Tag: Drobo

Overview

Season’s greetings – I hope you are doing well. This post is a retrospective on items that have been battle tested through my regular use. While there are many more products and services to review, I’ve tried to keep this review to 3 items in each category.

Rating terminology: Naughty/Bad (👎) or Nice/Good (👍): Using Christmas terminology for distinguishing those things that were awful (in my experience) from those things that were great.

On a non-related note – think back to the past year:

• Did you use Wikipedia? What if Wikipedia had ads on every page…would that have made it better? If you’ve used Wikipedia in any way, then please consider donating to this great resource.

• What about the Wayback Machine – have you used it to look up old content or find the content of a website that no longer exists? If so – consider donating to this great resource.

Disclaimer note: Please remember that the usual disclaimer applies – these are just my opinions. One person’s 👎 is another person’s 👍.

👍👍👍 Podcast Recommendations

There are way too many podcasts to mention. These are my some of my favorites for this year which you might find interesting.

• Continuing favorites from last year
  • The Exponent podcast is at the top of the ‘best’ list. Each episode is typically based on a Stratechary article. I’ve come across many mind-hurting ideas that keep me coming back. Use the following in your favorite podcast player to listen to this gem: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/exponent/id826420969
  • The Security Now podcast is a verbal ping-pong match between two friends – Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson. Lots of information security news with humor and a bit of sarcasm. Steve Gibson maintains excellent show notes and transcripts beside his awesome link farm. Use Twit TV’s page to link up to your favorite way of listening or watching or this iTunes link for podcast listening: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/security-now-mp3/id79016499
  • The Imaginary Worlds podcast covers an amazing gamut of about how we, as humans, suspend or disbelief.
• New this year
  • The Side Hustle School podcast is a new one that started on 1/1/17. Clocking in at less than 10 minutes per day it’s a show that covers a story of real people making real money on the side. The show’s host, Chris Guillebeau, is sincere, energetic, and awesome.
  • The Flash Forward podcast is a unique and well-executed podcast that covers the future. Host Rose Eveleth is detailed in her research and supremely enthusiastic about most future possibilities.
  • Last but certainly not least – the https://syntax.fm/ podcast with a ton of “tasty” web treats.

👍Nice List aka Good List

This is the good list. I’m not sure what else can be said about it.

👍Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard

I originally heard about the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard from a Marco Arment review. Marco’s review covers the pros/cons of this keyboard. I’ve been using it for more than a year at work, and it’s so good that I bought another one for home. The only annoyance with this keyboard is the need to use the Fn switch to activate function keys. While an inconvenience, the ergonomic position combined with the feel of the keys make this keyboard great for home and work use.

As usual – if you have RSI issues please consult with your doctor to determine if this keyboard would help or hurt you.

👍 Instant Pot DUO80 8 QT

Imagine a pressure cooker that is programmable for both pressure and time. No more watching a pot on the stove, and wondering if it might explode. No imagination needed anymore – check out the Instant Pot (mine was the Instant DUO80). I was extremely skeptical when a friend recommended this device. I can’t even quite believe that I’m talking about it this much.

While there are many types of foods and recipes for the Instant Pot, I find it useful for the most ridiculously mundane “cooking”:

• Cooking hard-boiled eggs (across any softness level) that are a perfectly easy to peel. This is the recipe that explains why the peeling is so easy and how to do it: “Pressure Cooker Eggs”
• Cooking perfectly steamed vegetables in 0 minutes (after reaching pressure). Whether it’s a head of broccoli or cauliflower – it’s just 1 cup of water and 0 minutes in the steam setting. Of course it takes more than 0 minutes since the pressure has to build up, but once the InstantPot comes to pressure, the vegetables are perfectly steamed and it’s a matter of releasing pressure, putting butter and demolishing the awesomeness.

Excellent recipe sites:

• HIP Pressure Cooking: https://www.hippressurecooking.com/
• Amy and Jack’s Pressure Cooking recipes: https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/

👍 CH Hanson 03040 Magnetic Stud Finder

My wife happened to see some contractors use a magical magnetic device that could easily find studs. She took a photo of it, and I found it on Amazon. The CH Hanson 03040 Magnetic Stud Finder is AMAZING. Really…I’ve used electronic ones and all kinds of crappy magnetic imitations. This is the one. It’s pretty much a no-brainer for eight dollars. The form factor in conjunction with this device’s powerful magnets works extremely well.

Naughty aka Bad List

For this list, I can’t help but provide multiple emojis to express how bad something is. I suppose that it’s the human condition that we barely remember the good, but we remember the bad in extreme detail.

👎👎👎👎👎 Drobo – Bad hardware from initial purchase resulting in FIVE exchanges

I originally bought a Drobo 5N in 2016 during a Black Friday sale. I specifically choose the Drobo because a friend always spoke highly of his Drobo 5D.

I did not have a chance to configure the Drobo until the middle of 2017 (life took over). From the first moment that I plugged the Drobo 5N into power and ethernet it was a non-stop 👎 show. My return history:

1. The initial unit I purchased didn’t work so I opened a ticket with support and they asked me to get a replacement unit.
2. I got a replacement 5N and it didn’t work either.
3. Another back and forth with support and I got another replacement unit (3rd unit). This one failed to work, so I asked Drobo support if I could get a Drobo 5D since it was an older product line that might be more reliable (at least that was my thinking)
4. I got a Drobo 5D as an exchange unit and once again this one didn’t work either.
5. Another exchange with support and now I’m on my second 5D (and 5th Drobo device)

The current 5D is still running (it’s been about three months). I feel like I should have a website with a count-up clock that says “It has been ___ days and Drobo 5D serial abc123 is still working”. Drobo has been a stunning disappointment, and I would never touch one with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole. I can’t trust this device to hold any data, and I’m not sure what to do with it even if it is currently working.

