Technology posts

Using winget to automate software deployment to a new laptop
 -  I got my first new laptop in six years this week! The new hardware is definitely exciting, but reviews aren’t really my thing, so while I’ll inevitably tweet about how the Microsoft Surface Laptop fares, that’s not the purpose of this post. This is more about the mundane job of...
Installing Splunk Free in a virtual machine for log analysis
 -  Splunk is considered the gold standard for analysis of event logs and other data, but unless you’re lucky enough to work for an organisation that pays for it, it can be difficult to get practical experience in how to run searches, build dashboards, and otherwise dissect data using its query...
Introducing Backutil: A Python‐based Windows backup utility
 -  Back in the spring, I decided that 2020 would be the year I would finally see a coding project through to completion. A recent work project shone a light on backup and recovery, and I realised that I should probably be a bit more consistent with my own backups from...
The best cyber security and technology books I read during 2020
 -  One of the few upsides of the whole 2020 situation is that I’ve had a lot more time to read. Periods that I would usually have spent commuting, out with friends, or cramming in chores between getting home and going to bed became downtime that I could devote to good...
AWS: Deploying and connecting to a SQL database in the cloud
 -  My first Amazon Web Services (AWS) basics post covered the process of setting up a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and a Windows Server 2019 EC2 instance. This time we’re going to build on this simple setup by deploying a Amazon Aurora SQL database and ensuring we can access it from...
AWS: Deploying a virtual network and server in the cloud
 -  Having worked on serveral projects involving Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently, but always at arm’s length, I decided to get a bit more hands-on. At worst this would give me a more practical grounding in managing cloud instances, and at best it would give me a useful resource for future...
Network connections and packet crafting on the Linux command line
 -  The problem with taking leave during a pandemic is that there are very few places you can go that don’t present an unnecessary risk. For me at least, the thought of taking a plane abroad wasn’t appealing, and neither were the Tube journeys that would be necessary to go out...
Technicolor TG582n router: The missing event logging manual
 -  What started as curiosity has turned into something of a labour of love. Online information about the Technicolor TG582n router’s event logging capabilities is scarce, and scattered across a number of forums. I’ve used that information along with some analysis of my own to compile this - the missing event...
Welcome to a new website with a new philosophy
 -  You may have noticed that things have changed around here - I built a new website, following the ethos that it should be as clear, lightweight, and fast as possible while respecting visitors’ privacy by keeping outside scripts and tracking to a minimum. In this post I take you through...
Setting up Pi-hole to rein in an extremely noisy Samsung Smart TV
 -  A restless mind, a new feature, and a concerning news story had me worried about privacy over Christmas. Here’s how I installed Pi-hole on my home network to try to block requests from my Samsung Smart TV – and what the data it collected revealed… It was the night before...

Thinking about

Website v2.0
I've given my website its first major update since 2020, keeping the same general aesthetic but placing a greater focus on content. Now to come up with some blog post ideas...

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