Trying Out NixOS (it's Awesome!)

So, I'm not a big distro hopper, I don't get super stoked to try out every new distro release or anything like that, and my Linux desktop experience has been relatively linear in the way that I progressed through distributions. Starting from the beginning, the Linux desktop distros that I've...

Librera Reader: How I Read On the Go

I used to own a lot of books, I was that guy that would go to Half Price Books and blow way too much money, and I had inherited a lot of books from my grandfather, who was a Theology major (not to mention ya boi was always hitting up...

Yazi: A File Explorer that I Actually Like

Anybody that's read my previous blogs knows that I tend to do everything in the terminal and avoid file explorers, but because of a very specific use-case, I set out on a journey to find a file explorer that I actually like. Really this all originated from a very trivial...

The Revenge of Vimtutor: Actually Getting Good At Vim/Nvim

Anybody who knows me knows that I absolutely love Vim and NeoVim. Vim is one of the first programs that I install on any of my servers, pretty much all of my configs have basic vim key bindings added, if I'm not using a program that has them integrated by...

Running Ollama in a Debian VM

This is another hype train that I can't help but hop on here, I think that AI is a fun toy and a useful tool and enjoy implementing it into my daily life. I love using the OpenAI API, but I don't love paying for it. Now, ideally, this setup...

Making WIndows 8 PCs Awesome with Gnome

So this was a neat little project, My girlfriend had one of those old Windows 8 all-in-one HP PCs, and wanted to make use out of it. Touch screens are cool, and I thought that this could be really cool. After disabling secure boot so that I could actually boot...

Getting Hip to Tmux

This article almost feels overdue, but honestly already using a tiling WM made putting off learning/using Tmux pretty easy but use cases kept popping up, mainly when I'm learning coding on my laptop. I usually default to my study screen being half one terminal window running Zathura with whatever book...

(Finally) OPNsense

Well guys, tax season has finally hit and I've been able to purchase a 2 port 1gb Intel NIC off of eBay to put in an old Optiplex 7010 that I saved from the dump last year and make the most unnecessarily huge router/firewall ever using OPNsense. Yeah, it would...

Arch to Artix (I'm Not Crazy!)

Okay, lets start off with a disclaimer on this one. I'm not concerned about IBM using systemd as a tool to spy on me or anything like that, and I'm definitely not Luke Smith (regardless of the picture!) I am a guy who uses heavily dated equipment for financial reasons...

Fixing My Kid's ThinkPad

So, for Christmas of 2023, I bought my amazing 4 year old daughter a ThinkPad L470 (yes, we are poor.) I threw Debian 12 with Gnome on it, and set it up as a device for her to play retro games, watch YouTube, and learn Scratch on. Then a few...

Year of the Crab

2024 is the Year of the Crab, this is happening. I spent a good chunk of 2023 actually really learning Python finally, as well as exploring various other languages such as JavaScript and C. I tried to get into Rust this point but I had massive skill issues due to...

Using Python and OpenAI API

https://github.com/CiscoSteve42/AItools I've recently been experimenting with the OpenAI API key to make terminal tools using Python, which I think is really amazing. Keep posted for my journeys into this venture and check out my GitHub link for my progress!    

Why I (Almost) Never Use File Explorers

2023 was a crazy year for sure, I started by deleting the Windows partition on my laptop (my only device at the time) and switched to Debian, then Arch Linux full-time to really dig down into Linux. But the real fun started when I discovered tiling Window Managers and decided...

HTB Academy!

For the last few months I've been on HacktheBox Academy almost every day knocking out courses like a madman. I recently received a badge for completing the Information Security Foundations path and plan to knocking out paths until I'm ready to take the HTB CBBH exam, which I'm currently 25%...

RockPro is now a NFS File Server!

I've ditched Manjaro on my RockPro and flashed the emmc with Armbian, and haven't looked back since. I added a 4tb drive and set it up with NFS, then mounted the share to my desktop and my Debian server running Jellyfin, allowing me to transfer media between them, and giving...

Proxmox+TrueNas+Debian!

This story starts with a few computers that I saved from the landfill, particularly an Optiplex 3020 that is now my Proxmox server running TrueNas with SMB and NFS and a headless Debian install running Jellyfin and Docker. The only alteration that I made to the machine itself was replacing...

Cisco Skills for All

I started using Cisco's Skills for All platform at the beginning of this year when I decided that I wanted to get my CCNA and start making real changes for myself and my family and after investing dozens of hours into the platform (usually in the break room at my...

Termux + Vim = Awesome!

Hey, you! Yeah, you using that bloated, non-FOSS note taking app on your Android device. What are you even doing??? It's time to ditch that junk and get hip to Termux and Vim. Termux is an app available via the F-droid store, a free and open source app store available...

New Github uploads!

Hey guys, I just recently uploaded 2 more repositories to my Github!. The Qtile Rice repository contains my configs for Qtile and Alacritty, as well as the .xprofile that I use to make them work. I've been meaning to upload this one for a while but I wasn't sure if...

Neofetch on Github!

One of my earlier config endeavors, and my first ever upload to Github. Utilizing the Dracula color scheme, I used the Black Arch logo, slightly altered what information is displayed, then changed the color scheme to match my desktop rice. Definitely looking forward to uploading more stuff in the future!...

RockPro64 XMR Mining!

I installed a headless version of Manjaro on my RockPro64 (mainly so I wouldn't have to install extra Lua scripts to get the fans to work. But lets be honest, I'm spoiled on the AUR, paru, and Arch-based systems in general.) and have been using it to mine Monero for...