Episodes
Robbie and Jeff set out to answer the question of whether a Raspberry Pi SBC can host a powerful Minecraft Server, and the results are astounding! With Robbie's installer, a Raspberry Pi 4 is configured as a game server, and they'll put it to the test by having their kids join (8 players total). Join us to learn how to setup the server and see how the Minecraft server can perform. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this...
Published 01/14/21
2020 has been a heck of a year. Let's just take a deep breath as a community, and spend some time together, reminiscing about the changes around here, and where things are at as we plan to hit the ground running in 2021. Robbie and Jeff sit in our festive Studio E in front of the warm glow of the green screen, and welcome comments and questions from our Discord and IRC chat rooms. Merry Christmas, all, and here's to 2021 being a better year for all. Read the complete show notes,...
Published 12/17/20
Robbie has finally pulled the filled-to-the-brim spinning hard drives from our data server and replaced them with enterprise SSDs. Does it make a difference? We'll chat with Mark Noland from Kingston to help us understand our benchmark results. Jeff, Bekah and Robert are all here too! Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at https://category5.tv/shows/technology/episode/669/ Running time: 1 Hour...
Published 12/10/20
As an old school Vic 20 fanboi, Robbie's given to liking the new Raspberry Pi 400. After all, it's a full computer inside a keyboard, just like the old days of Commodore and Amiga. But this time, it's got 4 GB RAM and a 1.8 GHz clock speed. Let's get a look at the device, and stick the new Ubuntu 20.10 on there to see how it plays video. We'll also look at a new Google Assistant feature that makes it easy to search for a song, with no app to install. Bekah's here with the news, and Robert's...
Published 11/19/20
Henry shows us how he uses his quadcopter to take hundreds of pictures of real-world buildings, which he then stitches together to create 3D objects. Those can then be imported into Unreal Engine or Blender, or even printed on a 3D printer. Robbie will demonstrate the latter. Bekah's also here with the news, and Robert presents an overview of Ethereum 2.0. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at...
Published 11/12/20
Robbie and Jeff get an early look at 3D printing with the Ender-3 V2. Robbie assembles it, and shows off some of his early prints. As this is our last episode before Halloween, we'll also dive into some spooky features: Robbie turns Jeff into a Zombie using AI, Bekah writes a spooky ghost story based on true events, and Robbie and Jeff take a tour of The [haunted] Orville. Bekah is here with the news, and Robert is over in the Crypto Corner. Read the complete show notes, comment...
Published 10/28/20
Whether you're hoping to give yourself extra privacy while moving about the web, trying to access services that aren't available in your area, or if your IP address is blocked by the provider, a proxy is every nerd's go-to. But using a free proxy can be unreliable ... or even dangerous. That is, unless you run it yourself. This week Robbie will teach us how to create our own Linux-based proxy server in "the cloud" absolutely free. Jeff shares his vision for creating his own PCB circuit...
Published 10/21/20
It's time to put "lucky" Season 13 behind us and kick of Season 14. But we'll freshen things up with a new theme song remix, improved audio on our mics, and more camera angles. Bekah's here with the top news stories this week, and Robert's got the Crypto Corner to tell us what's up with the cryptocurrency market. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at https://category5.tv/shows/technology/episode/664/ ...
Published 10/14/20
As "lucky" Season 13 comes to a close, Robbie takes us through installing Debian 11 (Bullseye) on a Pinebook Pro. We've also got our hands on a die-cast 10-inch model of The Orville ship, which is available now at comic book stores and online. Robbie will get into the box and take a look at this stunning set piece. Robert has cryptocurrency news and explains impermanent loss, and Bekah's here with the news stories we're following. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate...
Published 09/16/20
After three false starts, Robbie and Jeff decided it wasn't meant to be. But they made it to the studio in spite of the technical difficulties amidst our pandemic-time growing pains. So a quick hello, and then it's straight to the news. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at https://category5.tv/shows/technology/episode/662/ Running time: 31 Minutes 16 Seconds
Published 09/09/20
Robbie and Jeff sit down for a chat about how the pandemic has forced the Internet infrastructure to change rapidly, and what we can expect. Plus Robbie shares how he's learning to 3D print even without a 3D printer, and the guys offer an easy-to-grasp explanation of what 2FA is, and why it's important. Bekah has our week's tech news stories, and Robert is here to help us learn to research the various cryptocurrencies in the market. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate...
Published 08/26/20
As Robbie works hard toward getting Studio E fully operational, ameriDroid's 3D printer came in handy and provided a novel solution to get cables from one room to the other. We also give away a gift card and chat about a dangerous app idea. Bekah's here with the news, and Robert will help us make wise crypto investment decisions. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at...
