How to use TPM-backed SSH keys on macOS

I recently had to reinstall macOS (because the installation had ~250GB of “System Data” I am unable to purge, even as root) and used this opportunity to switch my SSH key setup on that device to be completely TPM-backed…

How to solve Windows PCIe network latency

When I installed a new PCIe network card into my gaming PC I was surprised by suddenly lagging mouse input (via network, it’s a headless machine)…

How to install encrypted Debian on an M1 MacBook Pro

In this post I’ll describe how to install an encrypted Debian (13, “Trixie”) on an M1 MacBook Pro (others might work too).

Building a HomeKit Doorbell using a RaspberryPi Zero

I have a super-annoying doorbell in my flat, and my cats hate it. Even when it’s on the lowest volume, they panic and hide as soon as it goes off…

How To Host Your Own APT Mirror

In this post I will describe the necessary steps to host your own APT mirror that you can use in your local network to speed up package installations and updates, and save bandwidth.

Calculating with different units in CSS

Have you ever come upon the pleasure of doing math in your CSS or LESS code?

How to create a Windows USB Stick on macOS/Linux

In this post, I’ll describe how you can create a bootable Windows installation USB drive using macOS (and Linux too).

How to sync your Windows account picture using Active Directory

In this post, I will show how you can sync your Windows account pictures using Active Directory and group policies.

Customize EngineOS layer colors to whatever you want!

DenonDJ is a brand of inMusicBrands that manufactures DJ Hardware and (at least partially) develops the EngineOS and EngineDJ software.

I bought my first DJ Controller in 2015 and in 2022 upgraded to a set of two SC6000 players and one X1850 mixer. I have been trying to get around the fenced-in software and customize the units to the best of my abilities ever since, and now finally have reached a milestone that I want to share today.

How to flash Marlin to your Anet A8 3D Printer

The hardware might already be a bit old but I recently got an Anet A8 3D Printer. In this post I’ll describe how to flash a current version of the Marlin firmware that offers a lot of additional features and basic protection stuff that Anet was too lazy (?) to add to the stock firmware.

Secure initial setup of the ODROID GO Advance

In this post I’ll describe how to secure the default installation of the ODROID GO Advance. This guide may also work on other Linux Handhelds with some modifications.

NAT 'Traversal' Using Wireguard

If you’ve ever tried to host stuff at your home that should be reachable from the internet, you might have stumbled upon the hurdle of dynamic IPs and being behind NAT and/or having one of those plastic routers that aren’t very configurable. In this post I’ll show how to set up a cloud jumphost to eliminate the need for DynDNS and/or port forwardings which some routers aren’t even capable of.

How to remotely set up an encrypted Debian 12 server (IMHO)

Welcome to another IMHO post.

This time I am going to write about setting up servers. From zero to serving stuff. Additionally, I’ll try to describe basic security measures that I think are a good base for a secure deployment.

Developing Ghost themes (IMHO)

As you might have noticed this blog is was using Ghost, which is a JavaScript based blogging software that uses Handlebars templates for theming. In this post I’ll show how I set Ghost up locally to develop themes with as little pain as possible.

Setting up Mastodon for development

I have been coding on my own Mastodon instance since 2017, the main thing I’m doing is customizing the styling. For this, it is a good idea to have a local development instance because redeploying (and rebuilding the assets) takes too long for a simple change like a different border color for some elements. In this post, I will show how I set up Mastodon for development.

Turning a PC on and off using an ESP8266

In this post I’ll show how you can control the power state of your computer remotely using an ESP8266.

Setting up an encrypted MQTT server on Debian/Ubuntu using mosquitto.

MQTT is a messaging protocol intended for smaller applications (in “footprint”, not necessarily scale) which is available since 1999 but is currently receiving a lot of attention since the rise of the internet of things and the need to send small messages as simply as possible. In this tutorial I will show how to install a mosquitto server on Debian/Ubuntu based systems.

