Technology

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If you’re a DirecTV customer, and you want to watch your local channels and get shows from the “big” networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, then there’s a good chance you’re coughing up extra money for their local channels. Or maybe, you like to take your DirecTV receiver on […]

How to Get HDTV Local Channels “Off Air” with DirecTV

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Technology and tagged AM21N antenna channel guide DirecTV DVR free local channels HDTV local channels Mohu Leaf off-air tuner Winegard on by
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Among hard-core geeks, the speed of your Internet connection is a source of pride. Back in 1996 when I moved to the Seattle area, I paid a couple thousand dollars a month for a frame-relay full T1 connection to my house, giving me a 1.4 Megabits per second (Mbps) connection. […]

Review: Google Fiber Provo Install

This entry was posted in Product Reviews Technology and tagged gigabit Google Fiber Google Network Box Install provo review on by (updated 3702 days ago)
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I’m going to start out this blog post by saying you should NOT do this. I repeat: do NOT do this. There’s at least a 50/50 chance that if you try this, it won’t work and you could potentially fry your router beyond the point of recovery. You might even […]

How to Unbrick a Netgear WNDR3400 N600 Router after a ...

This entry was posted in Reference Technology and tagged bad DD-WRT flash DD-WRT failed flash N600 Netgear pin short recover bricked router WNDR3400 on by (updated 3743 days ago)
When is the last time you rocked out this hard in the shower?
The kind folks over at Kohler’s bath products division (about whom I’ve had nice things to say in the past) were generous enough to recently send me one of their new Moxie wireless speaker shower heads for evaluation and review. Kohler states that Moxie allows you to “Shower out Loud” by […]

Review: Kohler Moxie Wireless Speaker Shower Head

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged Bluetooth Kohler Kohler Moxie review Moxie product review review shower shower speaker speaker wireless speaker on by (updated 3581 days ago)
This setting lets your Ecobee run the humidifier during heat, cool, or with the fan only. 12
In my original review of my very first Ecobee Smart Thermostat, I described how I had wired my Ecobee’s equipment interface to my whole-house evaporative humidifier at the Utah house. Because my furnace’s control board had a 24V HUM connector, I used that connector to help activate the humidifier. The […]

How to Wire a Humidifier to an Ecobee Smart Thermostat

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Reference Technology and tagged DIY ecobee how to how to wire humidifier to ecobee humidifier plumbing wiring on by (updated 3746 days ago)
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It all started about a week ago. I got an alert email from a server, complaining about a RAID array. That’s nothing terribly out of the ordinary, as I have all of my systems set to alert me if something seems out of place. However, the problem in this case […]

Rant: Google Apps’ Gmail Can’t Protect Me from Misconfigured Mailers

This entry was posted in Linux Rants and Raves Technology and tagged blocked senders Google Apps SPF split domain routing spoof on by (updated 3588 days ago)
This post is primarily a how-to for my own benefit, since I own a total of five APC S20 BLK battery backup units running a variety of things at the house from AV gear to a rack of servers. That means there’s a chance I’ll need to replace the battery […]

How To: Swap RB63 UPS Batteries in an APC S20 ...

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Reference Technology and tagged APC batteries RB63 replace UPS batteries S20 BLK UPS on by (updated 3746 days ago)
I hate throwing away old computer equipment. Whenever I buy a new system, the older ones tend to find other roles in my digital life. Maybe not on my desktop any more, but maybe in the playroom, or in a closet, or on my floor, or some other location where […]

Upgrade your Dell Dimension 4600 AGP Graphics Adapter and RAM

This entry was posted in DIY Technology Windows and tagged 3d graphics AGP Dell Dimension 4600 graphics card RAM Upgrade on by (updated 3820 days ago)
Linux Uptime 1
After upgrading from Nagios 4.0 to 4.0.1, I attempted to manually reschedule a check of all services on a particular host, I received the following error: Error: Could not open command file ‘/usr/local/nagios/var/rw/nagios.cmd’ for update! The source of the problem turned out to be a permissions issue with the nagios.cmd […]

How to Fix Error: Could not open command file ‘/usr/local/nagios/var/rw/nagios.cmd’ ...

