brightblack. non-sequiturs. stuff. on brightblack dot net

Reads - Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges

Currently using - December 2025

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What I'm currently using, what's on the shelves

After All The Nightmares (Elm Street Part 3)

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Nightmare On Elm Street Film Series (1984-1994) Part 3

The Nightmare On Elm Street Film Series - Part 2

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Nightmare On Elm Street Film Series (1984-1994) - Part 2

The Nightmare On Elm Street Film Series - Part 1

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Nightmare On Elm Street Film Series (1984-1994)

Site News - new features!

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:22:05 +0900

New features for the site

Moving over to Nothing products in 2025

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Strangely moving over to Nothing products?

Currently using - June 2025

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What I'm currently using, what's on the shelves

I Moved Hosting to Kualo

Fri, 30 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I Moved Hosting to Kualo

Moving Back to Desktop Linux

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Desktop Linux

Currently using - December 2024

Thu, 26 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

What I'm currently using, what's on the shelves

Updating the Archive Server

Thu, 26 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Updating the Archive Server

Currently using - March 2024

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

What I'm currently using, what's on the shelves

Hugo Theme Change

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 16:22:05 +0900

Brightblack has been on the Hugo static site generator for quite a while now - almost three years in fact - and I’d been thinking of putting a new coat of paint on the place for a few months, but I’d been promising myself to put any brightblack time into content and not playing with tooling.

However, an actual problem has forced me to make the change. Newer builds of Hugo had deprecated some references around Google Analytics, which was breaking my build. I tried updating the theme but to no avail, I could have hacked the theme to make it work, or rolled Hugo back and I even looked for a quick alternate theme I’d tested years ago, but to install an update I’d have needed to get into the nuts and bolts of the git index.

Windows 11 upgrade

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 16:22:05 +0900

Windows 11 has been out for over 2 years now (since October 2021) and I’ve not felt much impetus to move; there’s some nice features (tabbed file browsers etc.), but there’s potential downsides, and that’s before we get into the issue of telemetry.

However, all that aside, I have updated my Windows 10 box to Windows 11. Despite all of the above, why? Well I expect to update some family PCs and I want to guinea-pig it first, see what’s weird, see if anyting doesn’t work.

Bitwarden - My new vault solution for sensitive data

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

An open source backed solution

scp has been deprecated

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:22:05 +0900

Long story short, but I learned last week (and a couple of years or so after the fact) that the openSSH team have advised people to move away from scp (secure copy) towards SFTP (SSH/Secure file transfer protocol) and rsync.

sftp should also not be confused with ftps - that’s completely different, and not secure.

I’ve used scp a little over the last few years, mainly for one-off copies between my Ubuntu server and a couple of Pis I have, but any normal file copy I do I’ve long used rsync (or Robocopy sometimes from the Windows box). sftp is quite nice to use, allowing simple local and remove directory traversal so it’s certainly a more usable option too!

A new PSU for the old archive server

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

A new Fractal Design ION Gold 550W PSU for the old archive server

A Month with the NucBox5

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Testing out a very small form factor

All of that Battlestar Galactica

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Watching the humans and the cylons

Currently using - September 2023

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

What I'm currently using, what's on the shelves

Site News

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 16:22:05 +0900

A few changes and updates

Some podcasts I've been listening to lately

Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Listening to people talk

Some Job Hunting and Interview Notes

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Some tips on job hunting, picked up along the way

Currently using - March 2023

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

What I'm currently using, what's on the shelves

Publii - a more visual Static Site Generator

Sun, 22 Jan 2023 18:00:00 +0900

For codeless pages

Razer Review - Robocop (1987)

Tue, 03 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Robocop (the original, accept no substitutes)

Currently using - December 2022

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

What I'm currently using, what's on the shelves

Building the first couple of family PCs

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Family PC Builds

Moving to Syncthing for file sync

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Keeping active files in sync

Currently using - March 2022

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

What I'm currently using, what's on the shelves

Some Slices of Henry Rollins

Mon, 07 Feb 2022 18:00:00 +0900

The man in the black shorts

Return to Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 18:00:00 +0900

Getting back to a classic

Flexispot Standing Desk

Sun, 12 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Is sitting the new smoking?

Currently using - December 2021

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

What I'm currently using, what's on the shelves

Hello Hugo!

Sun, 14 Nov 2021 13:00:00 +0900

Hello Hugo.

Hello, and this time, if you’re reading this in November 2021 or thereabouts, you’re reading brightblack as generated by the Hugo static site generator. If you were reading for the near two years before this date, it was likely generated by Jekyll. Yes, I switched.

