Backing up with Blazeback B2 and Restic For a long while I had managed my backups with some combination of a remote server with ssh capabilities, and either duplicity or rsync (depending on where and type of data). These days there are so many better options. With the innovation of...

File Drop Project While browing reddit the other day, I discovered a hint of a raspberry pi project that I thought might be cool. The idea is simple: Create a raspberry pi with an open and braodcasting wifi access point that allows anyone to connect and upload a file or...

My Magic Mirror I had some time this holiday season and wanted to try a different project, so I decided to take a stab at making my own magic mirror. This would be my first wood-working project since I was a child, so a trip to Home Depot was in...

Simple systemd service There aren't very many simple examples on the internet of simple systemd services, so I thought I might share one of my examples. This is a simple service that runs as part of ubsub. I've changed some of the details to masque what the service is (though...

Linux Router Home Network I have a fairly complicated network at home... at least for a home network. I've done a lot of research and pulled together several pieces of knowledge, and wanted to share my setup for those of you who are doing the same. Topology (Apologies for my...

Exploring Coding on Embedded Devices Recently, I've been digging deep into developing cross-embedded-platform software on the Particle/Arduino/Unix in my library for ubsub.io, with ubsub-iot. This is my first in-depth embedded application, so along the way, I ran into some learning examples I thought I'd share. Cross-Platform Arduino/Particle Luckily for me,...

Jenkins Declarative Pipeline The Jenkinsfile (or rather, declarative pipelines in general) has been one of the best improvements to CI/CD in the past few years. I love Jenkins, but for whatever reason, I always struggle to do anything with its pipelines beyond the most basic use-case. I've spent way too...

PubSub & The Events Problem After I started to play more and more with IoT devices (see my last few blog posts), I realized that my communication lines were growing in complexity very rapidly. I had a few Devices talking directly to each other. IFTTT interfaced with my Google Home...

Controlling an RGB Light Strip over WiFi I had one of those RGB light strips hanging around, so I decided to put it up above some windows. When I bought it, it came with one of the IR color-remotes, which is great, but it didn't have a ton of range,...

Creating Your Own Smart Outlets for Cheap I've started to spend a little time learning about how to make my own basic electronic hardware as I delve into some simple home automation. One of the things that struck me, at least at the time of this writing, was that wifi...