hardware, technology, Wi-Fi

My favorite products play well together!

| be3n

DiskStation and Amplifi

Ubiquity’s Amplifi wifi mesh system is awesome and incredibly easy to setup. It also looks great next to Synology’s DiskStation product line.  Together they make the most amazing Time Capsule replacement. The functionality doesn’t stop there.  The DiskStation does so much more then just backup.  As a backup however, it allows you to mirror the disks for extra protection as well as synchronize between other servers, DiskStations, cloud storage, or even AWS S3!  Getting nearly 200Mbit everywhere!  Already backing up three computers.  What other services should I add to the Synology?

Corporations, Internet, technology

AOL Instant Messenger Shutting Down!

| be3n

AOL’s Long running messaging service will end on December 15th. Though it’s true that i rarely use it these days and that I actually lost my original account years ago… I have fond memories of this communications protocol.  I continue to communicate with people though AIM. Apple had strong links to it at the launch of iChatAV. #nostalgia  Well, AOL broke the news with a tweet.  ironic?

AIM sunset tweet: All Good things come to an end. On Dec 15, we'll bid farewell to AIM. Thank you to all our users!

Culture, technology, Video Games

TBT: Fondly remembering my days slaying dragons. . .

| be3n

WOW: Onyxia Slain with Stats

Throwback Thursday:  I found some old screenshots from 2006.  I remember how proud i was to be #2 DPS in this fight.  (at the time, warlocks were not a particularly high DPS class)  Sometimes i do miss playing World of Warcraft, but i don’t regret quitting.  I know the game has changed a lot since I played regularly.  I hear you can fly in Azeroth now. . .

World of Warcraft - Gnome Sunset

iPhone, Software, technology

iOS 11! installed!

| be3n

looking good with exciting new Control Center and loads of other features. my favorite is 5x sleep to disable touch ID (instantly and temporarily). I am looking forward to the new Augmented Reality features built into ARkit. I cannot wait to see what developers do with it.

There are a few sticky wickets (i.e. Apple changed the bluetooth and wifi toggle functionality in Control Center). For example, if you “turn off” wifi it actually just disassociates you from your current network leaving your wifi radio on and functioning. i don’t mind because i wanted exactly this feature. if you actually want to turn off a radio, you need to go to your Settings app or turn on Airplane mode.

Apple maps is stepping up their game with indoor maps of malls, airports and others allowing navigation without GPS or even a view of the sky. Easy trick to share your complex wifi password with other apple devices and of course native animated GIF support!

Continue reading “iOS 11! installed!” →

hardware, retro, technology, Video Games

Monitoring power usage is sometimes my only insight.

| be3n

I have been working on a number of Raspberry Pi projects in various stages of working. To distract from more difficult projects (not to mention nostalgia and fun) I have been building  an Adafruit PiGrrl portable classic game emulator.  At several points with this project or other without a lot of feedback from the device I’m working with, I’ve relied on milliamp readings from the Mico USB Cable/Voltage Display.  This tiny bit of information is incredibly helpful in determining what my Pi is up too. Idle? Booting? Overwhelmed?  In the land of the blind the one eye’d man is king.  At the very least it reduced the total time waisted waiting on crashed or other broken attempts.

Micro USB amp meter