I'll Be Registering My Quad Drone with the FAA

Most folks don't care for registering drones.  I get it - folks don't believe in over-regulation.

For me, I don't want fines and there are times when Murphy's Law fucks with me, so I want to ensure that if a LEO visits me, I'm doing things legally.  I don't think the current regulations in the US are over-bearing and you won't catch me doing the stupid things that many non-licensed drone pilots do. (Flying beyond VLOS, flying in fog, flying at 1000 ft, harassing wildlife, etc...)

I want to fly at night.  I've seen videos of folks flying during fireworks displays, and the footage looks incredible.  Even non-fireworks night footage looks very crisp.  

I want to give night flying a shot.  The only thing is, to fly at night, I need a strobe.  After researching, the lightest strobes I can find are 6 grams.  My drone, a Mini 3, is 248 grams.  The legal limit for non-registered drones is 249 grams.  So, to fly at night, and because a strobe will but the drone over the 249g limit, I need to register the drone.

This isn't a huge deal to me.  Flying is a privilege, not a right.  I've no problem registering the drone.

Because I'm registering the drone, that means I can use the Plus (51 minute) rechargeable battery.  I'd been avoiding that battery because it would've put me over the weight limit, as it's heavier than the normal Mini 3 battery.  

So, I bought a strobe and a Plus battery.  The strobe is arriving tomorrow.  The battery is arriving Monday.  I can register the drone tonight and be flying with the strobe tomorrow night!

UPDATE (8/22/2025):  I've registered the drone (at the FAA Dronezone website).  It was a bit tricky, as I registered it before the Plus battery arrives (which is tomorrow), which meant the Remote ID on the RC display would not show.  Dronezone was asking for that bit of information.  Remember, the Remote ID is only activated when using the Plus battery.  DJI has RID support documentation that helped me get through the process.  This was more clear than any of the other (many) janky web pages that explained the process, as most of those pages were outdated with erroneous details.  I basically had to use the device's serial number when registering the drone with the FAA (the serial number IS the Remote ID).  I paid a $5 fee for 3 years of registration, which is the standard fee and duration.  I used a label maker to create a label that has the registration number; I stuck it to the side of the drone.  One thing, though:  I can no longer use the non-Plus batteries (they're not cheap, either), or buy an external RID module, which costs more than one battery.  I can sell the batteries to recoup funds from having to buy another two Plus batteries, I guess.

Mac Mini - USB/Mouse Issue?

Maybe two or three months ago, the mouse that I use with my Mac Mini stopped working when I unplugged it and plugged it into the Mac again.  It's a Corsair Dark Core RGB SE gaming mouse.  I've had it since the pandemic (not long, as far as mice go).

No matter what I did, the mouse wouldn't work.  I've a spare micro-USB to USB-A cable (that's what it uses), so I thought I'd try to see if swapping out the cable would fix the issue.  It did not.   I then tried other mice and they worked - these were just Dell wired mice.  When I tried the Corsair mouse again, it worked.

 Today, the Corsair stopped working again...same deal - I unplugged it and tried to plug it into a different USB-A outlet.  I tried all the same things and it eventually started working again.  Then I purposely unplugged it again.  It stopped working and will not activate again.

Right now, I'm using a wired EVGA X17 mouse as a temporary solution until I can get another Corsair.

Either my Corsair's battery (it's a wireless mouse that has wired capability) is dead or there's something internally wrong with it.  I'm leaning toward it being the battery - maybe it needs a charge to work, even when wired?  Batteries are finite items.

Maybe I won't get another Corsair wireless mouse, because if I do, this will happen again.  I also have a Corsair wireless mouse at my cubicle at work...it's the same age and it hasn't died.

I'm unsure what to do.  I don't want to use the Dell wired mice - those feel disposable.

UPDATE (8/22/2025):  I forgot that I've some cheaper but just-as-nice-as-Corsair mice.  One that I love is the Venus Pro RGB MMO wireless mouse.  They're cheap ($30) and have lots of buttons.  I just now ordered another one to replace the Corsair Dark Core.

Pihole Down! Pihole Redeployed!

Yestereday, I was vegetating on my phone and noticed a lot of ads were being presented to me.  Normally, I get minimal ads due to using Pihole...not today, though.

When I logged into the admin panel to check on it, nothing seemed amiss, until I tried to run queries against the logs.  The whole admin panel seized up and would not recover, so I decided to shut down the docker instance and re-run it...it was failing.  The specific error that I was focused on was, "SQLite3: statement aborts at 4: [DETACH ?] no such database: disk (1)".  Now, I don't usually conduct maintenance on the Pihole instance since it's containerized (via Docker).  I'm thinking that the DB got full and the container nuked it, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time troubleshooting it.

What did I do?  I just created a new folder named "pihole-REBUILD" and copied my compose.yml file to it, then I ran "docker compose up -d".  After that, I had to access the pihole to run a password reset command.  Once that was done, I was able to log in.

Because I couldn't remember where I backed up the pihole config files, I basically have to start from scratch, but I went to https://github.com/hagezi/dns-blocklists/blob/main/sources.md and copied the blocklist sources from that URL, then posted them to Pihole as blocklists (total was 11,342,549 domains blocked).

