Open Sesame - I Now Have to Ask My Internet Router to Give Me Internet
I have a problem. It’s 11 PM, I tell myself “just five more minutes of Reddit” and suddenly it’s 2 AM and I hate myself. Sound familiar? After years of failing to fix this with willpower alone (spoiler: willpower doesn’t work against billion-dollar engagement algorithms), I decided to solve it the only way I know how: by overengineering the hell out of it.
The result? My router now interrogates me like a strict parent whenever I want internet after 9 PM. If I can’t convince an AI that I actually need to be online, no internet for me. Yes, I built my own digital bedtime enforcer. No, I’m not proud of how necessary this was.
...read moreHeater Spiral
Heater Spiral
Heat-based body-computer interface pendant
Overview
Heater Spiral is a wearable body-computer interface that delivers gentle, programmable warmth through a spiral heater trace. I designed and assembled the circular PCB from scratch, integrating a MOSFET-controlled heater that can raise the surface temperature to around 50 °C. One application I explored was wearing it as a necklace over the heart with rhythmic warm-up and cooldown phases to anchor attention in the body—similar to metta meditation sessions I tested during retreat. I also prototyped an app that modulates heat based on how near another wearer is, and I plan to redesign the next iteration with a UWB chip for more accurate distance sensing. ...read moreDoyle Spiral Studio
Doyle Spiral Studio
Generative Doyle spiral animations etched into steel and wood
Overview
This project started when I stumbled upon a video by Arram Sabeti on Twitter showing mesmerizing animated Doyle spirals etched into metal. I was so captivated by the effect that I had to rebuild it myself.
Doyle Studio is a generative art tool I created to compute Doyle spirals and more patterns that can be exported as SVGs for fabrication with a fiber laser. The software can be used to animate geometric textures on a rotating disk, then translate the animations into physical pieces through engraving angled line patterns with a fibo laser. The current pipeline renders animated patterns and generates high-resolution SVGs for laser engraving. The surfaces reflection sequences can be changed based on the angle of the engrave line pattern similar to a zoetrope.
...read morefindmyfl.at
findmyfl.at
Automated Berlin Apartment Search
Overview
findmyflat is a self-hosted web service that helps people find public housing in Berlin more effectively. It continuously scans all major public Berlin housing providers and notifies users instantly via Telegram whenever a new offer appears. With smart filters, real-time updates, and fair pricing, it makes the stressful apartment hunt much easier. ...read moreWhen Your Meditation Teacher Becomes the Lesson
After two months on a silent retreat in the California mountains, I left two weeks early – not because of what I discovered about my mind, but because of what I discovered about my teacher. I’m writing this for anyone considering intensive practice with a teacher, and for anyone who has felt confused by dynamics with somebody in a position of authority they couldn’t name.
The Setup
A two-month silent retreat is a significant commitment. No reading, no writing, no contact with the outside world. Your teacher becomes your only external reference point. I knew this going in, so I vetted carefully. The teacher was welcoming and accommodating. He seemed sensitive to my concerns about undertaking such a long retreat while carrying childhood trauma. He gave space. He listened. Everything felt right. What I didn’t understand then is that this is often how it begins.
...read moreWhat Two Months of Intensive Practice Taught Me About Emotions, Self, and the Body
After previous retreats gave me a taste of the joy, love, and freedom that practice can bring, I wanted to see what would happen with sustained intensive practice. I spent two months on retreat in the California mountains, practicing six to ten hours daily. What I expected: deeper jhana access, maybe some insight stages, perhaps a taste of awakening. What I got: a fundamentally different relationship with my emotional body, direct experience of the plural nature of mind, and a reorientation away from transcendence toward embodiment.
The tent I slept in for two months.
The retreat was held in a beautiful mountain scenery in California.
...read moresubscribe via RSS