We are an independent development group based in Buffalo, NY. We work together to help each other out in our fields and open source projects. We live by the name Silo City Labs and work towards a better future for each other.

Preparing for Power Outages in Buffalo, NY

A Comprehensive Guide to Generators

Buffalo, NY, known for its harsh winters, requires residents to be prepared for power outages. Generators are a crucial part of this preparedness, offering a reliable power source when the grid fails. This guide delves into the types of generators suitable for Buffalo, along with tips on fuel storage, maintenance, and installation. Understanding Generator Options Gas Generators Gas-only generators offer a cost-effective alternative for Buffalo residents seeking a reliable power source. [Read More]

Nurturing Your Garden the Smart Way

A Guide to Building an ESP32-Powered Automated Watering System

Introduction In the world of electronics and software, innovation knows no bounds. As a senior software engineer in Amherst, NY, I’ve always loved to tinker with the latest technologies to create fun and exciting projects. One such project that I recently embarked on is an automated watering system that integrates seamlessly with Home Assistant, using sensors, Tasmota, MQTT, and an ESP32 4CH relay control board. In this article, I will guide you through the process of building your own automated watering system, step by step. [Read More]

Crowsville

A game of adventure and farming

What is crowsville? An mmorpg 2d topdown farming simulator

Why? I wanted an multiplatform game I can share adventures with my daughters.

When? Not sure yet

Currently looking for a game developer who I can partner with to write this. The online server portion has been written but I would love to start developing the game with a partner I can grow the title woth from the ground up

Cleaning up NAS

Updated in May 2021

Over the last few years me and my wife have been using the network server more frequently from its initial install and setup. We share 3-4 computers across the house and constantly move files onto the NAS. I have installed Nextcloud which I will detail in another post in the future. We have come across an issue that I have noticed with the network share. We moved all of our images and files over and ended up with tons of duplicates and a giant mess. I will show you what I am doing to clean that up. Our Nas is running on a ubuntu server. The following commands should work on most linux NAS servers.

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Protect your data from the FBI

FBI has been allowed to look at your browsing history and this is what were going to do about it. VPN Protection We are using NordVPN to protect our privacy, they offer no logs and no history for the goverment agencies to collect. Currently they are offering 70% off. Click on our affiliate link to support our content when signing up. NordVPN was noted as the fastes vpn multiple years. We highly recommend them over others. [Read More]

Turn an Old Raspberry pi into an offsite backup

Why? Lets start off with a few notes about how and why I would do this. I already have a fireproof/waterproof drive in my house. Sounds like im all set right? Not really. Although im set on a disaster level there are a few things that can be an issue with onsite backups. Especially with my drive being plugged in all the time. Theft, Although it is “theft resistant” the metal they want me to bolt down isnt very strong at all. [Read More]

Recover AMLogic Android boxes everytime

Theres a few ways on the amlogic chips to recover boxes, but theres also many ways to recover these units. I will talk about which I have used and others. In reality it is really difficult to fully brick one of these units permanently. I will start off with the basics and work my way up to the more advanced methods.

Disclosure: Everything in this document was sourced from somewhere online. If you want original links please ask me if I havent already posted them in one of the Image Source links. This document does NOT contain any proprietary knowledge that wasnt already sourced from the internet.

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Arm 64bit vs Xeon x86_64 performance on AWS

The reason for this test was to determine if arm was a viable option on aws. I noticed that arm had higher network throughputs and faster disk speeds on the aws pages. So I decided I would compare their performance using golang tests. The entire test cost me $0.68 using a quick spot instance. The comparison was done on two very similar instances of aws servers. On paper they would almost seem to function the same but arm was just a few cents more, but lets take a look on how they performed. [Read More]