My experience as a first-time Delegate at AI Field Day 3

Yeah that's me, October of 1991, with an IR-based head-mounted eye-tracker. Today, near-IR is used as a DMS [Driver Monitoring System]. A few weeks ago, Keiran Shelden @Keiran_shelden of the Tech Breakfast Podcast introduced me to Stephen Foskett from Gestalt IT. Stephen has been running Tech…

May 26 2022

Rivian R1T EV pickup truck overview at Northeast Rivian Club event in Bridgeport Connecticut, owner Jazzy Jeff has 5,300 miles already!

If you're just here for the photos or video, no worries! It's great to see a variety of new EVs hitting the roads of Connecticut lately, spying my first Kia EV6 just last week. Even better when a whole new category of EVs arrive for the very first time, the all electric pickup truck! The vaguely…

May 15 2022

Featured on "Home Gadget Geeks" Episode #533 "Paul Braren with an Insteon Departure, the EV Decider and Heat Pumps for the Win – HGG533"

Thank you again Jim, for you being you, and for inviting me again! Always fun to catch up, here's some ideas, just in case you'd like to explore any of these a little further. Jim’s Podcast episode and video announcement post: Paul Braren with an Insteon Departure, the EV Decider and Heat Pumps f…

May 6 2022

InsteOFF - Insteon abruptly turned off its cloud and (should have) ceased sales, many devices continue to (mostly) work using local controls

On April 14 2022, Insteon ceased all sales and service operations and shut off their cloud, as was first covered by Stacey on IoT here. Contrary to some very dire looking headlines, this cloud service suspension didn't actually brick all existing devices, and many simple devices like light switches…

May 3 2022

Prepare for VMware vSphere 8.0 / vSphere.Next by reading updated KB 85685 "SD card/USB boot device revised guidance"

If you are a VMware vSphere administrator preparing for the upcoming vSphere 8.0 / vSphere.Next, then this article is for you! Yes, the information here is critical to ANY virtualization home lab enthusiast, and/or any VMware administrator who is planning out how and where they'll be installing or…

Apr 28 2022

VMware vSphere 7 Update 3d (VCSA 7.0U3d & ESXi 7.0U3d) includes critical bugfixes

Refer to this VMware KB for all release and patch dates. VMware KB 2143832 Build numbers and versions of VMware ESXi/ESX (2143832) Partial screenshot of VMware KB 2143832 on Mar 31 2022, click/tap to view the full article. For detailed information on this release, please visit: VMware ESXi 7.0…

Apr 27 2022

EV Decider - Tesla Model 3, Y, or another EV brand. What's best for you?

Tesla is a safe EV choice, but I realize that Tesla may not be the the right choice for everybody, especially if you live far from a Tesla Service Center, or you don't road trip very often and charge overnight where you live, like most EV owners. Photo by Paul Braren. Thankfully a few competitive…

Apr 22 2022

Featured on Tech Breakfast Podcast 250 | The Osborne Effect - Twitter Chaos - Death of ICE - XR - Battery Tech | Aaron, Russ, Tyler, Paul

This podcast was recorded on Friday Apr 18 2022, using Telegram for Windows to join the TBP crew an hour in to their special 250th episode! Show notes below. Even though I couldn't join for the first hour, the crew let me in late anyway, enjoying my 9th appearance on this fun and informative…

Apr 19 2022

Tesla, Rivian, Lucid EVs, an e-bus, and many e-bikes at the Connecticut State Capitol as lawmakers consider SB 214 for direct sales and SB 4 for clean air

All photos in this article by Paul Braren on April 13 2022. Middletown CT’s Electric School Bus from DATTCO in New Britain, CT. No gas or diesel, no tailpipe, it's electric. Jazz Cup Bandit from Spark Cycleworks, Branford, CT. "The burden of air pollution is not evenly shared. Poorer…

Apr 16 2022

Featured on Tech Breakfast Podcast 243 | EVs with Paul Braren | Aaron, Tyler

This podcast was recorded on Friday March 25 2022. Show notes below. I had the chance to enjoy my 8th appearance on this fun and informative podcast, you can play this fresh episode in the embedded player below. Table of Contents Click/tap to listen to "243: EV update with Paul Braren" …

Mar 25 2022

Tesla Model 3 Boston and New York City Road Trip Tips - safely handled rain, snow, and heavy traffic with ease and efficiency

Most modern EVs are great at stop-and-go traffic, with easy modulation and precise control of speed, and largely one-pedal driving thanks to regen. Most EVs have just one gear, so no shifting means smooth driving, with no unexpected power changes. Even better is a Traffic-Aware Cruise Control that…

Mar 24 2022

Fanless Supermicro SuperServer SYS-E302-12D features new Intel Xeon D-1700, finally a silent 1U, but storage is limited

Article & photo (screen-shotted above) are by Cliff Robinson at STH. This product isn't even announced by Supermicro yet, all we have is his article with photo featuring a specs card, for now. Introduction Having looked at a very promising, non-Supermicro fanless solutions in the past, I was…

Mar 6 2022

Needs and wants for TinkerTry's 2022 virtualization home lab replacement based on Intel Xeon D-1700/2700

Introduction Specs for Xeon D-1700/2700 systems are starting to surface on the internet, partially in response to their company announcements at Mobile World Congress. But before I get into those details in future articles, I've been writing quite a bit about my wishes for a worthy successor to…

Mar 6 2022

Intel Xeon D-1700/D-2700 (Ice Lake D) finally launched, up to 20 cores/2.5GHz/3.5GHz Turbo/25GbE/1TB RAM and PCIe 4.0 doubling NVMe SSD speeds!