For the reader, I hope this change will be transparent, though my URL redirect for anyone with old links might be a bit sketchy, and so apologies for any 404s. I don’t like it myself, but it is what it is.

about. sort of

Sat, 13 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

sort of about the site

The Bill and Ted Trilogy

Sun, 15 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A closing third film to these two heroes

Currently Using - June 2021

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A lot of stuff

Razor Review - It Follows

Sun, 25 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

It's following me

Became an EFF Member again, and site tweaks

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I became an EFF member again

How I passed my AWS Cloud Practitioner exam

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Another certification

How I passed my PMI Certified Associate in Project Management certification

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

It's been a while since I did a cert.

Site update and Retro

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Looking at old content

Currently Using - December 2020

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

What am I using?

Halloween Animatronic Pt.2 - LCD Eyes

Sun, 29 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

As a sequel to the motorised eyeballs, now trying tiny LCD screens.

Checking old MiniDV Tapes

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The value of checking media

Identifying Wi-Fi issues and replacements

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Looking into random wifi drops

PC Build Out - December 2019

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

An upgrade a while in the coming...

Family Media Migration 2019

Tue, 30 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Moving all those family photos and videos around

Moving to the Jekyll static site generator

Sun, 14 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Trying a static site generator

Pi-Hole on a Raspberry Pi 1B

Sun, 14 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

PiHole - a good use for an old pi

Halloween Animatronic Pt.1 - Physical Eyes

Mon, 01 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Building motorised eye balls

Tech Grunts - 2019 Quarter 2

Mon, 01 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Just a lot of obserations and complaining

Raspberry Pi Wifi Robot Car (2016)

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Driving a tiny car from a laptop

Apple Photos and Its Sometimes Odd Library Structures

Fri, 01 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Apple Photos doesn't sometime do what I expected.

My Laptop Usage in the Summer of 2018

Sat, 11 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

How I'm using my laptop ...

What My Mobile Setup Looks Like in 2014

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This is what my mobile setup looks like in 2014

Gadgets Summary - February 2008

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Gadgets Summary - February 2008

Error Messages - Part 2

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Got to love some useful dialogs

2007 Film Micro Reviews

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0000

2007 Film Micro Reviews

FEAR - The Wrap Up

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0000

FEAR - The Wrap Up

Palm Setup

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Palm Setup

Home Cinema v1.0

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Home Cinema v1.0

The Palm Page from 2000 to 2004

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Palm page from 2000 to 2004

Reads - Books and Such (2003 & 2004)

Fri, 31 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Reads - Books and Such

Japan Diary 2003

Wed, 31 Dec 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Japan Diary 2003

Snowboarding in Japan

Mon, 01 Dec 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Some snowboarding in Japan information

Film Micro Reviews 2003

Sat, 30 Aug 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Film Micro Reviews 2003

Error Messages - Part 1

Sat, 25 Jan 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Got to love some useful dialogs

Japan Diary 2002

Tue, 31 Dec 2002 00:00:00 +0000

Japan Diary 2002

Linux Page 2001

Mon, 31 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Linux Page 2001

Peripherals in 2001

Mon, 31 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Peripherals in 2001

Fasuto Fu-do

Mon, 06 Nov 2000 00:00:00 +0000

The fast food of Japan

Review - Myth 2

Wed, 31 May 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Review - Myth 2

Densha De Go!

Thu, 25 May 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Go by train and meet interesting people

PC Upgrade - May 2000

Mon, 01 May 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Upgrading a PC at the turn of a millennia

All Aboard the Fun Bus

Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00:00 +0000

All Aboard the Fun Bus

Review of Musashi 3

Sat, 17 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Review of Musashi 3

Review of Musashi 2.2

Sun, 13 Sep 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Review of Musashi 2.2

My Setup in 1998

Wed, 25 Mar 1998 00:00:00 +0000

My Setup in 1998

Digital Life Update - February 1998

Thu, 12 Feb 1998 00:00:00 +0000

More of that digital life from the 90s

Words About the Web

Tue, 06 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Words About the Web

Digital Life - October 1997

Tue, 14 Oct 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Digital life - back in the 90s

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Title: Mac Page 2001 Date: 2001-12-31 13:28 Slug: mac-page-2001 Category: technology

December 2001

A sad day…last Friday my Mac refused to power up :-(( . I tried a shops power supply , ‘hoping’ that that was the problem, but alas, it still refused to work. It’s not quite a funeral yet! I’ve spoken to AppleCare Japan, and will be shipping it off to them this week to see if they can repair it within a reasonable cost. I’m amazed that it’s been trouble free up until now - coming up to it’s 3rd birthday of being dragged all over the planet, and being constantly abused in the process. OK, news as I get it. I’m looking forward to getting it fixed so I can put it on my router/ADSL system, and I’m sure I’ll love it even more…I wish I had the cash to go wireless now!!