record Id</label>
	<input class="tb" type="text" name="recordId" id="tbId" />
	@*.DropDownListFor(p => p.SelectedCountryID,
	Model.CountryIEnum,
	"Select property",
	new
	{
	@id = "Country-DropdownID",
	@class = "Country-DropdownCls"
	})*@
	</cpanel>
	</div>
	<canvas class="plot" id="myChart" width="900" height="400"></canvas>
	<script>
	$(document).ready(function () {
	$('#btnGetData').click(function () {
	var urlString = getUrl();
	$.ajax({
	type: 'GET',
	url: urlString,
	success: function (data) {
	plotFunction(data);
	},
	dataType: "json"
	});
	});
	});
	// create url for my web api route
	function getUrl()
	{
	var idStr = document.getElementById("tbId").value;
	var start = document.getElementById("tbTime").value;
	var samples = document.getElementById("tbSamples").value;
	var urlString = urlString = "@ViewData["serviceUrl"]" + "//api" + "//temp" + "//get";
	if (!isBlank(idStr)) {
	urlString += '//' + idStr;
	console.log(urlString);
	} else if (!isBlank(start) & !isBlank(samples)) {
	urlString += '//' + start.toString() + '//' + samples.toString();
	console.log(urlString);
	}
	return urlString;
	}
	function isBlank(str) {
	return (!str || /^\s*$/.test(str));
	}
	var propName = "TempC";
	var myLineChart = null;
	function plotFunction(jsonObj) {
	// clear old data/chart
	if (myLineChart != null) {
	myLineChart.destroy();
	}
	var ctx = document.getElementById("myChart").getContext("2d");
	var tempData = jsonObj.Data.Data;
	// select data by property name
	var toPlot = tempData.map(function (v) {
	return v[propName];
	});
	var x = tempData.map(function (v) {
	return v.DateTime;
	});
	var options = Chart.defaults.global = {
	// Boolean - Whether to animate the chart
	animation: true,
	// Number - Number of animation steps
	animationSteps: 60,
	// String - Animation easing effect
	animationEasing: "easeOutQuart",
	// Boolean - If we should show the scale at all
	showScale: true,
	// Boolean - If we want to override with a hard coded scale
	scaleOverride: false,
	// ** Required if scaleOverride is true **
	// Number - The number of steps in a hard coded scale
	scaleSteps: null,
	// Number - The value jump in the hard coded scale
	scaleStepWidth: null,
	// Number - The scale starting value
	scaleStartValue: null,
	// String - Colour of the scale line
	scaleLineColor: "rgba(0,0,0,.1)",
	// Number - Pixel width of the scale line
	scaleLineWidth: 1,
	// Boolean - Whether to show labels on the scale
	scaleShowLabels: true,
	// Interpolated JS string - can access value
	scaleLabel: "<%=value%>",
	// Boolean - Whether the scale should stick to integers, not floats even if drawing space is there
	scaleIntegersOnly: true,
	// Boolean - Whether the scale should start at zero, or an order of magnitude down from the lowest value
	scaleBeginAtZero: false,
	// String - Scale label font declaration for the scale label
	scaleFontFamily: "'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'Arial', sans-serif",
	// Number - Scale label font size in pixels
	scaleFontSize: 12,
	// String - Scale label font weight style
	scaleFontStyle: "normal",
	// String - Scale label font colour
	scaleFontColor: "#666",
	// Boolean - whether or not the chart should be responsive.
	responsive: true,
	// Boolean - whether to maintain the starting aspect ratio or not when responsive
	maintainAspectRatio: true,
	// Boolean - Determines whether to draw tooltips on the canvas or not
	showTooltips: true,
	// Function - Determines whether to execute the customTooltips function instead
	customTooltips: false,
	// Array - Array of string names to attach tooltip events
	tooltipEvents: ["mousemove", "touchstart", "touchmove"],
	// String - Tooltip background colour
	tooltipFillColor: "rgba(0,0,0,0.8)",
	// String - Tooltip label font declaration for the scale label
	tooltipFontFamily: "'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'Arial', sans-serif",
	// Number - Tooltip label font size in pixels
	tooltipFontSize: 14,
	// String - Tooltip font weight style
	tooltipFontStyle: "normal",
	// String - Tooltip label font colour
	tooltipFontColor: "#fff",
	// String - Tooltip title font declaration for the scale label
