Marcus Hamaker is The Sleepy Geek

Well maybe not hiding but I have been there for work. What a beautiful part of this country we live in. I was there working on a migration to new computers for a large group of people. The poor guy there has way to much on his plate so they called in the Wolf :)

I tweeted a while ago that the hardest thing to get used to in PEI was having not to dial the area code for all my phone calls. That’s just mandatory in the big cities in Canada now. It was nice to only have to remember 7 digits!

Little tired to be thinking deeply about what I feel of this or that right now. Hotel living seems all fine and dandy when you are on vacation but when I am away from the family I don’t sleep well at all. Two nights of feeling like a bag of crapola, one good night and then one where I just tossed around needlessly. I can’t win it would seem.

Home  I am and happy for it too. I flew into Montreal this morning at 11:30am just before a huge storm hit. The rain went up my pants; I swear. The landing was still bumpy with the captain on and off the throttle like it was a well pump handle and the flaps at 30 degrees but I held down my pretzels and water just fine. I may have ripped the underside of my seat however due to the vice grip I had on it.

Tonight, supper with dad for his birthday – Happy Birthday dad (yesterday) and then up north to the cottage with friends and family. Can’t wait.

Oh and I have to mention that the Dutch are in the World Cup final. Something I have yet to see in my life.

So here goes…

Hup Holland Hup
Laat de leeuw niet in z’n hempie staan
Hup Holland Hup
Trek het beestje geen pantoffels aan
Hup Holland Hup
Laat je uit ‘t veld niet slaan
Want de leeuw op voetbalschoenen
Durft de hele wereld aan

Go Holland!!!

Geek on!

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There are a lot of ways to automate things in your home these days. Even appliances come with delays and timers built directly into them which is basic automation. But if you are like me, you want something more elaborate. There are the solutions that can run into 5+ dollar figures but what’s the fun in that? Nothing to set up!

I have used X10 in my house for some time but it seems that the Insteon boys have come up with a line that now completely blows it out of the water. You can now buy home kits that allow you to set up lighting and appliance switching for a low price. There is also very little to installing these units. Plug the module in the wall and then plug the lamp in the module. The rest is configuration – setting IDs and playing with the scheduling with the software.

I would recommend that you get a kit such as this to start with. As you see you get the modules for lighting and the software to run on a computer that allows you to turn on/off/dim the lights from your PHONE! How awesome is that? There are others that come with remote controls which is more similar to what I am used to and I find it handy to be able to hit one button as my head touches the pillow and all my lights go out :) Gadget mania!

Most of the things that I buy of this nature come from the mecca of home automation – Smarthome. They have the Insteon line but also carry many other products to make your life easier. I suggest you check them out.

Happy shopping, if not for real it’s a great window shop!

Geek on!

Vacation at the cottage is over :( Sad to be over, but glad to be home. It was nice to unplug from the world for a while, spending a lot of time with the family. It was a blast to just relax with the kids and my wife all day.

All that being said, it’s nice to be home. Glad to see my house and glad to see my own bed. I have a pinched nerve in my back and I think it’s mostly to do with sleeping in another bed. DOH! What do you want for cottage paradise?