TL;DR My security cameras were sending video to China. The following is how I found out and stopped it. A while back I bought some Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) security cameras and a Network Video Recorder (NVR). The setup was pretty easy – plug the cameras into the NVR, install the app on my phone, and link […]
Author: Chris
ThatArcade at ThatConference

Every year my coworkers and I (and all of our families) attend ThatConference. It’s a family-oriented tech conference in Wisconsin, and it takes place at a gigantic water park. If you haven’t heard of it, you absolutely have to check it out. I’ve been going since 2012, and I can’t say enough good things about […]
Docker 101

This isn’t a “What is Docker?” post; you can find those everywhere, written by people who understand it, and can explain it, much better than I. This is a quick & dirty “get-it-running” primer. A Docker image consists of a “base layer” (usually a slimmed down version of Linux, or Windows) and software additions/modifications layered […]
Lenova Yoga – Charging Port Repair

We bought a new Lenovo Yoga 700-11isk laptop a couple years ago and kept having problems with it charging. We went through 2 AC adapters, and even replaced the charging port. It suffers from a poor design that causes the charging port to become loose over time, and ultimately stop charging. After the last round […]
Accessing HSTS websites using Fiddler. Yes, it can be done!

The other day I came across a StackOverflow comment so valuable (and, unfortunately NOT marked as the answer), I had to share. First, a little context: I was debugging a webapp and popped open Fiddler to check some HTTP requests. Unfortunately, the site uses HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) and was greeted with Chrome’s warning […]
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X

A few months ago we upgraded to Charter’s Business-class internet – basically the same 60Mbps residential service but with a static IP. When the tech finished the install, I plugged my laptop into the cable modem and was pulling down almost 70Mbps! I powered everything down and put my hodgepodge of network stuff back into […]
MAME Iron Front-End revisited (WPF)

After several iterations of MAME Front-ends, I think I’ve landed on something I can call “Done” (for now!)
MAME Arcade – Monitor Mount
I picked up a TV wall-mount bracket from Menard’s for like $6. The bracket has a handy built-in bubble level and I attached it to a 2×4. When I attached it to the sides of the cabinet, I only used one screw on each side (at the top of the 2×4) at first. This allowed […]
Install Private Internet Access (PIA) on Kali 2017.1

I struggled installing Private Internet Access’ vpn in Kali a few different times using their Linux installer, and decided to share the super-simple way I got it to work. Make sure you have your /etc/apt/sources.list file populated with the correct values. These are the ones I used deb https://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free deb-src https://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling […]
Secure your credentials for file share mounts on Ubuntu 17.04
I was in “Just make it work” mode and found I’d left my credentials out in plain text after setting up my Plex server to read off a remote fileshare. Don’t do that, instead, do this: Create a directory on your local linux machine where you’ll access the file share: sudo mkdir /media/PlexMedia Modify /etc/fstab […]