Part I – Ferment the Peppers

Fermented peppers?!?  That’s right.  You basically mix peppers with 6% salt by weight, throw in a little yogourt extract to get the fermentation going, and watch these babies percolate over a few weeks.  Thanks to Randy for doing all of the fermenting.  We built a homemade fermenter out of:

• Glass mason jar
• Plastic mason jar lid
• Piece of tubing from the aquarium store
• A drill + bit to make the hole in the lid
• A glass of water to act as a water lock.

The Pepper Fermenter

The Main Ingredients - Those are blue carrots (for sugar)

Some Nice Habaneros

Scotch Bonnets

Ghost Chilis!!! (queue scary music)

Everything chopped and about to be weighed

Everything on the scale

289 grams

Now measure out 6% salt by weight

Put some yogurt in a coffee filter and drain off some of the enzyme/bacteria rich liquid

Throw everything into the fermenter: chopped peppers, salt, yogourt liquid, and a touch of water.

It's fermenting time!

Part II – Make the Sauce

I kind of winged it here using this BBQ recipe as a base.  Basically I BBQ’d a bunch of fresh vegetables and pureed them with the fermented pepper mash.   All of this was cooked with a little salt and vinegar and then put into jars.

Ingredients:

• 2 onions
• 1 bag squash
• 20 chilis
• 2 cups loose cilantro
• 1 smoked ghost chili
• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 cups vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups fermented chilis (from previous part)

Here are some photos I took during the process.

Fresh veggies ready for the BBQ

Grill the veggies for 10 to 15 minutes

A fabulous smoked Ghost Chili. Thanks Shawndra!

The next batch of ingredients. Sundried tomatoes in 1/2 cup of water, the smoked ghost chili, and some fresh cilantro.

I actually put the sundried tomatoes, smoked chili, and water in the microwave for a few minutes to soften everything up.

Ready to be pureed

Pureed mash and BBQ'd veggies

Boil for 15 minutes

Finished product

Recipe yield

Enjoy!

1. Extract movie titles from the movie file names,
2. Attempt to lookup movie information for those movies in the IMDB database, and
3. Sort the movies into genre, actor, director, rating, title, and release date folders.  (actually links to the movies)

Getting Started

Just to be clear.  This process requires that the name of the movie be in the filename somewhere.

Examples that will work:

• The Chronicles of Narnia The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) DVDRip XviD-MAXSPEED www.torentz.3xforum.ro.avi
• The.Social.Network.(2010).BDRip.XviD.AC3.CaLLiOpeD.avi

Examples that won’t work well:

• dvdrip.avi
• 001.mpg

Install PHP

You will need to download and install PHP on your computer to run the script.  Here are a few of my notes from installing PHP on my Windows 7 laptop:

• Download the x86 Thread Safe installer from here: http://windows.php.net/download/
• Run the installer
• Accept all defaults but don’t setup any Web Server integration.

Pick Your Movie Folder

Once that is done you will need to identify the main folder on your computer that contains all movie files.  (it’s fine if they are in subfolders).  In my case all of my movies are on my removable network harddrive: \\MYBOOKLIVE\Public\Shared Videos\MovieFiles

Download PHP Script

Now you need to copy this script and save it to your desktop as sort_files.php
[php toolbar="true"]

<?php

// Configuration

// This is the directory where all of the movie files are.
// The “By Genre”, “By Year”, “By Actor”, etc. folders will be
// created at the same level as this folder (side by side)
$movie_dir = ‘\\\\MYBOOKLIVE\\Public\\Shared Videos\\MovieFiles’;

// List of symbols to remove from filenames
$omit_symbols = array(
“$”, “&”, “(“, “)”, “-”, “[", "]“, “.”
);