	tooltipTitleFontFamily: "'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'Arial', sans-serif",
	// Number - Tooltip title font size in pixels
	tooltipTitleFontSize: 14,
	// String - Tooltip title font weight style
	tooltipTitleFontStyle: "bold",
	// String - Tooltip title font colour
	tooltipTitleFontColor: "#fff",
	// Number - pixel width of padding around tooltip text
	tooltipYPadding: 6,
	// Number - pixel width of padding around tooltip text
	tooltipXPadding: 6,
	// Number - Size of the caret on the tooltip
	tooltipCaretSize: 8,
	// Number - Pixel radius of the tooltip border
	tooltipCornerRadius: 6,
	// Number - Pixel offset from point x to tooltip edge
	tooltipXOffset: 10,
	// String - Template string for single tooltips
	tooltipTemplate: "<%if (label){%><%=label%>: <%}%><%= value %>",
	// String - Template string for multiple tooltips
	multiTooltipTemplate: "<%= value %>",
	// Function - Will fire on animation progression.
	onAnimationProgress: function () { },
	// Function - Will fire on animation completion.
	onAnimationComplete: function () { },
	///Boolean - Whether grid lines are shown across the chart
	scaleShowGridLines: true,
	//String - Colour of the grid lines
	scaleGridLineColor: "rgba(0,0,0,.05)",
	//Number - Width of the grid lines
	scaleGridLineWidth: 1,
	//Boolean - Whether to show horizontal lines (except X axis)
	scaleShowHorizontalLines: true,
	//Boolean - Whether to show vertical lines (except Y axis)
	scaleShowVerticalLines: true,
	//Boolean - Whether the line is curved between points
	bezierCurve: true,
	//Number - Tension of the bezier curve between points
	bezierCurveTension: 0.4,
	//Boolean - Whether to show a dot for each point
	pointDot: false,
	//Number - Radius of each point dot in pixels
	pointDotRadius: 4,
	//Number - Pixel width of point dot stroke
	pointDotStrokeWidth: 1,
	//Number - amount extra to add to the radius to cater for hit detection outside the drawn point
	pointHitDetectionRadius: 4,
	//Boolean - Whether to show a stroke for datasets
	datasetStroke: true,
	//Number - Pixel width of dataset stroke
	datasetStrokeWidth: 2,
	//Boolean - Whether to fill the dataset with a colour
	datasetFill: true,
	//String - A legend template
	legendTemplate: "<ul class=\"<%=name.toLowerCase()%>-legend\"><% for (var i=0; i<datasets.length; i++){%><li><span style=\"background-color:<%=datasets[i].strokeColor%>\"></span><%if(datasets[i].label){%><%=datasets[i].label%><%}%></li><%}%></ul>"
	};
	var data = {
	labels: x,
	datasets: [
	{
	label: "Temperature (C)",
	fillColor: "rgba(220,220,220,0.2)",
	strokeColor: "rgba(220,220,220,1)",
	pointColor: "rgba(220,220,220,1)",
	pointStrokeColor: "#fff",
	pointHighlightFill: "#fff",
	pointHighlightStroke: "rgba(220,220,220,1)",
	data: toPlot
	}
	]
	};
	myLineChart = new Chart(ctx).Line(data, options);
	};
	</script>

view raw Index.cshtml hosted with ❤ by GitHub

And here is a screenshot of the completed single line plot, if the controls are empty it defaults to all data:

Simple time-based plot

Next on the agenda is to collect data from local and online resources (ftp); and then make the source user configurable as well as allowing them to select the stream.

So far I have the ftp request method running:

	public void FtpRequest(string ftpPath, string destPath)
	{
	// Get the object used to communicate with the server.
	FtpWebRequest request = (FtpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(ftpPath);
	request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.DownloadFile;
	// This example assumes the FTP site uses anonymous logon.
	request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(userName, passWord);
	FtpWebResponse response = (FtpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
	Stream responseStream = response.GetResponseStream();
	StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(responseStream);
	try
	{
	WriteResponseToFile(destPath, response, responseStream);
	}
	catch (Exception ex)
	{
	log.Debug(ex);
	}
	reader.Close();
	responseStream.Close();
	response.Close();
	}

view raw Collection.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub