Jan-Lukas Else

Thoughts of an IT expert

💭 Thoughts: 2020-03

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


Watching movies

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

Today I watched a movie. Not a very good one, but one that entertained me. It was funny and I didn’t feel bored, as I do with some other films. And although the niveau of the film was not very high - my mother probably wouldn’t like it - I still don’t see it as a waste of time. There are good boring movies, just as there are also not so good, but entertaining movies (which kind of makes them good, doesn’t it?). What counts is not so much the niveau of the movie (or how low the jokes are), but more whether it was worth the time to watch the movie. Only when I think that I wasted my time with a bad, boring movie, then it was the wrong decision to watch it.

View

My storage setup

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

Since I use many different devices and want to access the same files from all of them, I run my “own cloud” at home with an Odroid-HC2 (a Raspberry 4 or similar device should work just as well). A 2 TB NAS hard disk (Seagate Ironwolf) is connected to the HC2, where all files are stored. Using Docker I have installed Nextcloud for files (documents, photos, etc.) as well as Gitea (code repositories). Encrypted incremental backups are done daily at night using restic and uploaded to Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage (they are quite cheap and now also have a European data center).

View

How music helps me during Corona

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

The last few days I use my Spotify Premium subscription much more than before (I don’t usually listen to that much music). Especially if you spend most of your time indoors and only talk in videoconferences, on the phone or with bakery staff, it’s nice to break the silence with music. Sure, it is never quiet in my apartment in an apartment building with rather thin walls. Often I hear the music that the neighbours play (it’s always the same music), I hear the neighbours talking loudly to each other and I hear them watching TV.

View

Is this my chance to become a runner again?

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

My method to get enough exercise during #StayAlone and to have a physical balance to sitting at the desk is to go out regularly by myself, ride a bike or run a little.

View

What will be in 10 years?

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

Ever asked yourself what will be in 10 years? I have it myself right now, but I have absolutely no idea what it will be like?

View

Will Microsoft acquire Docker too?

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

After Microsoft (GitHub) acquired npm, I think it’s only a matter of time before Docker (the rest that’s left after selling Docker Enterprise) is also taken over by Microsoft or GitHub.

View

Careless neighbors

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

I live in an apartment building with neighbors in all directions. But some neighbors don’t seem to care at all whether they disturb their neighbors with very loud music. At the moment I don’t have to study, but with this noise I couldn’t study at all. It’s not an exaggeration, but I hear the neighbors’ music as loud as if I were listening to music myself either through speakers or headphones. By now I have come to terms with the almost daily nightly screaming of their child, which wakes me up as a result. Maybe the child is in pain or something? But I find this loud music simply outrageous.

View

Coding

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

When I write code, it often serves the purpose it is supposed to serve. However, it is often not the most elegant. Especially when I compare my code with other implementations, I sometimes find mine somewhat ugly. I think I’m thinking too chaotic, start writing the code immediately and while I’m writing it, I think of things I could do differently and in the end it’s a big mess. Maybe I should first sketch my code on paper and then type it into the computer without thinking much about it? Or are these just feelings of inferiority and my code is not so bad after all?

View

Back to study

Published on in 💭 Thoughts

Tomorrow is the first day of the new semester with two lectures, one in the forenoon, one in the evening. I am really very curious how this semester will be and if everything will work out as I have planned.

View

Jan-Lukas Else