Michael Graves

EVs & Corporate Branding

July 18, 2025
Michael Graves
Home

Back in February of 2019 we bought a new furnace…in a hurry. Our furnace went out during a cold snap. The old furnace died at about 5pm. I called my then favorite HVAC contractor. He hustled over to investigate, delivering a prognosis by 7pm. He rightly noted that the 25 year old Kenmore furnace had given its last gasp. It could be repaired, but getting the parts would take days. The wise choice was to replace it outright.

I was thinking ahead to a new AC unit, so I wanted a top-end American Standard natural gas furnace with a variable speed blower. That would allow us to install a high-efficiency, variable speed air conditioner in the future.

It happened that he had exactly what we wanted on stock. It was sitting in a warehouse, ready to be installed in his own home, which was a new build. His crew installed that furnace in our house the very next morning. By 10am the heat was back on. It all happened so fast. While I doubt we got a bargain, he certainly earned our gratitude.

Backup Power: Quarterly Testing and Being Neighborly

July 16, 2025
Michael Graves
Home

As we are now well into Hurricane Season 2025, I’m thinking about out backup power arrangement. We’re mostly in good shape.

Quarterly Testing

Last week I exercised the Predator 9500 inverter. It needs to run for about 30 minutes every 90 days, just to keep it limber. I typically put a few ounces of gas in the tank and let it run connected to the garage until it runs dry. While I always add stabilizer to the fuel I intend to use in the generator, I’m very careful to always run it dry. I never want to leave any gas in the tank, or worse in the carburetor.

T-Mobile 5G: An Experiment with Fixed Wireless Internet Access

t-mobile-gateway-v4-front In the next few weeks we’ll crest the first anniversary of Hurricane Beryl, which had quite an impact hereabouts. In the storm we lost power for a less than two days. However, our Comcast/Xfinity internet access was out for a week. As someone who works full-time from a home office, that was a problem for me. As a contract IT worker, no internet access means no money. No buénno.

My laptop, a Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen7 from 2019, has the optional 4G mobile data access module. It’s part of our Mint Mobile family plan. So, at some level I can be online with just the laptop. That provides a minimal level of productivity.

Similarly, I can tether my desktop and perhaps one or two small devices to my mobile phone. That’s ok for an afternoon, but not a good solution for a week or more.

The 4G speed test on the laptop screen reflects 4G LTE access, not 5G. Also, Mint Mobile data rates are often lower than T-Mobile’s own clients. Even though T-Mobile now owns Mint, the MVNO customers are given lower priority on the network.

Then it occurred to me that all the mobile carriers had been promoting fixed wireless service in the neighborhood. In post-Beryl Houston, power was out at our home, but not too far away there was a T-Mobile store that was open for business as usual. They had a 5G fixed wireless devices for $0 with $60/month and no contract term. It seemed like potentially a good solution. At least, there was little to risk in trying it on for size.

The Framework Desktop Inspires Some Thoughts

May 23, 2025
Michael Graves
Computing

This morning I received an email about the Framework Desktop. After hearing Cory Doctorow wax poetic about the Framework laptop, I joined their mailing list. I was not aware of their effort to build a desktop. I’m somewhat in the market for a new desktop. That is, if I still believe in a two-computer solution.

Establishing Context

It has been my habit to have a desktop as my primary computer, with a laptop in a lesser role. There are a number of reasons for this. Where in the past I used a pair of 24” displays running 1080P, I now find I prefer a single, large display. My desk currently sports a 27” Samsung 4K monitor.

My past habit of dealing with live streaming video benefited tremendously from a dedicated GPU. My preferred tool set (vMix) is specifically written to take advantage of nVidia GPUs. Since I don’t usually undertake streaming projects from a laptop, an integrated GPU has been enough for mobile situations.

After a couple of decades carrying company issued (heavyweight) laptops, in 2013 I bought a Lenovo X1 Carbon with my own money. And another (gen 7) in 2019 when the first was too old to be useful. I admire it’s form factor. It’s absolutely ideal for use on-the-go, but it cannot replace my desktop.

Deal: Insta360 Link 4K Webcam

April 26, 2025
Michael Graves
Video, Work 2.0

For years I searched for a 4K capable webcam. Early models, like Logitech’s Brio were merely adequate. It managed to deliver higher resolution, but really didn’t offer much improvement in other aspects of image quality. For the higher prices commanded by the newer webcams, I would have liked to see better dynamic range, color rendition, and less noise.

I was still looking for better webcams when I put the Insta360 Link on my Amazon wish list. At $299 it was interesting, but more than I was willing to spend. I literally forgot about it, until my wife decided to get it for me as a present.

New Gear: JetKVM is really very handy!

Late last year I supported the Kickstarter for JetKVM. This device is a tiny little IP-KVM solution. It’s basically a refined package of everything involved in a PiKVM. Connect HDMI & USB from a computer-to-be-controlled, and Ethernet. Then the web interface on the JetKVM device allows that device to be remote controlled using just a web browser from anywhere there’s IP connectivity.

JetKVM-device-front

I had actually forgotten that I supported the project until one day a pair the wee devices arrived. It happens that I’ve been meaning to work on a KVM solution for my home office.