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December 18, 2024

Asurion Warranty and Cloud Backup The Good and Bad

TLDR = Asurion warranty returned my $415 purchase price, and all my data was saved on Msft OneDrive.

My beloved Beelink $415 computer died a month and a half ago. Wouldn't power on. I had purchased the Asurion warranty via Amazon. I'm a sucker for warranties. In this case, it worked with caveats.

I loved this small form factor, Intel NUC style computer. I had upgraded the ram and the nvme. Great price/performance. Alas, a year and a half later, it died - wouldn't power on.

I created an Asurion claim but didn't want to wait for the repair as I had work to do. So I bought a second "identical" Beelink delivered the next day. I took the upgraded ram and nmve, put the originals back in and shipped off the original for repair under warranty.

I put the old nvme into the new computer and -- booted right back up! I was back in business with thoughts that I'd get the original repaired in time for me to send back the second one. I never worried about my data as I have all my data on OneDrive. My "My Documents" and other directories are linked to OneDrive so I don't worry about my data. I also have periodic local backups but would have been screwed if that had been my only data recourse this time.

Asurion held onto my machine for 2 weeks with occasional information free status updates. "We are working on your computer". They have NOBODY to call and talk to. The AI chatbot was no help. And it wouldn't respond to "I want to talk to a human".

I resorted to x/twitter where I got a response and DM's that escalated the effort until, two more days later, they refunded my original purchase.

My second version of Beelink that was the same as the first had dropped $80 in price, so I made money on this deal.

Ultimately the Asurion paid for my computer after 1.5 years of use. So I'm glad I bought it. But I am not thrilled with their lack of human support.

I'm glad that OneDrive among its other uses, automatically backs my data up to the cloud.

I still think the Beelink's are decent computers for the money. I'll withhold final judgment with this second one.

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Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
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Hey, all you amazing nerds!

Some quick updates on the Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscriber Walls (which are just ridiculously fun):

  1. The Emacs” and “Vim” Lifetime Subscriber Walls are filling up fast! If you want get your name on one of these (and push one towards victory over the other), I recommend letting me know pretty gosh darned quickly.

 
  1. The discount for Lifetime Subscriptions has been extended through the end of July… because filling up these Lifetime Walls is fun! This discount makes it easier (and cheaper) for everyone to take part while supporting The Lunduke Journal. If you haven’t grabbed yours yet, pick a Wall (check the bottom of Lunduke.com) and grab a discounted subscription!

  2. The “Ubuntu 4.10” Wall is now full! Check that bad boy out in all it’s super brown glory!

 
  1. We’ve added Wall number 17! The “Desqview/X” Wall! I love this one. Might need to put my own name on it (I can do that, right?)…

 
  1. The “BeOS R5” Wall has enough space left for just a few more names. Maybe 2 or 3. Will be closing that one down soon!

Thank you to everyone for the massive outpouring of support for The Lunduke Journal. You make all of this possible!

-Lunduke

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Lunduke's Week in Tech : June 21 - June 27, 2026

Lunduke’s Thoughts of The Week

This week, like most weeks, was an absolute rollercoaster in the world of Computer News (tm). Organizations banning co-founders. Corporations taking away access to media you’ve purchased. Wild stuff. See all of that below.

But let’s get off the crazy Tech News Rollercoaster for a moment, and talk about something truly inspiring. And, importantly, stupidly fun.

I would like to point you towards FujiNet.

I’ve talked about FujiNet before but, if you haven’t looked at it recently, you owe it to yourself.

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The team behind these amazing little gizmos have been working on two new things lately, both of which brought a tremendous smile to my face.

The first is a series of FujiNet programming manuals, and user manuals, for each supported retro computer platform. What’s more… they took the extra effort of making the PDF manuals use the classic styles of each platform’s own manual.

For example: The Apple II FujiNet “Getting Started” manual is designed to look like the old Apple IIc manual. Same with the Coleco Adam manual.

