Niko Kultalahti

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 23:50:47 +0200

Has anyone successfully activated an eSIM on GrapheneOS? I’m struggling to get DNA’s (Finnish provider) activated; I get hit with “Can’t set up eSIM” error after reading the QR-code or manually inputting the code. #grapheneos

Businessman vs Fisherman

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 15:37:43 +0200

Love it.

A businessman meets a fisherman who is selling fish at his stall one morning. The businessman enquires of the fisherman what he does after he finishes selling his fish for the day. The fisherman responds that he spends time with his friends and family, cooks good food, and watches the sunset with his wife. Then in the morning he wakes up early, takes his boat out on the ocean, and catches some fish.

The businessman, shocked that the fisherman was wasting so much time encourages him fish for longer in the morning, increasing his yield and maximising the utility of his boat. Then he should sell those extra fish in the afternoon and save up until he has enough money to buy a second fishing boat and potentially employ some other fishermen. Focus on the selling side of the business, set up a permanent store, and possibly, if he does everything correctly, get a loan to expand the operation even further.

In 10 to 20 years he could own an entire fishing fleet, make a lot of money, and finally retire. The fisherman then asks the businessman what he would do with his days once retired, to which the businessman responds: “Well, you could spend more time with your friends and family, cook good food, watch the sunset with your wife, and wake up early in the morning and go fishing, if you want.”

By Herman Martinus (found via Kev)

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 09:39:36 +0200

The fuck is this shit… I’m trying to delete my Disney+ account but I’m greeted with this window, now matter what URL I try to use to access my profile/account settings page.

Have they really set it so that there is no way to access setting without active subscription?

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 16:51:18 +0200

Apparently Finland has now turned to support the shit that is Chat Control proposal. I’m so fucking disappointed.

fightchatcontrol.eu

Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:07:38 +0200

I enjoyed this list about 15 rules of blogging, especially rule 2:

… If I find myself launching into another section, cut and paste the extra into a separate draft post, and tie off the original one with the word “Anyway.”

I’m looking to put this into action.

Anyway.

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:00:49 +0200

Introducing AI, the Firefox way: A look at what we’re working on and how you can help shape it

Oh no Firefox, not you too…

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 23:35:29 +0200

So I went ahead and bought ZSA Voyager keyboard. I can already tell it’s going to be quite a challenge to get accustomed to this. I can barely find any keys I need.

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 14:52:00 +0200

I’m looking for a USB-C hub/switch kind of thing.

In short, I have two laptops. I would like to be able to attach those to the hub/switch, in which I have also attached external display with USB-C.

I would like to be able to choose from the hub/switch to which computer the display should connect to.

Optimally, the hub/switch would power the laptops when it’s chosen as active computer, and the hub/switch would have 1-2 USB-B ports.

Is there such a hub/switch?

Ten pointless facts about me

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 20:53:49 +0200

A few people (such as Jan-Lukas, Kev and Manuel) I follow recently posted then pointless facts about them. I thought I’d follow suit.

Do you floss your teeth? Yes, every evening before I brush my teeth.

Tea, coffee or water? One cup of coffee, every morning. Possibly, second cup at lunch. Occasionally, that second cup is tea. I try to pay attention that I get enough water during the day. I do not always succeed.

Footwear preference? I aim to wear barefoot shoes as much as possible. I have several pairs for different purposes, most of them Vivos.

Favourite dessert? Cinnamon bun (with a good cup of coffee) is hard to beat.

The first thing you do when you wake up? Walk to the kitchen and ingest at least one glass of water, after which I hit the toilet to release some water.

Age you’d like to stick at? I think around 30-33 is the sweet spot. Being thirty-something is “old enough” for being taken seriously as an adult, yet not that old that things (physically) start falling apart.

How many hats do you own? Four. One cap, one beanie for sports (in colder months), another heavier beanie for winter and one “summer hat” that gets very rare use.

Describe the last photo you took? Taken on Monday 20th of October 2025 during our vacation in Crete. In the picture my dear boy E is sitting on stone stairs in front of a church-like building.

Worst TV show? This is difficult. If I feel TV show is bad, I do not watch (nor remember) it.

