Brian Toth Computer Services

08/31/2026

In exchange for free stuff, devices make home connections part of a proxy network.

05/18/2026

"Windows 11 taskbar can now be docked to any edge of your screen, including the left and right, something that was possible in Windows 10 (and many older versions of Windows) but has been missing from Windows 11 since launch."

Microsoft is also testing a smaller taskbar and more customizable Start menu.

04/15/2026

"Under the new router ban, the Trump administration decides—through an opaque process in which it’s unclear why any particular company receives an exemption—which companies’ devices can be sold to consumers."

"The FCC imposed the device ban only on consumer-grade routers, even though network gear used by large businesses presents a natural target for the foreign hackers the router ban is ostensibly supposed to thwart."

"Nearly every router maker will have to obtain an exemption for future devices."

Trump FCC starts handing out exemptions to its ban on foreign-made routers.

04/10/2026

Typical. 🙂

The category is: iconic space quotes I use daily.

04/02/2026

They were nice products at the time, but there are better, faster options now. And while the network Time Machine support is nice, and pretty reliable, it's really time to let it go.

Time Capsules were slow and often had drive failures. The AirPort Extreme was the better option and allowed you to attach your own external USB hard drive. But, the port was only USB 2.0 which is just too slow.

In addition, Apple made changes a while ago to Time Machine that eliminated the ability to do initial backups or restores by connecting the drive to your Mac, which gave you fast speeds when you needed it and the convenience of wireless for incremental backups when it didn't matter.

So for fast network Time Machine backups, your best bet is now a 3rd party NAS or another Mac that you can backup to. Or just go back to USB drives and set a reminder so you don't forget. 😬

A new GitHub project is trying to retrofit Apple's discontinued Time Capsule with modern SMB support. If this works, Time Machine backups to and restores from the hardware will still work, even after Apple kills it off in macOS 27.