Category: DIY Hometech

  • First Impressions with the Kinesis Contoured Classic QD (KB133PC/QD)

    First Impressions with the Kinesis Contoured Classic QD (KB133PC/QD)

    [Update – 2020/02/29] – Leap Day update. I was able to repair the leads on flex circuit board using the conductive paint that I picked up at Canadian Tire. The ESC key works 100% now. I had wanted to lower the thumb clusters a bit, but realized that I didn’t have the right sized screws…

  • HP T620 thin client

    [UPDATE – 2014/11/26: Made a few updates on the hardware.] [UPDATE – 2015/12/23: I ended up taking the Wireless N / Bluetooth combo card from the T610 and putting it in the T620] I’ve been fascinated with repurposing PC thin clients.  I like them because they are  virtually silent and very energy efficient1.  I’ve used…

  • Setup pfSense as an OpenVPN client for specific devices

    One of the most powerful features of pfSense is it’s ability to direct your data requests through different end-points using NAT rules. In my case, I like to be able to access the content in Netflix US. In comparison, Netflix Canada’s content is somewhat anemic, although we do get such gems as Community and the…

  • HP T610 thin client: low-powered, low-cost XBMC box

    [UPDATE 2015/06/26]: I ended up buying an HP T620 for my XBMC box.  The T610 here is now my pfSense router firewall with a dual Intel Gigabit NIC. I’ve been looking for something to replace the aging Asus O!Play HDP-R1.   While the media player still plays all my content, the usability is absolutely atrocious.  It…

  • pfSense on Watchguard Firebox x550e

    [UPDATED – 2014-11-24]: I noticed that I had gotten the model wrong in the title of the article.  Fixed that. One of the odd things as I have moved up the food chain into (product) management is that I don’t have the opportunity to work directly on the products that teams build. Keeping a software…