Tech Spot

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is pretty cool. We've had some good alternatives like Cygwin and virtual machines, but having a Microsoft-supported Linux kernel that runs natively in Windows is a whole other story. If I had a time machine and visited my younger self to tell me about the future, I could talk about neat things like almost self-driving cars, reusable rockets, cryptocurrency, or even an online movement to beat hedge funds in the stock market! My younger self could've believed all these things, but not "Microsoft embraces Linux". Younger self would have branded current me as a bold-faced liar, an imposter! I've been pleased with WSL thus far.  But the default bash color scheme is horrendous (this isn't necessarily specific to WSL itself, as other Linux native bash shells have similar issues). What I'm talking about are dark colors on a black background, the worst being dark blue on black, and some colored font on a green background. 

I've used open source router firmwares such as DD-WRT, TomatoUSB, and most recently FreshTomato and Asuswrt-Merlin. I had been using a trusty Cisco/Linksys E2000 on TomatoUSB 1.28 for a number of years, and sometimes marveled at its relatively good range despite having no external antennas. But having read ASUS routers and their stability, along with the Asuswrt-Merlin firmware and its ease of installation, I bought a couple of used ASUS routers. I picked up an RT-AC66U (AC1750) and a T-Mobile co-branded RT-AC68U (AC1900). Installing the latest supported Asuswrt-Merlin was a breeze. Then it was time to measure wattage to see how much power usage increase (all tested with wi-fi only, no customizations, no WAN connection, 1 LAN connection). Cisco/Linksys E2000 running FreshTomato 2020.8, 5W usage: ASUS RT-AC66U on Asuswrt-Merlin 380.70, 9-10 W usage: ASUS RT-AC68U on Asuswrt-Merlin 384.19, 9-10 W usage: I was pleasantly surprised that I'm able to r

The Hikvision web browser interface can be clunky and downright frustrating to use. One of the most important functions is simply to be able to download any surveillance video clips for copying or distributing. There are at least two things you must do before you can download videos, and it's not apparent or documented (at least that I could find). Run the browser as administrator (in Windows, right-click on the browser icon and Run as Administrator). If you were reviewing a video in playback mode, as one does 99% of the time before deciding to download, you have to stop the video playback (even if paused) or you'll get an error "Downloading failed." How nice it would have been if they simply added a message "Please stop playback first." Here's a screenshot showing a successful download. Another thing that might be clunky is that choosing a different download directory in Configuration may not work well. I j