Design your own PC remote control
Couch Potato
© Lead Image © damedeeso, 123RF.com
You don't get a remote control with your PC or laptop like the one that came with your television. We'll show you how to create your own remote with an Android tablet or smartphone.
Wouldn't it be great to have a remote control for your PC that let you start and pause YouTube videos, as well as adjust the volume and brightness without leaving your couch? To implement this project, you need a server program on your Linux system that listens on a particular port, accepts instructions, and runs system commands. The device that acts as the remote control needs to run a program that can transmit requests to the Linux system over the network; it also offers a neat interface.
Using Netcat [1], you can implement the server function via the shell, and you also have the option of entering any system commands you need. Before you proceed to the implementation, check whether the following command-line programs are installed on your computer:
- Xgamma, a program for the controlling your monitor's gamma value,
- Xdotool, which transfers keyboard shortcuts to the system, and
- ImageMagick [2], which grabs screenshots of the whole screen, selected areas, or a single window (among other things).
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