Nitemare Cafe

A day in the life of a computer geek

Mathias paternal line

April 07, 2026 — Wintermute

As promised, here is the paternal line from my mother's side:

  • Ludwid (Louis) Metz (1476-????) France
  • Georges Metz (1505-1570) France
  • Johannes Wolfgang Mattias Metz (1550-1584 France
  • George Metz Matthias (1575-1627) France
  • William Claus Metz Mathias (1616-1685) France
  • Abraham Claus Matheiss (1650-1701) France
  • Johann Jacob Adam Mathias (1675-1774) France
  • Johan Jacob Matthias (1704-1782) France - died in Slate Ridge, Frederick Co, MD, USA
  • Johan Jacob Mathias III (1741-1842) Somerset, PA, USA - died in Hocking Co, OH, USA
  • Peter Mathias (1785-1879) Penn Township, Berks Co, PA, USA - died in Good Hope Township, Hocking Co, OH, USA
  • William Levi Mathias (1827-1877) Somerset, Perry Co, OH, USA - died in Payne, Paulding Co, OH, USA
  • James Summers Mathias (1853-1918) Hocking Co, OH, USA - died in Fairfield Co, OH, USA
  • John Riley Mathias (1879-1938) Hocking Co, OH, USA - died in Lancaster, Fairfield Co, OH, USA
  • Herman Clinton Mathias (1921-1969) Vinton Co, OH, USA - died in Lancaster, Fairfield Co, OH, USA
  • Sandra Kay Mathias (1949-2022) Sugar Grove, Fairfiled Co, OH, USA - died in Lancaster, Fairfield Co, OH, USA

And there we have the 15 generations prior to me from the Mathias side.

Tags: mathias, geneology, paternal

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Barnhart paternal line

April 07, 2026 — Wintermute

I have been doing some geneology research, and I've managed to trace both parent's paternal lines back pretty far. I am documenting the Barnhart line here:

  • Hanns Bernhardt (1500-1530) Germany
  • Johann Gottlieb Bernhardt (1520-1596) Germany
  • Gustav Bernhart (1555-1603) Germany
  • Emmerich Bernhard (1575-1613) Germany
  • Nicolas Bernhard (1593-1657) Germany
  • Georg Johann Bernhart (1642-1686) Germany
  • Joann Mathesis Barnhart (1679-1733) Germany
  • Johannes Mathias Bernhardt (1729-1794) Germany - died in East Buffalo, Union Co, PA, USA
  • Mathias Barnhart (1770-1842) Union Co, PA, USA
  • George Barnhart (1798-1844) Union Co, PA, USA - died in Green Township, Ross Co, OH, USA
  • William Henry Barnhart (1825-1891) Green Township, Ross Co, OH, USA
  • Franklin Barnhart (1863-1944) Ross Co, OH, USA - died in Lancaster, Fairfield Co, OH, USA
  • Hugh Franklin Barnhart (1900-1982) Colerain Township, Ross Co, OH, USA - died in Lancaster, Fairfield Co, OH, USA
  • Robert Delno Barnhart (1939-2025) Columbus, Franklin Co, OH, USA - died in Danielson, Windham Co, CT, USA

There you have it. The 14 generations of Barnharts before me. I will document the Mathias line in a separate post. Then I will likely begin working on the maternal lines of both parents.

Tags: barnhart, geneology, paternal

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Trust Your Technolust

January 24, 2026 — Wintermute

I ordered this because I thought it was kinda cool, seeing as I've been interested in cybersecurity since before I even started a career in IT. Also love Hak5's products (the pager is absolutely awesome). I even knew there were some puzzles on the coin. What I didn't know was that the puzzles lead to a grand prize for one lucky hacker. Some are saying it's an all-out ARG. So... Who wants to help me solve this and share the prize with me? ;)

Tags: hak5, arg

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Metropolis (1927)

January 18, 2026 — Wintermute

"The year is 2026, a Dickensian 'Best of times, worst of times,' where total oppression of the masses is wielded by the unquestionable power of the few." - Metropolis (1927)

Being a bit of a movie buff and certainly a sci-fi geek (you're surprised? Do you even know me?!?! lol), I'm surprised it's taken me this long to catch 1927's masterpiece, Metropolis. Sadly, many of the great movies from the silent era are only available as restorations/recreations. A few years back I watched the 1995 restoration of 1922's Nosferatu before the 2024 remake was released. I was impressed with how closely that one followed the silent film.

For Metropolis, I just did a search and watched the first version I found. It just happened to be Giorgio Moroder's 1984 version. It was... not what I expected, seeing as I had no idea who that is. Looking him up afterwards, it makes a bit more sense. The original score has not been recreated for this restoration. Oh no. It's all contemporary (for the time) rock and pop. There are some heavy hitters on this soundtrack, so I wasn't disappointed. Freddie Mercury, Pat Benatar, Bonnie Tyler, Billy Squier, Loverboy, Adam Ant, Jon Anderson, Frank Dimino, and of course Giorgio Moroder's score.

Anyhow, it (both the original 1927 version and this one) was panned by critics but has since found a bit of a cult following. I love this version for the soundtrack alone.

Tags: movies, sci-fi, silent-films, metropolis

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Beard care

January 15, 2026 — Wintermute

I've grown a beard before, mostly out of sheer hatred of shaving, but every time it has gotten to the point of itching, I've always just shaved it off and started over. But I've had a beard for several months now, and it was looking a little scraggly, so I decided to do something about it.

