Synology DSM 6.2 + Let’s Encrypt + DNS Challenge + Route53

I’m attempting to build upon Markus Lippert’s article (https://lippertmarkus.com/2020/03/14/synology-le-dns-auto-renew/) with a newer DSM (DiskStation Manager) version (6.2.3). Some of the instructions from that post were slightly different from what my experience was. I don’t have my Synology device accessible on the internet, so using a DNS challenge was the best option available. The built-in Synology … Read more

Synology and *.clients.your-server.de

Recently I’ve been noticing a lot of consistent traffic coming from my Synology (well, Xpenology) virtual machine destined for a clients.your-server.de domain.  This was somewhat concerning as some cursory Google searches for this domain resulted in several posts about folks associating this domain with malware and/or bots.  Uh oh. I use pfSense as my router … Read more

Firefox – Black Background on New (blank) Tab Page

Opening a new tab in Firefox in a dark room can be a blinding experience.  Luckily, there’s an easy way to make the ‘New Tab’ page background black (or any color you want, really). To start, click on the Firefox menu button, go to ‘Help’, and then click on ‘Troubleshooting Information’.  You should get a … Read more

MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G Artifacts When Overclocking

This post pertains to the 09SB version of the MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G video card, but may also apply to other models. You can find your model on the video card’s box as part of the serial number. I don’t think I had my GTX 970 installed for more than 5 minutes before I … Read more

Get the Quake 3 hitsound for Team Fortress 2

If you’re like me, you lived and breathed Quake 3 during its hayday.  Hearing that satisfying plunk sound after launching a couple grenades around a corner was a good feeling. I’ve recently gotten back into Team Fortress 2 after a long hiatus and found myself not liking the default ding hitsound that TF2 uses.  I … Read more

So you want to stop receiving mail from Dish Network?

Occasional junk mail can be a minor annoyance, but when you receive 1-2 letters a week from a service provider, it’s ridiculous and wasteful. This was my case with Dish Network.  I previously had – and canceled – their service at an old address, but the disease that is Dish promotional mail followed me to … Read more

No accepted shares with your Gridseed 5 chip ASIC miner?

Are you the proud owner of one of these little Gridseed 5-chip ASIC miners?  They sure are neat and seem fairly efficient, but you might’ve run into a problem where it looks like they’re getting work but shares are not getting accepted.  One thing to keep in mind is that even though you might have … Read more

Idiot’s Guide to a Raspberry Pi Garage Door Opener

Update 4/22/15: It has become apparent that WebIOPi is not yet compatible with the Raspberry Pi v2.  If you are following this tutorial, you must be using the first-generation Pi.  The link below for the B+ model is still valid, and this model will still work for this project. Updated 11/17/2014: I’ve updated the Amazon … Read more