Some IT guy, IDK.

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  • 313 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 5th, 2023

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  • and break a window instead.

    Exactly why I don’t fret too much on it. I replaced all the locks on the outer doors with a keyed alike set from someone similar to kwikset. I think it’s a “local” rebrand of the same stuff, complete with the smartkey/rekeying system. I’m not a fan, but honestly, the doors aren’t going to stand up to someone determined to get in, and there’s ground floor windows… So…

    I just needed a starting point from someone who knows enough about this stuff that they can point me in the right direction, without having to do a ton of research (which is what I would have to do). If I can start somewhere instead of just googling blindly, that will save me a ton of effort.

    The unifi access platform uses a small door entry controller that basically just has options for no/nc relays that flip when the door unlocks. It’s supposed to be used with an electric strike, but I don’t know of any electric strikes that work with deadbolts, at least, not without remortgaging my house. So I’d rather just set up an electric deadbolt, and rig it with a sensor that will only extend the deadbolt if the door is actually closed (so the deadbolt doesn’t extend when the door is wide open).

    That system also supports maglocks which I also think is overkill for home use. So I’m a bit torn on it. But that’s all just decisions to be made.

    The missing piece is how to secure the front door, which basically only has a deadbolt for security the door knob doesn’t have a key. The latch is just to hold the door closed when the lock isn’t engaged. Rather than rip out everything, I’m looking to just focus on the lock.

    Anyways, that’s a lot of backstory that nobody asked for. I appreciate lead. I’ll look into everything that you mentioned. I appreciate it.


  • I’m not OP, but I’ve been trying to figure this out for a while.

    I’ve been looking for something smart integrated as a deadbolt, or some kind of electronic deadbolt that can be wired to a relay to open/close.

    Any suggestions on where I should look?

    My ultimate goal would be to integrate it into something akin to the unifi access platform. I’m not 100% on using that specifically, but something similar. This is for my home, key bypass would be nice (as long as it’s not easily pickable).

    Security is #1 for me, but I’m hoping to build out something a bit more convenient.

    I’m in IT, so the back end should be pretty trivial for me to build and implement.

    Thanks



  • You can do whatever you want. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s “wrong”. A big part of homelabbing is to try stuff. If it doesn’t work, that’s fine, you learned something, and that was the point.

    For me, I don’t see a UPS as essential. It’s generally a good idea, but not strictly essential. My servers are on 24/7, because I have services that do things overnight for me. I also know that some people access my lab when I’m not awake, so I just leave it on so it can be ready for anything at any time. It poses some unique challenges sometimes when running stuff that’s basically 24/7/365.

    Be safe, have fun, learn stuff.


  • Minecraft.

    I played Terraria for a bit and I kept getting into the headspace of wtf am I even doing playing the game?

    Anytime I touched Minecraft it felt the same.

    I’ve played other, similar builder/mining games, most notably satisfactory and DRG, both of which feel like they have more direction than Minecraft or Terraria.

    I don’t need much of a push to care enough to progress through a game; an interesting mechanic, a fun playstyle, interesting things to do and achieve… For the most part I’m really laid back when gaming. I don’t really get involved in PvP at all, so anything cod/modern warfare/fortnite/whatever, I’m not interested in. I’d rather work cooperatively with people to achieve a goal. Even something like left4dead or counterstrike is pretty decent in my mind. Some competition is fine, but free for all and/or small teams in large battles (like with many Battle Royale games), when it’s almost entirely PvP, no thanks. There’s always trolls and people who take the game far too seriously, and those are the kinds of people I don’t want anything to do with.

    I struggled with Terraria because a lot of the mechanics were not obvious. There was a logical progression to get more powerful stuff, and even some fairly good quests and bosses to fight, but you either happen across them and you’re wholly unprepared for the encounter, or you have to follow a guide to get the event started. It was a bit convoluted, and the game didn’t really explain anything about what you needed to do to move forward. Minecraft feels like the same stuff. It’s all exploration and discovery based, basically at random. I know there’s some “end game” type stuff in the game, which implies there’s progression, but idk, it’s all kinds of obfuscated.

    Compare with satisfactory, which is largely open, but has a pretty clear set of skill trees and progression. There’s no “end” to the game, just endlessly creating items.

    There’s direction there. It’s not a lot, and nobody is going to tell you how to get to the next thing, just that it exists and this is what you need to get to it. There’s a hundred different ways to get to that objective, and you have to find your own way.

    DRG is basically an endless grind of matches. Procedurally generated, which keeps things lively, but an endless set of essentially the same thing every time. You can get upgrades and cosmetics the more you play, but it’s the same gameplay every time you get into a round.

    DRG still has a better plotline than twilight… I mean, Minecraft.

    Just getting dumped into an open world with no idea what you can do, or what you should do, isn’t really my jam. I tried with Terraria. No thanks.