After that, I visited a bunch of sites, trying to generate block logs...and saw nothing.  I couldn't determine why the Pihole wasn't logging.  I ended up doing a bunch of internet searches and found this and this.

I basically had to go to the Settings section, then the DNS section, and set the interface settings check box from "Allow only local requests to Bind only" to "Bind only to interface eth0" (this was hidden until I noticed a small "Basic" web link - clicking it changed the mode from Basic to Advanced, and I was then able to see those config options).

I also opted to limit logging to 2 days max.

Once I did that, I immediately noticed that Pihole was seeing and blocking things.

I'm not sure why the DNS issue wasn't something I'd seen before, as I've been running Pihole awhile now.

I'll admit that it was super quick (relatively) to deploy a new instance of Pihole.

Instead of waiting a day for it to fail (my daughter said it failed yesterday morning - I didn't notice it until 11 PM, but I also didn't work at home yesterday), it may be time for me to look for an AM/HM Docker container setup.

UPDATE (7/26/2025):  I've had no Pihole outages since I redeployed the container and since I adjusted the logging limit.

UPDATE (8/2/2025):  Had an outage tonight, the exact same type of outage as past times.  I found that this isn't related to Pihole.  It's a bug in systemd.  This is a known issue but I'm not sure why it's happening on my home server and not my Linode host (they're the same version - Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS).  I may change to a different distribution for my home server, because this is ridiculous.  When it occurs, the system is so slow that I can't remedy the issue.  As well, it rejects all attempts to reboot using the 'reboot' command.  I couldn't restart services, either.  The specific error I saw was:  dbus: [system] Failed to activate service 'org.freedesktop.login1': timed out.  In almost all cases I've read of, a reboot is required.  As well, this has been seen as far back as 2016 (like 9 years ago!).

UPDATE (9/19/2025): the host running the Pihole container has been down and inaccessible.  I couldn't get the container to shut down so that I could update it.  It would not allow rebooting from the terminal.  When I hard booted it, it never recovered.  It's a headless system and I've found that I can't shell into the box.  As I've misplaced my DVI to VGA adapter, I can't currently attach a monitor to it (I've ordered two adapters from Amazon and they should arrive today).  I'm going to assume that the system is hanging up upon boot-up because it requires an admin to perform recovery functions.  We'll soon see.

UPDATE #2 (9/19/2025):  I called it - it was due to /dev/sda3 needing a filesystem check done to it.  I ran fsck and it found a bunch of things that needed an admin to run validation checks.  After I ran the checks, it booted up immediately, but shortly afterward, it was throwing more fsck errors, in which it did it's own checks.  I'm monitoring it closely, in case the drive is taking a dump.

I Hate YouTube!

You know, I hate Youtube. I hate YouTube for a variety of reasons.

The main reason is that YouTube will not let you block certain channels.  There are certain channels I hate but Youtube keeps feeding them to me.  A few years back, I was able to block channels - they've removed that feature since then.

As well, they won't let you block individuals so that you don't see their comments.

I've been trying to use Rumble for viewing videos.  Rumble doesn't have as much traffic as YouTube.  As well, Rumble has no importing utility - it's an absolute pain to move videos from YouTube to Rumble.

I've been trying to grow my YouTube channel but I do not want to be having to post every other day just to ensure I've adequate traffic.  YouTube's algorithm is making a slave of folks and I'm not even monetized.

I pray to God that YouTube gets slammed with some type of overreach charge in the future.  They're so large that there's no competition.

UPDATE (7/26/2025):  I'm pushing all of my content to Rumble now.  I'm also attempting to export all of my YouTube content so that I can import the videos to Rumble.  I'm also linking the Rumble content when posting to Wordpress.

Space Black MBP - Do I hate the color yet?

I've seen folks complaining about the dark-colored Macbooks for some time.  

The mantra is either that the paint wears prematurely, that it scratches easily (which reveals the undercoat), or that it's a fingerprint magnet.  

Why did I buy a Space Black MBP?  Because I wanted something different.  I've been playing it safe with my Apple products - all have been Space Gray, as I thought that most of my products should match and I also didn't want to be battling fingerprints.  

As well, my equipment is pristine...the only products that have scratches are my smartphone and my Apple Watch (because I wear one and because the other is either in my hand or in my pocket).  

So, have I had to battle fingerprints on the MBP?  Surprisingly, no, but then again, I wash my hands a lot and my hands aren't usually oily/greasy.

Lastly, I do not wear my Apple Watch when using the MBP, because I do not want the metal buckle to scratch the MBP.

Apple Watch Bands

I've owned my Series 8 Apple Watch a while now (since Fall of 2022).

I've been through a few watch bands.

I should've been posting about these, as I think it's good information regarding wear patterns and longevity.

I first bought a 3-pack of Alpine Loop bands (similar to this, although I'm no longer seeing the 3-pack for sale).  The set that I bought were OD Green, Orange, and Black.  I liked them a lot but they didn't last long, as I washed them and since they were held together by glue/adhesive, they eventually fell apart.  I attempted to use small dabs of Gorilla Glue on them but that was only a temporary solution, which was sad.  If I'd have know they'd fall apart after washing, I'd have not bought them.  I still have the OD Green one but I'll speak on that again in a bit.

