Paul Braren, TinkerTry.com
LightNews LightNews
banner
paulbraren.bsky.social
Paul Braren, TinkerTry.com
@paulbraren.bsky.social
290 followers 1.1K following 160 posts
Dad. IT Ops Engineer, previously SE @Pure/Dell/VMware, IBM team lead. VMware vExpert & Certified Pro. #2681.
Sustainability advocacy & consulting.
EV Club of CT co-leader.
TinkerTry.com -PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency & more
YouTube.com/TinkerTry
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
paulbraren.bsky.social
Paul Braren, TinkerTry.com @paulbraren.bsky.social · Nov 21
Interested in my home electrification project w/ solar+battery+heat pump heating/cooling/water?

Consider a Bluesky follow, see also my tech blog tinkertry.com
PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more
- emailed articles
tinkertry.com/weekly
- RSS
tinkertry.com/rss
- video
youtube.com/TinkerTry/?s...
An aerial view of my all-electric home in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Sidebar features smaller photos of TinkerTry mastehead, my 2 EV garage, and the 1.2M view YouTube video Matt Ferrell did that compares my renovation project with his new home build.
paulbraren.bsky.social
Come join our Zoom from wherever you live, and it's free!
Register here:
evclubct.com/event/bidire...
#VPP
evclubct.bsky.social EV Club of Connecticut @evclubct.bsky.social · 13d
Bidirectional Charging – Club Zoom Meeting
All About V2G/V2H, register for free!
evclubct.com/event/bidire...
Many club members opt-in to a Virtual Power Plant program - utility pays them to use stored energy from their battery storage during peak demand. V2G extends this concept to EV batteries.
Bidirectional Charging - Club Meeting | EV Club CT
EVs and the grid can be friends! Learn all about bidirectional charging and the vehicle to grid pilot program for which recruitment is currently underway.
evclubct.com
November 1, 2025 at 2:11 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
From the hundreds of folks I met during my travels back in VMware's heyday, have any of you found me here on Bluesky?

Photo - Duncan Epping and Paul Braren at the VMware booth, during VeeamON 2018 in Chicago.
Duncan Epping and Paul Braren at the VMware booth at VeeamON 2018.
October 26, 2025 at 2:08 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Great article and video - helpful, informative, and entertaining. I’ve had my eye on such AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor (Strix Halo) systems with 128GB of LPDDR5X memory for a while now, this really helps inform my decision.
youtu.be/pHB3-9AG6tw?...
@servethehome.com.web.brid.gy
October 13, 2025 at 2:59 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Successful NorthEast Electric Vehicle Showcase
evclubct.com/successful-n...
125 Test Drives Given
“…when we selected the date 8 months ago, who knew it was going to be 2 days before the sunset of the federal incentive. EV sales are enjoying a spike due to pull-forward demand.”
Successful EV Club Ride and Drive Event | EV Club CT
Over 125 test drives, information on incentives and new programs, and lots of fun interaction this year at the EV Club NEEVS event. Details/pix here.
evclubct.com
October 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Seems ABC picked this good news up first, about 3 hours ago, by @chrisboardman.bsky.social
"DC District Court grants Revolution Wind injunction, construction expected to restart"
www.abc6.com/dc-district-...

See also
ground.news/article/fede...

@savethesound.bsky.social @eversource.bsky.social
September 22, 2025 at 8:44 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
As a very active VPP homeowner living off heat pumps year-round, this will be interesting!

Susan is great, see:
"New Report Confirms Trump’s Attack on Offshore Wind Will Raise Electric Prices Across New England"
Statement by Susan Muller, Union of Concerned Scientists
www.ucs.org/about/news/n...
Susan Muller, Pat Knight, Amanda Barker, Larry Chretien
September 8, 2025 at 10:16 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
@christinaprignano.com @shankman.bsky.social, and Jon Chesto, great work on today's
"Offshore wind 101: What’s the status of major wind projects in the Northeast?" - @bostonglobe.com

Appreciate that clear map and table:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/08/s...
@eversource.com @savethesound.bsky.social
Offshore wind 101: What’s the status of major wind projects in the Northeast? - The Boston Globe
President Trump's administration has canceled permits, issued stop-work orders, and gone to court to stop progress on wind turbine development.
www.bostonglobe.com
September 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
youtu.be/TRzEzU7kwyQ?...
August 26, 2025 at 12:15 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Thanks for timely topics on latest This Week in Tech!
leolaporte.me @ this spot:
youtu.be/uS2LHm3X5vA?...

lschmeiser.bsky.social :
youtu.be/uS2LHm3X5vA?...

jp2e.bsky.social :
youtu.be/uS2LHm3X5vA?...

sam.abuelsamid.com :
youtu.be/uS2LHm3X5vA?...

twit.tv/shows/all-tw...