As a child, what was your aspiration for adulthood? I recall two things: earlier as a child I wanted to be a fighter jet pilot. A bit later I wanted to be a hot-as-shit businessman living in Manhattan, New York. In my adulthood I applied to become a commercial airline pilot; I did not get in by one missing point (which was probably for the best). I have also visited Manhattan; I no longer would like to live there.

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 10:55:32 +0200

I was wondering that the hell is wrong with my internet connection. It was sluggish and threw errors every now and then. Turned out the issue was (as always) DNS.

One of the DNS servers I was using has been discontinued (dns0.eu). As I also had AdGuard on my router to out parallel request to all specified DNS servers, one can see why there might have been issues.

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 22:58:14 +0200

I’m really consider buying myself a split keyboard. That would also be my first mechanical keyboard.

Any suggestions for a good keyboard for someone in my situation? Or tips to take into consideration?

#keyboard

Migrating from Wallabag to Karakeep

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 18:47:37 +0200

Today, I migrated my read-later list (and archived links) from Wallabag to Karakeep.

I self-host both of these applications on my Synology DS224+ NAS.

It turned out, that migrating the links from Wallabag to Karakeep is not as straight-forward as exporting from Wallabag and importing into Karakeep. The reason being that there were no file-format that Wallabag could export to that could be imported to Karakeep.

What I ended up doing is exporting the links from Wallabag as json, converting that to html and importing that into Karakeep. Worked flawlessly.

From this discussion on GitHub I found axilleas comment that included a ruby script that I used to do the conversion.

I’m using Bluefin on my Framework 13 laptop so here’s what I did step-by-step:

Exported the links from Wallabag as json file into a folder on my computer (let’s say ~/Temp) and renamed the file as archived_links.json
Spun up Ubuntu container using Distroshelf
Used terminal to enter the container, updated it and installed ruby (and nano) with sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install ruby-full nano
The way Distroshelf works (at least on Bluefin) is that it mounts my home folder to any created container, so I only had to run cd ~/Temp to enter the folder with the exported file
I created a new file with touch wallabag-json-to-html-karakeep.rb
I opened the file with nano wallabag-json-to-html-karakeep.rb and pasted the code from the link above into it, saved and closed the file
I ran ruby wallabag-json-to-html-karakeep.rb archived_links.json archived_links.html

That’s it. A new file was created, which could be imported (successfully) into Karakeep. I created a gist of the code, which hopefully makes it a bit more accessible than browsing through GitHub discussions. As said, credits for the code goes to axilleas on GitHub.

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 04:05:58 +0200

Decided to give Karakeep a try after previously using Wallabag. Seems that it’s not possible to just export-import the links between these apps. Likely some json to html is needed. #selfhosting

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 23:37:58 +0200

I see Ghost 6.0 has been launched, with highly anticipated ActivityPub support.

I need to have a closer look at Ghost yet again.

In any case, a big achievement - congrats to the whole team at Ghost.

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 08:09:35 +0200

Spent the last night in tent. Being a somewhat restless sleeper, finally found a sleeping pad that I can fall asleep and sleep comfortably on.

Time to start planning some overnight hiking route now that sleeping stuff is under control.

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 05:17:47 +0200

My old EOL Chromebook just got a new life as I completely removed ChromeOS from the device and installed Linux onto it. I had to open the device and remove the write protection screw in order to being able to flash a new firmware on it. Everything went smoothly and now I have a spare laptop.

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 09:36:42 +0200

I’m likely looking to switch to Android as my next phone (from iPhone). I’m debating between Fairphone and Google Pixel, and GrapheneOS and CalyxOS.

Does anyone know if it’s possible to use payment cards in either of those ROM’s? I have some cards (such as lunch benefit card) that are only available digitally.

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 13:57:49 +0200

Just learned a handy command for getting BigQuery table/view schema to json:

bq show --schema --format=prettyjson project_id:dataset_id.table_id > my_table_schema.json

New website, now hosted on micro.blog

Tue, 27 May 2025 19:36:41 +0200

Alright, DNS has propagated, and my domain is now pointing to micro.blog’s servers where this site is hosted. Yay! 🥳

As said, my website is now hosted on micro.blog. The past two years I was using Ghost CMS, which I myself on Hetzner’s VPS (they have a location in Finland) using Docker. While the maintenance and keeping Ghost updated was relatively simple, I felt the setup (and Ghost) was quite heavy for my needs.

