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ThinkPad, Part 2

So far, my ThinkPad has been working well, though it does have one broken keycap: the F key. It’s not a huge deal, but I usually run my fingertip over the bumps on the F and J keys when idle on the computer, so this is personally frustrating to me. I got a cheap replacement ... Read More

Joining the ThinkPad Cult

Computers, UNIXLeave a Comment

I’ve known about the IBM, later Lenovo, ThinkPad notebook computer line since I was very young. At some point, I decided they would be outside my interest range, so I opted for Dell, Acer, and Asus laptops personally for the longest time. Well, a need came up for a “travel” machine, and my old hacked ... Read More

Radios and Stuff

D-STAR, DMR, Ham Radio, Hamfests, LoRa MeshLeave a Comment

I talked about ham radio digital voice briefly in my immediately previous post. Well, I’m gonna talk more about it today. As the last post implied, the digital voice mode I have the most experience with is definitely D-STAR. At this point, the standard is well over 20 years old, and other arguably better digital ... Read More

Retrospectives

Cellular, Computers, D-STAR, DMR, Embedded, Ham Radio, Hamfests, Networking, UNIXLeave a Comment

In the second post in my portable networking blog’s history, I talked about the WB4HRO Digital Repeater System I was managing at the time. This was my first “real” sysadmin experience, if I’m honest. It also taught me a lot about networking and the state of servers as it went along. This all started in ... Read More

Running Musings

PersonalLeave a Comment

Some 10ish years ago, I remember seeing people’s posts about “ran my first 5K!” or similar and thinking “That doesn’t seem that hard…” considering at the time I had bought a proper road bike and could easily ride the 3.1 miles without too much effort. Well, I made the decision after I realized I wasn’t ... Read More

Future Travel Plans?

Hamfests, PersonalLeave a Comment

While I’ve discussed considerations regarding travel, I have not talked about actual travel destinations. I’m going to mention a few in this post. First on the list is Tybee Island, Georgia. Tybee Island is a barrier island on Georgia’s coast which used to be a 5ish hour drive from where I used to live. The ... Read More

Future Travel Considerations, Part 4

Computers, Conventions, D-STAR, DMR, Ham Radio, LoRa Mesh, PersonalLeave a Comment

I’ve written three posts on this subject so far, each one discussing things specifically, and I’ve decided to revisit the subject today. First off regarding charging: I have been made aware of some different charging solutions that parts of the previous entries irrelevant. The push to USB-C for most new things is excellent progress, and ... Read More

The Sakura-Con 2026 Post

Con Reports, ConventionsLeave a Comment

I’ve been in the Greater Seattle area for two years now. As I mentioned in my report for last year’s Sakura-Con, I missed 2024’s due to arriving up here the day before the con plus being on call for work. Notably, 2024 was the first year since 2004 that I didn’t attend any sort of ... Read More

Early March Update

Computers, ConventionsLeave a Comment

Well, we’re less than a month until Sakura Con, and I’m looking forward to it! My friend Mike is flying in again, so it should be a fun time, long as I don’t twist my ankle again… I’ll be more careful this year! I took some time earlier to repost some convention reports from years ... Read More

Quick Update and Some Planning

Cellular, Computers, UNIXLeave a Comment

The trip I mentioned in the last post went well! It was a very long day, but I survived it somehow. I upgraded my gaming PC last year, recently got a new work laptop, so I’m in the market to next upgrade my personal laptop. My current laptop is an Acer Swift X purchased in ... Read More