Raymond's tinkering project

I brought my 5 year old one-piece to the office today and after completing his daily math homework and doing a bit of drawing, I decided to give him some easy-tac adhesive. Beginning of this year I've spontaneously begun to give him and the elder sister math and spelling exercises weekly and leave them with what I call a 'tinkering project'. I give them some random objects and tell them to create something out of it.

So this morning after his homework I gave a small piece of easy-tac and just told him to do something with it. He came with an interesting thing which I could not work out at first what it was. I had to ask him to explain to me what he came up with in his tinker project. He then explained to me that what he did was a model of the corona virus. I laughed at first wondering how a 5 year old would even know what the virus looks like but then remembered that this was a product of what he sees everyday on the news, the posters, the paintings on the fences in town and perhaps the posters in front of the Diwai Mart. I immediately knew that children as young as him observe every thing around them, whether it be good or bad, and they like to imitate or replicate that in their own way.

Figure 1. Raymond with his Corona Virus Model

Figure 2. He explained that the white was the core or the nucleus and the spikes were made out of toothpick.

My very recent seafood allergy experience

 

On Tuesday 13^th January 2021 my wife and I decided to walk out to the nearby Gov Stoa market, just outside the DWU front gate. It was around 7.30 in the morning and usually women from this settlement, and nearby Kerema compound bring their goods to sell at this makeshift market early before the sun starts giving off its first strong rays. We bought some stuff and were about to head back when she saw an elderly lady selling smoked fish laid out neatly over small patches of banana leaf on top of a container. She was casually waving what appeared like a magic wand over the fish to make them disappear, no (I had wished that later on during the day) she was just making sure the nasty little Musca domestica (scientific name for House flies..hehe) were kept at a safe distance from the fish.

Studying Online: Tips

 

Embarking on studying a course whether it be a short course or a diploma or degree part-time online is a tough decision to make and should not be taken lightly. It requires dedication and commitment on your end to begin, progress, and eventually complete the course.

 

There are so many online courses and a wide variety of platforms from which you can register and take a course. Online courses are inexpensive; some are free while others may cost a few dollars up to a hundred or even a thousand. This usually depends on the level of qualification you're studying for.

 

Where to begin? Free courses are great, to begin with. Several reasons why I say this:

 

To familiarize yourself with the online learning environment or community.

A free course could give you an opportunity to find your natural aptitude for learning. Are you a self-learner, are you someone who needs guidance? Can you easily progress at your own pace?

You begin to learn about your own learning style by participating in a free course and this will be very helpful when selecting courses.

You may also learn how much time (hours) you can be able to commit during your working week once you begin doing the online course. It's easier said than done as things can get overwhelmingly difficult as time goes on.

 

It is not to say that free courses have no value in them and are only good for trying out online courses. No! In fact, many of the courses I have taken in the past years have all been free courses and I can honestly say I learned so much about my preferred learning style and also learned new skills for free. These free courses I have taken have added some skills that I am able to apply in my work or even help me learn a new thing.

 

Tinkering thoughts shares from time to time links to free courses on this blog and also on the Facebook page.

DIY Christmas Star Light

It is the time of the year again when families start decorating their homes with Christmas lights and décor to celebrate the festive season. The star is a special symbol of Christmas for our family as it reminds us of the birth of our Savior – Jesus Christ, the Star of Bethlehem. Thought I should share a DIY on how we built our own inexpensive star light. 

Items:

• Battery powered LED lights (100 LEDs)
• Triangle dimensions 58cm x 50cm
• Blade or Scissors
• Cardboard
• Tape measure or ruler
• Screw driver to poke holes in the cardboard

1. Make the star

The first step is to make a star with two triangles cut from cardboard. I honestly did not measure out the triangle I wanted to create however the size of the cardboard determined the size of the two triangles. I had to be careful so the entire piece of cardboard I had was enough for two triangles.

I realized later that you have to measure your cardboard according to the number of LED lights you have. That could be a good way to measure as you want all the lights to fit perfectly on your star.

The LED lights were bought from a local shop in town for K15.00 and it had a total of 100 LEDs. To ensure the 100 LEDs fitted perfectly to form a star light, you may want to measure your star with these dimensions.

