Running Pi‑hole on k3s and how GenAI tried to make me run as root

I was wrestling with Pi‑hole on single node Kubernetes and hit the classic privileged‑port problem: DNS wants port 53, containers don’t. The first GenAI suggestions were blunt, run the container as root. After some challenging from my side, it pivoted to MetalLB which is a nice option in a multi node setup. After digging I discovered a much cleaner path: k3s’s built‑in load balancer (ServiceLB, formerly known as Klipper LoadBalancer). Configure Pi-hole to use port 5353 and map it to 53 at the ServiceLB, no root, no extra components, and it worked like a charm.

Resurrecting a Samsung Galaxy Tab E SM‑T560

During vacations, I spent a day bringing an old Samsung Galaxy Tab E (SM‑T560 / gtel3g) back to life. It started as a quick tweak and turned into a proper little surgery: replace the stock recovery, flash a custom LineageOS ROM to test, chase down a couple of quirks, and finally install an alternative Android, ViperOS, build focused on stability. This is what I did and the gotchas I hit.

Upgrading asp.net 6 to 10

I recently upgraded one of my projects from .NET 6 to .NET 10, and while the process was smoother than expected, there were several important steps and breaking changes worth documenting. This post summarizes what I did.

Repairing a TVIX Remote Control aka Fixing Unresponsive Buttons

I stumbled upon my old TVIX HD M-7000A media player, and discovered that the OK button on the remote control was unresponsive, preventing menu selections and general usability. If you encounter similar issues with your TVIX remote, such as buttons failing to respond (e.g., the red LED does not illuminate upon pressing), the following steps may help restore functionality.

Using an indoor air conditioner with a broken outdoor unit

During the Daniel extreme flood event in Thessaly, I was fortunate not to lose anyone, but sustained material losses, including two cars and my air conditioners’ outdoor units, which were submerged for two days and destroyed. The internal units were safe, and I wondered if they could function independently for fun. It turns out that any internal air conditioner unit can operate as a fan without the need of an external unit.

How to fix Snip & Sketch not working on Windows 10 (Snipping Tool shortcut issues)

I often need to take a screenshot and annotate it a bit before I paste it into a chat, Jira ticket or document. On my Windows system, I love the simplicity of the Microsoft Snip & Sketch app (also known as Snipping Tool), which is always just a shortcut (Win+Shift+S) away. 

Unfortunately, on my work laptop (still running Windows 10), I've recently run into an issue where the shortcut stops working.  When I press the shortcut or even open the app and select to take new snip, no screenshot is taken, and the toolbar doesn’t appear. Instead, I see the cursor spinner for a few seconds, but nothing else happens.

After some troubleshooting, I found a solution, so I thought I'd write it down for future reference and to help anyone else facing the same issue!

Parse Excel XML using power query in excel

I wanted to load an Excel XML file (a.k.a. Microsoft Office Excel 2002 and Excel 2003 XML Format — SpreadsheetML) in another Excel file using Power Query M formula language. It turns out that it's trickier than I expected so I decided to blog my solution.