What is old is new again! XP on an M1!

I’m doing experiments with UTM to create a single purpose XP system with zero network access. in this picture, i am trying to fix a damaged system while simultaneously installing a fresh one. eventually got it working like a champ, and now it’s almost as portable as an app.  Huge thanks to 4PCTechs for your insights and archive of ancient drivers!

My original shadowbox idea finally realized in all its glory!

Apple Mouse Shadowbox

This was actually the idea that started it all!  It took me a while to finally complete it.  I know that i am missing the serial mouse from the original Macintosh and 128.  Despite having one, i decided to keep my 128 with all its pieces.  Besides, i never touched one until after college.  The mice represented here had my hands all over them most of my life.  I am very happy with how it came out.

Ducati Motorcycle for sale!

be3n sits on Ducati motorcycleI have acquired a 2001 Ducati Monster 900 Dark i.e. that was purchased for the movie Mission Impossible 2.  It has practically no miles (1886).  It was ignored in a garage for a decade so it required a fair amount of paperwork and some maintenance to get it working well and street legal.  there are a few minor cosmetic issues like a small dent in the gas tank and broken and taped on turn signals. (i believe the signals were removed for the film)

A few people have asked me to get them pictures and info so i figured this was the fastest way while i work on my actual sales page.  I tried to document all the flaws.

be3n ducati dashboard
Continue reading “Ducati Motorcycle for sale!”

Synology Hybrid RAID Expansion Begins…

Synology upgrade begins

This is actually my first go at using this little trick. I only noticed it a few years ago.  i haven’t had a need to use it.  Until now.  i am so delighted that Synology continues to innovate.  Every time i deploy a Synology, it has even more functionality. i am not getting paid for this, honest endorsement.   I only wish they made direct attached storage or SANs.  I do not mean to imply that i have a problem with NAS.

I am not only upgrading the capacity, but the throughput and seek times as well.  With dual drive protection, it will be a few redundancy passes before i see any additional storage and probably even longer before i will see much more performance.  it will be an interesting project. The process so far has been simple. i just deactivated the outgoing drive and replaced it with the new bigger faster drive.  Once that is done, you repair the volume with the new disk and wait.  And wait.  Eventually do it all again. And again.

Hello Internet, meet Zapp Brannigan my new ride!

Zapp Brannigan - Tesla App

After my last car was destroyed, I knew i wanted an electric car.  After extensive research and soooo much driving around to check out cars.  I am very excited to announce my Model 3 that i have named Zapp Brannigan in honor of its electric power and my favorite cartoon.  I cannot wait until i can drive to visit my friends and family again.

Zapp Brannigan - be3n driving his new Tesla Model 3Zapp Brannigan - be3n's new car

Saying farewell to a gallant steed!

More than 5 years ago, i bought this car after its kin had served me well.  This one did me proper as well, not one major problem. . .

goodbye elantra - 1 - Hello Elantra

Until two weeks ago, this happened on the 101.

The damage didn’t seem that bad.  i tied my bumper up and drove it away. my neck was a bit stiff. Continue reading “Saying farewell to a gallant steed!”

Cartesian Geometry is for suckers!

be3n unboxing monoprice delta pro

I am very thankful for an early Thanksgiving toy!  It’s a Monoprice Delta Pro!  (originally $1400, they have dropped a few times and are now on sale for $550. Delta printers are so cool.  They do not move at all like traditional 3D printers. i can watch mine all day.  you can too, the live cam is back!

Delta Printerhttps://printer.be3n.com

It was a snap to get it setup. The opposite experience of my Maker Select V2. Oh i love the auto bed leveling. There is no official Cura profile for the Delta Pro, so i had to throw one together from the Delta Mini and the specs.  I did have a few failures.  I bought some inferior filament and it would continually get clogged. After switching to the good stuff, my prints were beautiful.  Then i started to play with the speed rate options.

S.S. Cheap rainbow filamentSpeed Printing with Delta Pro
That articulated slug is a great example.  you can see the first layer is a bit sloppier on the head segment compared with the other segments. I turned the speed rate up to 130%  I’m not sure exactly what that does, because it certainly doesn’t have that profound of an effect on the print speed.  but if you raise it high enough it gets very sloppy.  i shaved about 30% of the time for a print by upping the speed rate to 200% but the first few layers had much more serious flaws than the slug. On the whole it wasn’t a bad speed print.  I’m sure i can improve it with tweaks.

Status update:

Drobo Speed Test

My Drobo has been acting up since last week.  I couldn’t get speeds over 40MB/sec  for a while i wasn’t seeing anything faster than 25MB/sec.  I read all the forums and i was on deadline to return some customer data.  I put hours into this only to get to 35MB/sec.  The final answer was actually a stupid one i read in a forum but didn’t put much stock in.  My favorite part of USB-C is that it doesn’t matter which way you plug it in.  At least that is what i thought.  Turns out that with some Drobo 5c it does matter.  After flipping the port, i’m back to useful speeds. It’s even mentioned in the Drobo 5c FAQ.