Great Tech: Intel 2500k CPU
When building my first custom-built PC, I chose the Intel 2500k as my CPU, which was from the “Sandy Bridge” range. 

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July 2026: What I've Been Working On
Heat waves in the UK have continued in July which, when combined with a little arthritis flaring, has kept me in a mind-melted sleepy mode for much of the month 🫠.
My Experience with Ubuntu Desktop 26.04
I’ve been using Ubuntu 26.04 since just before its release, so I thought I’d share my experience with using it as my primary desktop OS. 
 This isn’t an extensive review. I’m coming to this with general prior knowledge of what Ubuntu desktop is, and what it offers. I won’t go into comparison detail, but instead what has been notable in my experience.
Thumbnails for Orca 3MF in GNOME Files
I wanted to have previews for 3MF files in GNOME files (nautilus).
I came across this project by Rui Carmo which smartly used a simple Python script to extract the existing thumbnail from a 3MF file, but this didn’t work with my Orca Slicer created files.
Cheaper Sodastream Gas with a Big Tank
Having used a Sodastream for a few years now, one of my main gripes was the need to swap out the gas canisters every month or two, which involved swapping at a store for what seemed like a fairly high cost.
June 2026: What I've Been Working On
Another month that went really fast, with some serious heat waves.
Didn’t feel like I got much done, especially with just being focused on a few things. 
 BookStack 
 Mainly doing maintenance and security patch releases this month,
handling some further reports coming in.
Also set up some processes to integrate the use of Snyk, to help monitor project dependencies for…
Running Snyk On Forgejo/Codeberg Actions
Recently I started using Snyk to keep an eye on project dependencies, and I wanted to automate the process of updating the project in Snyk with the latest package lists. 
 I came up with the below, so I thought I’d share it to help others attempting to achieve the same.
Tuta & Proton: An Open Source Client Does Not Result in an Open Source Service
Yesterday I came across a post from Tuta providing a comparison of their email service to others: 
 

May 2026: What I've Been Working On
This month has felt productive, although later hindered by a heat wave hitting the UK.
When the temperature builds in my flat, heat-induced afternoon naps start to become required instead of work.
3D Printing Parts for my Greenhouse, Round 2
A couple of years ago I wrote about Retaining a Greenhouse Roof with 3D Printing . This is my follow-up to that, with more models I’ve since created for my Greenhouse. 
 First up though, a quick lesson learnt. Back in 2024 I was just using PLA. This would work fine for a little while, but parts would be in a bad state by the end of the year. The cycles of sun, heat, cold, rain do not…
Great Devices: Nexus 7 2013
I’m setting myself a little HomeAssistant dashboard panel, which is a great opportunity to reuse an old tablet.
When checking what devices I had available, I came across my old Nexus 7 (2013), which made me think about how great this little device is. Looking back, I’m not sure I can think of a single bit of tech I’ve been as pleased with.
R36S Console RetroArch Stuck Menu Issue
I recently treated myself to a new R36S portable console.
This was an AliExpress special at only around £33, and it can emulate a bunch of consoles all the way up to the N64/Dreamcast/PS1/PSP level. It even comes with a very wide range of “sample” ROMs on the provided SD card.
April 2026: What I've Been Working On
April was a bit more productive than March. 
 BookStack 
 A couple of patch releases this month, one being a security patch (albeit low risk relative to some of the other recent security releases).
Otherwise I’ve been making progress on many various little improvements for the next feature release, which I’ll aim to wrap up in a feature release for May.
Basic OpenCode Sandboxing with Docker
I’ve been playing with OpenCode as a way to test different models, play with self-hosted models and to avoid reliance on big tech provided systems.
With these kinds of tools, I’m not keen on giving it free access to all my files.
Therefore, I came up with a simple little docker based setup so that OpenCode’s access is limited somewhat.
Games Played in 2025
Below are all the games in 2025 that I spent more than a few hours playing,
along with my brief thoughts. This is roughly chronological from start
to end of 2025, although some games I’d often return to here and there.
March 2026: What I've Been Working On
Productivity has been low in March, mostly due to getting more and more ill
as the month went on. That’s starting to change so hoping April will be much better.
Shivam Mathur's "node-docker" Images are Awesome for PHP CI
Today I had a scenario where I needed to expand the testing of a PHP project
across two dimensions: PHP versions and PHPUnit versions.
Of course, this explodes the amount of test runs somewhat.
February 2026: What I've Been Working On
Trying to keep up this practice of reflecting on the past month of work: 
 BookStack 
 This month I’ve still had trouble migrating to Codeberg, although my attempts may have got a little further .
Your BookStackApp project was assigned as a project for my Software Architecture course
Below is an email I received in December 2024, but this is just one example of various encounters
I’ve had where students have been led to contribute to the project by their tutor.
I don’t mind spending time to help assisting contributions from those that have a genuine interest in the project,
as that can help foster a longer term contributor relationship which is healthy…
My Sovol SV08 3D Printer Setup in 2026
As of writing, my 3D printer is a Sovol SV08 with a bunch of mods applied.
Here’s what my setup currently looks like: 

