3rd Party Candidates Did Well This Year

Lately on social media I’ve read a lot of people express big disappointment with the 2 party system. I had a feeling voter turnout for 3rd parties would be higher in this election cycle as compared to others in recent years. So far both Gary Johnson and Jill Stein of the Green party have grabbed roughly about 5% of the vote. Additionally, that number could rise higher since a few states are still counting ballots. While that percentage is not near enough to obtain electoral votes, the norm for 3rd party candidates is usually less than 1%.

 

I’ve have an interesting article copied down below that echoes and elaborates on some of the things I wrote about in my last blog.

Continue reading 3rd Party Candidates Did Well This Year

Hillary’s strong lead is now wavering

Even The Young Turks who has been nothing but a cheerleader for Hillary since her nomination is beginning to have doubts. Not only are the “Deplorables” in social media questioning Clinton’s “strong” poll numbers but many of the BernieOrBust crowd who are now backing Jill Stein are also saying she’s at big risk of losing to Trump. I think that says a lot since they don’t really like either of these 2 big candidates.

Continue reading Hillary’s strong lead is now wavering

The Rise of OuterNet

We’ve all of course know about the Internet but recently there has been the development of Outernet. It’s been dubbed as the ‘library in the sky’ as it is meant to freely provide vital information in areas of the world where internet is scarce or non-existent. This will benefit people living in an areas hit by a major natural disaster, war-torn countries or trying circumvent censorship.

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Nuclear Waste In Neighborhood

Well… this is something you don’t see everyday. The convoy of trucks hauling this nuclear waste was halted long enough to get a good video recording of it.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oANCQyWluOk&w=560&h=315]

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Differences between VPS servers and Docker containers

For years VPS has been a great middle-of-the-road server option and will continue to have a place for years to come. You get the best of both worlds as far as performance and price is concerned.

The picture below is an excellent visual showing the differences between Type 1 & 2 hypervisors (VPS) and the newer Docker containers people are steadily going for. If you’re a newb then basically the fewer layers on the stack is better when it comes to using less resources. So the Docker container on the right is clearly the direction to go.

However, that does not necessarily mean a docker will be the best choice for you. Both VMs/VPS and Dockers have their trade-offs. Whatever you’ll be using it for, then learning all the pros and cons will help you determine which works best for you.

 

crash-course-in-cloud-computing-10-638

Accessing The Outernet (Tutorial)

This is an excellent guide from rtl-sdr.com on all the hardware and software needed in gaining access to the Outernet. The cost is relatively inexpensive for about less than $100 and there are also guides on how to build your own patch antenna if you chose not to buy one. You also don’t necessarily have to use a Raspberry Pi3, you can run it on a Windows/Linux system though support is limited (at the time of this writing).

I shall put a link to the original article at the bottom and the tutorial begins immediately down below.

 

RTL-SDR TUTORIAL: RECEIVING AND DECODING DATA FROM THE OUTERNET

Outernet is a relatively new satellite service which aims to be a “library in the sky”. Essentially their service is going to be constantly transmitting files and data like news and weather updates from geostationary satellites that cover almost the entire world. Geostationary means that the satellites are in a fixed position in the sky, and do not move over time. By simply pointing a small patch antenna at the sky (with LNA and RTL-SDR receiver), it is possible to download and decode this data from almost anywhere in the world. Their aim is to provide up to date information to users in locations with little to no internet (rural, third world and sea), or in countries with censored internet. It may also be of interest to disaster preppers who want an “off-grid” source of news and weather updates. It can kind of be thought as a kind of one-way download-only internet service.

 

Continue reading Accessing The Outernet (Tutorial)

enhancing macaroni

I’m nowhere near as good at cooking as I’d like to be but I do have a personal “recipe” of sorts. This of course isn’t a serious dish but it’s a great thing to do when you’re coming home from a long day.

 

Here’s what you need:

1. box of macaroni

2. jar of Salsa con Queso (whatever brand you prefer)

3. Peppercorns with grinder (not ground pepper)

 

After you’ve cooked the macaroni, instead of using that crappy powered cheese that came in the box. Use the salsa con queso instead, grind your peppercorns and bam you’re done!