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Quorten Blog 1

First blog for all Quorten's blog-like writings

Router with an internal MicroSD card? No, here's why.

quorten

2018-09-13

Categories: home-network  
Tags: home-network  

Now I’m looking for a router with internal MicroSD card storage? Yes. Because if I get one of those, that is basically just as good for my home sever needs as running a separate Raspberry Pi B+. Most importantly, it saves energy by reducing the number of discrete network equipment boards I must power.

From a libre software standpoint… the choices aren’t great. However, there may still be a decent possibility to reflash one of the commercial offerings with libre software. Worst case, you have a USB port that you connect a USB storage device to.

20180912/DuckDuckGo router with microsd storage
20180912/https://www.tp-link.com/lk/faq-759.html
20180912/https://www.cnet.com/news/top-five-wi-fi-routers-with-built-in-network-storage/
20180912/https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/WNDR4720.aspx

Read on →

Low-power cable modem and battery backup

quorten

2018-09-12

Categories: home-network   battery-backup  
Tags: home-network   battery-backup  

Looking for a low-power cable modem? Ah, there’s this technique of turning off channels to save power. Alas, the power savings are dismal: 0.5 W in the best case. So, lesson learned, the bottom line of a low power cable modem is go for one.

20180912/DuckDuckGo low power consumption cable modem
20180912/https://www.excentis.com/blog/can-you-really-reduce-cable-modem-power-usage-using-energy-management-feature

Now you’re wondering about lead-acid battery capacity, size, weight, and cost? You’re in good luck. For being an uninterruptible power supply for small low-power network equipment, their capacity is pretty good: 12 volts, 7 amps, 20 hours. Size and weight are acceptable: 5.9 x 2.5 x 3.7 inches, 5 pounds. Cost is acceptable: $20. Safety is acceptable: lead-acid batteries don’t catch fire easily, don’t require charge control circuitry, and can’t overcharge.

20180912/DuckDuckGo 12 volt uninterruptible power supply lead acid battery
20180912/https://www.amazon.com/ExpertPower-EXP1270-Rechargeable-Lead-Battery/dp/B003S1RQ2S

Read on →

Chart for student motivation-intelligence

quorten

2018-09-12

Categories: misc  
Tags: misc   

Student motivation-intelligence chart

            student     student
             slow        fast

          +----------+----------+
student   | student  | good     |
not       | fails    | grades   |
motivated | and      | but      |
          | quits    | student  |
          |          | quits    |
          +----------+----------+
student   | human    | student  |
motivated | teacher  | passes,  |
          | quits,   | continues|
          | self-    | study    |
          | study    |          |
          +----------+----------+

Now, obviously something we’ve made clear from this chart. This chart primarily involves humans. The one case where the student is motivated but a slow learner? A human teacher will get impatient and quit, but the student will keep going with their own “self-study,” meaning they learn from books, computers, and electronic course work that does not require a human teacher in the loop. For the student, above and beyond all means, their motivation determines their success in learning the subject. A human teacher, however, will not appraise a student who is motivated but a slow learner. Likewise, a human teacher might get highly motivated over a student who proves to be a fast learner, then disappointed when that student quits because they were never motivated to being with, or they lost motivation over time.

Read on →

Interesting bike accessories and gadgets

quorten

2018-09-11

Categories: random  
Tags: random  

Lots of interesting bike gadgets mentioned here, except for one. Not appropriate for Americans, though Europeans might think differently.

20180911/DuckDuckGo bicycle lights mirrors bell horn signals gears basket
20180911/DuckDuckGo bike with all accessories
20180911/Google bicycle lights mirrors bell horn signals gears basket
20180911/https://www.peacebicycles.com/advice/cool-bike-accessories-commuter

So, what’s the lowdown on a summary of these gadgets?

Read on →

Smaller Wi-Fi cell sizes

quorten

2018-09-11

Categories: home-network  
Tags: home-network  

I’m still determined. Looking for the ideal solution for Wi-Fi indoors, when you need to build smaller cell sizes than traditionally is the case.

20180910/DuckDuckGo single room low power wi-fi access point

Bingo! I found this really great article, in research paper format, from Cisco on engineering wireless networking for densely populated spaces like auditorium halls.

20180910/https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/aironet-1250-series/design_guide_c07-693245.html

Alas, many of the numbers on the space recommendations do indeed assume larger interior spaces. For example, some of the smallest coverage numbers are larger than some houses. Nevertheless, the directional antenna recommendations are useful when you only want to cover a small space.

So, I didn’t quite find what I was originally looking for, but I got pretty close. That’s simply because, as I noted, the “small” cell sizes still weren’t small enough.

Curved TV doesn't live up to the hype

quorten

2018-09-10

Categories: random  
Tags: random  

Again, I reiterate, because this is important! The earlier article I’ve cited about 3D TV? Yes, indeed that article made a statement that curved TV failed to live up to its hype promises. But, for posterity, let’s search for that subject again for confirmation. Yes, indeed, we have a consumer reports research here that is really interesting. Not only does it state that the curved screen doesn’t really improve viewing quality at all, but it also goes so far to say that the curved TV screens are more expensive than the flat ones, and at those increased price points, you’ll be better off if you buy a high quality flat screen rather than a lower quality curved screen.

