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A long overdue overhaul

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For quite a while my technology has been migrating to USB-C, partly by the decision to favor this when replacing tech and partly by attrition. Didn’t really plan on my Kindle 10 dying but hey, replacing it meant one less odd ball.

Presently my Bluetooth headphones (MicroUSB-B) and my phone (Lightning) are the only things that remain in common use that lack USB-C/PD. Except for my security keys which are still type-A connectors there are dreadfully few important things still using the older port type. In recent years the last hold outs have either gained (Centauri->Rimuru) or gone pure (Stark->Shion) USB-C, and one of the reasons I keep USB-A connectivity around is my security keys.

Well, technically there is also a plant shaped lamp on my desk that charges its internal battery via MicroUSB. But honestly I bought that because I like the look of it, not because I use it as a desk lamp 🤪

At long last, I’ve decided on replacing my USB-A based security keys with new USB-C models. Again, one for keeping on my keychain and one for keeping in a safe location. For a while, I will likely retain the ‘A’ model on key ring along side its replacement. I expect that it will join its companion in a safe location soon enough.

Actually, as a side thought, perhaps I should retire them to a safe deposit box or a drill press once ‘fully’ retired from service.

Tags and categories

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An upside to moving platforms, is now I have a system with independent ideas of tags and categories.

I’m thinking that this could be a useful means of separating more specific searchables from broader topics. Something that as time and variety have gone on, I’ve tended to avoid with everything crammed under Blogger’s idea of labels.

Alternatively it could just be a pain in the arse.

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In setting up the new time machine drive, it somehow figures that I ended up plugging in a 10 Gbit/s drive into a 0.480 Mbit/s port, thankfully the only one on that dock 😅

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To say that the dogs’ expressions were sad and concerned when I went out the door, would be a fair statement.

To say that the dogs’ were angry when I came home with two dozen donuts, would be an understatement.

Mischief managed….

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Thus far, as Gateway Station has continued to evolve, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Anker 555 hub needs to die. I posted an earlier entry on it’s troubles with Rimuru, and the process of elimination from the NT side of my setup.

Now that Shion the MacBook Air is at the center point, and Stark is officially retired to /dev/closet, the issues of course continue.

What I’m finding is that the hub works great with macOS when connected to Apple’s Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4.0 controller. Except when you use the Power Delivery port, in which case it doesn’t do jack shit. But otherwise seems to function provided I leave the USB-PD port clear and power Shion directly.

Now part of this may owe to the fact that I’m now using one of Anker’s new GaNPrime chargers to drive everything. A downside of Anker’s new fancy chargers is they expect intelligent negotiation of power that sometimes causes issues, Anker chargers being heavily marked for compatibility, aside the point ^_^. To eliminate the possibility that my nearest Apple C-to-C cable might not be rated for enough power draw to charge a laptop rather than an iPad, I also opted to try the same configuration using one of Anker’s 100W rated PD cables with the exact same result.

Thus, I am reminded that the hub cost about as much as retrofitting Rimuru from my USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbit/s card to a Titan Ridge based Thunderbolt 4 card, which also has a pair of USB-C connections. For now, I think a Thunderbolt dock will be replacing the Anker hub. The question will be whether or not my one cable swap approach remains, using the dock in place of the hub, or move everything through the dock and dare to suffer whatever the state of Thunderbolt drivers are for Windows 11….

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 Random things I blame on Bill and Ted: being able to spell Socrates from memory.

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 A second experiment: 44 grams of coffee (about 6 spoons of beans) to 800 ml of coffee for 4 minutes. A nice bold coffee, but without that kite flying value of the previous stump water experiment.

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There’s plenty of reasons why I prefer Alexa to Siri and Google Assistant as far as digital voice things go.

One of those reasons is that when I address Alexa, the closest device tends to be the one that responds. Makes sense for something that has to listen for a key word.
Now, by contrast there is Siri. I can raise my watch to my face and address Siri with some request. But instead of processing this, my phone or tablet across room takes over and of course can’t here a damned thing that I’m saying. I’ve experienced this with my phone and tablet enough to know a work around for that is to put your phone screen down as a STFU indicator, because obviously the device the user is interacting with isn’t the one the user obviously wants to use by default.
Or, you know, just do the sane thing, Apple. It’s not rocket science.