timkennedy.net

I've been working with Windows and VMware for a while now, and have really enjoyed learning PowerShell and PowerCLI. I've always preffered CLI tools to GUI tools. Possibly just because I'm old enough that the computers I started with didn't have Windows (or even X-Windows). The more I use PowerShell, the more I like PowerShell, so I've decided to start managing the Linux servers I have at home with it, just for funsies. The first step is to install PowerShell. PowerShell for Linux/Mac/Etc is v6, and still in beta at the time of this writing. I use Ubuntu Linux at home, and fortunately for my lazy self, there is a Apt Repo for PowerShell for Ubuntu 16. curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | sudo apt-key add - curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/16.04/prod.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install -y powershell These steps were blantantly ripped off from the actual Ubunt

Big news this week, as the Republicans in Congress decided to scrap an FCC rule known as the Broadband Consumer Privacy Proposal which required broadband providers to get permission from subscribers before collecting and selling data collected about their users. Since I am very interested in my online privacy, or at least, I like to have the option to choose when to share my information for myself, and since I recently upgraded my home router to a Unifi Security Gateway from Ubiquiti Networks, I wanted to know if the VPN client would be compatible with the Private Internet Access VPN that I use to protect my privacy, thereby putting my entire house behind the VPN all the time. Posts in the UBNT Community Forums seem to have a lot of confusion, or are just outdated. It turns out the setup for a PIA VPN configuration is very easy. The only thing that posed any challenge was calculating all the routes for all the subnets outside my house, to route that traffic over the VPN.

We (my wife and I) have been using LIFX lights in our bedroom to simulate a sunrise.  They come on at sunrise, and slowly increase brightness for 30 minutes, allowing us to get used to the light, and wake up pretty gently, as opposed to being jarred out of a deep sleep by a more traditional alarm clock. My wife asked if there was any way we could do the same with Sonos.  Specifically, she wants to pick a Sirius XM channel like "15 - The Pulse" to wake up to.  Have the volume start at 0, and over the same 30 minute period as the lights, ramp the volume up slowly until it's a reasonable level coinciding with the maximum brightness of our lights. Her ideal solution would have the following features: Pick any Sirius, Pandora, or Calm Radio station that Sonos can regularly access. Choose a maximum volume for the alarm Choose a length of time over which to go from 0 to Max volume Orchestrate the details via an iOS app on iPhone or iPad. For Extra Credit: Do the sa