Recent posts

I have finally set up backups on my server

3 minute read

This procedure was scary and felt like stumbling around a maze in a blindfold. Borg is way too powerful and customizable for my needs. I think it works. We’ll see.

New Server: GMKtec NucBox G3 Setup

3 minute read

Image credit: GMKtec I acquired a new server: the tiny, affordable GMKtec NucBox G3. It replaces the Raspberry Pi 3B I’ve had for what feels like an eternity. I installed Ubuntu 25.04 on it, and so here’s a recording of how I set it up.

Apple Card Onboarding UX: a Review

10 minute read

This my most popular article on Medium (23K views, 8.6K reads, wow!), originally written in August 2019. I’m importing it here in an effort to take ownership of my own words. This is an analysis of the new Apple Card onboarding experience in iOS Wallet app.

Dick Laurent is dead

5 minute read

David Lynch’s death inspired me to rewatch my favorite movie of his: Lost Highway. I had been in high school when I saw it and I was curious whether my very disturbing and fond memories of it aged or not.

Automated Raspberry Pi Backup with rsync

4 minute read

A couple of weeks ago, I made an attempt to reduce USB hard drive noise by idling it automatically. It didn’t work out that well – the drive seems to be possessed, turns itself on seemingly randomly, and the logs tell me nothing.

At Night all Blood is Black

1 minute read

Thoroughly enjoyed At Night all Blood is Black by David Diop. Raw and morbid, but with a poetic, hypnotic rhythm. Quote: It feels like I’ve returned from far away. Who am I? I don’t know anymore. Shadows surround me, I can’t see anything, but I begin to sense a warmth lending me life.

Moving Raspberry OS to a larger SD Card

1 minute read

I’m tweaking my setup to reduce reliance on the noisy external hard drive. I want to keep more data on the SD card, which is why I decided to move up from 16GB to 64GB.

Rest in peace, David Lynch

1 minute read

Wikipedia: In an August 2024 interview with Sight and Sound, Lynch said he was suffering from emphysema due to years of smoking, and had become housebound due to health risks. (…)

The Outrun

less than 1 minute read

Surprised how much I liked it. It was so authentic, flowing and real. I didn’t want it to end. Gorgeous cinematography by Yunus Roy Imer, stayed so close to the characters and the nature.

Reducing External Hard Drive Noise

less than 1 minute read

I have a 12 TB WD Essentials USB hard drive connected to my Raspberry Pi 3B. It’s annoyingly loud, so I needed a solution to spin it down when not in use. There are several ways to do it, I found that hd-idle worked for me.