Computer and technology related topics
In 2015 I bought myself and Kris Dell Latitude E5450 laptops. 1 year later her battery was fine, however mine lasted 60 seconds on a full charge. I attribute this to Kris often using her computer on battery and not having it plugged in all the time, and me always having my computer in the … Read more
Here’s a quick guide to run an NTP (Network Time Protocol) server using Chrony with a GPS (optional) receiver on a VMware ESXi Guest running Ubuntu 18.04. I should note this is experimental and something I setup in my homelab temporarily. For production environments I would run NTP on physical hardware and not VMware. Create … Read more
There are plenty of books on managing people; but there are few books targeting management of software development, and even fewer aimed at people who got promoted into leadership positions with no management skills. I’ve read countless books looking for resources in that area… I can find plenty of books about how to manipulate people or … Read more
I’ve been using a Kindle for about 6 years. And have been reading paper books for longer than that! I have two Kindles, one is the discontinued Kindle Touch, and the other is the newer Kindle Paperwhite. Here are my thoughts on the Kindle and how eBooks compare to Print Books. The Kindle Reading Experience … Read more
Why You Should Have a Homelab In 1998 my friend Meredith gave me a RedHat Linux CD. I spent hours each day experimenting with Linux–I loved it. 2 years later I’m in a room with 30 other students at a University applying for the same computer lab assistant job–I’m thinking my chances are grim. Part-way … Read more
What is DNS Content Filtering? A DNS Based Content Filtering service can prevent certain websites from loading on your network. Most services can filter by specific categories like malware, phishing, pornography, etc. Unlike some content filtering that can introduce security risks, DNS filtering does not intercept traffic between you and the website you’re visiting. It … Read more
I recently switched to MobaXterm Professional from PuTTY. And I’m not looking back… A PuTTY Alternative I had just re-installed Windows 10 to fix an updating issue. As I was downloading PuTTY I thought: there has got to be something better than PuTTY. PuTTY is a good program, but it doesn’t do four things for … Read more
Happy World Backup Day! Here’s a quick little Ansible Role I wrote to automate backup configuration for hordes of servers using Rdiff-Backup from an Ansible inventory file. If you have no idea what I just said you may want to skip to “I’m Confused” at the very bottom of this post. What does the Rdiff-Backup … Read more
What Is a Rubber Dome Keyboard? Take a look at your keyboard. Push a few of the keys. It probably feels mushy, and it’s most likely a rubber-dome keyboard. These weren’t made for typing, they were made to be cheap. You have this dome of rubber that the key sits on, as you press the key feels … Read more
Can you recommend a laptop? It’s one of the questions I’m asked several times a month… and I realized I should just write a guide. So here are some options I think are great and things I think you need to consider before buying a laptop: Business Vs. Consumer Laptops Most brands have at least … Read more