Although my recent FreeNAS DIY PC was meant to consolidate my storage and compute, other bits of my home network is still in many little bits and pieces. Notably, while my main broadband router is served by a pfSense box, I have at least three other wireless routers in operation, not including another box serving as a Home Automation controller. The…
I recently got myself a Timbuk2 Spire backpack from Amazon. This is a spacious 32-litre backpack that Timbuk2 describes as “a badass roll-top pack for your MacBook and iPad”. It’s well-made and tough, like how we’ve come to expect of any Timbuk2 bags. The voluminous Spire backpack is actually larger than I would have preferred, but certainly the extra space…
Since it’s the Singapore International Cyber Week, I thought it apt to write a something about cybersecurity. It’s a really exciting field. Exciting is good, for cybersecurity professionals. Exciting isn’t so good, however, for end-users. They would prefer to go about their lives without having to deal with the complexities of cybersecurity. Our lives are infused with so much technology….
A few moons ago, I was still using ownCloud. It’s basically a Dropbox-style private cloud software that you can run in your own hardware. When I transitioned to a new DIY NAS PC, I got to know the turmoil that surrounded ownCloud’s development in recent times. After studying hard the two projects, I decided to jump to Nextcloud. That was…
After I recently posted about the D-Link WiFi Smart Plug recently, I realised I’ve not mentioned about a Z-Wave switch plug that I’ve been using for a while. It’s the TZ68E Z-Wave On/Off Switch Socket from TKB Home. This plug doesn’t quite work the same way, but it’s still a piece of a home automation system for building a smart…
Many flagship smartphones are now priced over the S$1,000 mark, including the just announced Apple iPhones. But if you’re looking for something a whole lot more practical on your wallet, you still do have several good options, such as these affordably priced Sony Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra, launched earlier in May this year. Sony positions the XA1 and XA1…
Apple just announced this year’s refresh of the iPhone. There are three of them: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the 10th anniversary flagship iPhone X. Among the many outstanding things the iPhone X is, or may not be, the X is clearly one thing: eXpensive. All *cough* S$1,648 of expensive! That’s more expensive than both base configurations of the…
I promised a head-to-head performance comparison between the TP-Link Deco M5 and Aztech AIR-706P, and so here it is. I was holding out a while for a third contender to come in, but alas it didn’t make it in time and I didn’t want to wait too long to publish this comparison of two Mesh Wi-Fi systems new to the market….
D-Link’s DSP-W215 WiFi Smart Plug has been in the market for over two years now, but I recently got hold of one for some work-related need. We needed a simple and cheap way to measure energy consumption of a standard 3-pin plug socket. This D-Link WiFi Smart Plug seems to fit our needs, so we got one to try out….
I am cautious about my secure browsing. One thing I do is that from time to time, I’ll click on the Secure button in the Chrome location bar to check on the SSL certificates of the HTTPS websites I visit. I was really annoyed when in Chrome version 56, Google got rid of that simple functionality in favour of a…