I inherited some IKEA smart home devices when we bought this house. The reliance on button batteries in Tradfri controllers became a significant issue. So I sat down and made a mod for the unit. The result is a controller not significantly larger than the original while using two rechargeable AAA batteries. Lasting much longer than those button batteries, and allowing you to recharge.
I recently read an article written by a political science professor. Professor Liu Jianjun makes a compelling case for his disillusionment with his discipline. Being a former academic myself, I struggled with the same thing before I eventually dropped out. Reading his account, I related to it deeply. I meant to write about my disillusionment…
I worked out through my college, master’s, and PhD years. I started with weightlifting, gym-bro style, with a lot of bro-science thrown in about everything: breathing, pacing, loading/deloading. My life changed for the better when I discovered the Bodyweight Fitness (BWF) subreddit. I started following their recommended routine (RR) sometime during my PhD, and it…
I loved Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. It resonated with me strongly, being an immigrant, an exile, as someone uprooted from my tradition. I think the greatest takeaway from the book for me was: “How you act in victory reveals your character.” We see the characters in the book in various situations: where they struggle to survive, and also where they are victorious. The book’s often-repeated refrain, “What kind of idea are you?”, hounds its characters, bringing the reader to reflection on our course of action. Do we bend with the breeze, or do we stand straight at the risk of breaking? This is the question that hounds the characters through the story. The resolution in the book comes from a second question: “How do you behave when you win? When your enemies are at your mercy and your power has become absolute, what then?” I think beyond the personal, these questions have something to say about how nations are built.
Diving into the ancient history, I bring out the Queen of Cats. I guess this one was about the girls not underestimating their own worth. It has classic Monkey and Ferret sisters motifs such as the lawnmower, or the craftiness of the girls. It also features our then cat as a guest star.
Working in security, sometimes I feel like the technical controls, policies and trainings only go so far. What we need to secure the company is a miracle. Some divine intervention to save us from damnation. So when I get a few hours over a weekend, I design and craft purity seals to keep the endpoints…
My ex met her ex on the Camino… I always thought it was the most romantic thing ever. So, about a year and a half ago, I started planning to do the Camino. I figured out my leave from work, bought plane tickets, gathered the equipment I needed over time, and trained with weighted backpacks on long country roads… Yesterday, I returned home.
People of my generation and younger grew up with Worms. The lovable worms that give the game its name have a special place in people’s hearts. In every place I’ve worked, there were quite a few people who recognized the game immediately. So, in my opinion, it is the best team-building activity for any IT team.
For your edification and pleasure, I present the CIA Sabotage Field Manual from 1944. Section 5, in particular, lists suggestions for civilians working under Nazi occupation on how to harm the war effort. Some of them are devious, out right devilish, like forgetting to provide paper in toilets. Others unfortunately remind me too much of how we work today.
This will be a rambling, semi-incoherent post. It’s hard to put into words what I want to write, so I’ll get at it sideways: I’m turning my heartbreak into a playlist and talking about the songs (instead of talking about my feelings like a grown-up). The period from Fall 2024 to Fall 2025 has been…
Listening to the Ecology of Ideas Podcast with Alexis Shotwell, I got inspired to write this post. The episode is about getting around purity politics to affect political change, and it has some obvious anarchist inspirations. I found it ironic that I use pretty much the same principles to get things done in my corporate…
The multicolor 3D printing is becoming more common. Bambulabs and their AMS, and Creality with CFS, we see a proliferation of multicolor printing. I do not have a multicolor printer. Over the years, I have dabbled with printing in multiple filament. I did this using a few hacks. Simplest one is to start the print…
In Denmark nothing can be said to be certain, except cake and taxes.
Most men buy a motorcycle or a convertible in their mid life crisis, maybe get a young girlfriend. I opted for a 3D printer. Then proceeded to ask: “What do I do with this thing?” I did have a few projects around the house, but eventually it became clear that the 3D printer was a…
I learned about Paradise Lost in my twenties when I came across this quote in a Whitewolf manual (I think… or maybe it was an issue of FRP & Magic?). Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell; And in the lowest deep a lower deep, Still threat’ning to devour me, opens wide, To…
As the girls grew older they didn’t relate to the adventures of Monkey and Ferret sisters any more. So I wrote this one with the daring duo as the protagonists. The story was influenced a lot by what I was reading at the time. I am sure the bike that made horse sounds came from…
I’m a big fan of Jon Stewart, and I watched his recent interview with Oren Cass (see here). While it was interesting, I was surprised Jon couldn’t point to any clear examples of American “soft power.” Maybe it’s hard to recognize this from inside the US, given its advantages. It is easy for the rest…
I had a varied career. I have been lucky that my interests led me to opportunities in cutting edge of technology and business. I worked as a researcher/professor in universities on three continents, worked as a data scientist supporting a major R&D department, finally I led the cybersecurity efforts in a scale-up in critical infrastructure….
As I get older, I become more cranky. What used to excite me now frustrates me. Chief among these frustrations is social media. Once I poked my friends mercilessly on Facebook, now I can’t stand TikTok or Instagram. I no longer have any social media, and it makes life hard, as everything from poetry slams…
I wrote this one to tell my girls that I wouldn’t change a thing, so long as I had them in my life.
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