// List of words to remove from filenames
$omit_words = array(
“.com”, “.net”, “2Ch”, “3D”, “405p”, “480P”, “480p”, “576P”, “576p”, “AC3″, “AC3-5″,
“AC3-AMIABLE”, “AC3-Arcon”, “AC3-CHD”, “AC3-CaLLiOpeD”, “AC3-CaLLioPE_MoNTEDiaZ”, “AC3-DplaneT”,
“AC3-ELEKTRI4KA”, “AC3-FR”, “AC3-IMAGiNE”, “AC3-LEGi0N”, “AC3-MAGNAT”,”AC3-MAGNET”,
“AC3-MECK90″, “AC3-MODULE”, “AC3-NYDIC”, “AC3-OpeD”, “AC3-OpeD-NFO”,”AC3-PRoDJi”,
“AC3-SANTi”, “AC3-T0XiCiNK”, “AC3-TDP”, “AC3-TMR”, “AC3-TRD”, “AC3-TSTeam”,
“AC3-TiMPE”, “AC3-ViSiON”, “AC3-VoMiT”, “AC3-WHiiZz”, “AC3-dev”, “AC3-lOVE”,
“AC3-lOVE-FR”, “AC3-lOVE-French”, “AC3-lOVE_full”, “AC3-lOVE_short”, “AMIABLE”,
“ARROW”, “Abandoned”, “Ac3″, “Ac3-Blackjesus”, “BDRiP”, “BDRip”, “BLUNTROLA”,
“BRRip”, “CD1″, “CD1-OdbC”, “CD2″, “CD2-OdbC”, “COCAIN”, “CaLLiOpeD”, “D-Z0N3″,
“D-Z0N3-FRE”, “D-Z0N3-French”, “D-z0n3″, “DEViSE”, “DMT”, “DTS”, “DVDRiP”,
“DVDRip”, “DVDRip-ALLiANCE”, “DVDrip”, “DVSKY”, “Desdemona-A”, “DivX”,
“DivX-Filmikz”, “DivX-MDX”, “DivX3LM-SMB”, “DivX5″, “DivX5-aXXo”, “ELEKTRI4KA”,
“EXTENDED”, “FHW”, “FR”, “FS”, “HDRip”, “HDTVRip”, “HLS”, “HQ”, “Hive-CM8″,
“I2OCK”, “I2OCK-French”, “II-All”, “ISWE”, “LiMTED”, “LiMiTED”,
“LiMiTED-ALLiANCE”, “NEW”, “NeDiVx”, “Okeeffe”, “OlFa”, “OpeD”, “PDTV”, “PROD”,
“PROPER”, “PRoDJi”, “REPACK”, “RERip”, “RETAIL”, “STV”, “SUBS-TSTeam”, “TOTDE”,
“TVRip”, “TWiST”, “TeamSKY-CD1″, “TeamSKY-CD2″, “UNCUT”, “UNRATED”, “Upload3r”,
“VH”, “WS”, “X264″, “X264-BARC0DE”, “XVID”, “XVID-lOVE”, “XViD”,
“XViD-ALLiANCE”, “XViD-ARROW”, “XViD-AVCDVD”, “XViD-BESTDiVX”, “XViD-DEPRAViTY”,
“XViD-DiAMOND”, “XViD-DiVERSE”, “XViD-EP1C”, “XViD-EPiSODE”, “XViD-FAiTH”,
“XViD-HLS”, “XViD-LARCENY”, “XViD-LPD”, “XViD-MisFitZ”, “XViD-NEDiVX”,
“XViD-SAPHiRE”, “XViD-TheWretched”, “XViD-VH-PROD”, “XViD-VOMiT”, “XViD-aAF”,
“XViD-iKA”, “XViD-iMBT”, “XviD”, “XviD-AEN”, “XviD-AFG”, “XviD-ALLiANCE”,
“XviD-AMIABLE”, “XviD-AMiABLE”, “XviD-ARCHiViST”, “XviD-ARROW”, “XviD-ARiGOLD”,
“XviD-AVCDVD”, “XviD-AbSurdity”, “XviD-Absurdity”, “XviD-BLUNTROLA”,
“XviD-BREAKME”, “XviD-BeStDivX”, “XviD-CM8″, “XviD-COSMiC”, “XviD-CULTXViD”,
