We got an i7 from Amazon. It has a camera. After watching a terrifying CBC report on wireless cameras, I’m a bit leery of such things. The Roomba itself doesn’t seem to have a password. It asked for the wireless (MainLink623, if you’ve been following that thread) password, but we did not set a passwordContinue reading “Teh Roomba”
Author Archives: Mark
Flies – I may be overthinking this
Denver doesn’t have bugs. That is one the things Mike & I both liked about it. There are insects, but they tend to crawl around and generally leave one alone. There are not many bothersome insects that “bug” one. Rapid City has flies. Not at the “plague of locusts” level, but they’re around and theyContinue reading “Flies – I may be overthinking this”
Color Me Unimpressed
The plan for the next Pi is to run a home automation hub on yet another network (HomeLink623, of course). As a runup to that, I thought I’d start simple with some light bulbs. I bought a Hue starter kit, which has two white light bulbs and their hub. Thinking I was expanding on thatContinue reading “Color Me Unimpressed”
Link623
It was a bit annoying to get all the networks renamed and re-passworded, but it’s done. We have: StarLink623, MainLink623, and LegacyLink623. Interestingly, everything connected to the Starlink network. The Centurylink router has both 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios and each has a different name (Legacy and Main, respectively). Some things do not see the 5GContinue reading “Link623”
Gas, Electricity, and Groundhogs
A guy from the gas company came over today to turn on the meters. I’m not sure what that means, exactly, since the hot water is hot and presumably the people renting over the winter had working furnaces, but it is now in our name. Meta-Update: Mike’s name. I handled the bills in Denver forContinue reading “Gas, Electricity, and Groundhogs”
Half-Baked Pi
The Walmart HDMI to DVI dongle (“onn” brand) works fine. Also a nice lesson in why Amazon should be a last resort: If no one buys this sort of thing locally, no one will stock this sort of thing locally. The wireless USB thingy also works fine with the Pi. Arguably, I should have purchasedContinue reading “Half-Baked Pi”
Making a Pi
It just arrived. I ordered this one from Amazon. It came in one, very small box: My USB headphones wouldn’t fit in that box. Opening it up: How do you know you’re old? You RTFM before scattering the pieces parts hither and thither. “Fitting a Heat Sink” seems straightforward enough. Four heat sinks and fourContinue reading “Making a Pi”
Not “That Guy”
This is the first post in the “tech” category – and I’m being bad and writing it during working hours (because I want the link to the category, which requires a post, for a coworker), so I’ll be brief. I realized that I’m becoming “that guy” from my younger days. Back in the 1980s (very,Continue reading “Not “That Guy””
Learning 2 Bake, from Scratch – XV
New city, new altitude, new stove, minimal gear. What could go wrong? I’m craving cookies and this looks like a good summer cookie recipe (from grandma): Orange Drops 1 cup sugar (large)1 cup shortening (small)Grated rind and juice of 1 medium orange2 eggspinch of salt1 cup flour (large)1 tsp baking powder1 cup H [hazel?] nutsContinue reading “Learning 2 Bake, from Scratch – XV”
Grandma’s Bowls – Back in Rapid City
Seems as good a place to post the update as any other… Grandma’s Bowls are back in Rapid City – along with us, of course. The two that have seedlings in them in the picture at the linked post had full grown, harvestable dill and parsley in them before we left Denver. However, I hadContinue reading “Grandma’s Bowls – Back in Rapid City”
Marked Up 