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Double NAT, 40 Terabytes, and a Christmas Miracle
I spent my Christmas downtime replacing a fragile, port-forwarded network with a resilient Tailscale mesh. I managed to overcome double NAT headaches to sync Synology units peer-to-peer, fixed the inevitable MTU “black holes,” and automated the DSM 7 sandboxing hurdles to build a private, encrypted family network.
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Waking Ned Devine (1998)
If you loved Local Hero then you will love this tale of a village set in western Ireland, who discover that one of the 50 odd residents has won the lottery. However at first they don’t know who, but soon discover it is the one person that didn’t come to the party. Poor man had died – of shock that he had won that much money. Knowing that poor Ned…
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Air America (1990)
The first time I seen this movie in a theater in Suchiehall Street Glasgow, when I was at university and I recall laughing my ass off. I let this one sit and age on the shelf and with a little nervousness I dusted off the cover and took it for another spin. Fortunately it has aged very well. Mel Gibson plays Gene, a seasoned pilot flying in the Air America unit…
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Tomorrowland (2015)
Oh Disney, where did this go so wrong? You have such talent available at your finger tips, such vision, huge resources, and this is the best you can do? A disjointed, mess of a movie, with a story line that only “clicks” about 10 minutes from the end, and I say click barely. I actually don’t know how to describe the storyline, because I am still unsure myself what it was…
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Up in the Air (2009)
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a business man that spends the vast amount of his time in the air, flying some 360,000 miles a year and 322 days away from home for a company that specializes in helping companies to downsize, or in other words, he’s sent out to fire the staff. He is at his happiest when he is in his natural habitat “All the things you probably hate…
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Black Sea (2014)
Jude Law heads up this rag tag crew of submariners, that lease an old Russian sub, to go and find some lost World War 2 gold in the Black Sea. A sort of Kelley’s Heroes but underwater. Robinson (Law) is an Aberdonian (Aberdeen, Scotland) is a veteran of the merchant seas recently sacked from his firm that he, and his crew, have devoted a significant amount of their careers to. Without…
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National Treasure (2004)
What is that old saying, even a stopped clock is right twice a day? Well, you can apply the same logic to Nicolas Cage movies. The sheer volume of dross that the man puts out, you can easily relegate him to B movies, but every so often a vehicle comes along that makes you think, wow that wasn’t half bad. National Treasure, from Disney, is one such vehicle. Bringing together all the…
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The Train Robbers (1973)
There are times when you have to separate the real man from the man on the silver screen. A number of actors who have such a persona and strong pedigree that you simply have to forgive them (or forget) that there is even a real person behind it. Tom Cruise and John Wayne are two legends that fall into this category. Both of these guys get right under my skin when I…
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Road to Pedition (2002)
Before Sam Mendes became one of the hottest directors to take on James Bond, he cut his teeth on gritty dramas, with a sprinkling of action. Road to Pedition is set in the early 20th century at the time crime bosses ran the cities. The story (loosely based on the real life mobster) evolves around the inner circle of mob boss John Rooney (Paul Newman) whose solid right hand hit man,…
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Spy (2015)
Before I begin this one, let me give you a little background. I am a huge Jason Statham fan. His movies are not the most high brow, but they are a good kick-ass testosterone fueled escape. So when I seen this movie pop up, and Statham was cast in a comedic role of himself, I was scared. I was afraid this was going to be a complete disaster and break the excellent…
the legend that is, Alan Williamson.
For over 20 years, I’ve shared my thoughts whenever the muse strikes. It’s unpredictable, honest, unedited, and occasionally witty. I’m living the best years of my life, working harder than ever, and enjoying every second.
Alan Williamson 