Just installed my latest homelab equipment, the UNAS Pro from @ubiquiti.bsky.social. Currently have a simple Raid 5 setup. Will use it for Time Machine Backups and Personal Data.

Just migrated from hrsh7th/nvim-cmp to saghen/blink.cmp. It's definitely faster, and my settings have also reduced. While doing it, I also discovered that nvim no longer needs a comment plugin; it has a built-in commenting starting with v0.10. github.com/fatih/dotfil...

I went for a week to Billund, Denmark with the family. It's the home of LEGO. Because I shoot a lot of photos and people also ask me how it went, I wrote a lengthy blog post. Check it out: arslan.io/2025/08/30/a...

@arslan.io just wanted to say, amazing work on this one: arslan.io/halcyon-elor...

⭐️ Happy to announce my latest project: The "Halcyon Elora Hyper Case". It comes with several features that elevates the base Elora Split keyboard: * 5 degree tilted case * Integrated, magnetic wrist pad support * Customizable top and bottom plates * Rubber stops

Quitting programming as a career right now because of LLMs would be like quitting carpentry as a career thanks to the invention of the table saw.

Latest version of my Elora split keyboard case.

Working on some prototypes to create a case with an integrated wrist pad for my new Halcyon Elora split keyboard. Here is one of the first examples.

Here is my latest blog post about my initial impressions with the Fujifilm X half camera. But TL;DR: I only recommend this for families with kids in mind. It's not a serious camera and shouldn't be treated like that. Check out the blog post: arslan.io/2025/06/14/f...

It's almost finished and I plan to publish it today. Subscribe to get notified once it's out: arslan.io

That’s a very good point I hadn’t thought about.

I added my latest design, the Concept2 BikerErg phone holder to my website. As you know, almost all of my designs are free , you can download and 3D print them. To checkout all my other designs, visit my works page: arslan.io/works/

dark-mode that follows macos system settings for terminal, tmux and nvim post from @arslan.io arslan.io/2025/06/06/a...

I went over my Terminal setup and revisited the setup for automatic theme switching. The setup has less moving parts and a lot of simpler compared to my old setup. You can see how Ghostty, Tmux and NeoVim all change automatically. I also wrote a blog post, check it out: arslan.io/2025/06/06/a...

The Last of Us TV show is a prime example of directors assuming their audience can’t understand complex narratives and dumbing down everything. They even transformed a smart character, Ellie, into a dumb girl. The writers made this show bad, not the actors. I’m done watching it.

Finally found a way to use my Tmux setup with Ghostty using the cmd key on macOS. I can switch between tmux tabs using cmd+1, cmd+2, open a new pane via cmd+p, close it via cmd+w and many more. Here are my settings: github.com/fatih/dotfil...

A game where you try to MFA out your way entering rooms, but it resets every day after a certain steps. (yes I played to much Blue Prince, and yes I don't like constantly authenticating)

This is out now: arslan.io/2025/05/12/b...

Working on a new blog post, coming soon

I recently added another lamp to my collection—the Tizio Micro, designed by the legendary Richard Sapper. He’s also known for his ThinkPad designs. A distinctive feature of his work is the incorporation of a red accent. You can see it here as well.

Finally received my new Kinesi Advantage 360 Pro's. You can now order custom white-painted ones (called Signature Series). A lot of things have changed since I sold my old keyboard; for example, it works now with ZMK Studio out of the box.

London Dump (All Photos were taken with my Leica M11 + 35mm LUX)

One of my favorite moments in London was attending an tour for the Barbican. Highly recommend for anyone into brutalism and architecture.

If you're a tax accountant in Germany and know what the following words mean Carta, Gumroad, LemonSqueezy, Contractor, ISO, NSO, stock option, exercise window, Deel, Remote, Merchant of Record, Delaware company you can make a lot of money. Sadly, I don't think you exist.

