Posts

Here be blog posts

July 2026

Generate Nix binary caches without nix copy

Here's how to create a Nix binary cache from a derivation's closure within a Nix derivation. Since you can't run nix commands within derivations, this can be useful for including a build closure within an installation medium, such as when performing a NixOS offline installation.

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July 2026

Using Japanese banks while renewing your visa

I'm currently renewing my visa (residence permit, 在留許可) in Japan. While I've submitted my application 3 months ahead of its expiry, the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁) appears to be overwhelmed with applications.

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July 2026

Can uBlock Origin block WebRTC?

Do you loathe online banking as much as I do? Does your bank make online banking more cumbersome each week in the name of "combating fraud" and "staying compliant" with anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing laws?

Have you ever looked under online banking's hood? Here's an example from a bank that I use in Japan to pay for life necessities and to keep a roof over my head.

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July 2026

Jump between pytest errors with Vim's QuickFix

Here's how you can use the Vim and Neovim QuickFix feature to conveniently jump between pytest errors without leaving your editor.

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July 2026

Similar Kanji, 衣脚 edition

哀 喪 衷 畏 next to each other in a grid
哀 喪 衷 畏 next to each other in a grid

Four Chinese characters that I regularly confuse have a 衣 radical at the bottom (ja: したごろも).

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June 2026

Cybersecurity by the book

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June 2026

How to install MediaWiki on Debian 13

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June 2026

Koriander: now on PyPI

Koriander CMS on PyPI
Koriander CMS on PyPI Open in new tab (full image size 81 KiB)

Try installing Koriander CMS from PyPI. All you need to run is the following, provided that you've installed pipx:

pipx install koriander

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June 2026

Koriander: Creating my own CMS

My new Koriander CMS
My new Koriander CMS Open in new tab (full image size 78 KiB)

For the past few months I've been working on my own CMS called Koriander.

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October 2025

Operating a private 5G station in Japan

Useful resources on how to start and operate a 5G station in Japan

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August 2025

A year later, a bug fix

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March 2025

Automotive real-time operating systems

Most cars contain embedded systems called Electronic Control Units (ECU). These ECUs control the electrical systems inside a car like engines or brakes. Some cars can have more than 100 of these ECUs inside.

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January 2025

Adhesive NFC tags

Have you ever tried adhesive Near-Field Communication (NFC) tags?

A photo showing the AD Bullseye NFC tag on an adhesive film strip
A photo showing the AD Bullseye NFC tag on an adhesive film strip

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December 2024

Diffie-Hellman shared value generation in J

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December 2024

How to fix mDNS on macOS Sequoia

Upgrading to macOS Sequoia broke mDNS for me.

My M2 MacBook stopped responding when pinging its host name lithium.local. The Anki sync serverrunning on it became unreachable. It didn't matter whether I attempted to resolve lithium.local from another machine or on that machine itself.

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December 2024

Information Security Management Examination

How I passed IPA SG examination this year this year

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November 2024

Arcane but Useful Computer Virus Guideline

Learn what the Japanese government thought about computer viruses back then

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June 2024

Try the Pomodoro Technique with Pomoglorbo

Try doing your Pomodoros with this CLI based timer written in Python

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February 2024

More systemd networking fun

What was once an elegant machine built up by the wisdom of thousands of volunteers is now a rusty bucket with holes: my Debian installation.

As I have recently fixed my interface configuration I thought I solved all my home networking problems.

On my local network, I rely on mDNS a lot. My macOS and Debian machines use it find each other. To ssh, mosh, and sync git annexes between computers, I use .local addresses extensively.

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January 2024

The one where I leave it to systemd-networkd

I like keeping my Debian 12 installation bare bones. Sometimes bare bones means disabling your only link to the outside world by accident.

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