Once you cut the first triangle, then use it to trace out a second triangle and have it cut out. 

2. Glue both triangles to form a star. 

I had no glue so I used two cable ties to hold the triangles together. Once done, I used left-over black paint to coat the entire surface of the star with black paint. The idea was for the star to fade into the dark night and let the lights shine out.

3. Make tiny holes on the edge of the star

So the next thing is to start poking holes using a screw driver on the edge of the star so you can fit all your LEDs. I didn't really measure out the tiny holes through which each light will fit but it turn out quite well (surprised myself with that).  A perfect combination would be something like this (pic on right) that makes use of all 100 LEDs.

 

4. Start to fit the LED lights.

The next thing is to start fitting in the LEDs into the holes created.

Decided to add a hatch for the battery unit at the back.

 Once all done you can now test your star light.

Setting up a bridged network with ENH200

Configuring the Engenius (ENH202) as a bridge using WDS mode.

This is a hands-on tutorial I prepared for one of my classes in Semester 1 of 2020 on WLAN Configuration. The class was divided into four teams and given an ENH202 device to configure and then pair or bridge with another team. I gave them these instructions below and asked them to configure the bridges and take screenshots of each step for documentation.   

 

What is WDS Bridge Mode?

In the WDS Bridge Mode, the ENH202 can wirelessly connect different local area networks by configuring each device's MAC address and security settings. The WDS Bridge Mode can bridge up to four local wired networks together as one logical network. Every computer on this logical network can see each other, sharing files as if they are in the same location. With 600mW output power and MIMO antenna technology, the connection distance can extend beyond 1000 feet with good performance, assuming the antenna are within line of sight (LoS). The WDS bridge network is a MAC-based network that provides transparent bridging. Source: ENH200 Manual

WDS setup. Source: ENH200 Manual

Lab Topology:

The lab topology for this tutorial.

Device model: Engenius ENH200 device (802.11 b/g) 

The chart below will indicate to you what data rates and frequencies this model supports.

802.11 b/g supports 11-54mbps and operates at 2.4GHz.

Scenarios where this topology can be applicable.

• WDS Bridge mode for point-to-point wireless bridging
• Linking two buildings
• IP camera that has no wireless capability
• Linking main house to guest house
• Once you understand the functionality, you can be able to apply it to other suitable use cases.

Components of this setup.

To begin, take note of the top MAC address labelled on the back of the device

Each device has a mounting hardware/bracket which is used for clamping the device to a pole.

Cabling

• Use CAT5/6 STP (shielded) or better. Using UTP will not provide protection against ESD.
• Also protects against EMI and other RF interferences
• If possible run cables inside the pole (or conduit) to help insulate from any air surges of static
• Never coil excess cable which lowers impedance.
• Make sure your electrical system is properly grounded.

 

Other accessories 

May be included to ensure resistance to dust and water. These have to have IP65 grading.

Newer dual band devices support PoE pass-through on the secondary Ethernet port. You can use this port to tether (add it to the port) an IP camera.

PoE Injector (24V or 48V)

• Let’s configure the EnGenius Wireless Bridges using the web browser to access the interface of the device.
• This is where my students took over on the documentation

The screenshots for the steps below were done by Mark W., Solomon G., Bentley B. and Jonah W. (IS3 students of 2020). 

This is a tutorial designed specifically for IS304 Module 13 WLAN Configuration class.  

Group Name:             Solomon Garu, Bentley Besuin, Jonah Wo’otong and Mark Winduman.
Date:                           28-05-2020 (Thursday)

NOTE: Settings configured here are meant to emulate a mid-long range P2P wireless bridged network.

Let’s configure the EnGenius Wireless Bridges using the web browser to access the interface of the device.

Reset EnGenius ENH200 router to factory defaults

To reset the EnGenius ENH200 to its default settings, you have to do the following steps:

1. Turn on router
2. Press Factory Reset button and hold for at least 15 seconds
3. Device restarts automatically
4. Default settings have been restored

The unit will reboot automatically. Once the power light stops blinking, the unit has been reset and is ready to use. Resetting the router does not reset the firmware to an earlier version, but it will change all settings back to factory defaults.

