Northern Portugal (Alto Minho) / Drone video & photos

Northern Portugal  (Alto Minho) / Drone video & photos
Just a quick post about finally getting around to editing my April 2018 Portugal visit with family.  Brought the Mavic Pro along and here’s an edited version of some of the sights from the trip  Monção, Portugal . Here are some additional photos taken on Monção, Portugal a small city, on the banks of the ...

PHP on Linux authenticate users with a Windows Server Active Directory 11

PHP on Linux authenticate users with a Windows Server Active Directory
A common request when building INTRANET web applications is to have users use only one  common shared set of  login credentials. Typically in most small and medium businesses this means that logging into a Windows Server of some kind to access the network.  Windows Servers use Active Directory (AD) ,which is  basically Microsoft’s glorified LDAP ...

Magic5 Swim goggle review 37

Magic5 Swim goggle review
This is a short review of my experience with the Magic5 Swim goggles. Magic5 goggles are custom made , custom-fitted goggles that promise to transform the age old issue of leaky and ill fitting goggles into a perfect leak-free  fit. Leaky goggles are the bane of anyone who spends enough time in the pool or ...

Donut Media coolest youtube Car channel

Donut Media coolest  youtube Car channel
This is a  short post, I came across a neat little youtube channel Donut.media, which is an awesome car channel , To quote their tag line “Making Car Culture.. Pop Culture.” Here’s a typical episode: Its a very slick and nicely produced channel that not only highlights popular makes and models in their “Up To ...

Easy battery powered Mailbox Door IoT sensor using ESP32 38

Easy battery powered Mailbox Door IoT sensor using ESP32
This post is how I took my rusty (literally) old mailbox and made it into a battery powered smart mailbox (an IoT device) , that sends you an SMS  (text messagE) or MQTT alerts, and in the process  how I  learned about Arduino and particularly  the ESP32 chip which lets us relatively easily  setup with minimal ...

Running Mosquitto MQTT on Windows 10 super easy 26

Running Mosquitto MQTT on Windows 10 super easy
So I’ve been playing with IoT lately,  using platforms such as  Arduino ,ESP32, Raspberry Pi and when it comes to being able to have these devices communicate with a hub or server, the de facto standard is to use a MQTT  server and protocol  . Unfortunately, prior to Windows 10  finding a  native Windows  version is ...

Raspberry Pi Zero W LED matrix stock ticker code and demo 4

Raspberry Pi Zero W LED matrix stock ticker code and demo
So I was recently intrigued by Raspberry Pi Zero W, it’s small ARM-based Linux PC with integrated WiFi and ability to connect shields (known as Hats or pHats in Raspberry lingo) , got me thinking what kinds of interesting applications could I use it for. After coming across the Scroll Phat HD in my electronics ...

Honest Review : Trackimo GPS dot live tracker

Honest Review : Trackimo GPS dot live tracker
Do you need near real-time GPS tracking for persons or property such as drones, baggage or other valuables in transit or anything that moves and you need to keep an eye-on?  The Trackimo GPS tracker can be purchased as low as $99 /for 1-year free tracking or $139 new from their website. The device  allows you to view it’s ...

Review: Viper SmartStart Remote Car Starter

Review: Viper SmartStart Remote Car Starter
Viper SmartStart is a new all-encompassing car remote start and alarm system that allows you to simply push a button on your smartphone in order to lock or unlock your car, remote start your car, or locate your car. You can even connect to this service through your smartwatch. This new system uses cloud services ...