Author: EPH

Computer enthusiast

Sep152019 by EPHNo Comments

Nice and Quiet

Blog, Hardware, Linux, Recent Posts, Software

Sometimes a quiet day or two is just fine. No bad storms, no asteroid collision, no interesting tech news, just dull mediocrity. Yes, there's been some Linux Distro releases, and Apple product announcements, but nothing to lose any sleep over. There's no real reason to upgrade to a new laptop, no real need to update my iPhone, there's really nothing going on to get all worked up about, and that's not so bad. I can hold onto my wallet for a while, because I can't think of anything new recently announced that I really feel like I'm missing out on. That's good for me, but probably no so great for the industry. Too much excitement can sometimes cause real interesting news to get lost in a wave of noise. It's all perception. If you're actively looking and waiting for a particular hardware ...

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Sep32019 by EPHNo Comments

Days Grow Shorter

The great push to get all timely side projects done before the Holidays begins. “The September and October surge” tasks I know I should start before the snow and ice sweep across the land.Summer is over and suddenly, as if by total surprise, approaching seasonal imposed deadlines become priority. “Didn’t I just come off the Spring - Summer surge?” It’s the yearly temperature influenced push that some might misinterpret as productivity preparedness. If you plan on working within some level of comfort from the cold you should start thinking about things you can do before the weather changes. Pace yourself and avoid the last minute frenzy. Most likely there will be a few late nights where the wind will be howling and the cold will have to be kept at bay in order to focus on work. Maybe now i

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Aug302019 by EPHNo Comments

Nifty Linux Monitoring Tool “Netdata”

This week while supplementing my usual coffee intake with Dr Pepper's Venom Black Mamba energy drink (not a sponsoring plug-I just like it) I've been test driving the new MX Linux 19-beta 1. I installed it on a few low powered laptops and wanted to get a good idea of how it really was performing. So far, it's been a very smooth experience, but the most interesting part of this endeavor has been using Netdata to monitor my machine in my browser. Usually, I'll use Htop, Glances, and Nmon along with built-in Linux shell-based tools to analyze and monitor my systems. I decided to give Netdata a spin, and I think I like it. You'll probably see this tool's full potential more applicable to server builds, but I can also see this useful for a standalone machine. The latest MX Beta I ...

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Aug252019 by EPHNo Comments

Hold steady for now | Use an operating system you're comfortable with.

Recent Posts, Blog

Another week, another post, but not what I had planned. I’ve been spending more time working with the latest Windows 10 upgrade. Today I just shut it down and went back to MX. (Check out the post on Linux MX) There’s nothing about the new version that I really need. It’s not a bad design, and I think it’s probably the best incarnation of Windows OS I’ve ever worked with, but I don’t really need it. It won’t be my daily driver, I tried, but I seemed to spend more time navigating around than I really needed. Having Ubuntu supported was useful, but I could see how things were starting to get a bit busy in that if I’m just working with the Linux shell - why do I need Windows?It feels like carrying around a huge toolbox full of tools when I probably won’t need any of them, or when all I really

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Aug172019 by EPHNo Comments

Summer's End | Preparing for Winter's Work

As the end of summer approaches in late August - (not officially the end of summer, but for practical purposes - in the north, it’s over at the end of August)I start to think about winter. This time of year you realize that you may only have a few opportunities to get ready for the cold weather, shorter daylight hours, and snow. This is especially true if you have a lot of work to do outside before the weather turns bad. While I’m writing this a Tornado warning has come across every phone in the area. It’s raining again, so we are already losing time for any outdoor work that I should be doing in preparation for a long winter. Lately the winters haven’t been as brutal as they normally are, but what is normal anymore?Aside from regular day to day living preparation for winter, there are al

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