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• Charly's Column

  On vacation we may be happy just to check the position of the sun,but computers need a more accurate measure of time. Luckily, there are atomic clocks that can receive time signals by radio and off the Internet.

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• Charly's Column – Precise Timekeeping

  After the idea of procuring an atomic clock failed to thrill the other members of Charly's household, our intrepid columnist simply decided to tap into the timekeeping of a GPS satellite. In doing so, he ensured the kind of punctuality at home that only large data centers actually need. Precisely.

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• Charly's Column: Ntpd

  The Network Time Protocol keeps Charly up to date at all times. To put all of this punctuality in the service of the common good, he even exports the time signal.

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• The sys admin's daily grind: ntpviz

  The Network Time Protocol allows admins to keep time on their computers. Due to the way the system works, this timekeeping is only moderately successful. Charly uses the ntpviz statistics tool to visualize time fluctuation.

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• Charly's Birds

  Charly ran a first-generation Rasp Pi for years in the birdhouse in his garden, but the Rasp Pi eventually fell foul of marauding wasps. Now Charly has replaced it with an RPi3 featuring a NoIR cam and motion detection.

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