Archived News starting from 06-24-2022 and earlier
Blog![](/upload/chia_wall_tn.jpg)
After completely converting my old
crypto mining machine above my fridge from Ethereum proof-of-work GPU mining to Chia proof-of-space farming, I decided to spruce it up a bit. Instead of
hiding it on top of my dusty fridge I decided to turn it into an art piece and
mount it on my wall. Of course you can follow along at
my dedicated status page or my
chia wallet. With all my GPUs sold at maximum profit, that leaves two spare PCs with nothing to do except
mine Raptoreum until their CPUs burn out.
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With the summer weather approaching 90°, I decided I do not want to mow my yard anymore. Fortunately, a wide variety of robotic lawnmowers are available, and after some research I landed on the
Husqvarna Automower 315x. I immediately set about making
a bunch of YouTube videos, and eventually discovered the
developer portal. This of course necessitated a new
dedicated web application which now tracks my robotic mower as it meanders aimlessly across my yard saving me from heat stroke.
I am closing my eBay account of 23 years today thanks their absurd seller policies that allowed the following individual to completely rip me off.
I'm posting this here as a warning to stay away from this idiot, or in case someone else searches for him and needs additional evidence against him.
eBay ID: herringtonelectronics
eBay URL: https://www.ebay.com/usr/herringtonelectronics Physical Address: Stephen Herrington / Tait Herrington
3693 Kirkland Dr
East Tawas, Michigan 48730-9544
Click here for the full timeline of events![](/upload/gpu_thumb.png)
With the recent explosion of Ethereum cryptocurrency, I've
upped my GPU game to a 2080 and 3 1060s for a total of
104 MH/s @ 500 watts. That currently nets me $700/month, which is nuts. I can't get any more GPUs since I refuse to pay 200% over MSRP for one, so I decided to add the proof-of-space crypto Chia. I have plenty of old hard drives to fill up with plotting, so my recently converted to integrated graphics primary PC
has been assigned to the cause. While not nearly as profitable, it's enjoyable to see
all drives hit 100% utilization while plotting as fast as I can.
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After retiring my
previous mining rig 3 years ago, ETH values have again risen to the point where mining is at least entertaining if not exactly profitable again. With a spare 1060 6GB video card not doing much else, I decided to
join in on the fad again. This time a quick Google search yielded the
perfect settings for maximum hashrate. Since my
system is stable I'm not even bothering with a dedicated machine, it will just slowly mine away and just like last time I refuse to invest in any more hardware.
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With my ISP upping my monthly fee another $5/month, I decided it was time to see if I could survive without them for a month. After cancelling service for a month, I get discounted "promotional" rates saving $25 / month. I'm happy to say the
experiment worked perfectly with my router
picking right up after I swapped connection to my phone hotspot. It even updated the DDNS IP address for this webserver. Android 11 recently added the Ethernet sharing which makes this possible, so after a few more trial runs I'm ready to destroy my "unlimited" data plan for a month and get back into the promotional pricing party.
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With my
beautiful GLAS thermostat having now served me well for over 2 years, it was disappointing (but understandable) that JCI has decided to
discontinue the device. I immediately bought a cheap backup in case one fails in the future, but realized if support is ending I'd best get the latest firmware update now while it's still available. The micro USB port on the thermostat seems to provide power, but won't turn on the thermostat, so I was forced to use the 24v wires from my existing thermostats. Being lazy, I decided to use uninsulated wires to extend the HVAC wires so I didn't have to uninstall my existing thermostat. Of course they shorted, and of course it cut all power. I quickly discovered the 3 amp fuse my heat pump has to protect against idiots such as myself, and replaced it with a 5 amp I had on hand (3 amp on order). After my electrical adventure, the new thermostat finally
booted up and revealed a rather old firmware version. A quick firmware update and factory reset later, and it's now
on the latest firmware. I disconnected my Frankenstein wiring and packed it back into the original box in case I need it in the future. Hopefully JCI provides connectivity beyond the life of my current thermostats.
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Less than a week after securing my prized possession, I couldn't resist pocketing the $300 profit potential. Within an hour of
listing my Xbox Series X for $799 it was sold for that ridiculous price. I'm expecting mid-April before they are back in stock at the regular MSRP, but I'm OK with waiting that long since my Xbox One X has all the horsepower I need for my current projectors limitations. Now I'm left eyeing my Series S which is selling for a $150 premium currently. If I sell both now I can effectively get one for MSRP when it's back in stock and only be out $50.
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Last month after an hour of slamming refresh, I was actually able to secure pre-orders for both the Xbox Series X and S. Today
they arrived and after setting them up I'm not as impressed as I'd hoped. The graphics don't seem that much better than my Xbox One X was able to produce, but hopefully that gets better as the developers optimize further. The storage speed is vastly improved, all my games start faster than they did on my One X even with the SSD I installed on it. One drawback is a total drop for Kinect support, and of course my kids still play the dance game, so for now my trusty Xbox One X
remains to play a single game. Everything else transfers nicely to the new one. And now of course, it's time for a new
topology map.
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On December 7th 2018, I decided to buy 30 shares of
ATVI after it dove down to $47.23 a share. Little did I know the massive government stock prop up plan known as the "Coronavirus Stimulus" would hit when it did, skyrocketing the shares to $84.60. Today I got cold feet, realizing the government can only print money for so long before it loses effect, so I decided to sell. I think a
79% ROI over 1.7 years (40.34% annualized) is a nice return, so that's why you're hearing about it. Oh fine, here's the
calculator link, but I'm sure it won't work a year from now.
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