Writing

Two weeks with the Whoop activity and fitness bandCurious about whether the display-less Whoop band lives up to the hype after years of using a traditional Garmin? In this post, I share my two-week experience testing the device, highlighting its effortless charging mechanism but expressing significant disappointment with its five-to-seven-day battery life compared to my previous watch. I break down the initial impressions and subscription model to help you decide if this minimalist fitness tracker is worth the switch.

data managementApril 14, 2024

Publishing a self-hosted Ollama instance for Microsoft Power Automate using Dev tunnelsIf you want to connect cloud-based Microsoft Power Automate flows to your local, self-hosted Ollama instance without incurring Azure OpenAI costs, this guide shows you how. I walk you through using Microsoft Dev tunnels to securely expose your local Ollama API to the internet and configure a simple HTTP connector in Power Automate to interact with your models.

devopsMarch 12, 2024

IglooConf 2024: Summer EditionIf you're interested in attending an upcoming Azure-focused event in Helsinki, I have details on the IglooConf 2024: Summer Edition organized by the Finland Azure User Group. The conference is scheduled for June 6th and 7th, with tickets available at a discounted price until March 31, so I recommend securing yours today.

azureMarch 1, 2024

The new Outlook (Monarch) licensing hugger-muggerIf you’ve been frustrated by licensing restrictions preventing you from adding personal accounts to the new Outlook for Windows, this post explains how a recent update has finally resolved that hurdle. I walk you through the specific licensing requirements that previously blocked E1 accounts and show you how to configure your primary account to ensure all your email inboxes work seamlessly.

microsoft 365March 1, 2024

Fixing a missing profile picture in the MacOS Sonoma Lock Screen for the userIf you are frustrated by a default medal icon appearing on your MacOS Sonoma lock screen instead of your chosen profile picture, this post offers a simple solution. After ruling out system caches and reboots, I discovered that simply hovering over the account list forces the system to refresh and display the correct image.

macosFebruary 29, 2024

Building a company culture: Lessons learned during 2 yearsDrawing from my experience building a distributed cybersecurity firm, I share how I defined a meaningful company culture centered on the principle that "how you do anything is how you do everything." By embracing asynchronous communication and remote work, we avoided the trap of empty mission statements and instead focused on practical actions that support our team's autonomy and customer-centric goals.

cybersecurityFebruary 14, 2024

Building a home gymIn this post, I share the practical lessons I learned while designing and equipping a 31-square-meter home gym in my new house in Helsinki. I discuss how zoning restrictions influenced the layout, why I chose Rogue equipment despite limited Eurozone options, and how the initial investment compares to long-term gym membership savings.

homelabFebruary 7, 2024

Why do I have two webcams?I explain my dual-webcam setup, which balances a high-end Canon camera on my primary workstation with a portable Logitech Brio for client devices and travel. This approach ensures consistent, high-quality video across different environments while avoiding the hassle of unplugging equipment or relying on inferior built-in laptop cameras.

microsoft teamsFebruary 3, 2024

It's time to eat more vegetables - starting with broccoli! 🥦Read on to discover how I’m tackling my lifelong picky eating habits by adopting a simple strategy to incorporate more vegetables into my daily diet. I’ll share my goal of filling half my plate with greens, starting with broccoli, to replace less healthy staples like pasta and sugar. This approach allows me to challenge myself realistically without the need for complex meal prep.

January 31, 2024

Using Plausible for website analyticsAfter rejecting Google Analytics and Cloudflare for being either too invasive or data-heavy, I discovered Plausible as a privacy-focused, cookieless alternative that aligns with my need for EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant tracking. In this post, I share why this lightweight SaaS solution replaced my previous tools, how easily I integrated it with my Ghost blog, and what the straightforward analytics interface offers for monitoring visitor trends without compromising user privacy.

data managementJanuary 22, 2024

Initial impressions with the MacBook Pro 16" M3 ProAfter a year of using the 14-inch MacBook Pro and dreaming of a larger display, I finally upgraded to the 16-inch M3 Pro model with 36 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. In this post, I share my initial thoughts on the increased screen real estate, the practicality of the heavier build, and early observations regarding battery life during intensive setup tasks.

macosJanuary 21, 2024

Mastering Copilot for Microsoft 365If you are looking to understand the full scope of Microsoft's AI assistant, I provide a comprehensive guide covering licensing, onboarding, underlying technology, and governance for Copilot for Microsoft 365. I walk you through everything from user experience and administrative controls to extracting tangible productivity gains and leveraging available training resources.

microsoft 365January 18, 2024

Verify your profile on LinkedInDrawing from my two decades on LinkedIn, I explain why verifying your profile adds a crucial layer of trust through a visible badge. I detail the three available verification methods, with a specific focus on the step-by-step process for verifying your identity using a government-issued ID via the LinkedIn app.

identity managementJanuary 11, 2024

Getting started with Ollama with Microsoft's Phi-2Discover how to run powerful generative AI models locally using Ollama, a free tool that simplifies hosting Large Language Models on your own machine. I will walk you through the setup process and demonstrate how to leverage Microsoft’s efficient Phi-2 model for high-performance, privacy-focused AI interactions.

artificial intelligenceJanuary 6, 2024

Five years, and not counting anymore: Bye, Facebook (and Instagram)Discover why I chose to step away from Facebook and Instagram five years ago to reclaim my focus and mental energy. This post explores how leaving these platforms helped me break free from mindless scrolling and addiction, allowing me to prioritize deeper, real-world connections and regain clarity in my daily life.

cybersecurityJanuary 1, 2024

A long-term review of using a MacBook Pro 14" M2 MaxIn this long-term review, I share my experience as a lifetime Windows and Linux user who has spent nearly a year working with a MacBook Pro 14" M2 Max. While the hardware is impressively powerful and the display is excellent, I discuss significant frustrations with MacOS’s window management, file handling, and infrequent, uninspired updates compared to the Windows ecosystem.

macosDecember 30, 2023

Hosting Tailscale in AzureDiscover how I enhanced the reliability of my Tailscale setup by deploying a backup node in Azure after my Raspberry Pi failed during a home office refurbishment. I walk through spinning up a secure Ubuntu virtual machine with Defender for Cloud and installing Tailscale to ensure continuous access to my on-premises devices.

azureDecember 28, 2023

Getting started with DALL-E 3 on Azure OpenAII walk you through the current process of provisioning and testing the DALL-E 3 model on Azure OpenAI, noting the regional availability and cost implications for business applications. Discover how to navigate the split between Azure AI Studio and the legacy Azure OpenAI Studio to successfully deploy and generate images from text prompts.

azure openaiDecember 12, 2023

First impressions of Copilot for AzureYou’ll want to read this to get an honest, first-hand look at the new Copilot for Azure during its limited public preview. I share my experience using this generative AI helper for tasks like generating KQL queries, highlighting both its potential to assist IT pros and its current limitations regarding context awareness and session length.

azureDecember 7, 2023

Self-hosting changedetection.io for monitoring websitesIf you are interested in keeping track of website updates without relying on third-party services, this post details how I self-hosted ChangeDetection.io on my Synology NAS using Docker. I walk through the simple deployment process via the Container Manager, highlighting how lightweight the solution is while effectively monitoring competitor and tech sites for meaningful content changes.

dockerDecember 4, 2023