BLOG
Friday Funday – Unplugged!
Happy Friday Funday! This is a good day to unplug for a bit, and just enjoy the world around you without distractions. Unplug your computer and disable your network adapter, and put your feet up. No news, no email, no nothing! But wait! Chrome shows you this annoying...
USB Thumb-drives
Little USB sticks are somewhat out of favor these days - who needs them, when we have the whole cloud at our disposal? But I do LOVE my Kingston USB drives. The have the most satisfying form factor. Computer makers love cramming their USB ports as close together as...
Browser Wars – Again!
I was doing some browser tests looking for Easter eggs the other day, and was reminded of the Opera Browser. An old favorite I forget to use. It has some nice features! An add blocker. Activate it in Settings, then it shows up in the top right when it blocks adds. And...
Friday Funday – Spam
Your inbox gets flooded with spam. Where does it come from, and how do they get your email? Here's how you can try to find out... You won't be able to investigate existing spam, but here is how to track down the source if you use a gmail address. For my experiment, I...
Poor Man’s Digital Signage
Here is a cheap solution for digital signage, which I have set up in the foyer of my church. The concept is to use a WordPress site to deliver various pages and posts to a Raspberry Pi running minimalkioskOS, which displays the web sites on a monitor. Then you can...
Homeowner Wiring: Should You Do It?
The other day I learned that if you do electrical wiring, you are responsible and liable for that installation as long as it exists. Yikes! I guess this should give pause to someone like me who fancies himself to be a handyman, and is happy to do a small DIY project...
USPS Security: Change Address
When you move, it's easy to log in to USPS and put in your forwarding address. All you need is to verify your identity with a direct card. This seems so easy for a bad guy to do, and get your mail delivered to a new address. It's even possible for a business... If a...
USPS Security: Informed Delivery
The United States Postal Service has some convenience features which may or may not be secure. I have my doubts. The first feature is Informed Delivery. You can sign up for free, and then every day you receive an email that has scans of the envelopes you will receive...
Show me that redaction!
This is a cautionary tale! Paul Manafort's attorneys filed a document that was improperly redacted. You can open the actual document (link below), copy the redacted lines and paste them in to a Word document to reveal the text underneath. The black highlighter tool is...
How to Save a File
Microsoft recently updated their Snipping tool, now called "Snip & Sketch." You can see a little overview here. What gets me about this new tool is the icon to save the file. It is the usual 3.5" floppy disk. Like on EVERY program. But kids today have never even...
Excel Stocks and Geography
Microsoft released an interesting feature yesterday - datatypes called Stocks and Geography. You can see their official notice here. These data types are available in the desktop version of Excel for Office 365, buy I couldn't find them for Excel Online. The Stocks...
Windows Snipping Tool
This morning I opened Windows Snipping tool, and got this interesting message that Snipping Tool is moving. My immediate reaction was "Hmm... I need to take a snip of that so I can come back to it later." But then... "how do you snip Windows Snipping tool?" Luckily I...
Full c: empty d:!
I bet you ran in to this over the Holidays. "My laptop is SO slow!" When you look at it, you discover Cousin Edith is storing her Documents /pictures/music on the c: partition, which in her lousy laptop was set up to be only for the OS. The user data was supposed to...
Remote Access Tools
There are many remote access tools - Team Viewer, Logmein, GotomyPC, and even RDP, VNC and Chrome Remote Desktop. My recent tool of choice is AeroAdmin. This neat little tool gets it all done. It can be free, if you don't use it too much. It can be set in always-on...
Portable Apps
One of my favorite applications is PortableApps. I have mine on a USB on my key chain at all times. It has all my favorite utilities on it, including Revo Uninstaller, CCleaner, Process Explorer and FileZilla. Just pop the USB into a PC, and all your tools are right...
Simpler is Better
If you were a brain surgeon, would family members ask "Do you have anything for a headache?" But since you're in IT, they have no qualms about asking "Why is my hard drive so full?" Here is a little utility to have on your thumb drive so you can quickly diagnose their...
Malawi Wifi
I found this somewhat suspicious Wifi network in Malawi. I did not connect.
Digital Sign
While working on the website for the church I attend, it occured to us that our new WordPress site might be able to deliver digital signage. We tried it with the Foyer plugin, and although the developer Menno Luitjes was very helpful, we haven't gotten that right. For...
UUCL Website
This year I took over responsibility for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster's website. It was on WIX, which meant it was difficult to have concurrent editors and the site was only marginally responsive. We also couldn't schedule the publishing, so every...
Running in the dark
Dark evenings. Time to break out the reflective running vest, headlamp, and 4-pack of flashers.
Track running
Road running is like a spiritual journey. Track running is like mental mayhem.
Running Injury
Whoops. Blood thru the running sock.
Summer Running in Lancaster PA
Running with the Amish
Don’t Always Blame Running
I have a tinge in my knee that comes and goes. It starts soon in to my run, and can stay or get worse throughout the run. When this knee pain befalls, I usually go through several weeks of modifying my gait and my shoes, until I find the right combination,...
Why We Run
This is why we run. Go to the full post to use the link. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running
Here is a Video to get you Motivated!
Ironman Watch
I don't wear a Smartwatch. I have an old Timex Ironman. Yup. I like my old Ironman.
Nipple Bandages
My personal requirement for marathon training runs - nipple bandages.
Wear ID
It's a good thing to wear ID while you run. You never know what might happen. I prefer dog tags, which I wear always, so it's a "set it and forget it" solution. They are available for cheap on line.