Belt And Suspenders

Saved our files to two thumb drives. All our data is continuously backed up off-site, but about once a year I save an encrypted snapshot of the data to be retained indefinitely. At about $24 for 256GB, thumb drives are inexpensive insurance.

Categorized as IT

“OK Google, Play Pink”

Today’s morning shower: “OK Google, play Pink.” Sometimes I summon Lady Gaga or Cher.

Categorized as IT

Loose Goals

The chill continues: walked for about an hour through corridors and stairways in the two towers of our building. My daily workout goal is “move” but I’ve yet to figure out how to explain that to the software.

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Annual Thumb Drive Ritual

Backed up all our files to an encrypted thumb drive which we’ll keep for ever. Files are backed up continuously, but I like to create a full snapshot of the data every now and then.

Categorized as IT

Adding Smarts to a Ceiling Fan

Added smarts to the ceiling fan over our bed. We can now control it from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection, solving a problem we didn’t have. More likely use cases include: control it by voice from bed, and turn it off automatically when when we leave our home.

Categorized as IT

Webcam

Upgraded to a Webcam that can handle backlighting better–there are windows behind me. Webcams are in short supply and I’m not willing to pay an inflated price, usually double list price. After waiting several months, got this at list directly from Logitech.

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Data Snapshot

Backed up data to a BitLocker-encrypted thumb drive. All our data backs up continuously, but I like to periodically save a snapshot.

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We Like Desktop Computers

Set up our old computer in its new home. Threaded cables down a conduit in the wall.

Categorized as IT

Test Network Rig

Built a test rig for the network I’ll set up in our new home. Devices connected to the switch in this prototype include: Google Wifi (mesh), OBiTALK (Google Voice VoIP), and Internet of Things (Samsung SmartThings, and Philips Hue).

Categorized as IT