TL;DR I got a new keyboard 😄 Your browser does not support video. Your browser does not support video. Introduction ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ This is an image-heavy post (I have lazy-loading enabled, so images should only load as you scroll) My only “good” lighting is in the kitchen, and I don’t have a DSLR or macro lens, so excuse the blurry close-up shots and shadows 🤷‍♂️ I’ve been using a WASD CODE 87-key mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Clear switches since 2017....

TL;DR This is a long post. If you don’t want to read the whole thing, the TL;DR is below. The Bangle.js 2 is an open-source, hackable smartwatch that runs Javascript (yes, you read that correctly). Is it as shiny and fast as the Apple Watch? No. However, comparing an Apple Watch to the Bangle.js 2 is like comparing apples (no pun intended) to oranges. The Bangle.js 2 isn’t going to be super-fast and 60Hz smooth (like the Apple Watch), but if you remember that you’re running Javascript on a SoC the size of a shirt button, then you’ll be impressed....

Introduction I’ve been itching to work on some hardware projects lately and kept seeing ESP32-related things pop up on Reddit. In particular, I was coming across a lot of LoRa projects, and then started down a rabbit hole. LoRa LoRa (from long range) is a proprietary radio technology that is owned by Semtech. It is designed for long-range (e.g., 10km), low-bandwidth (i.e., measured in Kbps), low-power communication, primarily for internet of things (IoT) networks....

Introduction I’m slowly transitioning all of my applications from a Docker Compose-based setup to running on Kubernetes (specifically, K3s). Part of the reason I love Kubernetes is the tooling around it. I (try to) practice GitOps, so all of my Kubernetes configuration is in a public GitHub repo. I’m happily using GitHub Actions and Renovatebot for Continuous Integration (CI). For example, each PR has tests run on it, then if specific conditions are met, the PR is merged....

Update: 2023-08-28 I’ve been using the Kioxia BG4 for over six months now without any issues. In that time, the Steam Deck has become much more popular (so popular that some of these SSDs are marketed as “Steam Deck upgrade kits”). I don’t have a need to upgrade my Kioxia BG4 (yet), but you may want to consider these newer models as well. Make Model Link Watts PCIe Spec Price Comments Corsair MP600 Mini (1TB) Here 4....

Hey! Listen! This post is part of a series on my journey into K3s. Check them all out! Date URL Part 2022-12-07 K3s cluster updates Updates to the cluster build 2022-03-29 Kubernetes GUIs Exploring Kubernetes GUIs 2022-03-11 K3s single-node cluster for noobs Deploying K3s Introduction It’s been a while since my last K3s post. In that time, I’ve torn-down and rebuilt my single-node cluster a dozen times, but never actually moved any workloads to that cluster....

Introduction My only PC is a desktop, where I dual boot Windows (for gaming only) and Linux (for everything else). My work provided me with Macbook (read more about that here), but I don’t use it to manage my personal servers, write personal code, browse the internet, etc… But, it would be really nice to SSH to a server from my couch on a device that’s not my phone. I figured it was time to get a laptop....

Introduction I recently started using Mend’s Renovate bot to keep my dependencies up-to-date on my GitHub projects. GitHub already has tool for this called Dependabot, but it only works with GitHub. Renovate is much more flexible, and it’s also open-source, so it can run on other Git platforms, like my self-hosted Gitea and Drone instance at home. However, self-hosting Renovate is more difficult because the hosted version takes care of a lot of the “magic” for you, so it “just works”....

Introduction I spend a lot of time on Reddit in r/devops, r/homelab, and r/selfhosted, where I always see different versions of the same question: It’s difficult to get hands-on experience in DevOps. What is a good beginner project? I’ve posted this answer to Reddit multiple times before, but this post will have more detail. Static site Build a static site. That’s the answer. Why A static site is a great beginner project because:...

Introduction This post serves no real purpose other than to match SEO keywords for people searching for PCIe WiFi cards for Linux. My desktop is on the third floor of my house, unfortunately without wired internet. I’ve been using a PCIe 802.11n (WiFi 4) card since 2016 and realized it’s time to upgrade. TP-Link TL-WDN4800 Qualcomm Atheros AR9380 chipset 802.11a - 54Mbps 802.11b - 11Mbps 802.11g - 54Mbps 802.11n - 450Mbps (WiFi 4) WPA/WPA2 Comparison My access point is a UniFi UAP-AC-PRO, so at the very least, I wanted 802....