@ajroach42 Hey Andrew, I try to keep the customer support burden I present on social.ellijaymakerspace.org low. I am a guest and a free loader at that. However... May I please request an upgrade to 4.5.0+ on the Mastodon instance? My main interest is being able to perform and allow quote posts […]

I've had a recent bad run in homelab and tech stuff. Trying to be a good guy and give my homelab portainer some SSL certificates to remove errors, I chown'd recursively from the wrong directory and messed up some docker volumes. My BYOS TRML server still is not right days later. Some problems […]

Here's a confession. I have been using #homeassistant for 5 years. I've got a house full of IOT bulbs and switches. Not buying any new wifi gadgets in favor of Zigbee and Z-Wave even before Wemo stranded some of them. I still don't know WTF #matter is, how to turn it on, why I should care. I've […]

From today's news in #enshittification: I've been using #Wemo switches in #homeassistant for almost as long as I've been using it. Once I set up Zigbee and Z-Wave, I stopped buying wifi switches and bulbs. Now we see why. Although my first […] [Original post on social.ellijaymakerspace.org]

Just come to my attention that #calibre is now adding AI shit into versions beyond 8.10. Enshittification comes for everything eventually. Just to be clear, this is a program that will have LLM enabled recommendations. Also, this is how you install it on Linux: ``` sudo -v && wget -nv -O- […]

I guess I won’t be updating Calibre anymore, then 😳 #fuckai https://beige.party/@Tattooed_Mummy/115672444496751378

My System76 Galago Pro is showing its age. It runs fine but a hinge is broken, the corner with the ethernet port is bent, the keyboard and trackpad are not working reliably. I considered fixing some of this, but it's probably not cost effective. I considered buying a Costco laptop and putting […]

I have been waiting for this release with bated breath. I use the Waze Travel Time every school morning to assess traffic and it recently broke. This is supposed to restore service and I can't wait! #homeassistant https://fosstodon.org/@homeassistant/115657114266726763

In today's least surprising insight: the enshittification of LinkedIn is complete. Earlier today I published a blog post with my thoughts on two years of retirement. Via Fedi Bridge I brought that in to Mastodon and boosted it. I intended to also post it on LinkedIn since many of the people who […]

Looking forward to this year's online conference for #emacs: #emacsconf ... Here's how to watch: https://emacsconf.org/2025/ What talks are you looking forward to? (No, I was not able to talk this year)

Photo by Giuseppe Milo, CC-BY-20 This week marks the second anniversary of my retirement. I'll admit to being shocked by that. I had to check the math because if I went by my subjective feeling I would have guess it closer to two months. Because I retired relatively young (although not nearly […]

I've assembled the parts to do a major upgrade on my old Ender 3pro 3D printer. I've got a touch-screen display, a 32 bit main board, a BL Touch auto-bed-leveling kit, metal extruder (never had any problems with the stock one, but while I'm tearing it apart […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Self-hosting is becoming popular among a certain kind of user, -- say the typical readership of ItsFoss. There is a simple explanation for this shift: people want their data, dollars, and destiny back. Centralized platforms optimized for engagement and extraction are colliding with real-world […]

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for November 26 2025 - Evil AdjacentDownload audio * * * On this show, I play a song from Dub Inc; the TOFOP boys realized that they don't need a big production for their live episodes; I usually don't listen to your live episodes or your special episodes; my […]

This is my favorite story of recent times. Arrested Development is on tour when their sampler breaks. Luckily in the same venue is the monthly repair cafe where volunteers fix it in the nick of time. https://fedi.reclaim.technology/objects/27dd43ba-3f57-4dfb-9c1a-973785d3436d

It's hard out there for a lickspittle.

I had the displeasure of reading an article in the Harvard student paper by an economics major who said in apparent seriousness that comp sci majors are wasting time on theory classes like “Introduction to Algorithms and their Limitations” when they could be learning REAL skills like prompt […]

Seems like Trump is suffering from Epstein-Barr virus.

The upside of Cloudflare outages is that I don't really feel obligated to do anything online because most of it is fucked anyway. It's a snow day for your digital life.

Listening to podcasts I heard an insight so obvious that I had never thought it: The same people who classify abortion of a fetus as "murder" also classify the shooting of an unexpected adult human on their doorstep as "not murder".

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for November 14 2025 - Irritatingly CapableDownload audio * * * On this show, I play a song from Uwade; the theory of monthly productivity challenges is great but the practice is often the opposite of the intention; I have been fixing the dead drives in my old […]

I need to follow more hashtags on the various apps on the #fediverse. Like every one I see on topics that interest me.

Heltec LoRa 32 V4 arrived from Muzi Works! I'll admit, I expected at least a QR code to a getting started reference. I'd have preferred that to the candy. Welcome to #meshtastic newbie, jump in that deep end. If you don't drown I'll be over there. #Unboxing

FYI @nlowell I downloaded 2699 just fine but 2698 is giving a 404 error on download. Keep on walking and talking!

