Recent little technical victories, but thin ice ahead...
Since I started TinkerTry back on June 1, 2011, I've posted 416 posts. Most of these are technical bits. Despite those numbers, I admit I only have time to write-up a small percentage of my various little, and not-so-little, tech projects.
The articles I focus on are those where Google is of no help, especially for tasks I'll be doing again in the future. So the thinking is something along the lines of "I'm taking notes for myself anyway, why not share those notes with the world? Opening up my work for public scrutiny tends to result in polite public vetting, improving the polish, and increasing the value when somebody is kind enough to drop a comment confirming that the little fix actually works.
Today, I'm going to give you a sense of some of the projects I'm currently in the midst of, many of which will result in full blog posts.
Recent Victories
- "dogfooding" my headphone solution for blissful snow blowing, even at night, with 30 mph winds, see:
Enjoy tangle-free listening to music and podcasts instead of your mower, protecting your hearing for just 60 dollars - getting LSI's MegaRAID to work on an ESXi 5.5's Windows 8.1 VM (it's all about using the FQDN from /etc/hosts esxi host line to tweak the Windows system's hosts file)
- why TinkerTry had some downtime, due to scheduled service at web host
- Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials needed Repair the Backup Database twice in one week. Time lost, but no data.
- getting an Intel RAID Controller RS2BL080 working under ESXi 5.0 (not my system), works just peachy
- reducing ESD (Electrostatic discharge) in my home office's wintertime low humidity environment
- reducing heat gain with through the wall ventilation, including a noise muffling Between Room Ventilator
- getting UPS monitoring working outside the home, using dyn.org for dynamic IP, port forwarding , and https and an obscure port number, see also Superguide: CyberPower PFCLCD UPS Mini Towers protect your home’s computers and entertainment and How to use a CyberPower UPS solution for proper automated shutdown of your VMware ESXi lab during power outages, including all VMs
- using VMware Player 6 / VMware Workstation 10 in Unity mode, and with full screen triple monitor display
- standing desk retrofit, a bit wacky looking with 3 monitors, but it works, see the Ergotron WorkFit-S Single HD Workstation with Worksurface+ (33-351-200)
Future Victories?
- wanted to know if my fluid cooled Switch Infinia 60 watt bulb would freeze if I used out in the 10° Fahrenheit expected tonight. Well, the Switch Spec sheet site is down, but the Google Cache version is here, and amazingly enough, the operating temperature is -4°F to 113°F. Unfortunately, there's some flicker used with one of my home's dimmers, much like the Home Depot commenters ledfan on Jan 15 2014 here. So flicker, coupled with a low CRI of 83 that some folks are sensitive to (me), means it's not likely to take over my home's interior lighting. The LED quest for 60 watt and 100 watt bulb replacement continues. See also Replacing your 60 watt bulb with the Cree TW Series LED, is it a bright idea?
- when is ESXi 5.5 Update 1 coming out?
- when is Windows Server 2012 R2 Update Rollup 1 coming out?
- is LSI's ESXi 5.5 driver better at watching over RAID health for more days (it was failing on me in 5.5), and will they ever bring back BBU (Battery Backup Unit) monitoring?
- will ESXi 6.0 work well with my Sandybridge Z68 based vZilla build, and it's LSI 9265-8i RAID controller?
There are many ways to stay tuned:
