Posts

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. ...

Update: 2024-08-12 There are now a few companies selling pre-built Meshtastic devices, like the CanaryOne, PacificNorthWest3D, and muzi WORKS. Jeff Geerling has an introductory post and video about Meshtastic, and I ended up purchasing two of the muzi WORKS H1 devices after watching his video (these are based on the Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3, so they don’t have GPS on-board). This is compared to a standard 3x3 inch sticky note. ...

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. For Continuous Delivery (CD) I’m using Flux, which runs in my K3s cluster and constantly tries to synchronize the current cluster state to the “golden” state of the cluster on GitHub. This way, every change made to the master branch will be rolled out via Flux automatically. ...

Update: 2024-01-12 I couldn’t resist the lure of the Steam Deck OLED. I purchased the 512GB model (the same size as my Steam Deck LCD upgraded Kioxia BG4 drive) and used it for a few weeks before purchasing a 1TB Kioxia BG4. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have just purchased the 1TB Steam Deck OLED directly from Valve, since the difference between the 512GB and 1TB model was only $100, and I spent much that on the aftermarket 1TB Kioxia BG4. 🤷‍♂️ ...

Hey! Listen! This post is part of a series on my journey into K3s. Check them all out! Date URL Part 2026-10-03 Down the Talos rabbit hole Trying out Talos Linux 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. I’ve also been at my job using Amazon EKS for about six months, so I think I know just enough to be dangerous now 😉. ...

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. I was looking for: ...

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”. These are my notes on getting Renovate working with a self-hosted instance of Gitea and Drone. ...

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 ...

Hey! Listen! This post is part of a series on 10" mini-racks. Check them all out! Date URL Part 2025-09-25 Homelab 10" mini-rack v2 v2 of the rack 2022-09-16 Homelab 10" mini-rack shelves Comparison of 10" shelves 2021-01-05 Homelab 10" mini-rack Initial post about mini-rack Introduction ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ This is an image-heavy post (I have lazy-loading enabled, so images should only load as you scroll) I know that the imperial system of units is inferior to the metric system, but these are 10-inch racks, not 254mm racks 🤷‍♂️ For my measurements, I’ve converted fractions (8-11/16) to decimals (8.6875) For the past year-and-a-half, my network stack has lived in my 10-inch mini-rack (not on my countertop, obviously). ...