A few days ago, I started a process that involves very heavy file processing operations that take anywhere from 10 minutes on the low side to 30 minutes on the high side. Wanting to be as efficient as possible and not let the computer sit idle for any meaningful length of time, and since the …
When it comes to Linux, the best desktop note taking tool, in my opinion, is Zim Wiki. I love this tool and have used it for a long time. That said, the 800 pound gorilla of note taking tools is Evernote, but unless you want to use the web client, your options on Linux are …
A couple of months ago I decided to move my company’s Asterisk PBX system from one of our physical data-center servers to Amazon’s AWS EC2 Platform. We had been using Trixbox since 2006, but the Community Edition of that product (Trixbox CE) is no longer being developed and is no longer supported. Since I was …
One of my ongoing home automation frustrations is the interface between my Ademco Alarm Panel and the Raspberry Pi I use to monitor the panel’s bus traffic. The problem that I have is a termination of the USB connection between the AD2USB (AlarmDecoder) that taps into the Ademco panel and the Pi itself. This always …
Detecting Failed AD2USB to Raspberry Pi Connections Read More »
I’m a big fan of Amazon’s EC2 platform and long ago migrated all of my servers to its “cloud”. I’m also a realist when it comes to security and take all of the reasonable precautions I can to limit my risks. One such precaution is two-factor authentication for SSH (see my article “Two-Factor Authentication System …
I recently upgraded my office by moving to a great new location. As part of the move I added a ton of new space to accommodate our rapid growth and even added a “play area” for the staff so they can burn off some of the frustrations of the “daily grind” with a bit of …
I’ve been running a pfSense router on a small form-factor PC for a few years and have been happy with my setup. What I don’t like though is that the PC is relatively loud and draws way more power than is necessary to meet my routing needs. As part of a recent move I thought …
Back in February 2013 I wrote an article entitled “Hacking a Fireplace”. In that article I wrote about how I used an Arduino to create an interface that would allow me to directly control my fireplaces from my home automation system. That solution worked great and I was successful in running two fireplaces from the …
There’s no doubt about it, setting up a mail server can be a daunting task. Luckily, there are plenty of options available these days that negate the need for setting up your own server, but if you want total control of your mail platform then the only way to get that control is to do …
I’ve been wanting to replace my 17” Macbook with a new laptop running Linux for quite some time now. I replaced my Macbook Air with a Dell XPS 13 running Ubuntu a few months ago, and that’s been working GREAT! Unfortunately, Dell doesn’t make a 17” XPS model, so after a bit of research, I …
Ubuntu 13.04 on the Dell Inspiron 17R Special Edition Read More »