Step 1: Access device using a wired connection.

Connect the Network Cable end to a laptop. Ensure the laptop has an IP in the range 192.168.1.2-254 /24

Using a web browser, type in the default IP address of the device.

Default IP: 192.168.1.1

Username: admin Password: admin

Step 2: Note the MAC addresses of both devices.

Note down the MAC addresses of both devices by looking at the either the back of the device or when you log in to the device it should be in the main page under System Information.

Image main page / system info: 

Download ebooks from Library Genesis

To those ebook lovers or those who would like soft copies of a textbook or book. Library Genesis is a great site to check out. It has a huge library of ebooks.

What is Library Genesis (LG)?

It is: 

• A collection, systematization and distribution of scientific, technical and educational literature on a free and open basis. 
• made by people and belongs to the people. 
• goals are to create and improve, avoiding uncontrollable states, with constructive mind to help the society overcome barriers. The goal is not to destroy anything. 
• The goals of the community override the goals of its members. Its survival is priority. (This means it may come under various different ccTLDs but 'libgen' will remain). 

Click on http://libgen.rs/ 

• Type the title or genre of book you are interested in. 
• Select the book from the list. You can filter by publisher, year, author etc. 
• Once book is selected, choose the mirror to download from. Book may be PDF, ePub or other file type. 
• Choose and download.

Jack Ma's 10 Rules for Success

 Jack Ma's 10 Rules for Success

Read about him here.

Learn from the mistakes of others


Focus on quality, not quantity (size).


Be the first


Prepare for the Future

Respect Your Competitors

See challenges as opportunities

Believe


Surround yourself with greatness

Live Healthy

Have fun

 

SOURCES

• https://youtu.be/4zzVjonyHcQ World Economic Forum  
• https://youtu.be/8G4Z93yg_o8 Fortune Magazine  
• https://youtu.be/O-YE70WUXhM South China Morning Post  
• https://youtu.be/AH0IfJDRQ7M CNBC International  
• https://youtu.be/Z5VMX1CznCg Keen Zhang

If it were not for God, I would not be here today!

Every now and then someone may face a life-changing moment that will leave a lasting impact upon their lives. These experiences can also have an effect upon our faith and belief in a deity that exists beyond our imagination. A God like no other, the One that brought all things into existence. My wife had an experience last year while giving birth to our beautiful third baby - a girl and here is her testimony of how God worked through the life of others to save hers. 

**********************************************************************************

If it were not for God, I would not be here today. I would have been dead and gone on this date 17 June. #mytestimony God is not done with you yet!

Figure 1. Tabu Airi. Named after my late bro.

 

After I gave birth to my princess, I told my mum I needed to go; please mummy just let me go... I gave my back to my family, my husband, my kids and the world off course! I lost 2 and half buckets of blood on that day. My mum held her faith up to her throat and never gave up praying to God pleading to keep my heartbeat. As I struggled through that moment, I heard my mum praying, casting all those women who passed away came calling for me to go with them. I kept telling my mum with that weak voice, mum just let me go, and I need to go...

 

I experienced that 5 minutes of RIP. I had total Peace that moment. I could not hear a word from my mum, I could not remember yesterday and I had no worries for tomorrow, just total darkness and fine Peace! After those 5 minutes of total darkness, I felt tears rolling down my cheeks; I knew God was not done with me. It is as if He said, Rosemary, I am not done with you yet. I could not sit up, my body turned pale. Then my mum went asking Doctors, Mid-Wives and Nurses for a blood packet. They responded by saying we do not have any blood available now and in fact, there was nothing in the Blood Bank. 

Setting up a SOHO network with VoIP and Data services in Packet Tracer

A simple tutorial on building a small office home office network that can be expanded via a wireless bridge to perhaps another building or room. This tutorial was used by my students to build a network with actual hardware for the IS/MCS 2020 Symposium. The setup is not very complicated and can be useful for small organizations or schools. 

Here is a short video of one of my students demonstrating the functionality of the setup.