I picked up a cordless beard trimmer, which has an adjustable guard built in, and it works great. I figured I would trim my beard to about an 8 to get it a consistent length, and also picked up some beard oil to apply to make it softer. I shaped the beard a bit, to it's no longer down as far on my neck or too high above my jawline, and trimmed my mustache for the first time ever as well. I was getting a bit unruly too. In about a month or so, I will trim things up again but maybe to an 8.5 or 9, and gradually increase the length as long as the beard is consistent at the longer length. I may stop at 10, or I may let the beard itself grow longer, while keeping lines nice and blended. I don't think it looks half bad for me first ever attempt at actually grooming my beard. ;)

For those curious, I picked up beard oil, and a beard grooming kit (brush, comb, small scissors) by Viking Revolution. They make a beard wash and a conditioner as well, which I may also pick up if I think it's needed. But now my beard smells like sandlewood. ;)

Tags: beard, grooming

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PSA: Disable Alerts

January 14, 2026 — Wintermute

I use Google Calendar to remind me to pay things, which weekends are for feeding the snake, when the dog needs her meds, etc. Those things, it makes sense to allow alerts. Just set those reminders for a specific time, have it alert 30 minutes prior, and all good.

However, I also use Calendar to remember dates. Birthdays, anniversaries of important events, etc. Those are set up as all-day events. And by default, they'll alert as well.

I also use Thunderbird as my e-mail client. It syncs my calendar with Google as well as my mail. And guess what? It will use the same alert settings as you set up on Google. But also, while Google only alerts once, Thunderbird will keep alerting you every so often until you dismiss the alert.

Today is the one-year anniversary that one of my half-sisters pinged me to let me know "Bob passed away..." Bob referring to Robert D. Barnhart, my birth father that I hadn't seen in 40 years. Because we weren't close, I knew it wasn't a date I would remember on my own. Who am I kidding? I suck at dates. I wouldn't have remembered it even if we were. ;) So, I put it in Google Calendar.

In the middle of the night last night, I heard a strange beep which woke me up. I checked the new flip phone in case it was an alert I was unfamiliar with. Nope. I checked the smartphone, which was plugged in. Nothing. It sounded vaguely like the alert it will give if there is moisture in the charging port, so even though it didn't give that alert on-screen, I unplugged it. It seemed to stop, so I fell back asleep after awhile.

Of course you see where this is going. Awhile later, it woke me up again. I couldn't find it. Fell back asleep. Rinse-repeat a couple of times. Eventually I was so exhausted that I slept through them. They weren't terribly obnoxious. I get up this morning, sit down at my computer to check when my Amazon deliveries should be here today, and there on my screen is the alert from Thunderbird. Dutifully reminding me of something I had marked as an all-day event ever 30 minutes or so since 11:30 last night.

So, this is your PSA to disable alerts for your all-day events in Google Calendar unless you actually need them. The default to "on," even for all-day events. ;)

Tags: google-calendar, alerts

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FreeTube

January 11, 2026 — Wintermute

Cory Doctorow has been talking about "enshittification" for awhile now. Here is one of his early posts, though certainly not his first, which really gained popularity.

Of course, the enshittification of YouTube has been going on pretty much since Google bought it almost 20 years ago. The algorithms have been getting steadily worse of late, which is why I am ditching my smartphone except for work and moving to single-use devices. But YouTube still provides value, it's just that it is easy to get sucked into the algorithm. So I have found a way to still enjoy YouTube: FreeTube. It is available on Mac, Windows and Linux. There is also a version available for Android.

FreeTube allows you to enjoy YouTube without logging in, and everything is stored locally. This means you cannot comment from within it, but you can hit "Share" on a video and grab the link, paste it into your browser, and comment to your heart's content. It also means it doesn't sync your data between devices like you can when you're logged in. But Google cannot feed you Javascript or Cookies or anything else to track you. If you use Tor or a VPN and it uses different exit nodes, it even makes it harder to ID you via your IP address.

I just started using it, and I will still be going to YouTube directly occassionally for Lives and Premieres so that I can chat real-time with the creators. I also comment of videos every now and then to make it feel more like a community. But most of my use will start from within FreeTube before launching a browser. This lets me take back control from the algorithms which are trying to push content you may not like to engage with in front of you.

I am taking power away from the algorithms by carefully curating content I actually want to engage with. I wish there were something for Facebook which just showed my the content from my friends and the groups and pages I actually follow. Until I find a solution for that, my time on Facebook will be strictly limited. I will likely even set up a bookmark page with links to the specific people, pages, and groups I wish to remain engaged with, then only engage via those links. It's getting too easy to get drawn into doomscrolling. I am done with that.

Tags: YouTube, enshittification, FreeTube

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Snowsky Echo Mini

January 10, 2026 — Wintermute

I just picked up a Snowsky Echo Mini mp3 player along with a couple of cheap pair of wired headphones, Sony MDR-ZX110 on-ear headphones and RORSOU R10 over-ear headphones. I tested both pair on my laptop to get a feel for how they sound, and both perform better than their pricepoint but about what one would expect from a fairly good pair of each type.

The mp3 player has 8GB of storage built in but also takes microSD, but the 8GB is plenty if I carefully curate my music instead of just dumping everything I own onto it. I do need to re-tage all my music, as most show as "unknown" during playback, but this thing sounds pretty amazing. I am so glad that I decided to ditch the smartphone and go with more dedicated devices. I think this will fix my relationship with music.

Tags: mp3-player, headphones, review

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