  • I usually want whatever is best for the majority. I’m done college, and I paid my student loans, I’ll vote for student loan forgiveness and a restructuring of that system so others don’t have to go through what I did.

    I’m pretty healthy and rarely need hospitals but universal healthcare is something that everyone should have.

    I would also vote for UBI, though I would get no benefit from it, as I’ve been employed pretty much non-stop since I left college.

    I would also vote to raise the minimum wage, though my salary is significantly amount the minimums.

    My principles are in line with what most people would consider to be the greater good for all people. I believe in true equality, and I don’t feel like that’s what we have, some people just aren’t given the same basic rights, especially in America with roe v. Wade being overturned. Bodily autonomy and the right to love, and marry whomever you want. I don’t believe in lowering the bar to give the illusion of things being “fair”, eg, allowing people who are otherwise mentally or physically incapable of doing a job, to do the job just because they’re a particular race, gender, or something else (making it more about who they are than whether they’re the best fit for a job).

    I don’t think I need any convincing to vote for what’s good for someone else.


  • Why? How does knowing how politics worked before I could vote, help me as a voter today?

    I understand enough about politics to cast my vote and beyond the act of voting, I generally don’t follow politics. I vote based on party platforms (what they intend to do) and the likelihood of those things happening. Eg, if a party was to say that they’ll make everyone rich, I would consider that statement to be delusional, unrealistic and not something that could be fulfilled even if that party was voted in. This is an extreme example, but I think you get my meaning.

    Beyond doing my due diligence in figuring out who I want to vote for, and then voting for that party… What else do I realistically need?

    My district always elects the same party anyways, whether I vote for them or not. I’ve landed in a gerrymandered location and that party basically always wins, but I still vote regardless.

    IMO, I shouldn’t need to take a political history course to be considered to be a responsible voter.


  • You think politics are in my control in any way, shape, or form? They’ve gerrymandered my vote to irrelevance.

    I still vote, I look at the platforms and vote for whomever I feel serves my interests the most, not that the party’s platform means jack or shit. They’re all just pandering to whatever they know you want to hear, and once they get into power, they do whatever the hell they want.

    My district leans a particular way, and whether I vote with them, or against them, the same party is elected to govern. I’d say my vote is pretty useless in that context.

    I was too young to vote, pre-9/11, and had even less interest in politics than I do now. I’ve vaguely followed along since I got registered to vote when I got old enough to do so, but it’s not like learning about what happened before I was registered to vote will help me in any way. I make the best choice based on the information that is available, and in the end, it doesn’t even matter.





  • When I need to sleep and can’t, my go to is a relatively mindless game that I’ve gotten exceedingly good at automating my way through. Something like Sudoku, solitaire (specifically Klondike), or something. Usually on a digital device so I don’t have to move too much to play and I don’t have to worry about physical cards, shuffling, etc.

    If it’s a particularly bad night I can pair that with some music. I find either ambient trance or something similar, to be the best for this. One of my favorite “go the fuck to sleep” albums is called “Dreamland” by Robert Miles (may he rest in peace). Alternatively, I find nature/rain/thunderstorm sounds to be particularly calming for me, though YMMV. The calm pitter-patter of raindrops falling seems to really put me in a sleeping mood.

    Combining these generally gets me ready to snooze the fastest. The other option I have is mediation, but you need to be practiced at getting into the right headspace for it to be effective. Meditation isn’t really what you’re after since you have said that basically sitting around with nothing going on is when you start to panic, which is generally how mediation begins, so I’m not sure it will be super helpful.

    The only additional advice, which is a bit of an offshoot from the mediation thing, is that trying to not think is a contradiction. You can’t try not to do something; unless you have some issues with impulse control, the “act” of not doing something is the antithesis of trying. You can’t try to clear your mind, you clear your mind by not thinking, if you’re thinking about clearing your mind, then that’s a thought which, if present, precludes you having a clear mind.

    You have to stop thinking, not just try to put things out of your mind, but stop all active thought and analysis. It is way easier to say, than it is to do, and I wouldn’t pretend it’s easy at all. I learned how to do this through meditation, and it’s a fat departure from how you normally operate mentally, and not an easy thing to achieve. One of the strategies I’ve used is when your brain assaults you with a thought, you recognise it’s existence, but refuse to interact/engage/analyse it at all, and just let that wash over you, and into oblivion. Again, easier said than done. Not allowing your thoughts to latch onto ideas and allowing your mind to be quiet, without commenting on, about, or examining every passing thought, does not come naturally.

