Archive for the ‘howto’ Category
AutoSSH in Screen from systemd
I like to have permanent SSH connections from (a VM on) my home network to the various virtual private servers (VPSs) that I have scattered around the globe as these give me SOCKS proxies that I can use to make my web traffic appear from the US or the Netherlands or wherever (as mentioned in […]
Filed under: howto, networking | 1 Comment
Tags: autossh, screen, SOCKS, SSH, systemd, tunnel, unit, VPS
TL;DR Getting a Midas Plus squirting properly again is very easy once you learn the secret of removing and cleaning the thermostatic cartridge. A simple procedure due to some great design, but one that isn’t documented anywhere that I could find. Background In just over a year since I had a new shower fitted as […]
Filed under: howto | 2 Comments
Tags: Aqualisa, cartridge, flow, Midas, Plus
Why? Everything you access on the Internet starts with a Domain Name System (DNS) query to turn a name like google.com into an IP address like 216.58.218.14. Typically the DNS server that provides that answer is run by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) but you might also use alternative DNS servers like Google (8.8.8.8). Either way […]
Filed under: howto, networking, Raspberry Pi | 40 Comments
Tags: 1.1.1.1, CloudFlare, DNS, privacy, Raspberry Pi, tls, Unbound
Using 1.1.1.1
TL;DR One of the best features of Cloudflare’s new 1.1.1.1 DNS service is the privacy provided by DNS over TLS, but some setup is required to make use of it. I put Unbound onto the OpenWRT routers I use as DNS servers for my home network so that I could use it. Background Yesterday Cloudflare […]
Filed under: howto, networking | 2 Comments
Tags: 1.1.1.1, Bind, CloudFlare, DNS, OpenWRT, privacy, Unbound
TL;DR The UP2 is a rebadged Drayton LP822, which means that it can operate in 1, 5/2 or 7 day modes, set with a jumper on the back. So if yours is set to 1 day (like mine was) then you can get loads more flexibility by changing that jumper. Background My central heating was […]
Filed under: howto | 8 Comments
Tags: British Gas, central heating, Drayton, hot water, LP822, manual, timer, UP2
A little while ago I got myself an original[1] Wileyfox Swift to replace my ageing Samsung S4 Mini. The Amazon page I bought it from gave the impression that it would run Android 7, but that page was (and likely still is)[2] really confusing as it covered multiple versions of the Swift line up. The […]
Filed under: howto | 5 Comments
Tags: android, manual, OTA, recovery, Swift, update, Wileyfox
A colleague asked me the other day how to get started with GitHub on a Windows machine, and I ended up doing a quick screen share to show him my usual setup. Thinking that it’s likely a common question I’ve put together a quick screencast of installing Git Bash and Atom on Windows, and using […]
Filed under: howto | 2 Comments
Tags: ATOM, bash, git, github, howto, Windows
TL;DR I thought I could put Squid in front of an SSH tunnel, but it can’t do that. Thankfully Polipo can do the trick. Why? I was quite happy when it was just spies that were allowed to spy on me (even if they might have been breaking the law by doing so), but I […]
Filed under: howto, networking | 2 Comments
Tags: http, IPAct, Polipo, proxy, snoopers charter, SOCKS, Squid, SSH, VPS
Wireless doorbell extension
TL;DR A relay board from eBay combined with a cheap wireless doorbell from Amazon allowed me to extend my existing wired doorbell. Background I got the loft of my house converted into a home office. I love it up there, but if I shut the door (to keep noise out) then I can’t hear the […]
Filed under: howto | 2 Comments
Tags: bell, door, doorbell, relay, wired, wireless
Copying GPT SSDs
TL;DR Copying the contents of one SSD to a larger one (and making use of the extra space) should be simple, but there are a few gotchas. A combination of AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard and some command line tools got the job done though. Background SSDs have been reasonably cheap for some time, but now […]
Filed under: howto | 3 Comments
Tags: attributes, clone, copy, diskpart, GPT, migrate, partition, ssd, type, Windows
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