January 2026: What I've Been Working On
Going into 2026, I thought it’d be a good habit to take note of my work each month to reflect on any progress I’ve made,
and to take note of things I’ve enjoyed. This may be a habit I quickly drop, but let’s give it a try!
Epson Printer: The administrator password you entered was not recognized
I recently purchased a new Epson EcoTank ET-2860.
When setting the printer up for Wireless use via the mobile app,
the printer asks for an administrator password. 
 The guidance, including a little slip of paper provided with the printer,
states you should use the number that’s printed on a “Password” sticker,
found when opening the front printer flap.
Pressure to Follow Process
Every so often I get an email from large businesses or organisations asking me to spend time filling
a questionnaire to provide the information which they need for their procurement process.
This is ultimately asking me to do their work for them, work that only exists to fit their process.
Being sent from very large organisations, they probably expect businesses to
jump into action…
Online Shopping Email Notifications
Ordering something online in 2026: 
 
 Shop: You left some items in your cart. 
 Shop: Your order has been received, awaiting payment. 
 Shop: Payment received, your order is confirmed. 
 Shop: Your order has been packed. 
 Shop: Shipping has been booked. 
 Courier: We’re expecting your parcel. 
 Shop: Your order has been dispatched. 
 Courier: We have…
My HomeLab Setup in 2026
Since my last home-lab tour in 2023 my home-lab has evolved quite a bit, so going into
2026 I thought I’d document the current state.
Here’s what it looks like: 

Linux Label Printing with the Phomemo D30
I was looking to buy a new label printer, and found the modern consumer market is mainly comprised of cheap bluetooth-based thermal printers which are then managed via an app.
In theory this is great, but in practice these printers usually require specific questionable applications to be used, often with sign-up/in requirements and widely scoped permission needs. Therefore the use of a…
Reporting to the CMA: Google Android Developer Verification
Recently Google announced a further push of its developer verification, in which it states that all apps on “certified Android devices” will be required to have developer verification.
This includes apps which are distributed via other means like F-Droid or manual download, so goes far beyond the scope of their own
distribution platform.
OPNsense & Dnsmasq: Responding with specific DNS servers
Recently I replaced my router with an OPNsense mini-PC.
One little thing I had trouble with was how DNS was provided to connecting devices. In my environment I have a local Pi-hole system to handle DNS, so I wanted clients to use this, and therefore have DHCP tell devices to use a specific IP for DNS.
An Impromptu Introduction to ZFS Drive Replacement at 1am
Last night at 1 minute past midnight, just before heading to bed, I received the following notification from my main production Proxmox system: 
 
