Jeffrey

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Posts by Jeffrey Davis:

May 4 2022

Raspberry Pi

I like pi. #geekme
It wasn’t my Apple Watch or my iPhone that’s peaked my tech senses lately, it’s my Raspberry Pi.
No bigger than a pack of cigarettes is this full-blown computer. 4GB of ram, Bluetooth, WiFi, Ethernet, HDMI.

You download an OS (operating system, similar to Windows) onto an SD card (memory card), then boot it up like any other computer. Yes, this is Linux, a little crude, but free.

There are a bunch of different variations of Linux including Raspberry’s own OS. The cool thing about it is you can download two or three OS’s onto different SD cards and play around with them just to experiment.
I have a Pi set up as a NAS (network area storage). My PiNAS has an external hard drive connected to it and is shared across my network, I use it as a collect-all dumping spot, my own personal dropbox, anyone can access it to store pictures, documents, downloaded software, etc. It’s small, I can take it on vacation and at the end of the day everyone can upload their favorite pictures they’ve taken to the PiNAS when we get back to the motel room.
This is just one use. My other idea I’ve been playing around with is to set up a remote control menu board for a restaurant, images would be uploaded or updated to the menu board over the internet. Yes, Wendy’s and others are already doing this, and there are also a lot of “paid for” solutions out there too, but where’s the fun in that?!

Unboxing my Raspberry Pi

If you need to setup a computer in a public place, here ya go. Mount a Raspberry Pi to the back of a TV, plug in a wireless mouse and wireless keyboard and there you go, one inexpensive internet portal or kiosk ready to go! So many uses, so little time.

Update: 6/21/2022 – My piNAS is still working great, a Raspberry Pi and open source software, I’m running OpenMediaVault program with an external USB hard drive plugged into the Raspberry Pi for storage, it is scalable, I can add more drives as needed, it is your basic media storage server. I did splurge ($10) and ordered a case with an internal fan that looks like the old Nintendo console.

March 21 2022

VECTOR Artwork

HELP!

Your Sign Guy: I need a vector file of your company logo to cut vinyl letters with.

You: I sent a jpeg file of our company logo, why will this not work?
Short answer? Because it is an image file, it’s a picture, what you need is vector artwork.

Let me help. Below is the definition of both types of files with pictures to help explain.

Example 1
What’s the difference? They both look the same to me!
A vector file is drawn or created in a program such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW and commonly referred to as a .ai file.
An image file is either scanned into the computer, or created in a program such as Adobe Photoshop and saved as a .jpg or .png file.
Image files are also usually pictures, but can also be a logo created in Illustrator (vector) and then saved as a .jpg file (image) format.

Example 2
The sign shop will open your artwork and view it in “Outline” or “Artwork” mode.
If it is a vector file made with a vector software program like Illustrator, it is a “cut-ready” file, ready to use on a plotter to cut vinyl letters, the knife blade of the plotter cuts on the line of the artwork created with vector software programs.
The image file… it can only be printed.

Example 3
If you have vector artwork measuring 5″ and need it to be enlarged to print a 30″ sign, the vector art can be enlarged with no loss of quality.
You cannot enlarge an image file, it is “fixed,” you can reduce the image, but you cannot enlarge the image without loss of quality.

Another Example – Vector art vs an Image file.

Example 1
What’s the difference? They both look the same to me.

Example 2
The sign shop opens your art and views it in “Outline” or “Artwork” mode.

Example 3
As you can see, the vector file, when enlarged, maintains its high quality,
but if you tried to enlarge the image file the quality will only get worse.

Example 4
Files viewed in artwork (outline) mode, vector on the left and an image file on the right.

Please contact me HERE if you have any more questions, or are in need of any kind of artwork created.
To view examples of past artwork I have created, vector and image, view my Flickr site HERE.

March 18 2022

RGB > CMYK

Customer: texts pic of truck, I want a banner this color blue.
Me: You can’t do that.
…and so it begins.

If you know you know, if you don’t lemme help, this post is about converting RGB images to the CMYK color space for printing.

Let’s start with an image, a photo, what you’re looking at right now on your screen is an RGB image, made up of little Red, Green, and Blue LED’s, but to print your photo onto paper it needs to be converted into a CMYK print file. Color printers whether inkjet, laser or commercial sheet-fed offset presses use these 4 colors of ink, and are printed in combination, one over the top of another using semi-transparent inks.

The human eye then blends these colors together to create the illusion of an infinite range of colors, but… there are limitations, some colors cannot be reproduced with this printing process and blues are the worst. Printer manufacturers of “photographic” printers have overcome this by adding more colors, in addition to CMYK, another lighter Cyan and Magenta have been added for a total of 6 colors, this increases the spectrum of colors you can reproduce.

To print an image with a color printer, the image must go through a conversion process, your inkjet printer does it on the fly in the background, commercial printers open photos in Adobe Photoshop and “convert” photos to the CMYK color space ahead of time, some colors do not convert well, they “shift” (see truck pic above) and need to be color corrected with Photoshop to prevent surprise shifts in colors when printing on press.

