Coding with an AI Assistant: My Ongoing Journey into Vibe Coding
8 mins
Pair programming with an AI might sound futuristic or flaky - but what if it actually works? In this short article (that evolves over time) I reflect on my personal evolving experience with vibe coding: a collaborative, conversational approach to software development using large language models. From architectural planning and boilerplate generation to debugging rituals and code reviews the article reveals how these tools can be both uncanny helpers and frustrating novices - often within the same session. This is not another contribution to the hype. Instead, you'll find some practical advice, mentions of the cost involved, tool recommendations and cautionary tales drawn from real-world projects. The article invites you to explore what it's like to co-create software with a machine that remembers nothing, hallucinates confidently, and - if you guide it well - helps you build better, faster, and with fewer headaches.
Doomsday Devices: The Ultimate Weapons of Mass Destruction
40 mins
What if a single device could erase all of human civilization - not by accident, but by design? From Cold War relics like the Soviet Dead Hand system to modern autonomous torpedoes and theoretical cobalt bombs, this article travels deep into the terrifying realm of doomsday devices: weapons built not for victory, but for annihilation. With chilling technical realism, we explore how such systems were conceived, how they might work, and why they were (mostly) never built - or, at least, never activated. The story doesn't end with nuclear warheads. We also journey through fictional portrayals, bioengineered plagues, and apocalyptic nanotechnology, weighing each against real-world science and strategy. What emerges is a portrait of humanitys flirtation with self-destruction - and the thin line between deterrence and disaster. With a look at history, technology and cultural insight this is a quick overview over the ultimate weapons we hope never leave the drawing board.
Quick Recap: How to estimate the prediction error for least squares fits
7 mins
When fitting data with least squares, it's easy to focus solely on getting the best-fit curve - but how confident can one really be in the results? This short article walks through the essential steps to quantify uncertainty: estimating residual noise, calculating parameter variances via the Jacobian and covariance matrix, and computing prediction error at each point. With practical Python code and clear math, it reminds of the tools to go beyond just fitting and toward understanding the reliability of ones model. And if the assumptions of Gaussian noise or local linearity don’t hold? A hands-on introduction to bootstrapping shows how to resample your data to build empirical confidence intervals - no derivatives needed. This article provides recipies to generate meaningful error bars and get insight on the reliability of ones fit results.
Exploring Cursor AI on FreeBSD: A Developer's Perspective and Installation Guide (and a note on local models)
8 mins
Tired of AI coding tools that promise magic but fall flat? This hands-on guide looks into Cursor AI from a skeptic’s perspective - revealing where it shines, where caution is needed, and how to run it natively on FreeBSD using the Linux compatibility layer. From enhanced code completion to smart refactoring, Cursor offers a surprising level of utility - if you're willing to supervise its output. Whether you're building in ANSI C or navigating Pythons complex ecosystems, this article provides a short look into benefits and potential risks. But what if subscriptions won't work for you - literally? Many European developers face payment blocks when trying to upgrade to Cursor Pro and leave a huge amount of frustrated questions all over the web. We explore this lesser-known issue and present a powerful alternative: the Kilo-Code extension. With support for a very large number of providers like OpenAI and Anthropic - and even local LLMs like Ollama, it turns Cursor or VS Code into a flexible, locally controlled AI companion.
Why Your Mean Is More Stable Than Your Standard Error Suggests
7 mins
If you have ever taken dozens, hundreds or millions of measurements and marveled at how steady your average seems this short blog article may shed some light on the effects causing this. While naive statistics tell us the standard error should shrink with more samples, real-world measurements often don't behave so cleanly. We explore why your mean can appear surprisingly stable, even when standard deviation or error bars suggest high uncertainty, and what role correlated noise plays in this apparent contradiction. Taking a look at the limits of traditional assumptions like white noise and sample to sample independence, we take a peek how phenomena like drift and flicker noise distort common statistical tools - and when they lead you to under- or overestimate your actual uncertainty. We mention why Allan deviation is an essential tool for uncovering the true nature of your data and how blindly trusting standard error can mislead both your interpretation and reporting precision.
Pros and Cons of Centralized Authentication Providers
30 mins
From passwords and 2FA to national digital IDs - modern authentication systems shape how we access our digital lives. This short blog article explores the evolving landscape of authentication, comparing internal login systems, external identity providers like Google or Facebook, and government-backed IDs such as ID Austria. It breaks down the security benefits and trade-offs of each, highlighting how user convenience, centralization, and trust intersect in critical ways. Whether you're a developer, system administrator, or privacy-conscious citizen or user, understanding the hidden risks and advantages behind each model is essential. Learn why decentralized logins offer isolation but fall short in usability, how SSO simplifies access but raises the stakes of a breach, and why government IDs offer high-assurance security—at the cost of privacy and compartmentalization. This article equips you with the insights needed to choose the right approach - or to combine them wisely.
A cat wheel for IsiHi
9 mins
Curious if your cats would actually use one of those big wooden exercise wheels? We have been - and assembled as well as tested one for IsiHi, loyal servant to two feline overlords, and documented every step - from unboxing and construction to the cats' cautious inspection and in a later update eventual zoomies. With practical tips, charming photos, and honest insights, this guide shows exactly what to expect and how to make it work. Whether you're a do it yourself cat guardian or just love seeing clever engineering meet furry curiosity, this article delivers a detailed, entertaining guide to what might become your pet's favorite furniture - or at least their new favorite mystery. Spoiler: there’s Velcro, rollercoaster vibes, and a very skeptical cat.
Managing Your Academic Library with Zotero and Apache mod_dav
9 mins
Tired of hitting storage limits on Zotero’s cloud or worrying about copyright restrictions when syncing your research PDFs? This practical guide walks you through setting up your own WebDAV server using Apache on FreeBSD, empowering you to store and sync your academic attachments privately, securely, and without extra subscription fees. Discover why Zotero remains the most versatile open-source reference manager, supporting powerful full-text search, tagging, and seamless integration with LaTeX workflows. Whether you are a professional researcher or just want to keep track of publications about your interests - as soon as you start archiving hundreds of papers and want to keep an overview this solution may be interesting for you.
Utilizing matplotlib plots in LaTeX documents via pgf export - and how to automate it
5 mins
Creating visually consistent and automatically updated figures in LaTeX can be a frustrating task - especially when external plots break your carefully crafted layout. This article presents a streamlined workflow for integrating matplotlib plots directly into LaTeX documents using the pgf backend. With just a bit of Python and a clever Makefile, you can generate publication-ready figures that match your documents fonts, scaling, and style perfectly - no more mismatched labels or manual re-exports. Whether you are preparing a thesis, research paper, or technical documentation, this guide shows you how to build an efficient and reproducible figure pipeline. It covers every step: setting up your Python scripts, writing a clean Makefile for automation and including pgf figures in LaTeX with minimal hassle. Perfect for researchers, students, and LaTeX enthusiasts aiming for professional, maintainable document workflows.
When Simplicity Dies in a Container: Why Docker May Be Overkill on a Single Server
10 mins
Docker is praised for its portability and reproducibility - but does it actually simplify anything for small-scale deployments? This critical article explores how containerization, often touted as a silver bullet, can introduce unnecessary complexity, obscure logs, fragment configuration, and increase operational overhead when all you're running is a handful of stable services on a single machine. From tangled networks and ephemeral volumes to questionable security defaults and brittle image updates, the article challenges the assumption that Docker is always the right tool. For sysadmins who value clarity, control, and long-term maintainability, it argues that the native power of traditional Unix tools may offer a cleaner, more transparent path - without the scaffolding.