Feb 24 2022 - TinkerTry YouTube Channel - Intel Xeon D-1700/2700 finally launched, seemingly well-suited for virtualization home labs! intel.com/icelake-d Image from intel.com/icelake-d Image from intel.com/icelake-d Introduction Like Patrick at STH, I've been eagerly awaiting this product…

Feb 24 2022

EV Club of Connecticut Show & Tell video features Will Cross' Hyundai IONIQ 5, compares with his Tesla Model 3

I have a new video to add to the growing library of EV videos in this growing collection: EV Club of Connecticut Show & Tell videos feature owners sharing their real-world experiences This new addition is the 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5, one of many new EVs coming to the US in 2022, coming in at a…

Feb 20 2022

Intel Xeon D-1700/D-2700 (Ice Lake D), a promising choice for efficient home labs? (rumor)

Good news, these CPUs were launched on Feb 24 2022, details at TinkerTry here that you should read after this article, where the turned out to be true. Article as it originally appeared below. Disclaimer - This article contains information that may not be complete or entirely accurate, but will be…

Feb 12 2022

Exactly how I installed VMware vCenter VCSA 7.0U3c, replacing my 7.0U3b rather than upgrading it

TinkerTry | Paul Braren YouTube Channel - Jan 28 2022 - Exactly how I installed VMware vCenter VCSA 7.0U3c, replacing my 7.0U3b rather than upgrading it See also closely related article: VMware vSphere 7 Update 3 is now GA, here's how to download it any which way! (updated Jan 28 2022 for 7U3c)…

Feb 4 2022

Little House Brewing Company in Chester Connecticut, built in 1836, now has a Tesla Solar Roof!

This article was originally written for and published by CleanTechnica here. About the author - Paul Braren is an IT professional and tech blogger who covers PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency, and more. Paul has been blogging for over a decade and has increased his focus on creating EV articles and…

Feb 2 2022

VMware has released vSphere 7 Update 3c (VCSA 7.0U3c & ESXi 7.0U3c), includes Log4j related updates

(screenshot above is of VMware's announcement) See also closely related article: VMware vSphere 7 Update 3 is now GA, here's how to download it any which way! (updated Jan 28 2022 for 7U3c) Oct 06 2021 updated Jan 28 2022 VMware had to recall all vSphere 7.0 Update 3 releases back on November 19…

Jan 28 2022

Tesla waypoints make it easy to decide how long to Supercharge on multi-stop road trips, safely skipping nav's suggested extra charging stop

Initially, I saw 251 kw | 1024 miles per hour of V3 Supercharging speed! In the screenshot above, you'll note that Tesla Navigation is suggesting I stop to Supercharge twice on this family road trip. Because of the automatic preconditioning (battery warming) that my 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range…

Jan 13 2022

Featured on Tech Breakfast Podcast 229 | EVs with Paul Braren | Aaron, Tyler

This podcast was recorded on Friday January 7 2022. Show notes below. I had the chance to enjoy my 7th appearance on this fun and informative podcast, you can play this fresh episode in the embedded player below. Table of Contents Click/tap to listen to "EVs with Paul Braren | Aaron,…

Jan 7 2022

Light Show - Mission Impossible sounds and looks great in fog, and it's free nerd fun for everyone on github

Tesla Light Show Mission Impossible programmed by Nick Ray What's nifty here is the whimsy and fun that Tesla has managed to deploy to much of its fleet of recent EVs, at no cost, long after delivery. It really highlights the amazing capabilities that software reprogrammability allows, and the…

Jan 2 2022

New TinkerTry logo and tagline for 2022

Many of my articles have been centered around themes of efficiency lately. This is true for IT infrastructure, and in my home, and on my road to the electrification of everything, my cars and my home included. Given this gradual shift in my focus areas, it seems 2022 is time to update TinkerTry's…

Dec 31 2021

Connecticut's Inductive Autoworks Reincarnates Classic Gas Cars As Practical EVs - Conversions Even Purists Will Love

Jan 13 2022 update - See also EV Club of CT's new article, Love Your Gas Car But Hate Emissions? Time for an EV Conversion. Article as it originally appeared below. On Friday December 10th, I had the opportunity to visit the public opening event at Inductive Autoworks, tucked away in the woods of…

Dec 22 2021