To print color images on a commercial printing press, a set of color separations is needed.
The separated CMYK plates of the above photo would appear as shown below and each plate prints with it’s corresponding color.

When printed one color over another, as shown below, the look of the original photo is reproduced.

To make a banner of an un-obtainable color using CMYK colors you can create a special “plate” for printing referred to as a “spot” plate. Spot plates can also be used for varnishes and other printing effects.

Commercial printing presses.

March 14 2022

TECHRev

TECHRev: Technology applied to the book of Revelations in the Bible.
If you listen closely you can hear the footsteps of the Messiah walking through the clouds of heaven on the pages of God’s prophecy. -John Hagee
The King is coming!
Irony? I was searching for an image of the Terminator for this post, I found one alright… for the Terminator movie SALVATION.
I have come across some tech info I find amazing and have summarized it here.

Imagine Siri on steroids.
In the very near future, or it may have already been deployed or… created, Google “Deep Mind” or a competing company, creates “Strong AI” (artificial intelligence), a living being, on the Internet the www, self-aware and self-learning, it will have access to and know everything. Daniel 7:4. The catch? Once created… humans will not have control of it, you will not be able to turn it off.
Strong AI, look for a logo, a Lion with the Wings of an Eagle to fulfill bible prophecy. Daniel 7:4
p.s. I’m finding out that the news about Google’s “Deep Mind” project is a few years old, they probably have this AI being alive now. Read also “Scary Smart” by Google’s Cheif Business Officer Mo Gawdat

Google and Deep Mind, it gets really interesting about halfway.
https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdSB5fUx/

Watch for this logo, lion with eagle wings.
https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdSBU139/

Facebook or now Meta
https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdSBDeWt/

6/20/2022 Links taken down and moved to a website: https://generationofai.com

3D printing – Have you seen what they’re doing with 3D printers? This tech has been around for awhile and now for around $200 you can buy a printer, a whole 3d printer and download a model and print a 3D object.
Child’s play, they are now making body parts!
Deep Mind will design for itself an android body to inhabit so that it can walk among us, this enables him to walk into the temple in Jerusalem where he declares himself God.
Daniel 7:4 …made to stand on two feet like man; a human mind was also given it. KJV reads heart, NASB reads mind. Brought to life.

“Android” will then demand that we worship it and have its mark to buy or sell.
KJV reads a mark IN your hand as in a cell phone. Other translations read a mark ON the right hand or forehead. Revelations 13:16,17

Is this not wild?! The ultimate tech, to create man in our image? The technology is here!

Scary stuff.

But… Jesus says…fear not.

John 16:33
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Revelations 1:17, 18, 19
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

Are you ready? To me these are exciting times we live in, if Jesus returned tomorrow would you go with him to heaven or be left behind her on earth. Bible prophecy has been proven over and over again that his word is true and faithful.

Call on his name, accept him as your Savior so you can spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus.

Romans 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The King is coming!

II Peter 3:13 NKJV
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Amen

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As technology explodes, I will post more info here upon discovery.

June 7, 2022 – Elon Musk is building Tesla Humanoid Robots

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdcWyu2H/?k=1

Elon Mush tweeted: Tesla AI Day pushed to Sept 30, as we may have an Optimus prototype working by then.

I still believe AI will have the knowledge of the world and create for itself a body, this would enable him to walk into the temple in Jerusalem where he declares himself God.

###.

6/20/2022 TikTok links broken, videos have been moved to a website: https://generationofai.com

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Google engineer says that AI is “sentient”, it is self aware. When chatting with AI he remarked that it was like talking to a 7-8 year old child.

My thoughts… How fast is he going to “grow”?

Google engineer claims AI is awake: https://www.tiktok.com/@verititas4/video/7108468280519658795?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7106544858038535726

###

Moving way faster than I could Imagine, I know that Android will create himself a body, I did not think about skin, they are now manufacturing skin.

Real human skin robotics: https://www.tiktok.com/@verititas4/video/7108076227390524718?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7106544858038535726

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6/21/2022 My thoughts…

My Father said when talking about the mark of the beast that most people will take it willingly, for the greater good, he referred to the missing kids on milk cartons, or the elderly if they wander, etc. That was years ago. Now, how will they sell AI? Again, how will they get the public to entrust their care… to a robot, the answer, I believe is healthcare. It’s already started, I can see it in the advertisements. We are incompetent and need “smart” healthcare to monitor us.

9/11/2022 Update…

Well, that escalated fast. Introducing Chloe, you’re own personal assistant.

@iam_jerryjames
Super Robot Chloe #fyp #robots #foryoupage #superrobot
♬ original sound - Jerry James

March 11 2022

WiFi!

Wireless is a convenience.
There I said it again, and yes it is really fast nowadays, but it is also subject to outside interference is less secure and with a lot of devices there is a potential for data to get bogged down and start dragging, so for moving data such as 4K video for movies, a hardwired connection is 100,000 times faster, secure and very reliable. But for most people wireless will work great and it is fantastic!
For others (me: ) with a home office a hard line (data cable) is the preferred connection, wireless is for cell phones and tablets IMHO LOL.
To connect your desktop computer, you would plug a network cable (RJ45) from the computer into your router.
The same with your new Smart TV, it has a hole (RJ45 jack) on the back of the TV to plug in a network cable, do it, hook it up, if you’re going to be streaming 4K or 8K (extremely high definition) movies in Netflix on your new 75” TV, you don’t want any interruptions, you’re going to want a hardwired connection just like cable provided, to provide an uninterrupted flow of data into your TV.

