Amazon Indoor Delivery – Avoid the Porch Pirates

Package thieves (AKA "porch pirates") have become a huge problem because of the ease of theft. Many criminals don't care about cameras because here in California theft is barely illegal... I like to shop on Amazon, so I was eager to try their Amazon Key indoor delivery. I first purchased the Amazon Key system with …

Laptop Buying Guide | Christmas 2019

I am often asked about what type of laptop to get. I recycled my post from 2018 since it was still relevant. Here are my recommendations in simple terms. Apple MacBook Laptops If you do need Windows only programs and want a laptop that may last many, many years, look at MacBooks. You will spend …

Fortitude Season 2 Episodes by MPLS File

Fortitude Season 2 uses title obfuscation on the Blu-ray so it appears there are close to a thousand episodes. The following MPLS files on the Blu-ray correspond to the correct episodes: Disc 1  Episode 1   00899.mpls Disc 1  Episode 2   00274.mpls Disc 1  Episode 3   00624.mpls Disc 1  Episode 4   00287.mpls Disc 2  Episode 5  …

Handbrake – Transcode Specific Chapters

If you have a video and you want to transcode (convert) only specific chapters, this is how. An example of this would be where a television series has multiple episodes in one giant file when ripped from a Blu-ray. Instead of editing a huge file and trying to get it right, just figure out the …

Plex Nvidia GPU Transcoding

I just built a new computer to use as a Plex server and Blue Iris surveillance system. I decided on an MSI PRO Series motherboard, an Intel i7-8700K, and 16GB of  Corsair Vengeance 3000MHz RAM, and a Samsung 970 EVO 250GB NVMe M.2 SSD. I watched a few YouTube videos about NVIDIA GPU transcoding and …

TP-Link Kasa HS210 3-Way Switch

I have been installing smart switches in my house for the most common lights and I needed a 3-way switch. I have been using all TP-Link Kasa switches so I bought their 3-way switch on Amazon for around $67. A few reviews said you really only needed one Kasa switch as long as the other …

Building My Smart Home

I've had surveillance cameras for years, but no home automation. I've finally started installing home automation devices and do not have a lot done so far. During this limited time, I found things that work well and some things I wish I had done differently. First, I needed a hub to control everything. It was …

Secure Your Router Against UPnP Threats

Routers have always been a popular target because people do not pay them much attention to them and it seems this threat is increasing. One easy point of attack for years has been UPnP (Universal Plug and Play). UPnP is great for non-technical people because it allows services and the router to automatically open ports …

Western Digital Drive Shucking

Like oysters, you can shuck WD external hard drives for the pearl inside. The pearl being a WD Red NAS drive or what may be the same thing (but with a different model number). The reason you would want to do this is to save close to $100 per drive, depending on the current deals. …

Synology + iSCSI + PC + Backblaze

I need to backup a lot of data, and frankly, I am not willing to pay what it costs. Amazon Cloud Drive killed their unlimited plan and I needed a new solution. I happened to have an older Synology 1813+ not being used so I filled it with old drives and configured it as an …