After giving it a minute or two, this is what I came up with that I’d like to achieve with my website and the way it’s hosted/:

Just lowering the barrier for writing
Ability to write & publish on mobile
Be able to customize the site if I want
Make my website the central place on the web where I post, from where it can (optimally automatically) be distributed to other relevant channels where I reside (such as Mastodon and LinkedIn), as per Indieweb’s POSSE ideology/practice

There would have been different solutions and ways of achieving all of the above. However, I’ve known and been following micro.blog for several years. I knew it would fit the bill and the cost would be roughly the same as the VPS at Hetzner’s, so I decided to give micro.blog a proper try. So here we are.

I looked through the built-in themes and some other Hugo themes on Github, but eventually opted using joshdaws0n’s Microwave theme built for micro.blog, in which I made a couple of changes that I needed. I have some additional ideas, but this will do for now.

Now I don’t need to manage any servers and I can write and publish short post without titles (like a social media posts) that get automatically published on Mastodon and LinkedIn (if I so choose) with a link back to my site.

What I have not decided yet - as micro.blog supports Activity Pub - whether I will migrate my Mastodon account to the one provided by micro.blog. I’ll leave that for later and keep using my current account for now.

In any case, I will keep my eye on Ghost. I love that they are open source and they are also doing a lot of work around Activity Pub at the moment.

Tue, 27 May 2025 04:03:17 +0200

5am train to Helsinki. Time to visit the office once again.

Fri, 23 May 2025 09:05:04 +0200

Mozilla is shutting down Pocket.

Pocket was the first read-it-later / bookmarking app I used. Many have come and gone since then.

Pocket has helped millions save articles and discover stories worth reading. But the way people use the web has evolved, so we’re channeling our resources into projects that better match their browsing habits and online needs.

If they are going to spin this as there’s no longer need for such a product in the market, I’d argue against it. Just look at all the FOSS solutions tackling the same problem / need.

Thu, 22 May 2025 22:55:19 +0200

After a few years, giving micro.blog another try. Ghost CMS is too heavy for my use case and I don’t want to manage my own server as I have done so far.

Still working on getting things set up before finally setting up my custom domain pointing here.

Fixing "server misbehaving" error in Miniflux

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 10:29:48 +0200

I’ve been self-hosting Miniflux on my Synology NAS (DS224+) using Docker Compose/Container Manager.

My home network is powered by a GL.iNet Flint 2 router, which is running AdGuard Home for DNS-level ad and tracker blocking. All DNS traffic in the network flows through AdGuard.

After setting up Miniflux, I started encountering 127.0.0.11:53: server misbehaving errors when fetching some RSS feeds. Little by little, some individual feeds would start to show this error. Refreshing any affected feed manually in Miniflux temporarily resolved the issue, but eventually, the issue would reappear.

I looked through GitHub issues and searched online for a solution. Eventually, I stumbled across a discussion where someone experienced similar problems, which turned out to be related to AdGuard Home. In their case, the issue was resolved by adding their specified docker network as allowed client in Adguard. Their situation was a little different from mine, but it led me to investigate further into AdGuard settings.

That’s when I found the setting called “Rate limit” in AdGuard Home. By default, it’s set to 20 requests per second per client. Given that I have around 120 RSS feeds in Miniflux, it’s easy to imagine how a full feed refresh could quickly exceed that limit, causing some requests to fail.

I changed the “Rate limit” value to 0 — effectively disabling the limit. Since making that change, I haven’t encountered any more problems with Miniflux. Everything’s been running smoothly.

If you’re self-hosting Miniflux (or any service that makes frequent outbound DNS requests) behind AdGuard Home, and you’re seeing intermittent errors, check your rate limits.

Tech ecosystem dilemma

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 23:43:54 +0200

Once again, I’m considering if I should entirely change my personal tech stack, both in terms of hardware and software.