Happy #adhd treasure season (finding lost things in your coat pockets from last winter) to all who celebrate

We got a cheap wifi camera bird feeder on sale a while back. Through various wind events first the off-board solar panel cable was severed and then the connector for the on-board solar panel was also broken. This thing has sat inoperable for almost a full year. I got motivated. The on-board […]

Your periodic reminder that when you refer to Twitter with the one letter name, you are helping normalize Musk's obsession with his weird grandfather. The one who was in a technocratic secret society that added Xs to everything. Also the one so racist that he emigrated to South Africa to […]

New nerd avenue to explore: #meshtastic ! I just ordered one of these to start playing with it. I live in a hurricane area and am getting more serious about disaster resilience. I now have a generator interlock for long-term power loss situations. Would also be nice to communicate out. My […]

The most important lesson for Democrats from Mamdani's victory is this: abandon the decades-old practice of triangulating to win the center. Instead, grow the base with a positive, joyful vision for what government can do when it gives up on being shackled to a Republican base.

I put up these little cheap halloween lights. I took out the coin cells and discarded the ones that were dead. I put the remote, same as every cheap Chinese light you have bought in the last decade, in the bag with them. Nice and organized. I should be happy, right? I am livid with myself […]

A few weeks back Rohan and Phil from the Home Assistant podcast were kind enough to have me on their program to talk about my journey with Home Assistant. It was a fun time chatting about home automation and all the nerd stuff that makes up my day. The truth is that being on someone else's […]

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for October 29 2025 - Only a Retired Person or a Maniac Would Do ThisDownload audio * * * On this show, I play a song from West of Mabou; the reason businesses are excited about AI is the prospect of not paying employees; we watched this business rationale play […]

I am "signed up to a Saturday morning seminar on beekeeping" years old.

In my Podcast Addict, I have a "virtual podcast" that is a search on my name. It occasionally turns up episodes where I am a guest or even more rarely, when I am mentioned in the show notes. Overnight, that thing blew up with the full 50 episodes of various shows from the past 21 years. I […]

I just went to LinkedIn to check something. I find 5 minutes with that site exhausts me for the day.

When I am unable to order ahead at Starbucks after dropping a kid off at school, my first thought is "AWS outage." I'm right about 85% of the time.

This is the time of year that I remember that #hacktoberfest is a thing and that I forgot to register.

I have been running multiple Mastodon accounts for multiple personas for years now. This one for nerd/computer/hardware type stuff, @[email protected] for comic book/sf/fandom stuff. Also @[email protected] for my Bookwyrm account. It has been fine the whole time […]

I didn't know anything about the #trmnl founder being a MAGA dickhead until this morning. I think I'll stick with my decision to keep my Seeed Studio OG DIY machine and running my own byos_laravel server while never sending any money to the actual company. This started as a cheapskate nerd […]

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for October 10 2025 - Stop Starting, Start FinishingDownload audio * * * On this show, I play a song from Home Front; I discuss how Len Edgerly and Nathan Lowell have informed my thinking about production schedules; of all the innovations of the 20th century out […]

I bought a DIY #TRMNL device, which as it turns out is the worst of both worlds. I recommend if you want one to just go full retail. Turns out running you own server doesn't have full access to the plugins which are what makes this useful […] [Original post on social.ellijaymakerspace.org]

Throwing this to the world and particularly #linux nerds: I have some cheap old 2014 Mac Minis in which the HDD has failed but the SSD portion of the Fusion Drive is fine. When I installed Mint on one with a working Fusion drive, I partioned it so that the 1 TB spinning metal had /home, /var […]

Having bought the DIY #trmnl kit from Seeed Studio via Aliexpress, now I find myself browsing their larger product line looking for other gizzwhickeys to buy. Little boards for DIY Zigbee stuff? OK. Maybe I can make little devices to smartify my dumb string lights for cheap.

@KennethWReid Regarding "The Rape of Dr. Willis" from your episode this week: This is *literally* the plot of this episode of Doc. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32368759/?ref_=ttep_ep_7 This episode aired 8 months ago. We watched all of Season 1. It is in the ER mold of what I call "I care too […]

On December 1 I will have been retired for exactly 2 years. How is that manifesting? - Yesterday I got a Seeed Studio DIY TRMNL kit and am dicking with it and my own server, possibly getting it connect to #homeassistant. - I am trying to get my Creality Ender 3 Pro printing again. Turns out 3D […]

Sadly, Todd Cochrane has passed away at the age of 61. He was a generous guy with a big heart. I didn't know him well or meet him many times, but every one was a positive experience. That's not to say without ball busting but full of laughter and fun times. When I gave my Podcast Hall of Fame […]

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for August 22 2025 - If You're Me, You Live and You Don't LearnDownload audio * * * On this show, I play a song from West of Mabou; the lawnmower is finally mowing lawns; against all odds, I have become a golfer; the Legends driving range membership is shockingly […]

New instance, who dis? #introduction I'm Dave. - Early podcaster (August 2004) - Syndicated producer/host for SFFH radio show in the 90s - Nerd, comic book, SF fan - Dad living in small town South Carolina - Aspiring country gentleman - Podcast and blog: https://evilgeniuschronicles.org/ - […]