Mirror site to farcorfe.org.uk
After being dropped in at the deep end with work and sent on a TOGAF course on my first week as an Applications Architect, it didn’t really all make sense then, but having recently revisit the training and covering various different domains over the years I finally feel my TOGAF badge is warranted.
With Microsoft forcing everyone that uses Office 365 to use TLS 1.2 from the 1st March I thought it about time to check my webserver and see which old protocols where still supported . Qualys have an excellent tool for checking at https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/index.html
It was relatively easy after a quick google to check the default recommendations in httpd-ssl.conf to disable SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1
A quick restart of Apache and a re-test at Qualys and now the server is only supporting TLS 1.2 and “approved” ciphers,
Well, Santa was good to the girls and each received a Smart Plug to control the lighting in their respective bedrooms, and also means I when I say “lights Out” I can really enforce it!
The elder ones clubbed together get me an iKettle, my initial reservations about it accidentally turning itself on and boiling dry were soon dissipated once the sheer practicality becomes a reality. It also senses and reports back the water level so wont turn on if too low.
Just woke up, check the water level on the phone and start it boiling,
Want Coffee, not tea; drop the water temperature a tad to prevent scalding the coffee.
Need to feed the dog and need the water at a certain temp for his feed; no problem, the app will tell you how
and once connected to Alexa, even better, just holler at the Echo to turn the kettle on!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201379330
Amazon are cancelling the ability to upload your own .mp3’s from 2019, which the vast collection of music I have amassed on CD and ripped and then uploaded wont be available to Alexa and the Echo’s unless I re-purchase them in digital form, or subscribe to their full streaming service and hope everything I have previously purchased is also available from them.
Maybe there’s a way to write a skill that will reference my OneDrive where is all also backed up
Its that time again, to renew the SSL Cert with LetsEncrypt.
Following the renew instructions here
https://certbot.eff.org/all-instructions/#freebsd-none-of-the-above
Essentially main steps are to stop Apache so it can bind to port 80 or 443.
sudo apachectl stop
sudo certbot renew -dry-run
sudo certbot renew
sudo apachectl start
Assuming all goes well, the new cert will be applied. Next step is to set up a CRON job to automate this every 60 days.
Bootnote: whilst updating WordPress I also got around to enabling Google Analytics following instructions from http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-install-google-analytics-in-wordpress/
Was lamenting the appalling download speeds this morning and then remembered I was on the 2Ghz circuit and not the 5Ghz one. Toggling over to the 5Ghz resulted in a much improved service. Seems the Ps4 was updating and maxing out the 2G Wifi.
Just goes to show its not always your ISP to blame.
Having a house full of Echo’s is useful, especially the multi-room audio , but 
having the kids song choices populate my playlist can get annoying at time, so news that the Echo’s will personalise actions based on id’ing you based on your own voice is welcome.
It looks like it must be region specific at the moment as although I have the latest apps, I don’t have the menu option to set up.
more details at https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/amazon-alexa-2/amp/
Amazon have launched the mobile calling integration and home intercom functions in the UK today with the latest version of the App.
As the echos and dots are shared around the house, I will need to work on creating profiles for the girls so they don’t receive my phone call on their bedroom dots, and likewise, once they are set up I am not bombarded with their calls and messages. As I am on cable, and don’t need a phone line, this almost certainly sounds the death knell for the land line.
However the most useful feature I am sure is the slightly spooky in a privacy sense, Drop In mode. You can “Drop In on The Study” and create an almost instant connection with that room, and bellow at the kids that their tea is ready, or come and lay the table…. but they will need to make sure they know how to “hang up” a drop in connection if they don’t want Dad listening to them babble away any more than he needs to.
Trying to update Lumina via the ports to the latest 1.3.0 didn’t play nicely with portmaster. Kept complaining about a circular reference with the Lumina Archiver.
It seems the Meta port now needs to be deleted before the Lumina-Core port can be updated, but that is not mention in UPDATING. But a quick SUDO PKG DELETE LUMINA seemed to do the trick and I was then able to build the new Lumina-Core from the dedicated port directory.
I have yet to check if I now need to install all the other new Lumina ports, but Chromium works fine which is all I am normally using it for.
On the plus side I also notices that MATE-SESSIONS was also no longer installed and MATE had ceased firing up from STARTX, but installing that port again has restored MATE to full working order as well.