I then bought a leather braided band.  That one lasted maybe a year.  It was also nice, but I didn't like that it felt stiff (was used to the Alpines).  As well, it wasn't as adjustable and always either felt either too loose or too tight.  Eventually it became worn and loose.  Although it didn't fall apart, leather does stretch/wear over time, moreso than textile products.

After the leather band, I went back to the OD Green Alpine.  I'd thown the other two Alpines away since they fell apart but I'd used an extra dose of Gorilla Glue for the OD band and it is still holding together.  I stopped putting it in the wash, but wipe it down by hand when it's dirty.  As well, I remove the watch if I'm going to be getting wet or sweaty, so that I can preserve the band.

This weekend, I decided to check for a different band and ended up buying the Caseology Anthlex band, in Active Orange.  It's a bit stiff but not as stiff as the leather band I previously bought.  It has sufficient adjustment and appears that I can wash it (I will hand wash it when washing is needed).  It's black on the outside and orange on the insude, with orange stitching.  It has a metal buckle.

I still love the Alpine Loops and may buy more, but I'll have to keep in mind that they're pretty much disposable if you get them wet, and yeah, I can glue them back together when required, but that's something I shouldn't have to do.

Airpods Pro Max - Initial Thoughts

I've been using the Airpods Pro Max for a bit now.  There are some things I like about them.

My likes:

• I like that I've an Apple-sourced over-the-ear headset.  
• They sound and feel (on the head) better than the Beats Studio Pros I have.  
• They also switch to my other Apple gear (the Beats don't do that - that's a known thing; by design).  
• I can have the ear cushions replaced and they look like they'll wear better than the Studio Pro ear cushions.
• I love the design and color options (mine are Midnight).

What I don't like:

• They're heavy and sometimes are uncomfortable around the ears.  The nooks for the ears are a bit too small (and I don't have large ears)...my ears barely fit and sometimes, when I'm moving or lying down, my ears fold or mash inside the ear cups.
• They require lots of charging.  For some reason, they've been draining quicker (it seems) than before I updated them -- this didn't happen until after I applied that patch that enabled lossless audio.  UPDATE (5/29/2025):  I disabled Find My for the Airpods Pro Max, which helped immensely with power consumption.  Note that you should probably not do this if you're using them outside your home - if you lose them or someone steals them, you're not going to find them or be able to flag them as lost.
• I can't turn them on/off (would be nice to power them off since they appear to drain quickly).
• The noise cancelling doesn't work as well as in-ear sets - while that's to be expected, I also expected better noise cancelling than the Airpods Pro Max has, especially since they cost so much.

I did purchase AppleCare+ for them, since they cost so much.  I'd rather have AppleCare+ and not need it than to not have it and need it later.

I'll be giving them a try at work tomorrow to see how well they work in my cubicle area.

UPDATE (4/25/2025):  I had an issue a few minutes ago where the Maxs didn't want to connect to my MBP.  I'd been using them downstairs (when using the Mini) a few hours ago.  No matter what I did, the headset wouldn't connect to the MBP.  I reset the headset and then attempted to connect to them from the MBP - unsuccessful.  I then did a factory reset of the headset and then attempted to connect them to the MBP - unsuccessful.  I then rebooted the MBP (shouldn't have had to do this) and then attempted to connect them to the MBP - success!  This was a super odd issue that I've never had with other BT headsets or buds.

UPDATE (5/11/2025):  I was messing with the headphones the other day and noticed that the ear cups are removeable!  This is nice, as I can remove them to clean them.  As well, I noticed that there was water in them (I sometimes fall asleep with them on my ears).  Apparently, the ear cups trap moisture.  I'm not sure if this will develop into a future problem with the water, but I do have Applecare+, so...

Samsonite Modern Utility Laptop Backpack for 15.6" Laptop

You all know that, prior to purchasing the MBP I now own, I was using a M1-era Macbook Air 13".

I'd been carrying that in a small tote that I got from work - swag from McAfee.  It was a small laptop/tablet bag that was surprisingly adequate for a 13" MBA.  I used it a long time and used it to fly out to California and New Orleans.  It'll fit under a seat on a plane and still leave room for your feet.

I'd not planned on getting a MBP when I was in California.  I could've waited until I got back but it was a snap decision and once I saw that an MBP was locally available while I was in CA, I was stubborn.

I bought the MBP and then realized that a 14" laptop wasn't going to fit in my current bag (plus, I still had my MBA with me), so I had to buy a new bag just to get it home.

What did I buy?  I bought the Modern Utility Laptop Backpack for 15.6" Laptop, which is made by Samsonite.  It's charcoal in color.  It fit most of the existing gear I had brought with me, as well as the new gear - MBP and accessories; Airpods Max and accessories; 11" iPad.  I couldn't believe that it held all of my electronics and didn't feel heavy.

There are two pockets designed for flat electronics (tablets and notebooks).  Those pockets were lined with cushioning for protection of the electronics.

I like this setup better, not only because it will fit a 14" MBP, but because it's a non-bulky backpack.

It has a TON of pockets.  I tried to stash like things in every pocket and ran out of things before I ran out of pockets.

The straps are comfortable - I did a lot of walking/toting.

I really like this bag!

I'll still use the little side pack for my MBA but I might not use the MBA all that much.  I may do a factory reset on that one and sell it, although I'll ask the wife if she wants it first.

