Tech Layoffs? Nah…
This’ll be a short one. Layoffs.fyi has been tracking tech startup layoffs since 3/11/20 (covid anyone?). Tabular format, sortable, downloadable, in an Airtable (airtable.com).
Tech Layoffs? Nah… Read More »
Finally, a point-to-point VPN!
I’ve set up a VPN at home and, honestly, in my config, it’s a PAIN! I have 3 routers that need to have ports opened and then I need to make sure that certificates and passwords are all secure.
Then I found Tailscale.com! What a breath of fresh air. Why didn’t anyone think of this before? Create an account on tailscale.com then install the tailscale service on the machine you want to be a part of the VPN and run it. The service connects to the tailscale server and it becomes an immediately available VPN target, complete with its own hostname (which you can change) and its VPN IP address. If you enable their “MagicDNS” in your settings then the hostnames all resolve to their VPN IP addresses (i.e. the hostname is first checked against the hostnames on the VPN before being checked against other DNS resolvers). Voila! No config, no ports to open, no firewall rules to manage! Now, when you’re away from home, you can get to your home server with confidence.
It’s free for a single hobby/personal user. There are a few restrictions as to how many subnets you have available but, honestly, if you’re a home user, the restrictions probably won’t bother you. It’s multi-platform with binaries for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows, and Linux so you can connect just about anything you want. They’re on github at https://github.com/tailscale and a place to discuss it at https://forum.tailscale.com/. And, yes, you can use tailscale to act as a subnet router – https://tailscale.com/kb/1019/subnets/ – to get to those devices (e.g. printers) on which you can’t install tailscale.
Apologies for the delay between postings but I prefer to try the things before I post about them and tailscale took a while.
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Web3 at a16z (and a bit of a16z’s structure)
An interview with a16z’s (Andreessen Horowitz) head of crypto investing, Chris Dixon. First, a bit on how a16z is structured (good info for anyone interested in startups and VC) then they get into a deep dive on web3, NFTs, and more in that space. I found it a fascinating and informative, if long, read. https://www.theverge.com/23020727/decoder-chris-dixon-web3-crypto-a16z-vc-silicon-valley-investing-podcast-interview
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I had a Pebble watch
This retrospective by the founder of Pebble is a must-read for anyone who contemplates starting or joining a startup. I’ve been through 5 (or more depending on how you count them), with more failures than successes and I have to say that I’ve learned MORE from the failures than the successes.
Yes, I backed Pebble on Kickstarter and still have the original laying around here somewhere in my museum or Blackberries, Amigas, Palms, etc. It was a valiant effort and defined an industry. https://medium.com/@ericmigi/why-pebble-failed-d7be937c6232
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Web3 camp for kids
Does this sound like an industry trying to enculturate a generation to ensure the industries’ acceptance in the future? Seems kinda slimy to me! https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23020971/crypto-kids-nfts-web3-education-summer-camp Might be done with good intentions but.,,
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IPTV? Yes – Television over the Internet
It dates back to the mid-90s.Yeah! And it’s still going today. All those “free” channels you can get on SelectTV and similar providers? Well, you can get them yourself, without anything other than an Internet connection and a video player. It’s a lot like streaming music or your favorite radio station. Does your local TV station have a “live” section where you can stream their current program? That’s likely done with IPTV. WABC in New York City? Hit https://content.uplynk.com/channel/ext/72750b711f704e4a94b5cfe6dc99f5e1/wabc_24x7_news.m3u8 and watch it, live and free. WGN in Chicago? http://trn03.tulix.tv/teleup-mBm5MQ50rA/playlist.m3u8. CNN International UK? https://cnn-cnninternational-1-gb.samsung.wurl.com/manifest/playlist.m3u8. And that’s not all – movies, weather, shopping (QVC, HSN). And, yes, there are program guides, too, so you can find out what’s on, when.
A good collection of information is at https://github.com/iptv-org/awesome-iptv#channel-data-sources and a pretty concise list of stations at https://github.com/iptv-org/iptv.
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What can you do with a web3 domain?
Well, for one thing you can use it in place of your crypto wallet address. Why? If you register with ENS your crypto wallet address is part of the registration (much like your web2 site’s IP address is a part of your DNS entry) so you can just have crypto currency sent to your web3 domain instead of that long crypto wallet address.
https://cointelegraph.com/explained/the-concept-and-future-of-decentralized-web3-domain-names has a good (maybe a bit too detailed) explanation of how web3 domain registrations work. Registering a domain with https://app.ens.domains/ only cost $5 per year BUT you need to pay the Ethereum “gas” (i.e. pay for the energy required to perform the registration and get the transaction recorded on the Ethereum blockchain, as of this writing about $75).
Is it worth it? Hard to say at this time but if you’ve got the gas money 🙂 why not?
What can you do with a web3 domain? Read More »
Getting set up with Chrome OS
I’ve had chromebooks for quite a while but it’s only within the last year or so that I’ve thought it was ready to be my primary tool. My Acer Spin 713 has an 11th gen Intel i5 with 8GB RAM and 256GB disk and it’s quite fast and capable! I run a Debian Linux and have a number of Android apps installed. It’s my “daily driver” as some call it – the machine I reach for and use far more than any other. And I got it on sale for less than $500.
It can be a chore getting set up for the first time but I came across https://github.com/mikeroyal/Chrome-OS-Guide which has some good information to get set up. And if you’re interested in doing more than just getting set up, it has some useful info on expanding your Linux environment and preparing to develop. I recommend it.
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Replace Spotlight search with an extensible app
I don’t have any arguments against the Mac’s Spotlight search – it’s a very capable product. But when I came across Raycast (https://www.raycast.com/) with its plugin capabilities, coupled with the fact that its extensions are Open Source, I was sold. The free plan is more than sufficient for me and the clipboard history extension has allowed me to get rid of a single purpose app I was using. Manual at https://raycastapp.notion.site/Raycast-Manual-d5c85a7694dc4e4088b8b93557ea6d2d
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HD Radio bricked a bunch of Mazdas
Not the whole car but the infotainment system. Kinda funny if you weren’t one of the unfortunates. Yeah, the story is a Youtube video. Still interesting. https://youtu.be/F0YW43JYUwE and it has security and safety implications if you think about it.
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