Building Apps for ODROID-GO using ESP-IDF

In this post I’ll describe how to write your own programs for the ODROID GO, a handheld gaming console featuring an ESP32.

Automagic Minecraft Server Backups With Map Renderings Using GitLab CI and GitLab Pages

I recently set up a Minecraft server again, I usually do this by simply running the downloaded .jar file in a screen session. This time though, I did it a little bit better. In this post I’ll describe what I consider to be the perfect setup.

How to build a WiFi controlled Maneki-Neko using an ESP8266

In this post I’ll show how I added WiFi remote control capability to a golden beckoning cat I’ve bought.

How to monitor dedicated servers (IMHO)

I have been playing with monitoring applications and servers for a while now and especially like Prometheus and Grafana.

In this post I’ll explain how I monitor my servers.

How to deploy a single JAR file to Maven (oneliner)

I sometimes stumble upon Java libraries that are not available in Maven (or Gradle which seems to use the same ecosystem). To have to most convenient way of developing (ie. contributors should not have to download dependencies for themselves) I used to have my own Maven repository where I can upload such libraries and download them on any machine I try to run a build.

Developing Greenfoot games with Maven/IntelliJ/Eclipse

Greenfoot is a game framework for programming beginners featuring an integrated development environment. Unfortunately it’s a pain to use when you are used to write code in a real IDE such as IntelliJ. This is partially because of the strange object creation workflow which involves using the context menu a lot and doing clicks for stuff that is faster when typed.

How to change/remove the Ubuntu Server login banner

If you’ve ever used a freshly installed Ubuntu Server (since 14.x), you definitely noticed the login banner that shows information scraped from the web. This might be Ubuntu news, updates or some other stuff.

How to use the Greybeard's Robes in Skyrim Special Edition

If you ever played Skyrim (any edition), you might know the Greybeard’s Robes. Those are (in my opinion) the most epic looking piece of clothing in Skyrim and unfortunately there’s a big problem with them: You can’t have them (usually).

Packaging a .jar as .app file for macOS

When you write a Java application, you’ll get a .jar file in the end. If you launch this file in macOS, you’ll end up having the default java icon in the Dock (depending on the application) and you are unable to save the application in the Dock. It just doesn’t feel right.

How to convert AIFF to MP3 on command line

XenOrchestra is a great tool to manage your Xen servers with a single web interface. It is particularly interesting for me, because it can install missing patches automatically. Updating is one of the most annoying chores regarding Xen Server, because you can only install on patch at a time using the XenCenter Management Interface.

How to convert AIFF to MP3 on command line

If you’ve ever recorded a really big track (big as in file size), and you have a website where you’d like to upload it, but the website has a size limit, you’ll have to re-encode you track into a different format which is smaller. Of course you could just use an online converter but most of them also have a size limit and you would literally just waste your time uploading.

How to change the swap size for Docker on macOS

Long time, no post. That’s what we call holidays. Anyways, here’s how to increase the size of swap available in Docker.

How to get full native resolution on a MacBook Pro with Retina

If you have a MacBook Pro with Retina display and opened the system information program, you might have noticed that the MacBook Pro’s native resolution is 2880x1800px but you can only set it to the scaled version of 1920x1200px in the system settings. The reason for this is that the full resolution looks ridiculously small on a 15” screen. But if you got good sight, you can still work on it (my opinion).

How to run multiple instances of Firefox simultaneously on macOS

When you try to start two different Firefox versions at the same time (like stable and nightly) you’ll get a message that you can only run one instance of it at a time.

How to install OpenXenManager on macOS Sierra

This guide will walk you through the installation of the open source implementation of the Citrix XenCenter called OpenXenManager. The application is used as a graphical way to manage a Xen Hypervisor.

Error saving screenshots on Android

For a few weeks, I had the problem that I couldn’t take screenshots on Android. This post shows how I managed to solve it.

macOS keyboard layout in Windows

Sometimes, you find yourself in a situation where you need to code on a Windows computer and only have an Apple USB keyboard on hand…