The only good thing about Drobo Inc. is their support group. The support folks were great (multiple gold stars to Valorie). They went out of their way to do the best that they could with a crappy situation. They even gave me an additional three years of Drobo Care to provide some reassurance.

The problem is that I can’t trust Drobo’s devices. My current Drobo 5D is just a large electronic paperweight. It’s got green lights, so I suppose that it’s useful for Christmas.

👎👎👎👎 O’Reilly’s Departure from DRM Free Technical Books 💔

It saddens me that the company that most promoted DRM free books (see picture below and https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/stop-the-drm-virus) is the one to exit out. I’ve written extensively about O’Reilly’s departures from DRM free technical books and what to do about it: https://eli4d.com/2017/07/26/reflecting-on-oreillys-departure-from-drm-free-technical-books-and-finding-alternatives/

👎👎👎 Backup Service – CrashPlan and Code 42 Dumping its Customers

As a loyal CrashPlan customer I find it difficult to find anything positive about the company’s dropping of its consumer clients. I have used CrashPlan to backup my home computers for years, and the option to use their client to backup to local machines (without going to CrashPlan’s servers) has been great.

While I’ll give the company credit for giving plenty of notice about this change, there is much to be desired in terms of migration off Crashplan:

• CrashPlan (of course) tries to steer its consumer clientele to its “Small Business” plan. There are 2 problems with this:
  1. The plan is much more expensive than the consumer plan
  2. This supposedly ‘better’ business plan does not have the local machine client capability. So you’re losing features and paying more.
• If you decided to migrate to their suggested option 2 company – Carbonite – you quickly find out there THERE IS NO MIGRATION CAPABILITY. This means that none of your current backups (and all the versions going back in time) can be moved to Carbonite. So it’s really no different than starting over with any new backup provider – whether it’s Carbonite, Backblaze, or anyone else. I can only venture to guess that CrashPlan’s recommendation of Carbonite is there because they get affiliate type of revenue for steering customers there. So once again – a gain for Crashplan and a loss for the consumer.

For all of the above reasons, I cannot recommend CrashPlan in any way to anyone. This, of course, carries forward to any employers I work for and any businesses I encounter. Code 42 (CrashPlan’s parent company) has a right to ‘pivot’ any way that it wants as much as I have a right to pivot away from any of Code 42’s products. The lack of a migration path for its customer backups is unconscionable.

👎 Samson LTS50 Laptop Stand

I rarely return items to Amazon, but the Samson LTS50 Laptop Stand was very disappointing. My original intent was to have a portable sort of standing desk option. The steel construction components are very solid. The problem was the locking latches. With somewhat little force, the laptop would easily ‘sink’ downwards when slight pressure was applied to the laptop.

As usually – this is just my opinion about this product. Your mileage may vary.

All Time Favorites

👍👍👍 Love & Logic Framework to dealing with Children

I am far away from being the parent of the year. However, I have found the Love & Logic framework to be extremely helpful as my kid has gone through various ages and stages. I always recommend these materials to any new parents, and I have found the early-childhood information to be very helpful.

👍👍👍 Kindle Voyage

The Kindle Voyage has been a tremendous boon to my reading. I’ve read so many more books since I bought it (as in a magnitude increase). The e-ink is great with the fantastic lighting. I have also found tons of great sci-fi books on the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library (I highly recommend the Frontiers Saga by Ryk Brown).

👍👍👍 Portable Stand Laptop Holder

A favorite that has survived 2017 (I get questions about it in coffee shops all the time). Note that this item is now out of stock. A compelling alternative might be this other stand (though I have not personally tested it).

From my 2016 review:

I’ll admit that the “Superbpag Multi-angle Non-slip Portable Stand Holder Laptop Stand For iPad 2 3 4 Air Mini Retina Tablet and Most Laptop” looks ridiculously chintzy on Amazon’s site. And yet they work ridiculously well in terms of size, weight, and resilience. They also bring some semblance of ergonomics to laptop use in a coffee shop (assuming you have a keyboard of course).

👍👍👍 iBenzer Hard Case Cover and Keyboard Cover for Macbook

Another survivor through 2017. I don’t know what iBenzer did for the keyboard cover, but it’s amazing – no curling or tearing whatsoever. I can’t speak for any of their other products, but this one is terrific.

From my 2016 review:

The *iBenzer Soft-Touch Series Plastic Hard Case is a light and protective cover for your Macbook. While the cover is great, my biggest surprise was the keyboard cover. The keyboard cover has been very resilient and it does not curl like Kuzy covers (which I’ve previously owned). iBenzer does a great job in both the case and the keyboard cover.*

Note: Make sure to ****exactly match**** you Macbook’s model to the case since there is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to these sort of cases and keyboard covers.

Conclusion

I hope this review is helpful. I wish you a healthy and safe holiday 🎁 season and a great new year.

Thoughts? Feedback? Let me know via @eli4d on Twitter.