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged error Linux nagios nagios.cmd permissions on by (updated 3821 days ago)
Cisco/Linksys E4200 overclocked to 532 MHz 31
It’s a question asked in the DD-WRT forums all the time. It’s a question often asked in the comments of my DD-WRT posts. And it’s a question to which no “official” answer from the primary maintainers of DD-WRT exists… and therefore it will probably keep getting asked. However, based on […]

Difference between DD-WRT BrainSlayer, Eko, Fractal, and Kong Builds

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged BrainSlayer build builds DD-WRT difference Eko Fractal Kong router database SP1 SP2 version on by (updated 3446 days ago)
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In an effort to extend my WiFi coverage outside our vacation home on a lake, I purchased a Ubiquiti NanoStation LOCO M5. My goal was to provide a strong WiFi signal a few hundred feet into the back yard, onto the beach, and all the way out to the dock. […]

Connecting iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod) to Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 ...

This entry was posted in iPhone Linux Reference Technology and tagged 20MHz 5Ghz Apple channel channel width compatible configuration DFS frequency iOS iPad iPhone iPod LOCO NanoStation NanoStation M5 NSM5 settings troubleshoot Uqibuiti WiFi on by (updated 3222 days ago)
Timeline for Shutdown and Turn Off for the PCNS server OS and the UPS 14
I decided to write this blog post after attempting to configure APC’s PowerChute Network Shutdown (PCNS) software to gracefully shut down a number of Windows and Linux computers on my network, all of which are attached to various APC SmartUPS Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) units with AP9617 and AP9630 Network Management Cards […]

HowTo: Configure Low Battery Duration and PCNS to Shut Down ...

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology Windows and tagged APC Event Shutdown Delay graceful shutdown Low Battery Duration Maximum Required Delay NMC PCNS PowerChute Network Shutdown shutdown Shutdown Delay UPS on by (updated 3389 days ago)
APC RBC24 10
In my 2012 post “Dead UPS Batteries? There’s a Cheaper Way!” I addressed the fact that most people overpay for replacement batteries for their UPS, especially if you purchase APC-branded RBC (Replacement Battery Cartridge) kits. The purpose of this post is to serve as a cross reference as to which generic batteries […]

APC Generic Replacement Battery Cross Reference Lookup

This entry was posted in DIY Reference Technology and tagged APC batteries cross reference generic lookup RBC RBC2 RBC6 replacement UPS battery on by (updated 3793 days ago)
Postfix 2.9 Upgrade 5
I run a number of “real” Postfix servers that live “away from home,” in a cozy server cabinet at our colo facility, but I also like to keep a Postfix server handy in the basement, running on an ancient (but rock solid) Dell PowerEdge 2450 running CentOS 5. I don’t […]

HowTo: Get Around Comcast Port 25 Block with a Postfix ...

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged block blocked Comcast howto port 25 Postfix relay workaround on by (updated 3779 days ago)
Postfix 2.9 Upgrade 1
I recently installed APC’s PowerChute Network Shutdown so that my desktop could be alerted via a network connection from a SmartUPS 1500 with an on-board AP9630 Network Management Card to shut down when the power got low. Installation went fine (apart from having to manually install the latest version of […]

Manually Starting PowerChute Network Shutdown (PCNS) Service on a Windows ...

This entry was posted in Reference Technology Windows and tagged AP9630 APC not loading not working PCNS PowerChute PowerChute Network Shutdown service on by (updated 3588 days ago)
For the very first time, the 2013 Annual Cuong Nhu Black Belt Meeting will be available via Google Hangout video conference for black belts not attending training camp. If you are a Cuong Nhu black belt who is not attending IATC 2013, Grandmaster Quynh encourages you to attend this important […]

Cuong Nhu IATC 2013 Black Belt Meeting Google Hangout Instructions

This entry was posted in Karate Reference Technology and tagged black belt meeting Cuong Nhu Google Hangout iatc on by (updated 3996 days ago)
Linux Uptime
This is one of those reference posts mainly for myself, that helps me remember commands for stuff I have to do from time to time, but not often enough that I remember it without searching for it. This post is about MySQL commands. Resetting the Root Password: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/resetting-permissions.html What to run […]

MySQL Commands: Password Reset, Initial Setup, and more!