I've a New Macbook!

Today, I bought a new Macbook.

I wanted another portable Mac but didn't want an Air.  I also wanted something with a bit more horsepower than what I already had, as my Air is a base model.

I wanted more than just 8 GB of memory.  

I wanted more than just 256 GB of drive space.

I wanted a bigger screen than 13".

I wanted a system that offered a bit more longevity.

I wanted to be less compromising when it comes to hardware.

Here are the specs of the new notebook:

Make/Model:  MacBook Pro 14" (MRX43LL/A - Release Year 2023)

Chip:  M3 Pro

Memory:  18GB

GPU:  18-core

CPU:  12-core

Drive capacity:  1TB SSD

Color: Space Black

I've also gained ports/connections when compared to my MBA:  I now have MagSafe, an extra (3 total) Thunderbolt port, an SD card slot, and an audio cable port.  The system also has fans, to keep temps down - the Air doesn't have fans.

The whole system certainly seems less fragile than my Air.

The system, since it has more than the standard set of cores, is marked as having a Pro chipset (it's not a base model).

I wanted more than just 8 GB of RAM because the Air was always using a LOT of swap after all the memory was consumed.  I was always having to close apps to get the system to release memory.

I wanted more than just 256 GB of drive space because I was always struggling to perform OS updates with the Air.  The Air's drive space was always 75-80% consumed and I believe that SSDs require some extra drive space overhead for TRIM management - if I was always at 80%, I'm sure that TRIM was close to being adversely affected.  I'd been using external drives as workspace, but that doesn't solve the 80% consumption of system drive space.  1 TB gives me a lot more elbow room and it also gives me serious trade-in power, as well.  Plus, I don't have to depend upon external drives.

Regarding display size, 14" is significantly better than 13".  On paper, it seems like a small difference, but the extra inch is practical and is a noticeable difference.

When I buy notebooks and PCs, I've a habit of compromising to save a buck.  I didn't want to do that with this one.  Actually, I did compromise - I actually wanted a 16" MBP but that's immediately a $2000 system, and a base system, too.  To have the system I wanted in 16" variation would've put me at $2500+ and that amount assaults my sensibilities, so I had to compromise.  This system was $1800.  I've spent that amount in the past on a gaming laptop and that laptop was obsolete rather quickly.  I worry less about that with a MBP.  I can easily see myself using this MBP for 5-6 years.

I also bought a set of USB-C Airpods Max.  I have a set of Beats Studio Pros that haven't fared well.  They're rickety AF right now.  I've put a LOT of use on them, to the point that I am expecting them to fail soon.  I needed a good headset and I've historically not had good experiences with what I've chosen in the past.  I decided to splurge on the Max.  I actually hate the Beats Studio Pros...they're inferior to anything that is Apple-branded, as Apple purposely neuters the Beats products so that they won't be competitive with the Apple brands.  They're designed mainly for users who want to use them with Android smartphones.

I'm excited to try this new gear, as I've some backlogged video editing that I need to catch up on.  I'll report my usage experience as I use the new equipment!

UPDATE (3/31/2025):  Uhmmm....this laptop has GREAT sound!  I thought my Macbook Air sounded great.  Apparently, MBPs have a six-speaker system.

UPDATE (4/6/2025):  I installed Homebrew and then fastfetch.  Screenshot --

UPDATE (5/29/2025):  I've seen folks complaining about the dark-colored Macbooks for some time.  The mantra is either that the paint wears prematurely, that it scratches easily (which reveals the undercoat), or that it's a fingerprint magnet.  Why did I buy a Space Black MBP?  Because I wanted something different.  I've been playing it safe with my Apple products - all have been Space Gray, as I thought that most of my products should match and I also didn't want to be battling fingerprints.  As well, my equipment is pristine...the only products that have scratches are my smartphone and my Apple Watch (because I wear one and because the other is either in my hand or in my pocket).  So, have I had to battle fingerprints on the MBP?  Surprisingly, no, but then again, I wash my hands a lot and my hands aren't usually oily/greasy.

UPDATE (9/20/2025):  I forgot to mention some things I've noticed in my last update.  The first thing is, I've yet to hear the notebook engage it's fans when doing things such as editing and encoding videos.  It is supremely quiet.  Also, thus far, I've owned the notebook five months and the battery is still at 100% capacity, with 21 cycle counts.  I've also been monitoring how the system is using RAM (and yeah, I'm aware that unused RAM is wasted RAM) - I'm no longer using all of my memory.  My usage habits haven't changed since coming from the MBA.  I still use a lot of browser tabs - between 30-60.  I'm usually at 14 GB of RAM usage.  If I need all the available RAM, the plan is to just close out the browsers.  I've not been in a situation where the system needs more than 18 GB of RAM, though, which is fine for my use cases.  Note that, with the MBA and only having 8 GB of RAM, I was always using swap - that system would use over half the RAM (5-6 GB) just sitting idle in a fresh state, which is kinda crazy.

Birthday Gifts

Yesterday was my birthday.  I'm now 57 years old.

I got two gifts.  My wife bought me a DJI two-way charging kit.  My sister bought me a Wheeler F.A.T. Wrench.