I’ve got a few dozens of books to read, but these two piqued my interest the most. Both were hard to find, luckily they started re-printing the The Interface. The book “Thinking Tools” was part of an exhibition in Frankfurt, and had to get it second hand from someone in Germany.

TIL that Erik Spiekermann has an extensive collection of vintage Braun Hi-Fi devices. (From the book “Braun Erleben”).

I stumbled upon this concept from the subreddit /r/writerDeck. It’s an awesome idea, so definitely check it out. The idea is to have a distraction-free setup with a single device that’s solely designed to help you write things down. www.reddit.com/r/writerDeck/

Someone shared this on Reddit, it made my day. Also the photos are dope!

I recently designed a small phone holder for the Concept2 BikeErg. Typically, I use an iPad while biking on it, but my iPhone is always connected to the PM5. This tray makes it convenient to keep my iPhone nearby. You can download the 3D model from here: makerworld.com/en/models/13...

I love this minimalistic screensaver watch. Got it from bauhausclock.com

I finally received my new USM Haller Desk. It’s 200cm long, which is significantly longer than my previous desk, which was 140cm. I needed more space for writing, thinking, and designing. While there are still a few things I’m likely to improve, I’m overall happy with how it turned out.

⭐️ I wrote a post about managing friction, what it means and how you can use it to shape your life (that's at least how I did it for myself). Check it out: arslan.io/2025/04/08/m...

I'm planning to visit London for the first time and looking for suggestions for places that might be in my alley. As an example I plan to visit the Barbican and Southbank Centre for their Brutalist architecture. Any recs similar to these places are welcome (food, shops, etc..)

It was a holiday for the kids, so we decided to take a trip to Istanbul. Here are a few photos from the trip.

Current read

⭐️ I'm mostly anti-AI person since the AI hype started years ago. However with time I realized that I misjudged AI Coding — Here’s why: arslan.io/2025/03/26/i...

Vectors + Metal is an insane combo. We made vector storage and search into MySQL meaning PlanetScale is the first RDBMS to allow vector search as part of a full SQL query. You can pre and post filter while doing vector lookups reducing 3-4 queries into 1

Working on a prototype to put down my phone when using my BikeErg (stationary bike). I first sketched my idea and then designed a basic design to test the fit and usability. For the second iteration, I need to make a few more adjustments. I’ll share more details soon.

Learning shadows and forms.

I finished the book "Inherit the Stars", by James P. Hogan. It was published in 1977. The story is about humanity finding a dead body on the moon. The caveat? The body is 50,000 years old. The story starts slow, but then the pace of the book is phenomenal. www.goodreads.com/book/show/77...

Just picked up this. The book surprised me. The format is nothing I've seen previously. Hideo Kojima shares his favorite books, movies, and music with little great anecdotes. Even if you’ve never played his games, I recommend it because it's full of gems.

TypeScript team: rewrites compiler in Go. Go community: what do you mean your new compiler takes more than a minute to compile? Unacceptable. Dishonorable even. We are so sorry for this sub par experience. Not how we do things around here. Two days later: WIP 5x speedup. HN: why pick Go anyway?

This is finally out! Huge kudos to everyone working on this.

Analyzing an object to determine the best way to model it using a CAD software.

Learning how to sketch properly. Started with lines, ellipses and perspectives (cubes).

Issue 004 // @arslan.io - Engineer with a passion for Design, Dieter Rams, Watches, Coffee and Bauhaus. ibrewmyown.coffee/interviews/f...

⭐️My latest blog post about the modular notebook system Plotter is finally published. I’ll delve into the various accessories and refills, and share my personal experience of using it for an extended period. Check it out. arslan.io/2025/02/24/p...

My favorite weekend newsletter lately. Thanks a lot for sharing and pouring your energy into it Thorsten.

I've finished my article about the Plotter Notebook system finally and plan to publish it in a few days. It's approximately around 3800 words and I tried to capture almost everything. Looking forward to sharing it soon.