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged MySQL password reset startup on by (updated 4001 days ago)
Cisco/Linksys E4200 overclocked to 532 MHz 42
UPDATE: Newer versions of the DD-WRT firmware now include a web-based option for selecting your overclock speed, if it’s supported on your device. You can still follow these steps to overclock (and I recommend you continue reading so you understand what you’re doing), but now you can access overlocking on the Administration/Management tab. […]

How To: Overclock a Cisco/Linksys E4200 Router running DD-WRT

This entry was posted in DIY Linux Reference Technology and tagged 532 MHz clock speed DD-WRT E4200 Linksys overclock overclocking on by (updated 3328 days ago)
GoPro Hero 3 can play HD videos in Windows 7, if you install additional codecs 16
My wife bought me a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition for my birthday. It’s awesome. I’m really looking forward to shooting some SCUBA video with it in Cozumel in a couple weeks, but today I used it for the first time to film some karate self defense applications that I […]

How to Fix if Windows Media Player Can’t Play GoPro ...

This entry was posted in Reference Technology and tagged audio only can't see video codec GoPro HD Hero 3 Media Player video video won't play Windows Windows Media on by (updated 3888 days ago)
Blueline PowerCost Monitor Facebook Post 5
Initially, I had intended this post to be one of my “rant” posts. In fact, I’d already written it in my head after a frustrating day of wrestling with a combination of badly-behaved piece of network hardware and unhelpful front-line tech support personnel. Regular followers of my blog are familiar […]

Rave: Blueline Innovations Customer Service

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Rants and Raves Technology and tagged Blueline customer service Facebook MyEragy PeoplePower PowerCost Monitor rave tech support WiFi WiFi Gateway on by (updated 4062 days ago)
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When setting up a vanilla WordPress installation on a vanilla CentOS server with a vanilla Apache install, I kept getting 404 errors on pages and posts when Permalinks was set to anything other than the default. I fixed it by editing Apache’s httpd.conf file to add the following in the […]

WordPress File Not Found with Custom Permalinks

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged 404 AllowOverride Apache File Not Found Permalink VirtualHost WordPress on by (updated 3936 days ago)
Upgrade from Fedora 17 to 18 with FedUp 1
Fedora 18 (codename Spherical Cow) was officially released today, and there’s a mad scramble to figure out how to upgrade to this latest Linux desktop from Fedora 17. Previously, you’d have to either do a fresh install with a CD or DVD, or you could use the built-in PreUpgrade method. […]

Upgrade from Fedora 17 to Fedora 18 with FedUp

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged Fedora Fedora 17 Fedora 17 to 18 Fedora 18 fedora upgrade 17 to 18 fedup FedUp Install Linux PreUpgrade update Upgrade on by (updated 4113 days ago)
Winland Electronics WaterBug Sensor 22
I’ve already written plenty of posts about my experiences with the Ecobee Smart Thermostat. To say I’m a fan would be putting it mildly. But today, I became an even bigger fan after extending the functionality of my Ecobee Smart Thermostat by connecting a water sensor to it. My basement […]

DIY: Connecting a WaterBug Water Sensor to an Ecobee Smart ...

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged alarm dry contact ecobee how to product review review smart thermostat water sensor WaterBug WB-200 Winland Electronics on by (updated 4118 days ago)
WiFi connection on iPhone 4 680
UPDATED Dec 21, 2016. This post is a reference post for those looking to squeeze maximum speed out of their Cisco Linksys E4200 v1 wireless router running DD-WRT. The DD-WRT build I currently recommend for this router is K2.6 30880 (by BrainSlayer). IMPORTANT: My testing shows that DD-WRT K2.6 builds are much faster on the […]

My Cisco Linksys E4200 DD-WRT Settings for Max Speed

This entry was posted in DIY iPhone Linux Reference Technology and tagged 22000M big BrainSlayer configuration DD-WRT ddwrt E4200 fiber Fractal Heartbleed Kong Linksys mega nas OpenSSL OpenVPN optimize settings speed std TCP Congestion Control Transmit Power usb WiFi WiFi speed wireless wireless speed on by (updated 2677 days ago)