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Cloud Server Options
During the week of Thanksgiving, a new page has been created addressing cloud server options available on Amazon.
There are some choice and some bad choices. This page will give you some tips.
It is posted under the Home menu. The video will be available next week.
Nextcloud Status
After uploading 700 photos and videos from the trip in August, the remaining space on the cloud filled up.
Upgrades and testing were conducted to see if the system could be relocated to the Windows Server (same server that this site operates on) using a virtual machine.
Those tests have shown better sucess with the system and is going through another hard drive upgrade/migration that should be completed by the end of October as two of the servers will be increasing space to 10tb (terabytes).
While that is a lot of hard drive space being allocated over 4 hard drives, the need to increase space for electronic document storage for future use was discovered during the visit up to Alaska.
As someone who has spent a great deal of time in the IT business using technology to create forms and to process them, now the technology has reversed to store them electronically rather than create them.
Starting in Novemeber, the next series of Nextcloud videos will be produced covering setup of version 24 (unless version 25 is released).
This new series of videos will show updated into the installation of PHP 8.0 and will cover the collaboation server and webdav capabilities.
There have been a few changes since the last video was realased a year ago and there has been some new updating processes that will be covered.
Webside Upgrades
Some sections of the website will have icons to switch from certain pages, within a section of the website. This is being tested on the Alaska section that has been added this week (still under development).
In addition, a new slide show control will be added as well. The current version will display images in a random order (with the posiibility of duplicates).
Not all USB (type C) chargers are the same
Many devices are using USB (type C) chargers these days including computers such as Chromebooks and Raspberry Pi's.
Just because these devices have the same end that will work with your mobile phone, doesn't mean that you should use them to charge your phone.
These computer devices require additional amps to charge their batteries or operate them that are higher than the amps used on your phone.
Using the wrong charger (not the one that came with your phone) can create the following:
Overheating
Cracking of the mobile device
Possible battery explosion
Voiding of the warranty because the approved charger wasn't used.
Amps are the killer to mobile electronics. Too many can destroy the device.
Be wise when charging your electronics.
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Amazon Fresh
While in the Federal Way area in August, Amazon Fresh opened at The Commons (where Sears was).
Many changes have happened to this mall that has been in the area for 47 years from Link light rail, new stores, and Dick's Drive In, this mall is very different than what it was when it opened in August of 1975.
This controversial store, with contactless pay, is covered in the Amazon section.
Upgraded to Gigabit Speeds
With the twentieth anniversary of the website, the completion of gigabit bandwidth has been completed with the installtion of a Netgear Nighthawk CM1200 cable modem.
For the last two years, the network has been upgraded and improved to add routers and level 3 smartswitches to increase traffic and speeds at using gigabit ethernet connections. With the addition of the cable modem, this hardware upgrade has been completed.
Availability of Raspberry Pi 4 devices
The availability of Raspberry Pi 4 devices is in short supply again.
While there was a supply available in December, that supply has decreased. What is available is at higher prices (less than $200 for an 8gb model).
The exception to this rule is purchasing the model 400 series that includes the keyboard.
This device uses a different board (than the 4) that is overclocked and contains a heat sink.
One of these was purchased this year for a family member and will be featured soon.
Information about this model will be available on the website soon.