    I think of it a bit like this: take the example of your mind being a street in a busy city, every individual on the street is an independent thought you might engage with. This idea is a bit like sitting by yourself and watching everything around you without getting involved. Someone walks past screaming about some topic, like how the world is going to end and you just watch them walk by and don’t comment on the matter. You recognise they’re there, you just don’t get involved. Your passive demeanor does not and should not imply you either agree, nor disagree with their statements or viewpoint, you are just present, observing them making a scene. Eventually they move on to yell about it in another location and you give it no further thought.

    I hope that makes sense. Of course, modern society with all the social interactions we have, whether online or in person, always gives us the option to engage in discussion about everything and we’re often encouraged to do so. People will outright ask for your opinion when having IRL conversations at times, which is a prime example of this conditioning. If you’re able to break away from the need to have an opinion on everything and anything that crosses your path, and value people’s opinions exactly as much as required, which isn’t much, then you can break free, and you don’t have to bother yourself with everyone’s opinion and making yours heard. IMO, there’s no value in sharing your opinion, especially when the recipient of that opinion has their own opinion which obviously will not change based on what you could say, so why bother even having one? It takes mental effort and time away from what’s important to you to engage in such trivialities, when the outcome is unaffected by anything you think or say. Why invest the time and effort having an opinion when nobody cares what your opinion is enough to for it to have any impact on what happens? This isn’t a value statement about you or your opinion, this is a value statement about any would be recipient of your opinion, they don’t care, that’s a problem, but it’s a problem for them to solve; your opinion is valid, and if they can’t see the validity in your opinion, why waste your time and effort creating one just so they can ignore it.

    You cannot control the actions of others. You can’t change what they care about. Both of these things are issues that the opposing individual must address about themselves, that you have no way to change about them. Save yourself the grief, and just don’t bother with it. It sounds like you have enough on your plate, you don’t need to add their crap to your pile.

    With all that being said, it’s a radical departure from the accepted social “norm” so it’s a lot of stuff that’s easier said than done. I’m sorry that you are going through this. I don’t know all the details and I don’t have the answers; but I’ve been though some rough shit, and it always sucks. I value you and your opinion, so if you want to reply, I’ll be happy to hear anything you wish to share. IMO, it sucks right now but the fact that you’re reaching out to anyone for help is a positive sign. Do not be afraid to ask for the help you require, it is not a sign of weakness to need help, it is a sign of strength and character to recognise that you require assistance and you are willing to ask for that assistance. It’s brave and demonstrates a strong understanding of when you are unable to handle things alone.

    We all need a little help sometimes. If you want to DM me, to inquire further on anything I’ve said, or to simply rant/vent, or if you just want to chat about technology (or literally anything) as a means of distraction, I’m happy to oblige. I believe my matrix account is linked to Lemmy, so that’s also an option.

    All the best OP.



  • Got a pretty bad case of food poisoning last month. Didn’t really eat anything for a couple of days.

    My SO had it worse. She was throwing up almost everything she ate for over a week. After about 4-5 days, I was like. I’ll drive you to the emergency myself, but I can’t force you to go.

    She ended up waiting like three more days after that and calling her primary care physician.

    She’s mostly better now but it was the worst I’ve ever seen her.

    For better or worse, she did lose a decent amount of weight during that week+ of being sick.


  • Well, I’m probably going to try to get my ccnp for kicks. I’ll re-do my CCNA, then do my ccnp. By the time I go for my NA cert I’ll pretty much be ready to go for the np cert.

    I’ll build a new resume emphasizing my network stuff, though my resume is already fairly heavily focused on networking as is, and try again.

    I’m pretty happy with my job in almost every way, I know most of the things I would need to know to be successful, despite it being a more generalist position, and my co-workers are cool. Management is better than most, and the pay is more than the last two generalist positions I’ve worked, plus it’s work from home, so I’m pretty comfortable where I am for now. The pay, despite being higher than I’ve gotten previously, is a pretty far cry from what I probably deserve, just way too low, under $55k USD (I’m not in the US, but the conversion puts me under 55). From what I’ve seen online, median salary for a systems admin, which is basically what my job mostly entails, is around $73k USD… So I’m around $20k/yr shy.

    I know network admins are similar, depending on the complexity/importance of the network they administrate. I’m aware of people in networking that are making more than 100k USD a year; and right now I consider that to be where things start to cap off for networking. I’d be pretty happy with $73k USD.


  • Yep, I’m sure they do.

    Realistically, does any average consumer know what’s on which circuit?

    Spanning the split phase will screw you up, across breakers won’t be fun but shouldn’t pose any serious problems, as long as it’s not in different sides of the split phase.

    I’m pretty sure they say this because actually explaining what will work and what won’t either requires significant prior knowledge of power systems, or a couple of paragraphs of explainers before you can get a rough picture of what the hell they’re driving at.

    Everyone I know who has used powerline, just plug it in and see if it works. Those who were lucky, say it’s great and works without issue, etc. Those who were not lucky say the opposite.

    I’m just over here watching the fireworks, eating popcorn.