Personal Computing

The Moocher has messed around with computers since college when he learned Fortran programming and messed around with the school’s IBM 360/50 and hacked code for an Interdata Model 4 in graduate school. Other computers I’ve sued include the CDC 600o and 7000 families, the Amiga, and various Macs. Posts about my recent experiences with Macs and iThings appear below.

  • It’s Here, It’s Up, It was an Adventure (3/8/2025) - When Sherman lost his magic smoke, Dismal Wizard needed a replacement for Sherman's NAS backup role and his application server role. With due consideration, DW selected another TrueNAS Mini+ for the storage role and a 45HomeLab HL4 AMD Ryzen system for the application service role. Here DW summarizes the HL4 commissioning experience, salvage of Sherman's disks, and setup of Plex Media Server, TrueCommand, Immich, and a backup scheme.
  • New Home Lab Host (2/15/2025) - A fatal hardware casualty led to replacement of my backup NAS and HomeLab host. In looking for a replacement, I discovered a new kid on the block and decided to split the backup server and home lab roles. What is coming?
  • Installing UniFi Talk at Home (1/18/2025) - Dismal Manor is changing residential telephone service providers. This post introduces the Manor's new managed VoIP service provider and the onboarding experience.
  • PlexGoes to Jail (9/18/2024) - This post continues the saga of commissioning Plex on a ZimaBoard. We sank at the pier. Dismal Wizard summarizes the problems encountered.
  • An Introduction to ZimaBoard’s Docker Environment (9/5/2024) - Do you run Plex Media Server at home? We do. On a ZimaBoard in a Linux Docker environment. There were some surprises that were easily overcome.
  • Dismal Manor Photos Virtual Shoe Box (4/27/2024) - Where did I put that photo of the water and sewer lateral replacement? There's only a TB of them! That's what CYME PeakTo is for.
  • Shooting raw with iPhone Cameras (9/2/2023) - Does Apple iOS Camera App satisfy all of your use cases? Are there times when it doesn't make the scene? Are there times when it drives you batty? If so, there are a couple of alternatives you might like to try.
  • Mastodon Announcement Configuration (8/12/2023) - This post will show you how to connect the WordPress announcement assistant to your Mastodon accounts. The masthead image shows the editor open to do this. This article will tell you how to get there.
  • Network Power Update (7/30/2023) - The APC brick batteries are in need of replacement. New batteries or new kit? And just what is a Solar Generator? Read on!
  • Are you satisfied with your backup? (6/21/2023) - MacOS provides Time Machine, an Apple backup product designed for local backup of APFS volumes to an external disk or NAS. It is good as it goes but it is also known for going wobbly from time to time...