 SMART error (Health) detected on host: chonk
Experience with UK Medical Cannabis for Ankylosing Spondylitis
Over the past year I’ve been looking into alternative options to help treat my Ankylosing Spondylitis, and in particular the relative impact of Enthesitis which has been a growing problem for me, with it building an increasingly distracting deep ache in my shins, forearms and hands.
Whilst looking into such options I discovered that the medical cannabis is now legal in the United…
Copyright Takedown for Linking to the "State of Open Source" Report
A few days ago I received a notification from Reddit advising my account has been given a warning, saying that a comment of mine had been removed for potential copyright infringement.
The notification explained that this was based upon a takedown notice being submitted, and that they determined my comment did violate Reddit’s copyright policy.
No, Gumroad Did Not Become Open Source Today
Advisory: I am not a legal expert and there could likely be inaccuracies in this post. 
 Today Gumroad announced that they’ve become open source, with this being echoed by the founder and on social sites like Hacker News:
Scripting Monitors (KDE on Fedora)
Last year I wrote about scripting monitors for my Gnome/Wayland/Fedora
environment, and I’ve heavily utilised that script in my day-to-day PC use. 
 Recently I jumped over to KDE for a change but my prior script was gnome specific and therefore no longer functioned.
Luckily KDE has a handy kscreen-doctor utility which has made it easy to adapt my script to work with KDE:
Amber flags in Open Source & Self-Hosted Projects
From my time exploring and using a range open source and/or self-hosted projects I’ve built up a range of known “amber flags”.
I hesitate the call these reg flags, as by themselves I don’t think they’re specifically problematic, but they usually act as indicators of projects that aren’t aligned with my personal ideals in software I look for.
LLMs are Directing Open Source Licensing
I’m often looking at the licensing of open source projects, either out of personal interest or while moderating posts
to /r/opensource , and through this I’ve seen a recent trend of projects having something like this in their readme:
Games Played in 2024
Played quite a lot this year; Got excited about Switch gaming for
a while during the summer, and then later in the year I got myself
a Quest 3 VR headset. I’m not new to VR, but hardly ever used my
Occulus Rift S due to the need for Windows login and due to how
janky the software & connection/cabling was. The Quest 3 has been
great so far, solving many of my issues with…
Beware of Poison in the Source
Bitwarden found itself caught in a spot of drama last week introducing non-free and non-open code into their desktop client. I don’t use Bitwarden myself, but in a similar vein I remember they launched their “Passwordless” project as open source while under non-open terms .
Common Misconceptions of the AGPL
Before getting into this post i want to make it clear I’m not a legal expert in any way and the following post is based upon my interpretations from spending a lot of time looking at software licenses.
Adapting GitHub action PHPUnit tests for Codeberg/Forgejo
I’ve recently been moving most of my projects from GitHub over to Codeberg and a self-hosted Forgejo instance.
A few of my projects make use of GitHub actions to perform automated testing, so I ideally also wanted to transfer over this testing.
Lessons from the Allotment
At the end of last year I gained an allotment which I’ve been using to grow food.
So far this has been much more successful than my attempts to grow food indoors 
as, with the summer growing season in progress, I’m currently eating daily from self-grown food, albeit mostly lettuce.
I thought it would be good to think about & document the lessons learnt so far while I…
Futo, Please don't attempt to create your own Open Source Definition
Update: Since writing this Futo have published a statement in regards to their use of open source, which shows intent to stop redefining the term and instead establish “Source First” - Futo statement - Futo video - Brodie Robertson video
Material You (Dynamic/Adaptive) Colors in Legacy Android Apps
Skip to implementation 
 Context 
 So recently I decided to create a much needed update to one of my apps 
that I’ve left neglected, with the last update being deployed over a decade ago in 2013.
This was one of my first coding projects so it was fun to revisit it, while feeling good to actually
provide some maintenance for its thousands of loyal remaining users.
Time…
Scripting Monitors (Gnome & Wayland on Fedora)
On my PC (Fedora 39, Gnome Desktop Environment via Wayland) I often find myself
switching monitor configuration. I have a dual-4k-screen setup, and jump between a few modes: 
 
 Normal/Development - Dual screen, both at 175% scale 
 Gaming - Single screen at 100% scale 
 Recording - Dual screen, alternate primary screen, one 2x scale, one 1.2x scale 
 
 While not…
Retaining a Greenhouse Roof with 3d Printing

 UPDATE - 2026-05-16 

I’ve since collated the models mentioned here, and many more, into a collection on Printables .

 
 At the tail end of last year I took on a new allotment plot,
on which sat a pretty standard little glass greenhouse.
Unfortunately though, this greenhouse hadn’t had much recent
attention in its provided state, with quite few…
Games Played in 2023
Below are the games in 2023 that I spent more than a few hours playing,
along with my brief thoughts. This is roughly chronological from start
to end of 2023, although some games I’d often return to here and there.
Lessons From Growing Food Indoors
Earlier this year I got an itch to grow herbs and vegetables. Unfortunately, living in a flat, I have no outside space while my best window locations don’t get a great amount of sunlight. This led me down a rabbit hole of growing indoors using grow lights. Since LED lights have become widespread, using artificial lights for growing has become much more economical.
Why the Distinction Between "Open Source" and "Source Available" is Important
When looking at scenarios when open source is misrepresented
I’ve commonly come across cases where a project downplays the distinction between open source and source-available-style
licenses, choosing to advertise the project and/or themselves as open source while licensed in a non- OSD adhering manner.
Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 Timelapse
Recently I’ve been playing with a Raspberry Pi Camera module 3.
One thing I’ve been toying with is putting together timelapses to
observe how my different plants grow. 
 There’s a lot of content out there for this use-case, like
 this project by Jeff Geerling ,
but there’s a lot of variation out there in terms of camera versions,
compatibility…
Removing the Rear Seats on a Volvo C30
Sometimes you try to do something but, much to your surprise, there’s no discoverable information
on the internet to guide you. My most recent experience of this came when attempting to remove
the rear seats in my Volvo C30. It was not clear, from any of the guides or online advice, how
the seats were attached. Some of the guidance for similar Volvo models ended up being…
Reporting Google's WEI to the CMA
The Web Environment Integrity proposal, authored by folks at Google, has caused quite a stir over the last week, and for good reason.
It’s another familiar case of: 
 “Here’s a thing needed for security. Sure it could be used to lock the web down to specific browsers, extensions, operating systems and devices, but I’m sure it won’t be even though there’s…