Curved screens have a striking and novel appearance, but other than that they don’t really add any value.

20180910/DuckDuckGo consumer backlash curved televisions
20180910/https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/07/are-curved-tvs-any-better-than-flat-screen-tvs/index.htm
20180910/https://www.consumerreports.org/tvs/is-a-curved-tv-better-than-a-flat-screen-tv/

Updates on (Windows) PC game controller APIs, their future, and Linux support

quorten

2018-09-09

Categories: raspberry-pi  
Tags: raspberry-pi  

So, I’m wondering about that old Driver’s Education software. Now I’m thinking this through a second time. So, it’s not using the modern DirectInput APIs? Surely, then, since it’s worked with game port controllers of times past, it must be somewhat similar to the parallel port on old PCs. For Windows XP, there exists a parallel port emulator driver that you can use to get the same direct I/O functions you’d normally get from a parallel port in hardware. So, it must be similar, then, with the game port. Right?

Yeah, maybe, but you’ll have to be searching a lot harder for such a solution, keeping in mind that game port programming is a lot less popular with the technically skilled people who publish on the Internet.

Failed search.

20180909/DuckDuckGo directinput gameport usb emulation legacy

No, no, no. You’ve been misguided here. The picture is much more bleak. DirectInput you ask? Well, Microsoft basically killed off all of the sophistication and elegance that you remember from that API of times past. What happened? After the Xbox sales really took off, Microsoft basically lost interest in the diverse market of third party gaming hardware. Yep, all of it. Why should they care if they can get most of their revenue from their own Xbox hardware sales? So, the issue at hand here is that DirectInput has been “deprecated” in favor of “XInput.” Unfortunately, XInput doesn’t even technically match with DirectInput! It’s not, in fact, a real replacement. DirectInput supported controllers without limits… in terms of buttons and analog axes. XInput comes with distinctive limits that suffocate the vital air supply, the API, needed for more advanced controllers. Basically, Microsoft has unplugged themself from supporting the advanced PC gaming controllers market.

Read on →

Dedicated Kiwix server on a Raspberry Pi

quorten

2018-09-08

Categories: raspberry-pi  
Tags: raspberry-pi  

So, you’re wondering about Kiwix on a dedicated server? Yes, indeed it’s simple. You just run a program called kiwix-serve and you’ve got it setup. You can route it through an Apache server front-end if you like.

20180908/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwix
20180908/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet-in-a-Box

Unfortunately, the data storage requirements for an offline Wikipedia plus my other cool stuff are still beyond me on only a 128 GB MicroSD card. Maybe a few years from now it will be feasible. 10 years, 100-fold improvement? Oh, oops, that puts the capacity, beyond the SDXC 2 TB limit, at 12 TB. You need the next new standard, SDUC for that. We’re going to have to wait and see on that. If there’s a new, low-power Raspberry Pi out by then, compatibility with my existing Raspberry Pi will be out of the question.

20180908/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital
20180908/https://petapixel.com/2018/06/27/sduc-express-memory-cards-to-allow-128tb-storage-and-985mb-s-speed/
20180908/https://www.dpreview.com/news/7847794311/sd-express-sduc-memory-cards-association

VMware `ovftool` and special characters in passwords

quorten

2018-09-07

Categories: random-software  
Tags: random-software  

Having trouble with some scripts that call VMware ovftool internally? Make sure the scripts are URI encoding usernames and passwords before passing them on to ovftool, otherwise you’re going to have problems with some very non-descript errors.

20180907/DuckDuckGo ovftool host name resolve failed user name
20180907/https://communities.vmware.com/thread/328498
20180907/DuckDuckGo ovftool Error: cURL error: URL using bad/illegal format or missing URL
20180907/https://communities.vmware.com/thread/449807
20180907/https://blog.edfine.io/blog/2017/05/02/how-vmwares-ovftool-gave-me-a-headache/

Technical specifications for my ideal home router

quorten

2018-09-07

Categories: home-network  
Tags: home-network  

After using my Respects-your-Freedom certified router for a little while, I’ve come up on a number of limitations. Also, I’ve sometimes bought additional devices to extend my network’s features and functions in ways that would not be necessary if I had one single really good router. So, if I were to get a new router, what features and functions would it provide, including those found on my original router that worked well?

  • U-boot bootloader

  • Hardware is still libre software friendly

  • Gigabit Ethernet

  • VLAN hardware switch support

  • 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi

  • Fast ARM CPU

  • >= 1 GB RAM

  • MicroSD card slot for gigabytes of local storage

  • USB port(s), ideally with one port that has USB on-the-go support

  • A box configuration that makes it easy to integrate backup batteries, either rechargeable or non-rechargeable.

  • Optional: HDMI and audio output (!)

  • Optional: Video and audio input (!)

  • Optional: Infrared input port

  • Optional: Integrated DSP for direct cable/DSL/fiber connection