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The second thing they’ve been building, is a set of Android emulators, for those retro computing platforms, with built-in emulation of the FujiNet itself. So you can, for example, have a “FujiNet” enabled CoCo… online. Emulated on your Android phone/tablet.

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If you’re interested in this retro computing magic, I recommend following Thomas Cherryhomes on X. He regularly posts goodies related to FujiNet. And, honestly, it’s just too much fun for words.

Biggest Tech Stories - June 14 - June 20, 2026

Here are the major stories from the last week, with direct links to X and Substack.

See Lunduke.com for all other platforms (Rumble, RSS Audio Podcast, etc.).

  • Which Operating Systems Are Refusing to Do Age Verification? (X, Substack)

  • Paid Minimalist Brave Browser? Yes, Please! (X, Substack)

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Huge thank you to all of The Lunduke Journal’s subscribers. You make all of this possible.

-Lunduke

 
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Emacs & Vim Lunduke Journal Lifetime Walls Are Here!

TL;DR

The Commodore 64 Wall is full, and the Emacs and Vim Walls make their appearance! Lifetime Subscriptions continue to be discounted all June long for those who want to get on the Walls!

Emacs & Vim Lifetime Walls!

Lifetime Subscribers to The Lunduke Journal filled up the “Commodore 64” Wall in just 10 days! Awesome.

And with the “Ubuntu 4.10” and “BeOS R5” Walls almost full of names as well (just a few spots left on each), it’s time for some new Walls for Lifetime Subscribes to put their signatures on!

This time, let’s have a bit of a friendly competition: Vim vs Emacs.

 

Both Walls — “Vim” & “Emacs” — appeared at the exact same time.

Let’s see which one gets full first. To keep it fair, I’ll cap both off at the exact same number of names.

When they’re full, I’ll included a statement of “Filled in X Days/Hours” next to each on Lunduke.com so everybody knows which one was more popular.

In fact, maybe I’ll add exactly that sort of “Filled in X Days” label for all of the existing Retro Computer Lifetime Walls. Just for fun.

Will Emacs or Vim win? I have a guess. We’ll find out!

Support The Lunduke Journal & Get on The Wall

Want to take part (and support The Lunduke Journal in the process)?

  1. Go to Lunduke.com, scroll down to the bottom and see which Walls are currently listed as still having space available for more names.

  2. Then scroll down on this page and grab a Lifetime Subscription (if you don’t already have one) and email “bryan at lunduke.com” with which Wall you would prefer to be on.

Note: One Lifetime Subscription = One Listing on One Wall. These fill up insanely fast, so I have to put this limit in place. You are more than welcome to get multiple Lifetime Subscriptions if you want to be on multiple Walls.

Your name will then appear on a Wall… on both Lunduke.com & during the end of new Lunduke Journal shows.

Lifetime Discount Runs Through June

For the entire month of June, Lifetime Subscriptions are discounted down to $125 (regularly $300).

How to Grab a Discounted Lifetime Subscription:

There are 3 different ways to pick up a Lunduke Journal Lifetime sub: Locals, Substack, or Bitcoin.

All of them work great and include the same perks. Choose whichever works best for you!

Get a Lifetime Subscription via Locals:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

  2. Select “Give Once“.

  3. Enter “125“ into the amount field.

  4. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

Get a Lifetime Subscription via Substack:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Substack.com/subscribe.

  2. Select the “Lifetime Subscription” option.

  3. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

If you would also like full, Lifetime access to Lunduke.Locals.com (which is included):

  1. Make a free account on Lunduke.Locals.com.

  2. Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the email address you use on both Substack and Locals (can be different email addresses).

  3. Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status on Locals.

Get a Lifetime Subscription with Bitcoin:

Bonus: Save an extra $10 with the Bitcoin option, as Bitcoin processing has fewer fees associated with it.

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  • Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the following information: What time you made the transaction, how much was sent (in Bitcoin), and the email address you use (or plan to use) on Locals.com or Substack.com.

-Lunduke

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