Blog

The thoughts, opinions, happenings, and just plain ramblings of a seemingly boring person.

2023: Year in Review

Categories Life

7 blog posts this year; I think I'm pretty happy with that 😁. Could be better, but could be worse.

Generally, 2023 felt like the first sorta-getting-past-COVID year, despite me getting COVID for the second time at the start of December.

There's no 'List of Tweets' blog post this year, because Elon removed easy access to the Twitter/X API for that kind of thing. Plus, the Twitter integration on this blog has been removed for the same reason.

Anywho, let's try something new for this end-of-year post in addition to listing the blog post highlights.

Health stuff

Health-wise, I had … Read more →

2.5Gb Networking

Categories Geekery, Technology
The new 2.5Gb switch sitting under our older gigabit switch

One of my greatest tech disappointments over the last decade has been the stagnation of consumer-level network speeds.

Over the last decade, gigabit networking has remained the standard, which is so disappointing compared to the fast and regular increases up to that point. From the late 1990s to the late 2000s, it felt like quick and routine jumps as we went from 10 megabit hubs, to 100 megabit switches, then to gigabit (1Gb) switches.

When we built our house in 2011, I wired it up with Cat 6 cable. … Read more →

Electrification

Categories Geekery, Technology
The new panels on one facade of the roof

We recently upgraded to an electric car. As we'd be using a lot more electricity, our plan was to also review our home energy use to take better advantage of Australia's (and particularly Brisbane's) wonderful solar-ideal sunny climate for our overall energy use.

Our house has had a ~ 3 kW solar system since it was built 12 years ago, but it was time for an upgrade to take better advantage of our roofspace and over a decade of efficiency improvements in solar panel technology.

On the list of things … Read more →

Buying an iPad

Categories Rants, Technology

Although this blog has become less 'editorial' in recent years, I still like to look back on my opinions from years (or decades! 😳) past to see how they hold up.

I'm the type of person who has no problem admitting when I've been wrong or mistaken with something I've said or done in the past. I believe it's a crucial part of how we can grow (both personally and professionally) to be better people.

After a recent hospital stay that was primarily caused by a salmonella infection, it became obvious that using my phone for entertainment in hospital was … Read more →

Clamshell MacBook Touch ID

Categories Geekery, Lego, Technology
An incomplete Lego enclosure for the Touch ID sensor and control board from an Apple keyboard.
Building the Lego enclosure

I have a fingerprint reader for my Windows desktop computer (a Kensington Verimark FIDO key) that easily allows me to log in with Windows Hello without typing a password.

For my work computer, I haven't had the same luxury. I use my work MacBook Pro exclusively in 'clamshell' (closed) mode when I'm at home, as I have two monitors and a separate keyboard and mouse.

This means that I can't use the 'Touch ID' fingerprint reader on the laptop's keyboard, and Apple doesn't support any third-party fingerprint readers. The only option for users in this situation … Read more →

Backups and Docker on the Synology NAS

Categories Life, Technology
Synology DS418play NAS overlaid with a heart eyes smiling emoji

There are very few devices that I'm an absolute fanboy of. However, one series of devices that I remain consistently satisfied with are the Synology NASs that I've owned. Over the past 12 years, I've only owned two of them: a DS211+ since 2011, and a DS418play since 2018.

The former was only retired when I needed bigger storage volumes and needed a 4 disk NAS. The latter continues to be an absolute mainstay of our home network for the better part of 5 years, without showing many signs of age.

Last year, when we needed more storage … Read more →

40

Categories Life

Today is my 40th birthday. Yay, I guess? 😆

When I started my 30s ten years ago, it was far from certain that I was going to make it to this milestone. So, two children, one new career, two jobs, three built computers, five mobile phones, and a replaced liver later, I'm glad to have made it.

The past decade has gone by quickly, but I'm also a much changed person from 10 years ago: like, literally; I don't even have all the same organs from then. It's been a ride. I've had some … Read more →

Building Pentium

Categories Gaming, Geekery, Technology
The finished build in place

It's been a long time between computer builds. Actually, it's been the longest interval since I started building my own desktop computers in 2007. My now-previous computer, Tetrarch, was built in 2017, so it's a 6-year gap between that build and this new one.

Continuing with the number-themed names, I decided to name this build Pentium, as it's the fifth build that I've done. The 'Pentium' name has always resonated to me since our first Windows 95 computer was a first generation Pentium MMX. It's All About the Pentiums is also one of … Read more →

2022: Year in Review

Categories Life

5 blog posts this year; a 25% improvement on the 4 I did last year! 😆😭

For me, 2022 carried on from where 2021 left off: COVID still dominating my non-work life, but despite my best efforts, the virus did eventually catch up with me in the middle of the year (shakes fist at children bringing things home).

Although I thankfully did not have serious complications immediately from the exposure, I did have gastro issues soon after, which saw me hospitalised twice. The Drs eventually found out why I've probably had ongoing stomach pain for the 18 months previous: ulcers … Read more →

Tweets for 2022

Categories Geekery, Internet, Life
Tweets for 2022

These are my tweets for 2022 (sans replies and retweets).

With all of the Elon Musk Twitter craziness over the past few months, who know if this might be the last time I do this! (FYI: you can also find me on Mastodon here: https://hachyderm.io/@lucascosti)

All the URLs are still Twitter's 't.co' ones, as the Twitter API doesn't spit out the original URL text.

  • PC vs console gaming 🧵 https://t.co/G0KDWHbHFa "When I manage to salvage an hour to relax and play video games, *that* is what I want to do. And it's really opened my eyes to why so
… Read more →