I simplified our backup strategy for our MacBooks. Here’s where I landed: 7 Backup Principles The most comprehensive yet essential list I’ve come across is the seven characteristics of a backup plan created by Ross Williams: I’m using two backup solutions: Time Machine Backup to TrueNAS (local) The MacBooks primarily backup to Apple Time Machine … Read more
It was -15°. The furnace died. I cranked up our gas stove in the living room to get us through the week. In the midst of this, our utilities company sent out an alert asking us to conserve gas. Both our primary and secondary heat sources run on gas, so maybe I need to diversify. … Read more
A couple of people have asked how I keep track of Health Savings Account (HSA) transactions; so here’s how I do it in Quicken. Quick summery of HSA Accounts: Health Savings Accounts are a way to save for health expenses if you have an HSA eligible (HDHP) health insurance plan. I always maximize our family’s … Read more
I’ve always allowed comments on this blog, and even allow people to disagree. I rarely moderate comments except when they’re inappropriate. But one of the issues I have to deal with is comment spam. I moderated the comments by hand for well over a decade but it gradually turned into hours of work each week. … Read more
Did you know printers can order their toner? September of 2023; my Brother MFC-L3770CDW printer (b3n.org) kept printing awful black and magenta streaks across all the pages. I wasted reams of paper trying to fix it to no avail. It was time to replace it. I was just going to get another one, but there … Read more
TrueNAS Scale and Proxmox VE are my two favorite appliances in my homelab. Overall, TrueNAS is primarily a NAS/SAN appliance, it excels at storage. It is the most widely deployed storage platform in the world. Proxmox on the other hand is a virtualization environment; so it is excellent at VM and software-defined networking. I agree … Read more
This is a two year retrospect. “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given … Read more
How to install a Minecraft server (Java Edition) on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Yesterday, Eli told me 100 random people were on our Minecraft server. Incidentally I set the server limit to 100. One of the players told him it was advertised on a server list. That’s odd because this is a private Minecraft server and … Read more
On June 5th, 2021, I posted a strategy to hold value against inflation which was holding positions in four asset classes: (1) Total Stock Market, (2) I-Bonds, (3) Home Ownership, and (4) Bitcoin. Results June 3rd 2021 to June 1st 2024 This is a 3-year check-in (156 Weeks). Please note that due to inflation, I’ve … Read more
Well, I have now been using Quicken for thirty years, spanning three operating systems. I can’t think of any other software I’ve used this long. I started with Quicken for DOS, moved to Quicken for Windows, and eventually landed on Quicken for Mac. Quicken comes from an era when software was useful, comprehensive, and required … Read more