“XviD-CoWRY”, “XviD-D3Si”, “XviD-DASH”, “XviD-DASH-CD1″, “XviD-DASH-CD2″,
“XviD-DEFACED”, “XviD-DEPRAViTY”, “XviD-DEViSE”, “XviD-DMT”, “XviD-DOCUMENT”,
“XviD-DOMiNO”, “XviD-DVF”, “XviD-DVSKY”, “XviD-DiAMOND”, “XviD-DiVERSE”,
“XviD-DoNE”, “XviD-ELiXER”, “XviD-EP1C”, “XviD-ESPiSE”, “XviD-EVO”,
“XviD-EtraTorrentRG”, “XviD-FLAiTE”, “XviD-FOX”, “XviD-FR”, “XviD-FRAGMENT”,
“XviD-FiCO”, “XviD-FiCO-CD1″, “XviD-FiCO-CD2″, “XviD-FiHViD”, “XviD-GAYGAY”,
“XviD-HAGGiS”, “XviD-HEARTME”, “XviD-HNR”, “XviD-JBS”, “XviD-KRONOS”,
“XviD-KaTa”, “XviD-Kata”, “XviD-Kata-CD1″, “XviD-Kata-CD2″, “XviD-LAP”,
“XviD-LARCENY”, “XviD-LKRG”, “XviD-LMG”, “XviD-LPD”, “XviD-LTRG”, “XviD-LUMiX”,
“XviD-Larceny”, “XviD-M00DY”, “XviD-MASSiVE”, “XviD-MDCTeam”, “XviD-MisFitZ”,
“XviD-MoH”, “XviD-NARCRONiCS”, “XviD-NEDiVX”, “XviD-NODLABS”, “XviD-NOiR”,
“XviD-NYDIC”, “XviD-NeDiVx”, “XviD-Noir”, “XviD-OpeD”, “XviD-PROMiSE”,
“XviD-PUKKA”, “XviD-QCF”, “XviD-RCDiVX”, “XviD-RUBY”, “XviD-ReenCoTRiN”,
“XviD-Rogue”, “XviD-Rx”, “XviD-SAM”, “XviD-SANTi”, “XviD-SAPHiRE”,
“XviD-SPRiNTER”, “XviD-STB”, “XviD-SUNSPOT”, “XviD-ShitBusters”, “XviD-SiC”,
“XviD-SomeTV”, “XviD-TA”, “XviD-TASTE”, “XviD-TDP”, “XviD-THC”, “XviD-TMRC”,
“XviD-TRD”, “XviD-TRD-English H”, “XviD-TST”, “XviD-TWIZTED”, “XviD-TWiST”,
“XviD-TWiZTED”, “XviD-TheWretched”, “XviD-TiMPE”, “XviD-UNKNOWN”,
“XviD-UNSKiLLED”, “XviD-UNVEiL”, “XviD-UniverSalAbsurdity”, “XviD-VAMPS”,
“XviD-VH-PROD”, “XviD-VH-PROD-subs-english”, “XviD-VOMiT”, “XviD-ViP3R”,
“XviD-ViSiON”, “XviD-VoMiT”, “XviD-WASTE”, “XviD-X”, “XviD-ZMG”, “XviD-aAF”,
“XviD-amiable”, “XviD-espise”, “XviD-iGUANA”, “XviD-iLG”, “XviD-iMAGiNE”,
“XviD-iMBT”, “XviD-imbt-trd”, “XviD-lOVE”, “XviD-ph2″, “XviD-qcf”, “XviD-w666″,
“Xvid”, “Xvid-TFE”, “Yatterman”, “[DivXForever]“, “[EN]“, “[TheRostrum",
"[sharethefiles", "_", "avi", "cd1", "cd2", "divx", "dp", "fake", "iMBT",
"iNTERNAL", "idx", "mkv", "mp4", "net)", "net]“, “nfo”, “of”, “ojos”, “on”,
“or”, “osloskop”, “png”, “rar”, “srt”, “srt_1″, “sub”, “the”, “to”, “txt”,
“vodo”, “vs”, “with”, “x264″, “x264-APAX”, “x264-D-Z0N3″, “x264-SHiTTy”,
“x264-ShitBusters”, “x264-ShitBusters-FR”, “x264-VODO”, “xvid”
);

