Blog

TL;DR Simulated sunrise with Philips Hue + LED strips for natural wake-ups Smart heating that pre-warms my room before I wake up 15+ custom temperature sensors built with Wemos D1 + SHT31 Motion sensors and automated cleaning with RoboVac Alexa + Homebridge integration for voice control and Apple ecosystem Home Assistant as the central brain running on Raspberry Pi 4 Lessons learned and advice for fellow DIY enthusiasts Check out the full technical breakdown for more details. ...

Over the past few years, I’ve been fortunate enough to work on a diverse range of projects that have shaped my journey as a software engineer. From machine learning experiments to autonomous driving simulation, each project has taught me something unique and helped me grow both technically and personally. 🚗 The CARLA Driving Simulator Client Repository: carla-driving-simulator-client This is probably my most ambitious project to date. The CARLA Driving Simulator Client is a modular, open-source client for the CARLA simulator that features realistic vehicle control, sensor management, dynamic environments, and a web-based interface for monitoring and control. ...

The Challenge: Comprehensive System Visibility The Netdata project addresses a critical infrastructure need: “How can we monitor our entire system in real-time with minimal overhead?” This isn’t just about basic monitoring - it’s about gaining deep insights into system performance, resource usage, and potential issues before they become problems. 📊 What I Built Netdata provides real-time monitoring capabilities: System Metrics: CPU, memory, disk, and network monitoring Container Monitoring: Docker container performance tracking Custom Dashboards: Tailored monitoring views Alert System: Automated notifications for issues Historical Data: Long-term performance analysis 🛠️ Technical Implementation Docker Deployment version: '3.8' services: netdata: image: netdata/netdata:latest container_name: netdata restart: unless-stopped ports: - "19999:19999" volumes: - /proc:/host/proc:ro - /sys:/host/sys:ro - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro environment: - NETDATA_HOST_IS_CONTAINER=0 Monitoring Configuration Real-time data collection Custom metric collection Alert threshold configuration Dashboard customization 🎯 Key Benefits Real-Time Monitoring: Sub-second data collection Low Overhead: Minimal system impact Comprehensive Coverage: All system aspects monitored Beautiful Dashboards: Intuitive visualization Extensible: Custom plugins and metrics 💡 What I Learned System performance monitoring techniques Docker container metrics collection Real-time data visualization Alert system configuration Performance optimization strategies The Netdata setup provides essential visibility into system performance while maintaining minimal resource overhead.

Nextcloud: Personal Cloud Storage - Self-Hosted Dropbox Alternative What I Built Nextcloud is a self-hosted file sharing and collaboration platform that provides Dropbox and Google Drive-like functionality while keeping your data private and under your control. It offers file synchronization, sharing, and collaboration tools without relying on third-party cloud services. Technical Stack Backend: PHP with Symfony framework Database: MySQL/PostgreSQL Storage: Local file system with optional S3-compatible storage Containerization: Docker & Docker Compose Encryption: End-to-end encryption support API: RESTful API with WebDAV support Key Features File Management Drag-and-drop file upload Version control and file history Advanced search capabilities File preview and editing Automatic file synchronization Collaboration Tools Real-time document editing Calendar and contact sharing Video conferencing integration Task and project management Team chat functionality Security & Privacy End-to-end encryption Two-factor authentication File access controls Audit logging GDPR compliance features Mobile & Desktop Apps Cross-platform synchronization Offline access support Automatic photo backup Document scanning Mobile office suite Biggest Challenges Storage Management Implementing efficient storage strategies for large file collections while maintaining performance and ensuring data integrity across multiple devices. ...

Pi-hole: My War Against Internet Ads (And Why I’m Winning) The Problem: When Ads Became My Roommates Picture this: You’re trying to watch a YouTube video on your smart TV, and suddenly you’re bombarded with ads for things you never searched for. Your phone is tracking your every move, your smart TV is probably listening to your conversations, and your IoT devices are sending data to who-knows-where. It’s like living in a digital surveillance state, but instead of Big Brother, it’s Big Advertiser. ...

Portainer: When I Finally Stopped Fighting the Command Line The Problem: My Love-Hate Relationship with Docker Commands Let me be honest - I’m not the kind of person who remembers every Docker command. I know there’s docker ps to list containers, docker logs to see logs, and docker exec to get into containers, but after that, my memory gets fuzzy. I was constantly Googling “how to restart docker container” and “docker volume create command” like some kind of Docker newbie. ...

The Challenge: Streamlining Educational Content Creation The Question Paper Creator project addresses a common need in education: “How can we simplify the process of creating and managing question papers for teachers and educators?” This isn’t just about building another text editor - it’s about creating a specialized tool that understands educational workflows and makes content creation efficient. 📝 What I Built The Question Paper Creator is a comprehensive desktop application featuring: ...