This is a thought that I tend to revisit often. Actually following through, not so often.

I have had a habit of making 180 degree turns and moving to an entirely different ecosystem roughly every two years. It’s been somewhat of a joke for my friends. And a source of frustration for my wife.

Usually, I’ve shuffled between:

All in Apple: iPhone, MacBook, iCloud
All in Google: Pixel phone, Chromebook, Google Workspace (not a fan of Google’s free software offering due to privacy stuff)

Additionally, I’ve usually bought/subscribed to other hardware/software by Apple/Google.

Right now, I’m in my longest streak (I think going on 5th year) in one ecosystem. Currently, that’s Apple’s, for which I’m heavily (and quite happily) heavily invested in.

In the past few years, I’ve become (even) more and different ways interested in tech. Especially privacy related matters and open/source software has become a big new interest of mine.

As a result, I’ve noticed there might be other options as well in for my hardware and software needs. That being said, I’d be really interested in trying the following setup:

Framework laptop with Linux
Pixel phone flashed with GrapheneOS
Managed Nextcloud hosting or Synology at home for storing and syncing data (files, contacts, calendar, tasks, notes etc.)

I have some reservations/concerns/questions for this setup:

Is any fitness / health tracker compatible with GrapheneOS?
Can GrapheneOS be used as a daily (and only) driver?
Is Nextcloud good or shit? It seems popular in the open-source community, but at the same time, people often seem to think it is garbage.
Is Synology / NAS a poor choice for a home with (regularly shitty) 4G internet connection?

All this goes either facts that Framework is not shipping to Finland and I have never used GrapheneOS or anything by Synology. I have played around with Nextcloud a bit via Hetzner’s Storage Share managed hosting.

In any case, the possible switch and migration to an entirely new setup would feel and be much more laborious than before. As said, not only I’m currently deeper in the Apple ecosystem than ever with family sharing and employer-provided hardware, I have much less spare time on my hands to pull off these kinds of stunts in a timely manner.

My Default Apps Late 2023

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 11:17:53 +0200

There seems to be quite a trend going on with people listing their default apps. Apparently it all got started from a podcast episode Duel of the Defaults by Hemispheric Views. I must admit I have yet to listen this episode but I will definitely get to it.

I wanted to jump in this trend myself so here's my current (as of November 2023) list of my default apps for various categories. Personally I am heavily invested in Apple ecosystem, however at work we use Google Workspace. I've listed the apps I use both personally and at work in categories where it makes sense.

Mail Client: Mail.app (at work Gmail)
Mail Server: iCloud with custom domain (at work Gmail)
Notes: Notes.app (at work Google Keep)
To-Do: Reminders.app (at work monday.com)
iPhone Photo Shooting: Camera.app
Photo Management: Photos.app
Calendar: Calendar.app (at work Google Calendar)
Cloud File Storage: iCloud (at work Google Drive)
RSS: Reeder 5 with iCloud as backend (recently migrated from News Explorer)
Contacts: Contacts.app
Browser: Safari, Chrome for development (and at work)
Chat: Signal, Telegram, iMessage (at work Slack)
Bookmarks: Safari bookmarks (at work Chrome bookmarks)
Read It Later: Reeder 5 (recently migrated from Goodlinks)
Word Processing: iA Writer & Apple Pages (at work Google Docs)
Spreadsheets: Apple Numbers (at work Google Sheets)
Presentations: n/a (at work Google Slides)
Shopping Lists: Shared Reminders List via Mela
Meal Planning: n/a
Personal Finance: n/a
Budgeting: n/a
News: RSS, Mastodon
Music: Apple Music
Podcasts: Apple Podcast
Password Management: 1Password (recently migrated from Bitwarden)

There are few categories I would like to add:

Weather: Weather.app
Mastodon: Mona
Launcher: Raycast
Terminal: iTerm 2
Code Editor: VSCodium
Search: DuckDuckGo (at work Google)
Backup: Arq Backup (currently trialing)
VPN: Mullvad and Tailscale

As you can see, I'm quite heavily using the default apps where I can. In other categories I've tried to find the apps that work the best for me.