How to use disks so you don't cry about it afterwards

I'm seeing people move away from mechanical hard disks and say they won't go back. I am acknowledging that computer storage is undergoing rapid change however I decided to create this post to provide sensibility during these times.

This advice is based on the following facts:

• SSD's are faster
• SSD's die from usage and are less reliable than HDD's
• HDD's can store way more than SSD's
• Cloud storage is awesome but incurs a subscription and hasn't proven itself as reliable
• Backup's can die too

Based on the current realities you need 4 different solutions:

• An SSD or a pair of RAID 1 SSD's for your OS and apps and temporary local data. RAID 1 is to help with insurance of SSD death
• An SSD or a pair of RAID 0 SSD's for your swap and cache. This to help stop your primary SSD from dying from reads and writes. A RAID 0 configuration will ensure your computer will run trice as fast as someone without it when you run out of RAM
• A mechanical HDD or bunch of mechanical HDD's in RAID 5 for storing large amounts of data. This is for reliability and capacity. RAID 5 will help retain both performance and further reliability.
• A remote copy of your HDD's. This is to ensure you retain your data even if the premise suddenly explodes for whatever reason

How to forcibly (and horribly) cast AFL audio (or anything really) to Chromecast using a Samsung Galaxy Tab

Quite simple really, in the notification bar you will find something called "SmartThings". Fire up the AFL app and start playing audio from your favorite radio station. Then enable SmartThings and it will ask what device to cast to.

Done.

Except the primary function of SmartThings appears to be to "keep stopping". If you have a Galaxy Tab you will be used to this anyway. Every time this notification comes up it actually doesn't stop.

The licensing rights the AFL have put in place are insane. Intentionally breaking Chromecast, I can only listed to AFL broadcasts from radio stations from the AFL app and not the radio stations app, free for Telstra mobile customers and no one else.

Go the Pies!

NBNCo and the fuckening

After enduring two and half months are hell and serious concern about my ability to work I feel I need to document my experience for the benefit for others.

Long story sort, I became a professional Internet developer in 1997. Over ten years ago I moved to Scoresby and started a family. iiNet shoved some ADSL2 gear into the Scoresby TX and I got some seriously sweet Internet. I got evicted and moved to Bayswater and stayed with iiNet despite them not having their own equipment, and I did it again when I returned to my true home of Ferntree Gully. Moving to Ferntree Gully has been a problem because DTV has serious problems (MPEG2 over air) and I don't get any television. Eventually the household gets tired of this and moves to Telstra/Foxtel so the televisions in the house can do something. I use the Internet for way more than Facebook and YouTube so I have custom DHCP servers and firewalls so I'm in the "office of the future". All is well until the 29th of January 2019 when I'm forced onto the NBN. This is where the story begins.

I was at work at the time but an NBNCo tech came into the house and replaced a modem with two modems. Everyone is wondering if NBNCo are going to deliver FTTC or FTTN but I'm getting neither, just some bull shit modem replacement. However I'm at work so I just see my house vanish from the Internet and for it to never return. This immediately affects my productivity so I start freaking out. Over the next two months I try to donate a static IP to Telstra and then order a second connection to address the issue. I have no explanation why NBNCo have broken everything. The second connection is just as useless so after a while I remove all the new gear and return it to Telstra as broken.

After trying to live like this for over two months I turn to Facebook to ask for help and I got it. I find out quite simply the NBNCo are deploying CGNAT without telling anyone. To be fair, NBNCo have to deploy CGNAT because version four of the Internet died years ago but on the other hand Telstra didn't have this problem. They just decided to throw that onto me without any explanation.

The lesson here is that when you are forced onto the NBNCo's concept of the Internet, they actually remove you from the Internet. I've determined this can be resolved by either abandoning version four of the Internet or creating a Virtual Public Network into some other country not at war with itself.