This is a family gift for my mother, figured I'd roll 4K camera when unboxing these finely crafted examples of engineering prowess. The focus here is literally on the physical design of each product, this is not a review of functionality. Soon, I'll have a better sense of how the usability of these…
This article is a work in progress, having told several people here in Prague that I'll publish full resolution of my iPhone photos as soon as possible, as the blurring that Twitter does really doesn't show what phones are capable of these days. I had promised to share full resolution images of…
Bottom line Yes, you can do it, but that doesn't mean you should. [Nov 20 2019 Update - Apple just released an iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max Smart Case!] Squeezing this case on is a temporary stop-gap solution for occasional use, at best. Since the side buttons don't line up, the usefulness of this…
Backstory For several years, I've been on a quest to get an iPhone case that I can use when attending conferences and events, something I do pretty often in my role as an IT Professional, and as a blogger. When out and about all day away from power, I usually carry around a battery pack in my right…
Specification Differentiations These features: From the Oct 30 2018 Apple Event. Standard: Desktop 8th-generation 3.2GHz Intel Core Processor Thunderbolt 3 / USB C expansion (4 ports) NVMe based SSD storage running at full speeds Optional: up to 6 cores up to 64GB of RAM (SODIMMs) up to 10GbE…
Download/Install from Chrome - Mac or PC bit.ly/video-speed How many others downloaded from the author's shortened URL before you Ilya Grigorik "pushed out" his latest update on Nov 7 2015, with 47,000 active users, so far. bit.ly/video-speed+ You may have noticed that YouTube is…
VMware has a track record of releasing a compatibile version of VMware Workstation soon after every major release of Windows. This year was no exception, just one month after Windows 10 became widely available. It's the last time too, with all future Windows releases delivered as incremental…
Yes, this is a relatively expensive app, but there is a free version to try. What if you could have a UI that is way faster than vSphere Web Client, that allows you do things like clone or migrate VMs, check in on CPU utilization, and even do vMotion, with simple tap-tap-tap ease of use. Yes, it's …
Galaxy S5/Lumia 930/iPhone 6 Plus, ProClip holders ProClip USA makes holders for many types of phones, including Android, Windows Phone, and iPhone. I happen to personally have experience with their iPhone holders. I have no affiliation with ProClip USA, I'm just a consumer, who bought mine like a…
A little summer fun, combined with some summer learning, and a bit of travel tech. Today, I traveled from Connecticut to Maine, for the free Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals, where I'll use my eSATAp cable to non-destructively install Hyper-V on my laptop Wednesday July 17th, …
I was recently looking for the fastest charger made by Apple, for a family member's recent Apple products, including an iPhone 5. But I soon realized the wall outlet is inconveniently far from the desired recharging location, the bedside stand. Googling around for a bit, getting a 3rd party longer…
A family member's Core i5 Mac Mini 2011 started life with 4GB of RAM, a 500GB traditional (slow, 5400) hard drive, and respectable discreet graphics. A very efficient and cool little beast. It fit the bill, fairly cheap, rather portable, and runs OS X and Windows very nicely, without putting out a…
These instructions will get you through the simple connection sharing process, with an accompanying video to also demonstrate how straight-forward and fast this is to set up. Jump to steps 1,2,3 below to read the step-by-step guide with screenshots, or jump to the walk through video at the end…
Let's start with the new Lightning cables and connectors. The first 2 devices are apparently electronically and functionally the same, just one is a longer, flexible version of the other. My tests so far seem to back this up. Lightning to 30-pin Adapter $29.00 Apple Part# MD823ZM/A (on Amazon h…
Yes, the faithful, rugged 5-year-old Lenovo ThinkPad T61 and its 15.4" 1280x800 pixel screen has now been displaced by a shiny new 2048x1536 9.7" touch display and Apple Wireless keyboard combo, new Apple TV remote close by. Yes, it was worth the wait, and we're glad the laptop held out th…
This Core i5 Mac Mini 2011 started life with 4GB of RAM, a 500GB traditional (slow, 5400) hard drive, and respectable discreet graphics. A very efficient and cool little beast! Beefing it up considerably will likely not increase the watt burn much (which I'll measure before and after), or heat…
Yesterday, I was invited to be a guest on The Home Server Show Podcast, this was to be my first podcasting experience. Tonight, as Obama said on whitehouse.gov: ... there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he i…
TinkerTry - PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more, including virtualization. My opinions here. IT Professional offering part-time consulting.
Paul Braren, MCSE in 1998, VCP #2681 in 2005, vExpert 2014 to 2025, Veeam Vanguard Emeritus, 2015 to 2019.
Easily update VMware ESXi at TinkerTry.com/easy-update-to-latest-esxi
These systems still work great for many even 9+ years later, mine included, even with (unsupported) vSphere 8 and Windows 11 Version 21H2. But unless you added the optional TPM module, it may be the end of the line as far as repurposing them for running the latest Windows 11 Version 24H2 and beyond.
After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop SuperServer bundles in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. Bare bones system sales continued for years longer.
What's next in 2025? I don't yet have my answer for my home lab, especially now that VCF certification is required to keep non-production home lab licenses going, even as a vExpert and VMUG Advantage EVALExperience customer.
As for a SuperServer follow-on, the Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh slightly better in 2024, and hopefully Xeon 6 (Granite Rapids-D) much better in 2025 featuring PCIe Gen5, MCRDIMMs, and 100GbE networking, wow! Feb. 27 2025 update update looks promising, but pricey. Infortunately, it's become clear to me that Supermicro is less focuses on the mini-tower form factor these days.
As for the CPU industry, it's unfortunate that Pat Gelsinger was apparently ousted from Intel's helm in these challenging times, but I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when he was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.