$output_dir = dirname($movie_dir);

// Pulled this from: http://tycoontalk.freelancer.com/php-forum/41811-list-files-in-directory-sub-directories.html
// Recursively searches through a directory and all subdirectories for files
function ListFiles($dir) {

if($dh = opendir($dir)) {

$files = Array();
$inner_files = Array();

while($file = readdir($dh)) {
if($file != “.” && $file != “..” && $file[0] != ‘.’) {
if(is_dir($dir . “\\” . $file)) {
$inner_files = ListFiles($dir . “\\” . $file);
if(is_array($inner_files)) $files = array_merge($files, $inner_files);
} else {
array_push($files, $dir . “\\” . $file);
}
}
}

closedir($dh);
return $files;
}
}

// Iterate through the list of movies and attempt to find info
// using the imdb API (http://www.imdbapi.com/)
foreach (ListFiles($movie_dir) as $movie){

$file_name = basename($movie);
$query_name = $file_name;
foreach ($omit_words as $omit_word){
$query_name = str_replace($omit_word, “”, $query_name);
}
foreach ($omit_symbols as $omit_symbol){
$query_name = str_replace($omit_symbol, ” “, $query_name);
}
$query_name = trim($query_name);

echo “Searching IMDB for: $query_name \n”;

$jsonurl = “http://www.imdbapi.com/?t=” . $file_name;
$json = file_get_contents($jsonurl,0,null,null);
$json_output = json_decode($json);

// Get movie information based on filename
$title = “Unknown”;
$year = “Unknown”;
$genres = array(“Unknown”);
$actors = array(“Unknown”);
$rated = “Unknown”;
$rating = “Unknown”;
$plot = “Unknown”;
$director = “Unknown”;
if ($json_output->Response != “Parse Error”){
$title = $json_output->Title;
$year = $json_output->Year;
$genres = explode(“,”, $json_output->Genre);
$actors = explode(“,”, $json_output->Actors);
$rated = $json_output->Rated;
$rating = $json_output->Rating;
$plot = $json_output->Plot;
$director = $json_output->Director;
}

// Create rating folders and create hard links
// in each folder
$dir_by_rating = $output_dir . “\\By Rating”;
if (!file_exists($dir_by_rating)) {
mkdir($dir_by_rating);
}
if ($rating == “Unknown”){
$dir_rating = $dir_by_rating . “\\” + $rating;
} else {
$dir_rating = $dir_by_rating . “\\” . floor($rating);
}
if (!file_exists($dir_rating)) {
mkdir($dir_rating);
}
chdir ($dir_rating);
if (!file_exists($file_name)) {
link($movie, $file_name);
}

// Create name folders and create hard links
// in each folder
$dir_by_name = $output_dir . “\\By Name”;
if (!file_exists($dir_by_name)) {
mkdir($dir_by_name);
}
$dir_name = $dir_by_name . “\\” . strtoupper(substr($title,0,1));
if (!file_exists($dir_name)) {
mkdir($dir_name);
}
chdir ($dir_name);
if (!file_exists($file_name)) {
link($movie, $file_name);
}

