2026-03-30 02:34:18
Today is the last Sunday of March, which means that Daylight Saving Time starts again in Europe.
Despite the fact that 84% of Europeans were ready to say goodbye to the Summertime many years ago, and that EU Council in 2019 has drafted a proposal to abolish the switch starting from 2021, it is still observed.
Once again, it shows how incapable EU State Members are, when they need to agree on something. Well, there have been factors, such as pandemic and the war in Ukraine, that diverted attention from this question. But enough excuses! It’s been at least 6 years from the preliminary decision, and nothing has changed.
I don’t care much which timezone will be chosen in the end, I just wish it happens sooner rather than later. I hate this period twice a year when my body’s time perception differs from what the clocks show.
2026-03-29 01:55:15
Easter school holidays have just begun in Bavaria and it means that Legoland starts in the new season. Our annual passes are still valid, because the previous Easter was pretty late, and we just could not let them expire without taking the last opportunity to have some fun.
One of the attractions we visit every time is the LEGO Factory. You get a collectible brick at the entrance, watch a short video about the production process, and then go through a small factory floor, where those collectibles bricks are being produced right in front of the visitors.
A well-known fact mentioned in the video, is that the very first LEGO bricks from 1958 are compatible with those produced nowadays. The tolerance required to achieve this is 0.002mm. But their actual mold precision is 10 microns! Each model consists of hundreds or even thousands of various bricks, and all those tolerances add up. The quality is remarkable and it is in LEGO’s DNA.
There are many other manufacturers of “compatible” bricks, they often sell their products at half the price or even lower. But none of them was able to achieve similar quality and that satisfying click when one brick attaches to another.
2026-03-25 22:51:52
Shortly after I published my previous post about my homelab, it suddenly died.
I performed various diagnostics, and it appeared that the problem was caused by a faulty power supply. (It was sold as a bundle, so don’t blame me.) The voltage was noisy and damaged the board capacitors. The board was booting, but as soon as it started any serious workload, it would crash. And by serious workload, I mean booting the OS.
FriendlyElec support wasn’t responsive and claimed that the warranty was expired. And I’m not alone, there have been reports of similar issues.
Well, that’s it, I decided. It was a nice experiment, but I’d like to go more mainstream.
After a long conversation with the AI and searching for various options, I ended up purchasing a Xyber Hydra N150. It offers similar 4 NVME drive capabilities but runs on an Intel chip, proven by many homelabers.
I reinstalled everything and restored data from the backup. It’s running smoothly since then.
2026-03-24 04:24:11
I watched the movie yesterday in the theater, and it was a blast. So wanted to share some thoughts about it, but first, we need to talk about Andy Weir’s first book.
I swallowed the book in just a few evenings. It was a thrilling read that kept me engaged from start to finish. It is a must-read for anyone who loves science fiction.
Fun fact: that was the first book I bought on my Kindle straight after finishing the sample. I was so excited to read it that I tapped the “Buy” button at the end of the first chapter without hesitation.
Andy Weir has created a captivating story that mixes science fiction with drama, adventure, and humor.
The movie starring Matt Damon mostly captured the essence of the book. However, they couldn’t resist adding a happy ending. It disappointed me a bit, but anyway, it was a decent adaptation.
So when I saw a thumbnail for the Project Hail Mary’s first trailer on YouTube, I was immediately hooked. I knew I must first read the book before even watching the trailer.
I’m so glad I did! Unfortunately, trailers spoil so much of the story. I urge you to either read the book or watch the movie instead. I second all the praise and great reviews it got.
Of course, they needed to adjust the story for the big screen. All the “science” parts were cut out, but it didn’t make the movie any worse. And unlike The Martian, I can wholeheartedly recommend this movie.
And the book too. It was the same great experience as with The Martian ten years ago, as I couldn’t stop reading it. And plot twists genuinely surprised me. The movie adapts the book perfectly but also adds some human touch to one of the main characters as she needed it.
And now, I’m up to read Artemis, another book by Andy Weir.
PS. By the way, I can’t agree with
So glad I got a copy of Project Hail Mary before the cover gets replaced with Ryan Gosling’s face
Even though I’m not a big fan of changing book covers with movie posters, Ryan Gosling portrayed the main character, Dr. Ryland Grace, perfectly.
2026-03-20 00:39:23
At the age of AI, when everyone is building extremely smart software, which solves complex problems in a blink of an eye, there is a company that announces a new luxury calculator. Of course, they are Japanese.
Casio S100X. Image: Casio
Please welcome 350$ premium calculator from Casio. It’s more than half of the price of a new MacBook Neo.
I got strong nineties vibes watching their advertisement.
I’m so happy that there are still people who completely ignore the hype. It’s a very warm, re-assuring feeling.
2026-02-15 01:39:00
Awesome video explaining how UTF-8 works. Beautifully narrated and easy to understand.
It doesn’t dive deep into emojis but focuses more on text encoding. Some facts, for example, about Hangul encoding were new to me.