Regarding the DJI two-way charger, it's a battery charger for DJI drones.  This is is for my Mini 3 drone.  I currently have two batteries.  The charger is basically a caddy that can hold up to three batteries.  It charges the batteries one at a time, starting with the battery that has the lowest charge.  It can also be used to charge other things (drone remote, phone, GoPro, etc) and will use whatever battieres are in the caddy to charge other things.  This also gives me the excuse of buying a third battery.  I might buy the Intelligent Plus battery, as it has up to 51 minutes of power, but it will mean that I'd have to register my drone, as that battery has extra weight that will make the drone over 249g.

The Wheeler wrench is a inch-pound torque wrench, mainly for use with firearms.  I wanted this for use in installing optics and other things that require precise torquing of small bolts and screws.

Besides that, I bought myself the PC game, Armored Brigade II, which I posted about a day or two ago.

I'd thought about getting a new Apple headset since my Beats Studio Pro has one leg in the grave.  We'll see.  I've a long flight to CA coming up and I might purchase that headset before I fly out.

Armored Brigade & GHPC

What have I been playing lately?

I've been playing quite a bit of Gunner, HEAT, PC (or GHPC), mainly due to their recent updates that contain the Leopard tank.

I also recently bought Armored Brigade, after seeing PhanFantasy review it a few months ago.  I only started playing it maybe 2 weeks ago, and ended up loving it so much that I also bought Armored Brigade 2, which isn't released on Steam yet.

I like the above-mentioned games because Steel Beasts, while I love that game, is a bit too much for me.

As much as I like Sea Power, it's a bit much, as well.  I'm not going to lie, though - Armored Brigade has quite a bit of a learning curve too, but not as much as Sea Power or Steel Beasts.

I'll continue to study both versions of Armored Brigade, and will also continue to play GHPC.

Pihole & Docker FTW!

I'd been planning to mess with Pihole but didn't want to mess with a Rasberry Pi.  I did some research and found that I'd the option to install Pihole on a running Linux system.  While looking at what that entailed, I also found that I could easily do it with Docker, too.

I've been running a Ubuntu system for a while now.  It is mainly a box I set up for use with NextCloud.  I hate NextCloud and stopped using it and the Ubuntu system.  The system was pretty much idle until I decided to set up a Wordpress instance in Docker for development of my Wordpress site that's on my Linode instance.  Whenever I'm trying something new in Wordpress, I test it on my Dockerized Wordpress instance first.  Eventually I'll work on replacing the Wordpress instance on my Linode host with a Dockerized instance.

Since I already have Docker set up on the Ubuntu box, I decided to give Pihole a spin in Docker.

I used this website to set up Pihole in Docker.  The whole setup was quick and painless.  In fact, my Wordpress setup uses three different Docker containers, and with Pihole now running, I'm now using four containers on that Ubuntu host.  None of them are consuming resources (thus far).

I'm now testing Pihole.  I'm totally unfamiliar with it but it doesn't appear to be a high maintenance setup.  At some point, I'll want to back up the Pihole configs, though, so I won't have to spend a lot of time setting it up again (when/if I end up blowing away the instance).

I've several hosts on my LAN using the Pihole setup and my daughter is trying it, as well.  She had a Rasberry Pi and was planning to install Pihole on it, but I told her that this is far simpler - she should use the Pi for something else, IMO.

I've added some ad lists (block lists and some whitelisting), as well.

The biggest pain as far as adware goes is Youtube, and I don't think Pihole is going to be able to block Youtube ads when using the Youtube app.  I've had some luck blocking Youtube ads on my Macbook, but I view videos on the browser when using that notebook (and I've the uBlock Origin browser extension installed in MS Edge).

New Keyboard for My Mac Mini - Royal Kludge S98

When I bought my Mac Mini, I bought it without buying a keyboard for it.  Not long after purchasing the Mini, my older iMac died.  I ended up trashing the iMac, as I couldn't repair it (was unwilling to pump anymore money into it and it was over 10 years old.  Prior to it dying, I was using it as a monitor for my iMac and other systems (using Target Display Mode).

With the iMac gone, I still had the Magic Mouse and the keyboard that came with the iMac.  What I hate about the keyboard is that it eats batteries.  As well, I like full sized keyboards.  So, I thought I'd buy a nice keyboard for the Mini.

I purchased the Royal Kludge S98, mainly because it was a full sized keyboard (or nearly so), it could be used with other computers (it has 3 BT profiles), it's wireless, and it was a mechanical keyboard -- I've never owned a mechanical keyboard.

I've mixed feelings.  I like the keyboard a lot, but it doesn't have software for Macs.  It's software is Windows-only.  I would've liked to use the software's macro configurations.  As well, it doesn't have labeled Mac buttons (command and option buttons).

The specific version I bought was the Linear Viridian switch version in turquoise green.

I might try to buy Mac-specific keys for it, as the keys can be swapped out.  Maybe I'll get those two keys in red.

I like the keyboard screen in the upper right corner.  I like that I've the option for 2.4 GHz connectivity, BT, or USB wired connectivity.

I also love the lighting (it's RGB).  It also has a beefy battery - I can get a lot of use out of it, on one charge, if I disable the keyboard backlights.