// Create genre folders and create hard links
// in each folder
$dir_by_genre = $output_dir . “\\By Genre”;
if (!file_exists($dir_by_genre)) {
mkdir($dir_by_genre);
}
foreach ($genres as $genre){
$dir_genre = $dir_by_genre . “\\” . trim($genre);
if (!file_exists($dir_genre)) {
mkdir($dir_genre);
}
chdir ($dir_genre);
if (!file_exists($file_name)) {
link($movie, $file_name);
}
}

// Create actor folders and create hard links
// in each folder
$dir_by_actor = $output_dir . “\\By Actor”;
if (!file_exists($dir_by_actor)) {
mkdir($dir_by_actor);
}
foreach ($actors as $actor){
$dir_actor = $dir_by_actor . “\\” . trim($actor);
if (!file_exists($dir_actor)) {
mkdir($dir_actor);
}
chdir ($dir_actor);
if (!file_exists($file_name)) {
link($movie, $file_name);
}
}

// Create year folders and create hard links
// in each folder
$dir_by_year = $output_dir . “\\By Year”;
if (!file_exists($dir_by_year)) {
mkdir($dir_by_year);
}
$dir_year = $dir_by_year . “\\” . trim($year);
if (!file_exists($dir_year)) {
mkdir($dir_year);
}
chdir ($dir_year);
if (!file_exists($file_name)) {
link($movie, $file_name);
}

// Create director folders and create hard links
// in each folder
$dir_by_director = $output_dir . “\\By Director”;
if (!file_exists($dir_by_director)) {
mkdir($dir_by_director);
}
$dir_director = $dir_by_director . “\\” . trim($director);
if (!file_exists($dir_director)) {
mkdir($dir_director);
}
chdir ($dir_director);
if (!file_exists($file_name)) {
link($movie, $file_name);
}

}

?>

[/php]

Modify the Script

You will need to update the $movie_dir variable with the location of your movie directory.

Run the Script

• Open a command prompt
• Change directory to where your script is saved
• Type php sort_movies.php
• It will take a few minutes (depending on how many movies you have)  before you see any output in the console window.
• For about 1000 movies it took about an hour to run

The script will create a pile of folders next to your movie folder like this:

• Your Movie Folder
• By Genre
• Comedy
• Action
• Etc…
• By Actor
• Patrick Stewart
• William Shatner
• Etc…
• By Director
• George Lucas
• Etc…
• By Year
• 1979
• 1980
• Etc…

In each of these folders the program will create links to movies that fit into those categories.  These links look like real files but are in fact “hard links” like you find on Unix systems.  The real movie file remains in your movie directory and you can safely delete this links at any time.

Have fun and let me know if you make any improvements.

Thanks to Greg for bringing in this lovely bunch of chilis to be cooked up.  Sorry I didn’t get a chance to take a picture before I had to cut them up. 

Greg's chilis. Don't they look great!

Recipe

Here’s the basic recipe I started with:

http://dorisandjillycook.com/2009/09/07/hot-corn-relish/

Here’s the recipe with my modifications. (Note the change in amount of pepper!)

• 4 cups of frozen corn
• 4 cups of fresh coleslaw mix
• 3 onions chopped (in food processor)
• 3 cups of chopped chilis (in food processor)
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 T. yellow mustard seed
• 1 T. salt
• 1 quart cider vinegar, at least 5%
• 1 c. water

Step 1 – Chop

That's a lot of pepper.

All chopped up.

Now for the onions.

Everything chopped into fine pieces. (But not puréed)

This is cole slaw mix: green cabbage, carrot, and red cabbage.

Peppers, slaw, onions, sugar, and spices.

I used two different kind of apple cider vinegar.

Added frozen corn. (only one bag)

Step 2 – Cook

Combine everything in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 20 minutes.

Ready to cook.

The relish and canner are both bubbling away. (jars are sterilizing in the canner)

Looking good!

