Interests and Projects

Recent Project Highlights

Installing CAT6a Wiring in Grandma's house

Six Outlets, two switches, and one wireless Router.

I learned a TON about networking, and had to answer some tough questions before beginning:

Can CAT cables be split like phone lines? No.

Which cable to use? I used a happy CAT6a F/FTP 500ft roll, which is overkill in quality.

What tools do I need? Try to stay with the same brand and don't skimp too much.

What type of plugs to use? This should be obvious: Always use Pass-through plugs.

I spent time with my Uncle, Dan, wiring CAT6a lines through the attic and around the house, and we did a clean job that should last decades.

Cutting the Cord for Grandma - Saving her $155/mo

Grandma Brock was paying about $295/mo for the Comcast Xfinity's Triple Pass along with one extra phone line.

I formulated a plan in 2019 to reduce her bill amount, and in November 2021, it was finally approved and acted upon!

For the voice lines: One was transferred to Tello Cell, the other was converted to a Google Voice free VoIP phone line through the Obi200 device!

For the cable line, the family is sharing a Netflix and Amazon streaming, and Grandma is now learning the excelleng Youtube TV.

NO OTHER SERVICE WILL PROVIDE INTERNET in her suburban location, so she is stuck with the abominable Xfinity for that!

CHIA Crytocurrency and farming on ARM machines

Odroid-HC4 machines running Ubuntu Mate for farming.

I have been aware of Crytocurrency since about the Early-late period. I recall buying a small amount of BTC when it was $275, and only doubling my $$ before selling. As the saying goes, "you need money to make money" and I have never had much of that. I have strong feelings about the Circle company and about the HORRID other BTC sellers.

CHIA crytocurrency attracted my attention because of its advertised very low environmental impact and HDD usage.

I have about 56TB of HDD which I have dedicated to CHIA, although only about 26TB of that has already been formatted with CHIA files.

Interests and Future Projects

My next projects will include:

  • The completion of my CHIA Cryptocurrency files. This may require a month or more at my current rate.

  • The installation of QUBES OS 4.1 on my desktop computer, along with GPU and NVME passthrough to a Linux HVM. I have been obsessed with Qubes OS since I first discovered it at about 4.0 RC, and I truly wish to gain the expertise necessary to run this as my daily driver.

  • The building of a custom Chromecast with Google TV and a USB-C hub, to add additional storage and functionality to their device through the Google Play store and potentially from Side-loaded apps.

  • The utilization of Jellyfin on my server PC to allow my movie collection to be cast to my Chromecast/TV.

  • The repairing of my current phone (Pixel 3 XL), and the backing up of that phone onto my PC, so that I can keep it for many years to come. I recently troubleshooted the problems with my phone and lost all of my Authentication accounts!

  • The installation of CAT6a (another project) in my Mother's home so that she will have reliable streaming and business security.