I did notice one hiccup with the Mac Mini last week where I had the keyboard linked to it via bluetooth - I'd logged out of the Mac and came back later to do some work, but the keyboard wouldn't let me type out the password properly.  I noticed that it kept hanging on the 2nd character.  I had another BT keyboard handy and tried to log in with it and it was doing the same thing.  I thought it was strange.  I ended up doing a hard reboot (I hadn't thought of SSH'ing into the Mini to do a restart - I could've done that).  The system recovered and let me access it while using the S98.  I'm not sure if it was a keyboard-related issue but I've been using the Mac 2+ years and nothing like that has every occurred until I started using the S98.  I'll keep a watch to see if this occurs again.

UPDATE (2/5/2025):  Well I had the keyboard issue again, today.  Again, I don't think it's an actual keyboard issue, as I tried two different keyboards and both were doing the same thing.  This go-around, it was the 6th character that wasn't rendering on the first keypress.  After experimenting, I was able to press the key for the 6th character a second time to get it to register...doing that, I was able to log in successfully.  After I logged in, I typed in Terminal to see if I was having that same issue across my password characters - it rendered fine.  I then logged out and tried to log back in - I was able to successfully log in (I did this 3 times, successfully, to test).  I searched for some tips and most articles I saw suggested that there was a hardware keyboard issue, which isn't the case here since I'm using two different keyboards that experience the same exact issue.  I also used Disk Utility to do a disk repair - there were no errors to repair.  I think there's a bug in the latest OS update (the latest OS update was applied a few days ago).  This didn't start occurring until after that OS update was applied.

UPDATE 2 (2/7/2025):  It happened again, just now.  It's definitely not a hardware issue, as I used my Mac wireless keyboard this time, too - I used all three keyboards and the issue still occurred.  As well, two characters weren't being recognized this time - characters 6 and 7.  This is so odd.

I'll report any issues with the keyboard, but I'm enjoying it thus far.

New Hobby - Drones!

 I've been interested in drones for a while now.  Maybe 5 years ago, my wife bought me a DJI Tello, which gave me the initial taste of using drones.

My daughter is a graduate of Embry-Riddle - she has a BS in UAS.  As part of her curriculum, she attained her Part 107 license.  For graduation, we bought her an expensive (at the time) quadcopter - the Mavic Mini (Fly More package - includes 3 batteries and a charger).  She has an aerospace-related position of employment, so we talk drone speak a lot.

This year, I was going to get a quadcopter and mentioned it to my wife.  She said, "Put it on your Christmas list."  I said, "It's expensive," because she usually balks at buying high dollar tech items.  She repeated, "Put it on your Christmas list."

I couldn't decide which I wanted but didn't want a super-expensive drone since I might end up not liking it.  I should've just picked what I wanted (I always end up compromising).  I initially couldn't decide between the DJI Mini 3 or the DJK Mini 4K.  Either one of those would be the drone with RC remote (has the integrated screen - no need to connect to your smartphone).  After a long bit of research, I decided on the Mini 3, mainly because it offered better tech specs and capabilities - mainly, the camera has better specs, then gimbal has better FOV, it captures higher spec video footage, and it has longer flight time.  The Mini 4K is basically an upgraded Mini 2.  I opted not to get the Fly More package (but should've).  I put it on my list.

Well, she bought it.  As well, she bought it during Black Friday, so there was a discount.  I ended up buying a hard shell carry case and extra battery.  I may buy a 3-slot charger and 3rd battery.  I may also just buy a 3-slot charger and 3rd 51-minute larger battery, but that would mean I'd have to register the drone since the larger battery will put the drone over the 249-gr limit.  That would mean I'd have to always use 51-minute batteries, as that's the only way the Remote ID would be enabled (or, I could just buy a standalone RID, but that would mean even more weight).  I think I'll just stick with the smaller batteries for now - if I've 3 of them, and they're rated at 38 minutes, that'll give me great flight times.

I also opted for the DJI Care Refresh program, which offers repair/replacement insurance in case of accidents or flyaways.

If I had to do it again, I'd probably opt for the Mini 4 Pro.  Maybe next year.  For now, I'll just enjoy the Mini 3!

What Have I Been Playing Recently?

So, what have I been playing recently?

I bought Sea Power a few weeks ago and love it.  I haven't been playing it much because the game is currently Early Access and it has bugs and lacks some features - it's lacking a save feature and the gameplay can be rather long in duration, so I either end the mission I'm playing prematurely or I don't play.

I've also been playing Nuclear Option.  I bought that game earlier in the year and it is really fun, but it's Early Access as well and is also somewhat buggy.  TrackIR keeps dying mid-game and it only happens with that game, so I know it's an issue with Nuclear Option and not the hardware or TrackIR software.  As well, other folks have been complaining that they're having issues with head-tracking with this game, too.  I'm hoping the developers fix the issue soon (some folks have claimed that the issue is no longer occurring in the beta testing branch).

I've also been playing more VTOL VR.  I did a bunch of flying today after not using my VR headset in ages.  I've been flying some of the Steam Workshop missions, which gives me practice and some fun.  What plane(s) have I been flying?  As usual, I've been flying the AV-42C...folks love to hate on that aircraft, but it's the A-10 Warthog of this game and I love ground/pound.  I've been wondering how to create missions and I was thinking on giving it a shot, but I've heard that the mission creation tools and mechanisms suck and that the next patch will offer more streamlined mission creation tools and mechanisms, so I think I'm going to wait for that.

