Tech, life and everything else
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.
Sometimes things happen that you did not expect: You hear a song, you really like it, you research who made it, and you find out that person lives in the same town as you: AK – Discovery.
Today, after a short evening shift in the old/new apartment, I reached 4000 km total distance with my Pedelec (the only legal option for an electric bicycle without insurance in Germany – up to 25 km/h is supported by a motor when pedaling).
🖼️ View
I hope to ignore US politics as much as I can in the next few years – it can really bring you down. Let’s also hope Trump and his oligarch friends don’t cause too much harm until then.
To continue my recovery today, I didn’t do much other than lie in bed and watch Netflix (I’ve been binge-watching a lot since we subscribed to Netflix a few weeks ago): I watched the miniseries The Playlist.
The Playlist tells the story of the founding of Spotify. In each episode, the story is told from a different perspective. What’s exciting is that the artists’ point of view is not left out.