Alvin's Notebook2026-11-12T09:00:00ZAlvinhttps://www.5457090.xyz/A minimal open platform for self-hosted serviceshttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/openapi-guide.html2026-11-12T09:00:00ZThe services on this network needed one API entry point: notes on auth, error-code conventions and the smallest workable gateway.Dotfiles, with disciplinehttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/dotfiles-discipline.html2026-10-06T09:00:00ZFifteen years of dotfiles taught me that the repo matters less than the rules for what never enters it.Fan curves and PWM: the non-linear parts nobody mentionshttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/fan-curves-and-pwm.html2026-07-22T09:00:00ZTuning NAS fans: PWM duty vs actual RPM is not what the datasheet implies, and hysteresis matters more than the curve.Server initialization checklist (2026 edition)https://www.5457090.xyz/posts/server-init-checklist-2026.html2026-05-02T09:00:00ZThe checklist every new box goes through, updated this year in the SSH and kernel-parameter sections.SQLite notes from the trencheshttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/sqlite-notes.html2026-03-14T09:00:00ZWAL mode, busy timeouts and the pragmatics of using SQLite for services people assume need Postgres.Rewriting this blog: from Hexo to 300 lines of Pythonhttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/blog-rewrite-2026.html2026-01-08T09:00:00ZAfter three years on Hexo, the blog moved to a hand-written generator. The migration notes and the trade-offs.2025 in review: the measurement yearhttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/2025-in-review.html2025-12-28T09:00:00ZGovernors, DNS samples, power fingerprints: most posts this year were experiments. What they changed in practice.Appliance fingerprints: teaching software to read a power meterhttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/home-energy-fingerprints.html2025-10-05T09:00:00ZFourteen months of plug-level power samples turned into a tiny classifier that flags the kettle pretending to be the AC.Go concurrency notes: channel and context boundarieshttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/go-concurrency-notes.html2025-09-18T09:00:00ZNotes from re-reading on concurrency: when to reach for a channel, when for context, and when for neither.How I sample DNS latency without lying to myselfhttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/dns-sampling-setup.html2025-07-08T09:00:00ZMethod notes for the DNS comparison experiment: sampling design, clock discipline and the bias traps I fell into.CPU governors on an always-on home server: measured, not guessedhttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/cpu-governors-home-server.html2025-05-11T09:00:00Zpowersave vs schedutil vs performance on a 1-core box: watts, latency and the one workload where it mattered.Three reasons I moved from cron to systemd timershttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/systemd-timer-over-cron.html2025-03-12T09:00:00ZAfter a decade of cron, the move to systemd timers came down to logging, dependencies and missed-run recovery.2024 in review: boring systems, quietly compoundinghttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/2024-in-review.html2024-12-31T09:00:00ZA year of maintenance-heavy work: backups, drive health, and writing down procedures so 3am me does not improvise.RSS is still alive, and it is quietly winninghttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/rss-is-still-alive.html2024-10-20T09:00:00ZPlatforms come and go; the feed format from 1999 keeps doing its job. Notes on why this site ships full-text RSS.Four years of NAS drives: the health reporthttps://www.5457090.xyz/posts/nas-drive-health-report.html2024-08-07T09:00:00ZSMART data from four years of always-on drives: two reallocated sectors, zero failures, and why I still keep two copies.