I've also been thinking of pushing myself to return to Steel Beasts.  For a bit, I was playing fine and even created a mission/scenario to test things.  Steel Beasts can get busy really fast, though, because micro-managing the units is crucial to success and the more units you have to control the more busy it'll get - you want to control small units to get the most out of the missions/scenarios (company level is probably best).

After playing Sea Power, I'm also thinking of returning to C:MO (although, that game can get busy really fast, as well, on a whole different level than Steel Beasts).

Yeah, I also have DCS modules that I recently bought (the latest Blackshark and the Mirage F1), but I need fun, not study sims and while DCS can be fun, for someone new to the game, it plays as if it's homework.

As I've a bunch of vacation to use in November and December, I'll have the time to relax with PC gameplay.

PC Gaming

 I've been trying to push myself into being more involved in PC gaming lately.  Ever since I bought the Steam Deck, I've been using it.  It's handy when you're in front of the TV or in bed.  I'd been playing a lot of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and recently bought Red Dead Redemption 2.

In fact, ever since I quit playing War Thunder, I've been struggling to find a specific game to fixate on.

I've Ready or Not and Ground Branch, which are nice tactical shooters (really meant for multiplayer, but can be played lone wolf).  I also have been flying some VTOL VR and Nuclear Option.  I've also been trying to ramp up my flight simming - I've been flying some IL2, trying the different planes (I bought a bunch of modules awhile back).  I also finally bought full fidelity modules for DCS: World, too!

For DCS: World, I bought the Dessault Mirage F1 module pack.  I also bought the F-5E, the Mig-29 (designed for Flaming Cliffs, I believe, and doesn't have full fidelity),  I also bought a few maps and single player missions.  I downloaded the free A-4E 3rd party module, too.  And last week, I bought the Ka-50 helicopter module.  I just need to dedicate a few hours a week to focus on one plane to fly single player and to eventually move to multiplayer.  I'm thinking either the F-5E, the A-4E, or the F1 will get me far and if I go multiplayer, I'll have to find Cold War servers.  I'm not really interested in later era aircraft, although I *REALLY* want the Mirage 2000.  Yes, there's a dispute between it's developer and Eagle Dynamics, but I'm thinking if I buy it now, while it still works, I can fly it enough to get my money's worth.  If it goes on sale between now and the New Year, I'm buying it.  What I'd really like is for another developer to make a Mirage 2000, though.

Also, for DCS: World, I've been using TrackIR instead of VR.  Folks keep insisting that I need to use VR with DCS.  Nah...it's not for me.  I've already tried it in both War Thunder and IL2.  I'll admit that the flying experience, immersion, and spatial awareness that comes with interacting within a 3D environment is great.  What sours EVERYTHING is that you can't see your keyboard or stick or anything that's on your desk.  That's something I can't get over.  It's all unicorns and rainbows until it's time to interact outside of VR, which is sometimes a requirement.  Plus, the hardware requirements to run VR while running a game such as DCS is not insignificant, and if you want to also record your session, it's going to suck for you unless you've a super beefy PC.

I'm one step from upgrading my HOTAS to something a bit better.  My current setup lacks the required buttons to get most of aircraft controls onto either the stick or throttle (even if I'm flying a full fidelity aircraft, I'd still prefer to manipulate the controls through the stick or throttle controls).  As it is, I'm about to use a spare throttle just so I can use it's buttons!  Also, I may need to alter my desk to better support a stick and throttle (no, I don't want to build a pit/rig).

Nuclear Option is fun!  It's in Early Access and I ended up buying it, but leaving it alone for maybe 6 months because it didn't have head-tracking, which I thought was ridiculous.  Headtracking was added maybe 3-4 months ago, but something is wonky with it - the game looses connectivity with either the TrackIR software or hardware (or both).  You've to go to desktop and restart TrackIR, but I found that I would have to do it 4-5 times within a 30 min session, which is a serious buzz kill, so I stopped playing it again...once they sort out the headtracking issue, I'll fly it again.

VTOL VR is actually really nice, but I won't do multiplayer with it.  I want to stay single player with that game, at least for a while.  That means I've to find decent single player missions.  I've also thought of giving a shot at developing some missions.  Maybe I can experiment with that this weekend.  I've heard the mission editor is wonky and there's no guide on how to use it (although I should check Steam for guides).  No, I don't want to check the game's Discord...I shouldn't have to do that...such things should be better accessible than relying on only Discord.

I was also playing Steel Beasts for awhile (I even streamed a session of of gameplay on Twitch).  I started out good but then quit, as that game can sometimes be quite deep.  It's more of a high end sim than a game, IMO.  I think it depends upon the mission, too.  I play single player, which can be a handful with lots of units to command, so I think the key is to seek out single player missions that give you control of a company -- any bigger unit than that will pain since you'll have to manage every aspect of each element of that unit.

OH!  Also, there's a new tactical game coming out called Sea Power, that will be released in November.

dlvr.it Ended Their Free Plan

I'd been using dlvr.it to automate cross-posting from Wordpress to Twitter, as I've been trying to get more traffic to my firearms blog.  Well, dlvr.it stopped providing their free plan.  

