I did not want to miss the chance to take one (maybe) last picture of this beautiful symmetrical view.

🖼️ View
Tech, life and everything else
I did not want to miss the chance to take one (maybe) last picture of this beautiful symmetrical view.

🖼️ View
Just a few more days before I leave Kassel after two and a half years. Feeling grateful for everything this city has given me and excited for what’s ahead!

🖼️ View
Now February is also over – another eventful month. While world politics had some lows with the German federal election and events in the USA, there were at least some highs in my private life.
Ava perfectly captured how I feel about saving the planet:
I can only speak for myself, but adjusting my consumer behavior to my values as much as is possible for me in my position isn’t misdirecting me, it’s keeping me focused, actually. It’s making me aware again and again of what world I want, what I stand for, what I personally fund and my impact. I hold governments and industries accountable as much as is possible for me through recycling, veganism, not having a car, not flying, etc. and demand systemic change to the options given to me (voting and money, which are not enough, but hey). That doesn’t mean I am never frustrated or feeling hopeless or like it’s all for nothing, of course.
Her words highlight a crucial point: we need both systemic change and personal action. More regulation is necessary to force corporations to protect the planet, but where possible, individual choices matter too.
Just because we are free to do almost anything doesn’t mean we should. I have the freedom to eat meat every day, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right choice. The government won’t ban me from overconsuming it, but if I do, I’m not just harming my health – I’m also contributing, in my own small way, to environmental destruction.
A few weeks ago, I moved back to self-hosting my mail server after using Purelymail for three years. The decision wasn’t about cost – it’s actually more expensive to rent a VPS – but about control, security, and data locality. My mails are now hosted in Europe, giving me more confidence in their privacy, and I can configure everything exactly as I want while ensuring compliance with GDPR.
We live in a world where buying and owning stuff is the default. New clothes? Sure. Another gadget? Why not?
It’s surprising how much I can reduce the amount of spam that Rspamd needs to filter – whether it ends up in my junk folder or even my inbox – just by blocking certain recipient addresses. Using unique email addresses for each service, like “deezer @ example.com” for Deezer, was one of the best decisions I made, especially combined with a catch-all address.
For example, Deezer had a data leak a few years ago, which led to a flood of spam targeting the email I used for their service. Fortunately, with Postfix, I can simply reject emails sent to that specific address, keeping my inbox much cleaner and reducing the workload for Rspamd.
After three years with Purelymail, I’m back at self-hosting my mail server. Not because it’s cheaper (it’s actually much pricier to pay for a VPS), but because my mails are now hosted in Europe (who knows what happens next in the USA), I have more control to configure things how I want, and I can comply with GDPR.
January is one of those months when you either feel fresh and motivated – or like you’re stumbling into the new year. This time, I definitely fall into the second category. Not because nothing is happening, but because so much is moving at once – mostly furniture, wall paint, and my schedule.
My blog still has a long way to go when it comes to accessibility, but I’m excited about two new plugins I’ve just added to make things better.
The first plugin uses AI to generate image descriptions for me – far better than I could write myself. It even works in multiple languages, adapting to the blog’s language settings. The second plugin improves how these descriptions can be accessed on mobile devices. Now, you can simply tap on an image to read its description (on desktop, the descriptions are still available as tooltips when you hover over the image).
Since image descriptions aren’t created automatically for older posts and I haven’t manually updated all of them yet, you can check out this post as an example of how it works.