Backlogged

I seem to be quite backlogged on all the stuff I want to blog about. Many things have been accumulating for some months. New gadgets, new projects, new tech updates, and generally the things that I’ve been doing. The backlog is happening because, well, I suppose I’m also not posting as often as I used to. Not enough time, too many things to work on. But I’ll just post a snapshot of what’s been happening, so I can also remember to get to them when I’ve got time.

One of the things that’s been happening is with my home computer (aka “server”) and home network. First of all, I’ve finally got onto fibre broadband. That’s the ONT (Optical Network Terminal) from Nucleus Connect. But, if you’re observant, you’ll notice that my ONT seems to be a little different. Do you see it?

There are two active ports connected. Yes, that means I’ve two RSP (Retail Service Providers) feeding me Internet access. I’ll write about them in time to come. Just a heads up in the meanwhile: I’m quite pleased with the clean and simple dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 network setup of SuperInternet.

The home computer and network has got a number of other updates:

• My Linksys WRT610N simultaneous dual-band broadband router has died. It’s been replaced by a new Linksys E3200 High-Performance Dual-Band N Router. (You know, my very old WRT54G is actually still surviving, despite the antenna having broken off because its rubber joint has disintegrated.)
• I had the (mis)fortune of having to contact StarHub technical support to troubleshoot my Hub Station’s broadband Internet access.
• My multiple broadband connection now enables me to do more complicated things like load-balancing. So my computer has now been “upgraded” with an Intel Gigabit ET Quad-Port PCIe Server Network Adapter.
• In time to come, I plan to run pfSense. It will serve as the “WAN gateway”, and it will load balance my multiple WAN links.
• It was so cheap, I had to get the Crucial M4 SSD. I’d expect my CyanogenMod builds are going to see a significant speed up. I’ve got to say, again, that I’m very pleased with the great design of my CoolerMaster casing and convenience of my modular Seasonic power supply. They have gone a long way to make PC “fixing” so much easier than I’ve ever experienced before.

On my Mac:

• Finally practising what I preach, I’ve gotten the ESET antivirus software. Primarily to be used on my Macs, although technically the ESET license can also be used in Windows and Linux.
• I’ve upgraded to VMware Fusion 5 and also Windows 8. Not sure there’s much to talk about there, but I’ll just mention it anyway.

Then, other miscellaneous stuffs:

• To get mic or line-in inputs to my Mac, I’ve picked up a Griffin Technology iMic USB Audio Device.
• I’ve been building CyanogenMod CM10 (that’s Jelly Bean) for my HTC One X. The product codename is endeavoru. There’s now also already an official nightly for the device.
• There’re a couple of things I wanted to share about too. Tutorial stuff. Some are simple. But others I’m sure will come in useful to someone or other.
• Maybe I should also mention the lousy D-Link DVG-N5402SP broadband router provided by StarHub?

I’m most likely forgetting a couple more things. I hope I’ll find time to catch up in October. In the meanwhile… it’s the Mid-Autumn Festival today. Have fun eating mooncakes and carrying lanterns!