Thursday, January 20, 2022

Big news.

At 5:30 this morning, my grandaughter came into the world.

She is, of course, beautiful. She is also healthy.

Mom, dad and older brother are also happy and healthy


The top-secret project hardware has been ordered and, once I have it in hand, I will put it all together, load the operating system & top-secret software and deliver it to the folks that need it.

The big problem we ran into is the damned computer chip shortages. This is run on a Raspberry Pi and, unfortunately, there is a shortage of RPi's right now. We could not find the same model I have been testing on.

We were fortunately able to find an RPi that is a model up from than the one I've been testing on but it should be okay. Linux is not as finicky as Windows when it comes to hardware changes.

The kit they bought comes with a decent power supply, heat sinks, a fan and an enclosure. It also comes with some extra cables and a 128g microSD card to hold the operating system and software.

This will make these folks working-lives a little easier and all it will cost them is the $150 for the RPi. They are pretty pleased with that.

Also, if this works out okay for them, maybe I'll order a few RPi's, load up the software, create some automation to keep it updated and sell them as appliances for small businesses that might want to do the top-secret thing. Buying the hardware for $150, loading up the software and selling it as an appliance for $500, along with a monthly support fee to keep the thing running smoothly and fix any glitches, would generate a nice little income.

Then again, I don't want to be in a position where I'm getting late night phone calls because something broke. I did that for many, many years and trust me, it sucks. Screw that.


Despite the major loss the other night, I'm still a Bruins fan. That means I will be watching the Capitals / Bruins game this evening.

If you want, you can check these out:

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