@lisalaporte.bsky.social
This Week in Tech 1045 The Juice Ain't Worth the Squeeze - Meta's Flirty Chatbot lschmeiser.bsky.social Lisa Schmeiser jp2e.bsky.social Jennifer Pattison Tuohy sam.abuelsamid.com Sam Abuelsamid wheelbearings.media
August 21, 2025 at 12:23 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Another great Energy Transition Show with Chris Nelder!
[Episode #253] – Bioenergy Illusions
At 34 min into full episode
xenetwork.org/ets/episodes...
Chris Nelder (quoting a report):
"Planting solar on your land, if you will, gives you 100 times more energy than using it to grow corn for fuel."
[Episode #253] – Bioenergy Illusions | The Energy Transition Show
Are biofuels and other forms of bioenergy truly ‘renewable’ and ‘carbon neutral?'
xenetwork.org
July 27, 2025 at 1:01 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Very helpful article, by Chris Colotti:
chriscolotti.us/vmware/mitig...
(I’ve used Okta at several jobs, and Duo in my home)
Mitigating VMware CVE's Without Patching • Chris Colotti's Blog
A lot of people are looking at other options after the Broadcom buyout of VMware. That is no secret at this point, although some of the die hards out there will completely deny it. Those choosing to m...
chriscolotti.us
July 24, 2025 at 4:45 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Boston, you sure looked good tnite!
July 13, 2025 at 1:35 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Excellent video about the power that generative AI uses. An effective, relatable demonstration, by @joannastern.bsky.social
youtu.be/mRNVc3-XGFg?...
How Your AI Prompt Travels Through a Data Center | WSJ
YouTube video by The Wall Street Journal
youtu.be
July 2, 2025 at 1:42 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Way to go, Lon Seidman,
Tech Expert @lon.tv and @nbcconnecticut.com for helping Connecticut residents avoid scam texts!
At 1 min. mark here:
nbcconnecticut.app.link/RbeGw7FqUTb
Lon Seidman of LON.TV warns of spam texts.
June 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Join BuildGreenCT & I tomorrow at 9:30am ET!

"Green Homes Community Roundtable"
Led by Andrew Baumer
- Home Committee Chairman, Connecticut Green Building Council
- Sustainability Consultant, Energy Efficient Building & Alternative Transportation

Free registration:
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
May 8, 2025 at 12:38 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
For anybody in US who has been shopping for a Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Fiber UCG-Fiber (No Storage), it's finally in stock again at:
store.ui.com/us/en/catego...
Thank me later!

It's out of stock at all other reputable online retailers in the US, and marked up ~$100 elsewhere.
@ubiquiti.bsky.social
Cloud Gateway Fiber - Ubiquiti Store
Desktop 10G Cloud Gateway with integrated 4-port 2.5 GbE switch, selectable NVR storage, and full UniFi application support.
store.ui.com
May 8, 2025 at 12:05 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
>320K view article updated!

How to update any VMware ESXi Hypervisor to the latest using ESXCLI for easy download and install

ESXi 8.0 Update 3d | 04 MAR 2025 | Build 24585383
ESXi 8.0 Update 2d | 04 MAR 2025 | Build 24585300

tinkertry.com/easy-update-...
@vmware.bsky.social @vexpert.bsky.social
March 29, 2025 at 2:08 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Not the greatest timing for me personally, but I can't claim that I wasn't warned.
#homelab
March 29, 2025 at 12:58 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Recent video by @frame.work

"Why did Framework build a desktop?
youtu.be/zI6ZQls54Ms?...
Framework Desktop is a big computer made mini. Massive gaming capability, heavy-duty AI compute, and standard PC parts, all in 4.5L."

AMD Ryzen AI Max Processors.

Thoughts?
Why did Framework build a desktop?
YouTube video by Framework
youtu.be
March 16, 2025 at 4:58 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
It’s Tax Season – Do You Know Where Your EV Tax Credit Is?
evclubct.com/its-tax-seas...
How The Federal EV Tax Credit Works at Tax Time
“A complication has surfaced that will affect some portion of those who purchased an EV and did not use the transfer.”
Some Consumers Not Getting the EV Tax Credit
Confusion with the Treasury portal is creating problems for some consumers. Things to know about filing for the tax credit.
evclubct.com
March 15, 2025 at 3:15 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
This seems promising:

Forget green bubbles — iPhones will soon get encrypted RCS messaging to Androids
www.tomsguide.com/phones/iphon...
“In December, the FBI warned Apple and Android users to avoid RCS messaging because of the missing encryption.

But that lack is finally going away…”
Forget green bubbles — iPhones will soon get encrypted RCS messaging to Androids
It's safer to message now
www.tomsguide.com
March 15, 2025 at 1:26 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
IoT SuperServer SYS-E403-14B-FRN2T (New, Intel Xeon 6)
www.supermicro.com/en/products/...
March 13, 2025 at 3:27 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Lip-Bu Tan Takes Over as Intel CEO
www.servethehome.com/lip-bu-tan-t...
“Lip-Bu Tan is one of those folks that is incredibly well connected in the fabric of the technology industry. He is one of the few folks that could credibly attempt to take on the task.”
@servethehome.com.web.brid.gy
Lip-Bu Tan Takes Over as Intel CEO
In a big announcement today, Intel announced that Lip-Bu Tan will be taking over as CEO starting March 18, 2025
www.servethehome.com
March 13, 2025 at 3:15 AM
paulbraren.bsky.social
That time of year - sun getting stronger faster as we near the vernal (spring) equinox here in New England. Coincides with my heat-pump based whole-home heating/ventilation/humidification demands lessening quickly.

This “SUN-DAY!” span.io app alert never gets old!
@mattferrell.bsky.social
SPAN iOS App alert says: “SUN-DAY! (Star emoji) Tuesday was a SUN-DAY! 92% of your home was (lightning emoji, meaning power) by (sun emoji). Span.io App on iOS shows my 28,678 kWh annual solar generation curve for 2024 here in Connecticut.
March 12, 2025 at 4:01 PM
paulbraren.bsky.social
Intel Xeon 6 SoC is Here Granite Rapids-D is HUGE
www.servethehome.com/intel-xeon-6...
“Unfortunately, the starting price is now $934…100Gbps of networking. In the Broadwell-DE days, the line was awesome because it could be used for low-end virtualization”
@servethehome.com.web.brid.gy
Intel Xeon 6 SoC is Here Granite Rapids-D is HUGE
The new Intel Xeon 6 SoC has up to 72 cores, 200Gbps of networking, along with various built-in accelerators
www.servethehome.com
February 26, 2025 at 10:16 PM