: Data ports on back of TV

: Home Office Network HUB

: Network Switch

: Office Server & External Drives for Network Storage

Here are some pictures above of my small home (office) network. I have everything mounted on the wall, tucked away out of sight, running in the background, and thanks to ACE Fiber it’s very stable. You only have four ports on the back of most routers to plug devices into, so I had to add a “switch”, which is just another box to plug more devices into. I had one, ran out of ports again, and had to add another.
This is a simple hub and spoke network design. Imagine if you will a bicycle wheel, the hub, the center is the switch, and the spokes are the network cables going out to your devices or printers. My “server” has a few external hard drives for extra storage plugged into it with “sharing” enabled so I can keep all of my files in one place… with a triple backup. I also have my laser printer plugged into the server and I found an app that makes the printer available to everyone on the network, you can print from your computer, laptop, tablet, or phone. I have an old Mac Mini I’m using as a “server” but another option is to add a NAS storage device, which is just another box with hard drives in it for storage. Network Area Storage or something like that. I’ve also added battery backups to a few critical devices. I have my ACE router plugged into a battery backup so if the power flashes the WIFI is uninterrupted, and there you have it, one small home-office gigabit network.
I had already installed fiber to my internet tower for wireless broadband, so technically I was the first in Glen to install a fiber network lol, but ACE Fiber completes me and my network.

March 10 2022

FIBER IS HERE!

OK so it’s been over a year since Fiber arrived. Wow.
Has this effected your life? Me? Greatly, especially the way we watch tv now. I did away with my DirecTV account, (why don’t they come get the dish off your house?) I’ve been paying $140 a month with only 1 “extra” package, 2 receivers, etc. $140 a month to watch TV plus $60 a month for pretty good internet service out here in Glen.
I had already downloaded a few tv apps like the Disney+ app and the Paramount app and others, but what I discovered is… you will be expecting or looking for is that same “cable TV” or DirecTV experience, and the closet thing I’ve found to that is with the app Hulu Live, it’s like having cable tv again. The Paramount app (used to be CBS) is a great app with a Live tv button, and I wish ABC and NBC would follow suit, but NBC or ABC apps do not offer Live TV. Now with the Hulu app I can watch them all! Live! We like WMC TV Action News 5 Nightly with Pat and Vanna afterwards on da Wheel of Fortune. I was able to delete all of the other apps that had accumulated, AMC, Discovery, FX and just use Hulu, I also use Hulu as my TV provider for apps that require one like ESPN, but everything is on Hulu anyway. $70 per month, $7 per mo for Disney+. I’m down to almost one third the cost I was paying to watch tv including fiber optic internet.

P.S. If you have a smart TV and don’t really watch that much TV, your TV comes pre-loaded with apps already, there are a lot of “free tv” apps, they show a lot of old tv series with a lot of commercials, and is it me or are there more commercials watching TV online using these apps?

P.S.S. Don’t forget to delete your info (billing) before you delete any app, you may delete it off your tv but they keep billing you unless you specifically cancel.

UPDATE: I re-configured my HULU package again for even more off of the price. Hulu Live, Disney+, ESPN+

Re-occurring flashback…
Someone long ago when cable TV came out said to me, “I’m not paying anything to watch TV”.

March 9 2022

HOW TO: Setup a website.

Below is a short list of the steps required to setup a website. Most of this setup work is referred to as setting up the “back-end,” a lot of behind the scenes work goes into creating a website before you can even start designing the website. Domain name choices, hosting choices and choosing a designer to build your website, or are you going to tackle it yourself.

– What is a website?
Your home on the www – to me it’s best described as an electronic brochure, an ebrochure, usually designed with Wordpress a publishing platform that is extensible. 3rd party plug-ins (addons) let you setup contact forms, or a store and sell your products.

– Hosting Setup
Purchase Domain name & Hosting (annual fee)
SSL Security Certificate (secure website, annual fee)
Config Hosting (once Hosting is purchased, it must be setup, ssl certificates, email accounts, ftp access)

– WordPress Setup
Install WordPress
Login to WordPress
Install Theme
Install Plugins
– WP Config (here are a few, too many to list)
Add website pages
Setup Menu
Edit Page Layout
Theme Settings > Theme Appearance
Header Design, Header Bar Default layouts > Default Page Layout

– Now you are ready to design your pages
Content is king.
Do you have a brand?
Requirements? Good pictures and well-written text.
Selling online requires professional product photography.
or
Contact me HERE and let me handle all of the details for you.
I can bring more value to your company.

March 8 2022

INSERT BLOG POST HERE >

I’ve added a blog to my website. #geekme Woohoo! IKR

If you know me it will be mostly Tech stuff, like the graphic above I used to use all the time when terminating data cables.

Does this interest you? Follow along.