The tutorial here shows you the configurations for the simulation in Packet Tracer. NOTE: Simulated network in PT works fine for most of the configs however it is not guaranteed everything will work well in actual hardware as IOS and config commands may vary. You may have different IOS version. PT does not have Engenius so TP Link devices were used in PT to simulate them so additional documentation will be included as a follow-up to this article (Part 2).

So here goes Part 1 of the configuration. (Note that the much of the tutorial will show the config commands and little explanation. I am assuming you have basic to intermediate level understanding of network concepts, otherwise this could end up as a very lengthy tutorial)

For the actual hardware configuration, these were the following devices that were used.

Device Model

• x1 2900 Series router
• x3 2960 Catalyst switches. (you can use 2950)
  
• x2 Engenius wireless bridges (ENH202)
  
• x4 Cisco 7945G/7960 IP Phones
• x2 TP Link Wireless AP

You could simulate this setup by opening a blank PT file and add the following devices shown in the image below. Alternatively, you can download the completed network file here.

Figure 1. The simulated setup in Packet Tracer

PART 1

Task1: Configure basic settings on all routers and switches. 

I generally keep the same settings and change passwords where security is of concern. Documenting configs is helpful for future reference. So the configs below will generally be the same across all routers and switches.

hostname __________ (you can use your own hostnames)
no ip domain-lookup
enable secret in40matic
domain-name informatics.net
service password-encryption
banner motd @
***************************
Device managed by Informatics
Unauthorized access prohibited!
***************************
@
line con 0
password In4matic2020
login
line vty 0 4
login local
transport input ssh
username admin password adminpass1234
crypto key generate rsa general-keys modulus 1024
wr

Task 2: Configure VLANs on all 6 switches

Configure VLANs to separate data, voice and management traffic on the Layer 2 devices, the 4 switches. Create the following vlans;

• Data #10
• Voice #150
• Native #99
• Management #100 (optional) 

config t
vlan 10
name Data
vlan 150
name Voice
vlan 99
name Native

Task 3: Configure EtherChannel on the switches as shown in Figure 1.

Although not required for a SOHO, its good practice to design and build the network with scalability in mind. Having said that we will configure etherchannel to increase the trunk link bandwidth to at least 200MB. 

Sw1

int range fa0/1-2
channel-group 1 mode desirable

Sw2

int range fa0/1-2
channel-group 1 mode desirable 

Sw3

int range fa0/1-2
channel-group 2 mode desirable

Sw4

int range fa0/1-2
channel-group 2 mode desirable

Living Off-grid: Solar lighting [2018]

[Still updating details of this post, quite a lot I had written down and lost]

In 2018 we spent the holidays in the village at our family home along the Maggi Highway, Makana Dobu. A lot has changed back home and although much of the land still looks the same there are a few homes up now and the community is growing bigger each year.

A few of the homes now have solar lighting but the usual setup a single 20W panel, one or two lights and a 12V battery. Just recently we had power poles erected and electricity brought in through a New Zealand government funded (have to confirm this) project. Before this project this was the off-grid setup we had at home.

Our house had the following equipment:

• 65 Amp battery - 12 volt

• 100W Solar Panel
• 50W Solar Panel
• Lights:
• 2W x2
• 8W x4
• 10W spotlights x2 

 

 

• Charge controller x1 rating 10Amps
• max panel 100W panel
• for >100W panel you need at least 15-20 Amps rating controllers.

 

The final setup on paper...

This was a draft on paper of how things were setup in the house.

Calculations:

• 65 Amps / Hour    X    12V    = 780 Watts/Hour

Everything depends on the load of appliances connected and used in an hour or so.

Formula

100W solar panel divided by 18 volts = 5.56 Amps

(18 V, Nominal output / max output if sun is strong)

5.56 Amps x no. of sun hours.

E.g. 5.56 A x 8 hours of sun = approx. 40 W total power.

Therefore, it depends on the sun (the hours of sunlight you get).

100W is able to give you 40amps in 8 hours of direct sunlight.

 

Figure 2. Uncle John wiring the charge controller

 

Figure 3. The charge controller