Jan-Lukas Else

Tech, life and everything else

💭 Thoughts

Welcome to the Thoughts section of my blog. Thoughts are better kept on my blog than on Twitter or other online platforms.


I need to migrate away from Telegram

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

I will migrate away from Telegram. Enough is enough. After more and more features are behind the Telegram Premium paywall (which I understand to a degree) and the increasing integration of stars (a crypto scheme? — I have less understanding for that), now also Grok from xAI by right-wing extremist Elon Musk will be integrated.

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Investing in comfort

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

Getting ready for Scotland involved buying some gear – next to the required things also a headlamp, a powerbank and Merino clothes. On the surface, maybe a bit much. Did I need a new powerbank? Technically no, but the right size makes a difference for tracking, navigating, and tent-charging on a trip like this. Merino? It means less sweat, less odor, more comfort over days of exploring.

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Copilot taking over?

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

I tried GitHub Copilot (Free) in Visual Studio Code again for some small GoBlog changes. Copilot can now generate tests (although it doesn’t feel intelligent, as you need to correct quite a few things), it can do code reviews before committing and it can generate commit messages. Of course, it can also do code completions and write complete code, if you want it to do so.

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Planning for Scotland, second try

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

My fiancée and I were in Scotland in 2023 on an Interrail trip. But with some bad luck, we got COVID-19 after half of the trip and had to go home and recover. We always said we wanted to finish our trip in one of the next years.

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New bike season

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

Yesterday, I started my new bike season and took my bike for a fun ride of about 25 km. I rode the first part of the “Städtepartnerschaftsradweg Braunschweig - Magdeburg” (City partnership cycle path Braunschweig - Magdeburg) between my hometown and a village called Königslutter. The weather was perfect and I truly enjoyed it. For the way back, I took the train that I reached just in time.

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Mandated use of AI at work

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Although I also use AI for some features on this blog and sometimes chat with some AI agent (whether it’s ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot or GitHub Copilot), I have mixed feelings about its mandated use at work (Shopify is just one company doing it).

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Extending my Komoot export script

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

I’ve taken another look at my export script for Komoot (original post), now that Bending Spoons has acquired Komoot. I’ve extended the script to also download cover images and, if available, an image of the map – I found that in the API responses.

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What’s minimalism?

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

We live in a world where buying and owning stuff is the default. New clothes? Sure. Another gadget? Why not?

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Self-hosting my emails again

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

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.

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4000 km with my pedelec

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

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).

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Jan-Lukas Else