Shane Baldacchino

Creating Interlocks In Code (C++) For Controlling Relays In the Real World

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[RELEASING IN MAY 2023] Work In progress Are you familiar with an interlocks? Interlocking is a safety measure designed to prevent signals and switches from being changed in an improper sequence. Interlocks are a staple of our modern lives, they exist in places you would or perhaps may not expect. In their most basic form, an interlock … Read more

IT Certification – Is It Even Relevant, Should You Get Certified, What Will You Learn And How Do You Pass?

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I pose a lot of questions in this title. IT certifications, do you have any? Perhaps you have none, perhaps you have 10, but does it really matter and what do they really prove? 23 years ago, two months after finishing high school I sat my first IT certification exam, and leading up to where … Read more

Converting Cisco Aironet From Lightweight To Autonomous Mode

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If I was to assume, my house has better WiFi coverage and is more reliable than yours. Over an 800m2 of my property on multiple levels, my signal strength in a survey averaged -53dBm on 2.4ghz (a bit less on 5ghz) and it cost in 2023, $100. I will get to the details shortly. A … Read more

Part 3 – Architectural Cost Optimisation – Practical Design Steps for Architects and Developers

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Did you miss part one and part two of this this multi part series on ‘Cost Optimisation’? In part 3 of this multi-part blog series, I am going to cover, as per the title ‘Architectural Cost Optimisation’.In prior posts I have spoken about foundational primitives, what you can change and tune in the cloud without changing your … Read more

Monitoring Solar Consumption With A ESP32/8266 and LED Lights

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Since having a PV (Photo Voltaic) solar array installed on my roof earlier in the year I have become a more aware of the energy consumption of my house. In my post ‘Making Data Driven Decisions With A PV Array, Home Assistant and MQTT‘ I am leveraging consumption data to make decisions in my house, … Read more

Evaluating Azure Ampere Altra Based VM’s

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They are finally here. As I pen this article in September of 2022, Azure finally has ARM based (aarch64) compute to compliment the slew of x86 offerings in the form of Intel and AMD SKU’s, which all add to increase the completeness of vision within the Microsoft Cloud. It’s not often I comment on new … Read more

Part 2 – Infrastructure Cost Optimisation In The Cloud – Practical Design Steps For Architects and Developers

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Did you miss part one of this one of this multi part series on ‘Cost Optimisation’? In part 2 of this multi-part blog series, I am going to cover, as per the title ‘Infrastructure’, but that’s a pretty wide remit. Stay tuned for further posts where I cover more progressive infrastructure topics, but in this … Read more

Automagically Keeping Cool In Zwift

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Cycling has always been something I have been passionate about. With the COVID-19 induced lockdowns I finally decided to purchase an indoor trainer (Garmin TACX Neo 2T) and like so many people around the world, I use Zwift as a means to hit my distance targets each week. Spoiler – Want to see a demo? … Read more