Network & Home Automation Apps

January 19, 2025
Network & Home Automation Apps
In all, I have quite a few components keeping my home automation system running. Some are apps I use every day, some are for managing different parts of the infrastructure and a few are for entertainment. Nearly everything here runs in docker on my NAS or one of two dedicated…

Do you need more than a M4 Mac Mini?

January 13, 2025
Do you need more than a M4 Mac Mini?
Anyone who knows me is well aware that I am really particular about my setup and organization in general. I just finished managing cables after switching out my old M1 Mac Mini I use in my office for a new M4. It's the 2nd M4 Mini I've purchased. I've been…

A love letter to Docker Compose

January 5, 2025
A love letter to Docker Compose
Today I moved my Home Assistant setup from the NAS it's been on for 3+ years, to my frigate server. With Frigate processing 15 cameras for objects, both the CPU and GPU rarely rose over 10%. I had noticed some response issues with Home Assistant and had eliminated all of…

NGD – Les Paul Traditional Pro II

January 4, 2025
NGD – Les Paul Traditional Pro II
I am always horse trading. I'd had a Jackson guitar I wanted to move for awhile. What are the odds that I found someone on Craigslist asking to trade for the exact guitar I wanted to trade? I would never have bought a Les Paul with a Floyd Rose bridge,…

Milestone: Ending Break

January 1, 2025
Milestone: Ending Break
Well, I made it a year, and what a year it’s been! I thought I’d run out of things to do after three months, but I kept finding new projects and pushing myself further. I started my break one year ago, and I can’t say enough about how personally rewarding…

Shop Server Rack – Tower 2

December 14, 2024
Shop Server Rack – Tower 2
Always trying to improve organization and make things tidy. Moved all of the network and server hardware in my shop to a studio rack I was no longer using. Formally, Tower 2. Top to Bottom AI Docker Server Ollama OpenWebUI Qdrant metabase phpmyadmin netdata gitea mysql Dozzle Power distribution Cisco…

Digging a pointless birthday trench

December 11, 2024
Digging a pointless birthday trench
Today is my birthday and I'm spending it knocking out a task that has been nagging me for months. I had originally tucked an outdoor ethernet cable between the house and shop. I wasn't able to get 10Gbps speeds to link between the two due to what I thought was…

November 2024 – Photo of the Month

November 30, 2024
November 2024 – Photo of the Month
I take a lot of photos of Mount Rainier. I see it all the time and it still blows me away sometimes. This is November's photo of the month. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0Hfzg7U5xs

Python Nerdery: Audio RSTP AI Listener

November 29, 2024
Python Nerdery: Audio RSTP AI Listener
Today's python experiment came after hearing an explosion outside. We never identified what it was, but it led me to be curious if I could create an AI listener to the camera. Long story short, python with numpy, pandas and tensorflow are all you need to read the audio from…