Published 08/12/20
Robbie wanted a clock for The Bridge that not only offered more functionality, but also looked super cool. So, he began development of a program to be that clock. Will a Raspberry Pi suffice? Robbie and Jeff catch up about how things are going around here, and discuss a nightmare scenario where Microsoft breaks Outlook around the world and Twitter gets hacked. In other words, Wednesday. Bekah's got the news, and Robert's here to share the latest Crypto Corner. Read the complete...
Published 07/15/20
Jeff Weston returns to us this week! In our first-ever "Crew Conversations" special, Jeff and Robbie are put head-to-head to share two topics each that interest them. Jeff speaks about Chromebooks and Minecraft on Raspberry Pi, where Robbie talks about his dream of 3D printing technology and a homemade pan/tilt Raspberry Pi HQ Camera. We've also got Bekah on the news desk with the latest tech stories, plus Robert in the Crypto Corner. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate...
Published 07/08/20
This week we knock out the next three segments of our MikroTik router series. Robbie will show you how to update your router firmware, set a static IP address in your DHCP server, and configure a custom DNS server such as a Pi-hole as your network default. We've also got a viewer question about failed microSD cards, Bekah's here with the week's tech news, and Robert has the latest cryptocurrency news over in the Crypto Corner. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this...
Published 07/01/20
The Category5 Community Coffee Break is more than 64 episodes in since the pandemic hit, and it's a great place to come together with other community members and hang out, sharing about the tech (and other things) that occupy your time. Robbie also takes a crack at replacing the decrepit cooling system in his Lenovo ThinkPad, but finds the headers have changed and he'll need to pick it up another week... once he's unpacked his soldering tools. Bekah's here with the week's news, and Robert's...
Published 06/24/20
This week, Robbie sets out to assemble a Raspberry Pi 4 with 8 GB RAM in an Argon ONE case, which proves to be a gorgeous SBC-powered computer. But he'll also dig into the Argon ONE code and find out what makes it tick. Bekah's here with the latest news stories, and Robert's got the Crypto Corner. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at https://category5.tv/shows/technology/episode/655/ Running...
Published 06/17/20
Rocco (BigDaddyLinux) pointed the Linux Spotlight at Robbie this week, and we've got a short preview. Robbie will show us what it takes to get an operating system "installed" on a Pinebook Pro SD card, and why you might want to, and we'll also get a beginner's rundown of how to use GitHub. Bekah's here with the latest tech news, and Robert returns for more cryptocurrency market news. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from...
Published 06/10/20
For the first time, we open our MikroTik router series up to viewers for questions and comments. Robbie also addresses a couple of the major issues affecting the latest run of Pinebook Pro laptops, and shows a web service that provides a fun yet functional typewriter simulation. Bekah's here for the news, and Robert joins us with Crypto Corner. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at...
Published 06/03/20
On this week's show, Robbie teaches us how to setup a guest WiFi connection on our MikroTik router that cannot access our internal network resources, such as network shares or smart devices. Plus, Bekah's here with the tech news stories we're following this week. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at https://category5.tv/shows/technology/episode/652/ Running time: 42 Minutes 48 Seconds
Published 05/27/20
Robbie's digging through boxes before the show to ensure we can broadcast from our new studio. We'll chat about how things are progressing with our new space. We'll also get a look at setting up port forwarding rules in MikroTik routers, and Bekah returns with the news stories we're following this week. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at https://category5.tv/shows/technology/episode/651/ ...
Published 05/20/20
Robbie gets things rolling in our MikroTik router series by starting at the beginning: Bridging our modem and setting up MikroTik as a new gateway for our network. Bekah is on the newsdesk, Robert has a great list of recommended cryptocurrency podcasts and YouTube channels, and we'll learn a little more about where things are at for Category5 following our move. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at...
Published 05/13/20
Robbie's been doing a lot of work in the production room, and the servers are really noisy! So we'll set out to reduce the noise by replacing a fan in our backup drive. After that, listening to music is much more enjoyable, so we'll look at a fun way to tune in to radio stations from around the world. Bekah's got the top stories in our newsroom, and Robert's here to talk about Bitcoin halving. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain...
Published 05/06/20
As Robbie continues to work hard to establish a functioning studio space during a pandemic, he'll broadcast from The Bridge--our production studio--this week. We'll discuss MikroTik routers as he introduces our upcoming series on configuring these powerful yet inexpensive SOHO routers that pack all the enterprise features at 1/10th of the price. Bekah takes over the news desk this week, and Robert shares the latest Crypto Corner. Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this...
Published 04/29/20
Category5 is back and broadcasting from its new studio, but who could have predicted a global pandemic occurring during our downtime as we prepared to move? Robbie is joined by Tom Costantino (Co-Producer, The Orville), Brandon Fayette (VFX Supervisor, The Orville), Sasha Rickman (Co-Host, Category5 Technology TV), Bo Lechnowsky (Founder/Owner, ameriDroid) and Amie DD (Contestant, LEGO Masters) to discuss how COVID-19 is affecting each differently. We're also joined by our socially distant...
Published 04/22/20