Things I build, break, fix, and write about

22 April 2026
Configuration management prevents home lab drift

Cheap kit only stays cheap if the software side stays disciplined. A home lab software stack turns into a mess the moment settings live in web forms and half the logic sits in your head, which is a rubbish place for infrastructure to live.

22 April 2026
Security Advisory – 20 Apr 2026

Daily security advisory summary for 20 Apr 2026

21 April 2026
Privacy-first car telemetry: monitoring EV charging over

I took a glossy EV launch page and turned the useful bits into a Home Assistant MQTT car charging dashboard, then spent most of the time fighting the...

21 April 2026
Security Advisory – 19 Apr 2026

Daily security advisory summary for 19 Apr 2026

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30 March 2026
Blink Outdoor 4 camera + 3 more Amazon tech bargains

Discover the Blink Outdoor 4 camera and three more tech deals this week.

28 March 2026
Azure credits documentation fails to flag marketplace

I deployed Claude via Azure AI Foundry assuming startup credits would cover it. The $1,600 invoice arrived mid-cycle, charged directly to my card. Microsoft's documentation never mentions that...

25 March 2026
Setting up headless Chrome in ARM64 containers without

Google doesn't publish ARM64 Chrome. Chromium fills that gap on Debian-based ARM64 Linux systems, and any CDP automation library works identically against it. Pin the version, fix `/dev/shm`, work...

24 March 2026
Detecting spoofed VPN downloads: a practical approach

The trust UI lies by omission. A valid signature proves only that someone with a private key signed the file, not that the signer is the vendor you intended. Storm-2561 distributes trojanised VPN...

23 March 2026
Stellar Blade (PS5) + 2 more Amazon tech bargains

Check out these top Amazon deals including Stellar Blade for PS5 at £28.6.

22 March 2026
Petabyte leaks start with uncontrolled backup access

A single compromised credential reaching both production and backup storage across the same network boundary turns one day's data loss into months or years. Isolation done badly is barely isolation at...

21 March 2026
Video file naming and structure for decade-scale retrieval

A video archive you cannot read a decade later is just a warm drive waiting to die. Ambiguous filenames and missing verification schedules kill cold storage video archival; fix those two things, and...

20 March 2026
Backup retention policy: writing it down saves arguments

A backup schedule that works is not the same as a documented one. When recovery fails and a client asks why their data is gone, a working cron job and a vague memory are not a defence; a policy...

16 March 2026
Object storage encryption at rest in homelab setups

Encryption without object lock is a half-measure. A misconfigured script or compromised service account can still wipe everything, which is why S3-compatible storage on a homelab needs layered defence...

16 March 2026
Ring Outdoor Camera Battery + 2 more Amazon tech bargains

Discover the Ring Outdoor Camera Battery and two more Amazon tech deals this week.