Now that I had finished building my PiDP-8 I needed something for the Raspberry Pi B+ in it to do other than just flash the blinkenlights. I can’t remember how I first heard about it, but for the past two weeks I’ve been running a DNS-based ad-blocker utility called Pi-Hole.
I’m a computer guy, and while I’m not quite old enough to have first-hand experience with classic golden age hardware like the PDP-8, I spent a good deal of time in college working on the VAX, still own my first computer, and have an appreciation for those forefathers of the amazing PCs and servers we use …
Since getting my standing desk at home last last year I’ve been thinking about getting a new, smaller PC that would fit on top of my desk instead of under it (like my old Dell Inspiron from 2008), eliminating cable clutter. With the upcoming release of Windows 10 I had been thinking more about this and also replacing …
A recent power outage that resulted in my server staying up for only about a minute made it apparent that it was time to replace my 5 year old CyberPower CP1000AVRLCD UPS in the computer closet. I’ve been very happy with that model so I chose just to go with its updated sibling, the CyberPower BRG1000AVRLCD. The …
We’ve decided to give the Microsoft Surface another shot as our next “standard issue laptop” at work so I now have a Surface Pro 3 tablet. The SP3 is replacing my Samsung Ativ Book9 ultrabook, which I got in April 2014, in turn replacing my original Surface Pro. I’ve been using it now for two weeks …
After I got my standing desk it became quickly apparent that I should upgrade my monitors. My trusty 17″ Samsung 172N was over 11 years old and my 19″ Gateway FPD1960 was pushing 9 years. There was nothing wrong with them, but they were square (4:3) and, now that I was standing, too low on …
For Christmas I received the Sennheiser RF120 wireless headphones (and charging stand). My old wireless Sony headphones were starting to show their age: the original rechargeable batteries no longer held a charge so I had to use alkalines, the cushioned ear cups were peeling, and there was just too much interference and hard to get a …
Well, that didn’t last long. Just six months after getting my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Android tablet at work I’ve now been given a 5th generation iPad Air. The Note 10.1 had promise but we just never ended up rolling many of them out. Android is still a minority in my office where the majority …
I’m not what you’d call an Apple fanboy, but for some reason I felt compelled to wake up at 3am on September 12 to place my 64gb iPhone 6 Plus pre-order with AT&T. I was disappointed to learn (later that day after finally receiving my order confirmation e-mail) that my new phone wouldn’t even ship until between …
Our family laptop (an hp Envy 14 Beats Edition) has taken a beating (no pun intended!) over the past few years and recently (thanks to be carried around by the screen by my daughter) the LCD has gone wonky, requiring a bunch of futzing to get the display to work properly. The recent tax-free weekend here …