The second week of my new blog and I was able to accelerate the number of articles that I published, even during a heavy travel week at work. Two of the articles were product reviews, both of which are Kickstarter projects that finally came to fruition after more than two years of waiting: Ubiquiti - Configure micro-segmentation for IoT devices (the Internet of Things is a danger to the global network as well as your local LAN, here I discuss how I segregated my IoT devices into their own micro-segment in my home network, using Ubiquiti UniFi) 2016 - What I've Read (a collection of all the books I read in 2016 with short synopsis of each) Ube (now Plum)...

The team behind the Joeveo Temperfect Mug had quite a story in bringing this product to market: tree through roof, hurricane, bad factories, scheduling, design issues, and production issues. The concept is that through a special thermal layer in the mug, heat from over-hot drinks (180ºF) will be absorbed into a special liner, quickly cooling the drink to a specific desired temperature (~145ºF) in a few minutes. The real magic happens as the mug then leeches heat back into the beverage as it cools, to keep it between 120ºF and 145ºF for up to 3 hours! Compare this to a standard vacuum-sealed mug that keeps the beverage ABOVE 145ºF for close to an hour (too hot to drink) and then...

Ube renamed themselves to Plum and renamed the WiFi Connected Smart Light Dimmer to Lightpad. The Plum Lightpad is a WiFi-Connected "Smart Switch". It installs in place of an existing dimmer and enables you to control the light using an iOS Application. The application supports tying multiple Lightpads into a "Room" and then using "Scenes" to control the lights as a group in those "Rooms". Rating ★★☆☆☆ Kickstarter Info Kickstarter Site: Ube (now Plum) WiFi Connected Smart Light Dimmer Date Funded:  2013 April 4 Total Backers:  1,308 Total Raised:  $307,600 vs. Goal:  $280,000 Date Backed:  2011 January 31 Backer Level:  Premium Dimmer Room Pack Backer Price:  $298.00 Estimated Delivery: Jul 2013 Item Received:  Jan 2016 (2.5...

I recently saw an article on another blog where the author documents all of the books that he read during the course of the year. I like to think I read a lot and it's always a mix of professional, self-improvement, knowledge expansion, productivity, and entertainment. I liked the idea so much that I'm going to do the same here. This is my list from 2016, the permanent archive of everything will be here. 2016 has been one of the most stressful in my 46 years of life on this planet. Massive changes socially, personally, professionally, and societal have created a situation where I just want to see the year be over, so I can begin moving in a positive...

Internet of Things (IoT) The Internet of Things is a label that the computer industry, the media, and manufacturers have created to describe small devices that live on a network and provide a specific feature. The Internet of things (stylised Internet of Things or IoT) is the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles (also referred to as "connected devices" and "smart devices"), buildings and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data. [...] The IoT allows objects to be sensed and/or controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit....