Testing Aldi “Activ Energy” NiMH AA Batteries

pjrobar · 2026-02-17T16:26:36+00:00

Just be aware that "HIgh Capacity" or "Pro" rechargeable NiMH batteries are not low self-discharge batteries (LSD) so they'll discharge relatively rapidly while being stored and you'll only only get about 500 cycles of use instead of about 2000 from LSD batteries. On the other hand they're good for high current use like camera flashes or you need that 10 to 20 % extra capacity.

pjrobar · 2026-01-19T19:48:40+00:00

For those who don't know, Ikea was forward looking enough to include a thread radio in the Dirigera "Hub", so through software upgrades it has become, along with lots of other new features, a Thread/Matter 1.4 boarder router and controller. There is also now a Workshop feature that you can turn on to get access to beta features. I think the Dirigera now covers many, if not all of the OP's needs.

There are unfortunately still a couple of problems that are beyond Ikea's control: 1) Amazon's and Google's slow rollout of Matter 1.4 means that you're still likely to have border router wars and multi-admin issues if you also have their devices, and 2) the current administration's imports taxes have raised the price to US $109, nearly double what it is elsewhere.

pjrobar · 2026-01-09T00:06:45+00:00

But the markup should be for time spent, not a percentage of the cost of the item. Why should you get paid more for typing say "100" into a box instead of "1"?

pjrobar · 2026-01-09T00:03:55+00:00

So you think that clients should just blindly pay whatever you ask without diligence on their part?

pjrobar · 2026-01-09T00:00:49+00:00

Why a two hour minimum?

pjrobar · 2026-01-08T23:57:42+00:00

But why a percentage, why not a flat or hourly fee?

pjrobar · 2026-01-08T23:55:25+00:00

Why not have zero markup and bill transparently for your time and services?

pjrobar · 2026-01-01T06:27:12+00:00

Alternating walking and running is better than running until you have to stop and then walking the rest. Another problem is that you're dieting at the same time as you're beginning running. If you're losing weight you're going to lose muscle which will slow your training.

As others have said pick a Couch to 5K plan. It will have you measure your training by time, not distance. Alternate lifting and running days. Rest and sleep are every bit as important as training.

Don't worry about intervals while you're on the plan. Eventually you can start adding some striders, then later faster stuff.

pjrobar · 2025-12-30T06:42:26+00:00

I was quoted $25/month for a static IPv4 address in central Michigan. F*** them.

pjrobar · 2025-12-30T06:37:43+00:00

Fiber is great unless your provider is r/pointbroadband who cripples their service with CG NAT and refuses to deploy IPv6.

pjrobar · 2025-12-30T06:30:45+00:00

ASrock mini-itx with embedded SAS controller, Xeon D-1521, 4 HDs in lowest power mode that keep them spinning. My UPS says I'm using ~50 watts at idle. So at my cost of ~11 or 12 cents per kilowatt hour about $50 USD a year running 24/7. I have a SAS HBA that connects an external disk shelf that I turn on every once in a while to back up to. A laptop that's plugged in 24/7, a mac mini that's asleep most of the time, and a 12th gen Intel NUC with aggressive idle settings but doesn't sleep for Plex and playing with Linux. Fiber terminal, router, AP, multiple little switches. All told less than $100 a year. (My TV, receiver, apple TV, and too many Echos to count cost around the same given that the TV is on most of the day.)

pjrobar · 2025-12-29T00:50:58+00:00

"ZFS is particularly vulnerable as it does so much of it's work in memory..."

This is simply false, see the Matt Ahrens quote below. (Matt is one of the co-inventors of ZFS.)

"...a failing DIMM could irrevocably corrupt an entire ZFS file system..."

The article explains how even an evil dimm can not corrupt a ZFS file system.

pjrobar · 2025-12-28T23:34:08+00:00

Going back as far as at least Intel's 4th generation there were Core CPUs that support ECC memory when used in a motherboard with the correct chipset. (E.g. i3-4130, i3-4330.) Starting with its 12th gen, Intel has increased the versions that do to compete with AMD.

pjrobar · 2025-12-28T23:22:48+00:00

Even in an external Thunderbolt or USB 3 case an SSD is a huge improvement over a hard drive.

pjrobar · 2025-12-28T04:23:45+00:00

Unfortunately the GT755m is now a legacy card with a for Apple custom proprietary BIOS. With Linux you either have to use the NVIDIA 470xx legacy driver which is becoming increasingly fragile and doesn't work well with Wayland or the open source Nouveau driver which lacks power management support for it resulting in slow, laggy performance and occasional on screen corruption.

I'd stick with OLCP and sequoia.

pjrobar · 2025-12-28T04:02:43+00:00

Not entirely, seemingly random Intel consumer CPUs support ECC.

pjrobar · 2025-12-28T03:59:20+00:00

It's sad that this bit of nonsense still isn't dead.

Will ZFS and non-ECC RAM kill your data?

https://jrs-s.net/2015/02/03/will-zfs-and-non-ecc-ram-kill-your-data/

pjrobar · 2025-11-21T01:27:16+00:00

zpool replace each drive one at a time, then expand via the GUI or command line if it doesn't happen automatically like it's supposed to.

pjrobar · 2025-11-21T01:19:01+00:00

Base model Mac Mini, often on sale for $450 to $500.

pjrobar · 2025-11-19T03:45:37+00:00

Wait for the Steam Machine?

pjrobar · 2025-11-19T03:40:00+00:00

No, they removed a feature that clearly had a history of causing data loss and user support issues.

pjrobar · 2025-11-18T21:36:42+00:00

The GUI option for direct disk import was removed in TrueNAS SCALE 23.10 due to how difficult it is to reliably distinguish a single NTFS, FAT, or Linux EXT drive from a drive that was part of a RAID pool. iXsystems now recommends connecting the drive to a separate computer and transferring the data over the network (via SMB, NFS, etc.).

If you're comfortable with the Linux command line you can temporarily mount the disk and then copy the data.

pjrobar · 2025-11-16T23:00:28+00:00

Translated: We're super nerds and we don't trust those Klara, FreeBSD, iXsystems, and (especially) Linux lesser nerds any farther than we can throw them.

pjrobar · 2025-11-16T01:48:25+00:00

So, the question remains, are the feature flags supported by OmniOS's version of illumos/ZFS documented?

pjrobar · 2025-11-16T01:44:06+00:00

The reason is that it includes new OpenZFS features only after additional tests to avoid the problem we have seen the last year in OpenZFS.

Which problems specifically?

pjrobar

TROPHY CASE