Prior to dlvr.it, I'd been using IFTTT's automation applets to cross-post to Twitter, but their free applets for Twitter became payware.

As I'm not trying to spend a ton of money for something that I'm providing, I do not want to have to sign up for expensive plans just to be able to cross-post.

I spent a large portion of my day yesterday trying to find free solutions to replace dlvr.it and found Buffer.  I tested and it works.  Yes, they have a free plan.  I'll be using that until they stop offering their service for free (if they stop, I'm in trouble because I'm not sure anyone else offers free plans that aren't super-neutered).

Went from AlDente Free to AlDente Pro!

I've been using AlDente (yes, the battery charge limiter app) for a while now.  I started using it when I first bough the Macbook Air.

Today, I though to myself, "I've been using this and it's obviously an important thing to me.  Why not buy the Pro version?"

This made so much sense to me and I had similar thoughts in the past, so I bought AlDente Pro, the lifetime version.

When I run into good software that I know I'll need in the future, I usually end up buying it after using the free edition of the software for a while.  I've no problem with giving back, especially if the software owner is an independent developer.  Developers have to eat, too!

I'm also a flight sim guy (I recently bought several DCS World modules and I fly IL2: Sturmovik too).  I bought TacView (Advanced version) a long while back because I love how you can replay previous flights and use TacView to analyze a combat situation.  TacView wasn't cheap - it was $70 - but I used it to the point that I hated when I flew something that TacView couldn't work with, so I bought it.

Beats Studio Buds + Were Still Falling Out Of My Ears, So I Bought Complys!

 I shared with you all that I bought a set of Beats Studio Buds + awhile back.

I got a bit pissed a few weeks ago when I was working in the yard and my Beats earbuds were slipping out of my ear canal.

I decided to check to see if I Comply made some anti-slick inserts for these earbuds, as I bought a few of these for my AirPods Pro earbuds and they work well.

I was quite surprised when I saw that Comply was making versions for the Beats Buds + earbuds and I immediately ordered a set.  They work well.

I also ordered a different set from Amazon, because although the Comply ones work well, they don't last all that long before they no longer work.  The ones I ordered were Ludos Comfy Earbuds Replacement Memory Foam.  These fit into my ears well, but will not fit in the charging pod and require removal to charge the earbuds.

At this point, I've been using my Beats earbuds far more often than my AirPods Pro buds - dunno why, because the AirPods immediately connect to my phone and Macs, whereas I've to manually connect both my Beats headset and buds.  I do like the Beats buds' controls better.

Docker, Wordpress, and Linode

Maybe a week ago, I decided to refresh my Linode instance.  I'd been using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on it the past 10 years.  16.04 has been unsupported for quite a while now, but I was being lazy while still watching the server for possible compromises (the server was locked down very well).

Initially, I'd planned on a slow rollover to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, by deploying a new host and slowly migrating over to it from the old server.  One day, I just said, "fuck it" and started from scratch.  I kept my old disk volume and mounted it to the new host so that I could grab old data whenever I needed it...having config files from the old host would help me when reinstalling the software I was using on the old host.

The plan was to migrate my two Wordpress sites to the new host but today I tried running Wordpress on Docker on an old Dell XPS 8930 and it worked well.  I first tried to just get to the point where Wordpress could install onto it.  I then tried to restore a backup of one Wordpress site onto the Dockerized Wordpress instance and I was immediately successful.  It happened so quickly that I spent the rest of the day testing it, to the point that I decided to do the same thing on the 24.04 server tonight.  It's now up and running and I've already been posting to it.  I'll monitor it the next few days and will probably back it up, tear down the whole thing, and then try some different setups, such as trying to run both Wordpress sites from one set of containers (the problem is, I need both Wordpress sites to be serving on port 80 and there's only one port 80 on the server.

Currently the setup is using three small containers (one for MySQL, one for Wordpress, and one for phpmyadmin).  I leveraged the YAML files of two other nerds, using both to build my own YAML file, which I used to pull the images and configure the containers.  I ran in to issues more than a few times, but between what I learned last year on acloud.guru and trial and error, it wasn't all that difficult.  What I haven't done (YET) is build my own dockerfiles.

I usually also use the Linode host as a file server (sharing pictures with friends and forums), and I was doing that using Apache, so that's a 3rd application that I'd need to use port 80...not sure how I'm going to set all this up, but the neat thing about Docker is that I can blow it away and start over (keeping my .yml compose files to work with and tweak), again and again, until I get it right.

This was the first time outside of training that I used Docker and I honestly should've been using it a long time ago.

I actually had a lot of fun doing this.

UPDATE (7/28/2024):

I'm having some issues trying to determine how to host two sites on one Dockerized Wordpress setup.  I can probably use the muti-site Wordpress setup but I need to study up on how to alter the wp-config file using the docker-compose.yml file.

Or, I can probably just run two Docker setups, one for my firearms blog and one for my car blog.

I also want to be able to share my many pictures and files using Apache, but found that I can't run Apache AND Worpdress, as both use port 80.  I may have to use some type of proxying.

Lastly, I can just reinstall Wordpress in a non-Dockerized fashion, while experimenting with Wordpress in Docker.  This is probably the more reasonable approach, as I can study up how to leverage Docker at my own leisure but have a production (and native) Wordpress setup.