Nest cameras on the big screen with go2rtc and Jellyfin
A homelab build log: direct Google access, Live TV channels, and the fixes that made the picture behave I wanted to check my Nest cameras from the TV without reaching for my phone. Jellyfin was already there, so adding the cameras as Live TV channels seemed like a useful way to put the doorbell, driveway, […]
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Fixing a black laptop screen after undocking in Omarchy
A local Hyprland fix for reliable switching between a laptop panel and docked monitors. Tested on Omarchy 4.0.6 on November 10, 2026. The problem My laptop worked with two external monitors through a Dell WD19TB/WD19TBS Thunderbolt dock. The built-in panel was intentionally disabled while docked. After unplugging the dock, however, the laptop screen stayed black—even […]
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pfsense: updating to 2.9.0
So I run pfsense firewall on an intel NUC. I ran into an issue where updating from 2.8.1 to 2.9.0 bit me in the ass. After committing the update, I rebooted, and the firewall didn’t come back up. Because my firewall is headless, I grabbed a spare monitor, and keyboard and took a look. This […]
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Running Claude Code Locally (No Limits, No Nonsense)
There’s something deeply satisfying about running your own stack locally. No rate limits.No “you’ve reached your session cap.”No waiting in line behind someone else’s prompts. Just raw, uninterrupted compute—on your terms. Recently, I set up Claude Code locally, backed by a local model via Ollama. The result? A private, always-available coding assistant that doesn’t tap […]
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How to Automatically Start and Stop AWS EC2 Instances Using Cron (Ubuntu 20.04)
If you’re running workloads that only need to be online at specific times—like a live stream, dev environment, or scheduled job—you’re probably wasting money keeping EC2 instances running 24/7. In this guide, you’ll learn how to automatically start and stop AWS EC2 instances using cron and the AWS CLI on Ubuntu 20.04—a simple, reliable, and […]
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Secret Santa E-mail Bot: The Easiest Way to Run a Stress-Free Holiday Gift Exchange
Running a Secret Santa gift exchange should be fun—but let’s be honest, coordinating everyone, preventing duplicate pairings, keeping things anonymous, and sending out instructions can turn even the jolliest organizer into a frazzled elf. That’s exactly why the Secret Santa E-mail Bot was created. It automates the entire process, keeps participants anonymous, and handles all […]
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KIA EV6 Subwoofer Fix
Fixing the Out-of-Phase Subwoofer Issue in the Kia EV6: A Simple 5-Minute Upgrade Owners of the Kia EV6 have recently uncovered an interesting (and surprisingly impactful) factory wiring issue: the vehicle’s subwoofer appears to be wired 180 degrees out of phase. When a speaker is wired in reverse polarity, the cone moves opposite of what […]
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Deploying VMs With Ansible
What Is Ansible? If you’re just starting out with IT automation, Ansible is one of the easiest and most powerful tools to learn. At its core, Ansible helps you manage and configure servers, applications, and networks by describing what you want them to look like – without needing to manually log in and type commands […]
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Bulk Convert .HEIC photos to PNG
Why I Did This If you’re like me and use an iPhone, you’ll know that the iphone stores photos in .heic file format. While this is fine for Apple devices, it often makes it difficult to mass-export photos directly from an iPhone to other applications which can readily accept the more common .PNG image type. […]
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How to Build a WireGuard VPN: Step‑by‑Step Guide
Why VPNs Are Useful – and How to Build Your Own with WireGuard In today’s connected world, our internet traffic passes through countless networks, ISPs, and potential points of surveillance or interception. Whether you’re connecting over public Wi-Fi at an airport, accessing sensitive business resources remotely, or just looking to keep your browsing habits private, […]
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