Step 3 – Can

Meanwhile, start a boiling-water bath for canning, sterilize your jars (this made 7 pints), and warm your lids. Pack the hot relish into the hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Don’t be afraid to pack it tightly—the more tightly it’s packed, the less mushy it will get while cooked. Run a spatula around the edges to remove air bubbles, then top with the cooking liquid. Adjust the lids.

Process pint jars 15 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

Time for a bath.

The finished product!

Thanks to buddy Randy for growing a bumper crop of chilis this season.

Now it’s my job to turn them into sauce!

What a bunch of beauties.

See the two wrinkly looking orange ones in the top left corner of the picture – home grown ghost chilis!

I found a nice looking recipe on the gardenweb website.  I’ve adapted the ingrediants slightly as follows:

• 3 scotch bonnets whole
• 4 habaneros whole
• 1 ghost chili whole
• 1 roasted red pepper whole (from a jar)
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
• 1 medium carrot (roughly chopped)
• 6-8 cloves garlic
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp corriander
• 2 tblsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt (natural – no additives)

Step 1 – Prepare the Canning Materials

I used the smallest mason jars I had available.  I think the smallest one (shown in picture at end) is probably the best size.

Canning materials need to be cleaned and sterilized before work can begin.

Canning materials cleaned.

Fill all of the jars with boiling water and place the sealing lids in a shallow dish so they can be submerged with boiling water as well.

Sterilizing the jars and lids.

Step 2 – Roast the Chilis, Onions, and Garlic

Now the fun part!  Make little foil trays for the peppers, onions, and garlic cloves.

Onions ready to be cooked.

Chili roll call.

Chili roll call:

• 4 Habaneros – left
• 3 Scotch Bonnets – right
• 1 (dastardly) Ghost Chili – front and centre

Spritzing the veggies with olive oil.

Using an olive oil spritzer I lightly coat everything.

Bring on the fire!

I got the BBQ good and hot and then turned it down to medium high heat.  Both trays went on the top rack.

All set to roast on the top rack.

Nicely roasted chilis.

After 6 minutes the nicely roasted peppers were removed from the BBQ.

Garlic toasted. Onions, not quite.

The garlic was done but the onions needed a little more time.  I took the garlic off and let the onions cook for another 2 minutes.

Everything nicely flame-b-queued.

The onions after a few extra minutes.

Step 3 – Mix and Blend

In this step we’ll put all the ingredients together and blend.

Remove the stem from the chilis.

I added a roasted red pepper.

Sea salt, cumin, and corriander.

Everything but 1 cup of vinegar.

Let 'er rip.

Mmmm... whipped chilis.

Step 4 – Cook

The original recipe I was following didn’t involve cooking the mash.  I thought though that bringing to a boil for 5 minutes would make it safer to can.

Straining the mash.

Push the mash through a strainer.

Boil boil toil and trouble.

I brought the strained mixture up to boiling for 5 minutes.

Scoop off the foamy stuff.

Step 5 – Can

Now comes the time to put the sauce in jars.

Carefully (unlike me) pour into jars.

Take a sealing lid from the dish they were sterilized in.

The final product!

So, you can see the yield of the recipe above.  Would have been nice to have more of the smaller jars like the one on the left.

What’s the plan for the half-filled jar???  I’m taking that little baby to work tomorrow and I’ll get everyone who tries it to post a comment below.

• Access to the morning news (usually 15 minutes when we first wake up in the morning)
• PVR older movies on channels like History, A&E, Showcase, Space, etc…
• Some childrens’ programming.

My last Internet bill.

After a little poking around I realized that there were a whole slew of things I could do to get all the same values for a fraction of the cost.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting information about this process that saw my yearly entertainment costs cut from $1000 down to $100!

The good news is that if you’ve got decent access to high speed Internet and you’re within a reasonable distance to an HDTV broadcasting tower you can likely do the same.

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here’s a great website that will help you determine which HDTV television signals you can likely receive at your home.

http://skyviewelectronics.com/local-channel-locator.html