The IT Blog

SmartTVs going from bad to worse?

When we bought a new TV a couple of years ago, I was really to use all the Smart features from our SmartTV. But after a while the discomfort has outweighed the features. Recently we had the opportunity to “test” a newer SmartTV in a hotel and I must admit – it hasn’t gotten better! But I was surprised that the rabbit hole was even deeper and darker than I would have expected …

How to fix: Android Connected, No Internet with Pi-Hole

Since quite a while I was running a Pi-Hole DNS server in my network to block ad- & tracking requests for all devices in the network (more info about Pi-hole are on Wikipedia).

All was great until at some time our Android devices suddenly couldn’t connect to the WiFi anymore. They reported “Connected, No Internet“. All other devices, connected via LAN or WiFi were just fine: PCs, FireTV Stick, other PIs – no issues. When I disabled the use of PiHole, they were able to connect again.

How to replace Synology Video Station with Jellyfin

Unfortunately Synology has discontinued their support for Videostation starting from DSM version 7.2.2 as can be read in the Release Notes for DSM | Synology Inc.:

#6 Video Station is not available on DSM 7.2.2. Refer to this article for workarounds to stream videos to end devices.

Time to evaluate the alternatives …

The NPS Is Dead – How we killed it with Incentives

I suppose most people in IT have encountered the Net Promoter Score (NPS) in some form. If you’re unfamiliar with it, just check out the Wikipedia article.

In brief, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric used to gauge customer loyalty and satisfaction. It’s calculated by asking customers how likely they are to recommend a product or service on a scale from 0 to 10. The score is then derived by subtracting the percentage of detractors (those who score 0-6) from the percentage of promoters (those who score 9-10).

It sounds good, and for a time, it served its original purpose well!

Brasil’s Twitter/X ban shows once more an over centralized system

If you haven’t heard about it, on August 31st 2024 Brasil banned Twitter/X nationwide (see BBC, NYTimes, TheVerge).

There are numerous debates about the whys etc. But for this post I don’t care. My point here is: it once more shows the massive downside of such a centralized system.

How to get simple DNS Protection

Malware sites are the plague of the century! And it’s so easy to fall for them. Phishing, hacked website content, or malware-ads – one click and you are on a website you shouldn’t be.

One way to deal with the issue is to block malicious domains at DNS resolver level. The advantage is that you do not have to do any modification at the devices!

Toxic Positivity and Whitewashing in Tech

What I’ve been noticing and disliking more and more lately:

All the whitewashing and toxic positivity!

Love it, Change it or Leave it

The picture shows a CleanUpBag from LOWA GmbH that I once won in a promo from LOWA including the litter that I found (and collected) on a mountain hike. The reactions on social media were either “thank you” or anger at the people who leave the litter on the trails.

And I can understand those who feel anger! I used to feel the same way!

“Death to the Algorithm” a recommended read

I just came across Jeffrey’s post “Death to the Algorithm | Jeffrey Inscho” and I so resonate with it!

Audio and Video Quality in Online Meetings DOES matter

We’ve all been there – endless online meetings, squinting at grainy screens, wondering if our colleagues are even awake. Seriously, how many online meeting does it take to realize that audio and video quality matter more than we want to admit?