1. Export 2. Download the Export 3. Automatic Organization 4. (Optional) Manual Organization Parting Thoughts Related Links Ever wanted to migrate from Google Photos to other apps but found the task too daunting? Well, this post describes how I migrated Google Photos to Synology Photos, taking back ownership of my photos. It took a few hours (mostly spent downloading/moving files). The same process can be used to move from Google Photos to any other solution (examples include Immich, NextCloud, ownCloud, etc.). Enter GooglePhotosTakeoutHelper ? 1. Export The first thing to do is export your ..read more

The Problem Attempted Solutions 1. Plex Downloads 2. Jellyfin Downloads 3. Synology Drive 4. VLC 5. Other Android Video Players Actual Solution Ramblings Related Links The Problem I want to download my movies from my Network-Attached Storage (NAS) server onto my phone. Sounds simple, right? Attempted Solutions I’ll start with a list of solutions that did NOT work for me (and why) so you don’t waste your time, in order of when I tried them, then describe the solution I’ve landed on. I’ll add to this list as I inevitably try other solutions in the future. 1. Plex Downloads Plex downloads u ..read more

Imagine never needing to worry about drivers during Windows Operating System deployment ever again. No need to manually download drivers. No need to maintain driver folders on your deployment shares. No need to update drivers whenever something breaks… The Problem Every Windows deployment environment seems to manage OS drivers differently. Whether it’s dumping every driver into a single folder in your deployment share, one driver folder per OS, or one driver folder per model, these all require manual maintenance of your deployment share. What if there was a way to automatically, reproducibly ..read more

GitHub Codespaces Jekyll Run Extension Iteration Simple Browser Always Improving Related Links Local web development is so 2020. The world has changed a lot since my first blog post about… well… how I made this blog. Naturally, my process for authoring new posts has improved since then. All you’ll need to get started is a Visual Studio Codespace and a single Visual Studio Code extension. Let’s dive right in and show you how the sauce is made. GitHub Codespaces A codespace is your development environment that’s hosted on a GitHub VM, available everywhere, for free. If you haven’t yet, star ..read more

1. Finding a Place to Live 2. Exploring 3. Recursive Issues 4. Proving Yourself 5. Making Friends 6. Getting Around 7. Contactless Payments 8. Air Bud 9. Dog Parks 10. London Weather In Summary References What’s this? A non-technical post? In a brief departure from the technical nature of this blog, I thought I’d take a shot on blogging about a personal life update – I’ve moved to London from NYC. For your amusement, here’s a list of the top things that frustrated me about my move from NYC to London. This post aim’s to help folks moving abroad avoid the same pitfalls, especially while trying ..read more

Registry Word of Warning PowerShell Windows API Call End-User Options Why This Matters Where to go from here Related Links Sounds simple, right? Microsoft surfaces Windows Version numbers in various locations: There are Registry values, which are desperately missing documentation. There are numerous PowerShell Cmdlets, Windows API calls, etc. There are also end-user options such as the winver command, which pops up a window that tells the user what their Windows version is. And many more… Helping you make sense of this all is where this post comes in. There are many tools available to h ..read more

This post aims to help those of you trying to set the Windows time zone without relying on DHCP options or similar solutions. Set the registry values below then restart for Windows to update a systems’ timezone via NTP by leveraging Windows Location services. I’ve used this solution when provisioning new deployments of Windows hosts. This can also be used on existing hosts via a configuration management tool such as SCCM or Group Policy. Note the current values of these registry keys before making any changes, in case you want to revert these changes once Windows time picks up the new timezone ..read more

Always be Learning Passion Ask questions Take Charge What’s Next? Footnotes Five years ago I was a help desk intern. Today is my first day as an SRE at Google. Let’s start with the understanding that working on the help desk puts you in the perfect position to eventually transition into one of these roles. Help desk affords you the ability to see how the technologies that the business relies on function, as you’re often tasked with troubleshooting when they don’t work. Learning through reverse engineering, especially in IT, is often an overlooked method of gaining a deep understanding of new ..read more

Call to Action Success Failure Conclusion Related Links Intend to be intentional. Time—somehow it’s already 5PM, and the last thing you remember is sipping your morning coffee. How can you take control of your day? If you are serious about an endeavor, you will remove every distraction from your life. This is the idea behind intentionality that we’ll dive into today. Set aside time to do the things that are important to you. One of the first, and best, things that I’ve learned from my time working at Google has been: if you don’t take control of your time, someone else will. You will inevita ..read more

Intend to be intentional. Call to Action Success Failure Conclusion Related Links Time—somehow it’s already 5PM, and the last thing you remember is sipping your morning coffee. How can you take control of your day? If you are serious about an endeavor, you will remove every distraction from your life. This is the idea behind intentionality that we’ll dive into today. Set aside time to do the things that are important to you. One of the first, and best, things that I’ve learned from my time working at Google has been: if you don’t take control of your time, someone else will. You will inevita ..read more