iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 11/06/2026

Pausing my daily computer books post for this: A boxed copy of Microsoft Windows 1.0 😍 Definitely a product of the Year!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 08/06/2026

I'm posting one vintage computer book from my collection each day! 📚 Book 08: Principles of Distributed Database Systems from 1991 by Özsu and Valduirez! This looks like your typical sys admin book from the start, but it's so much more. Very much goes into the theory behind such systems!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 05/06/2026

I'm posting one vintage computer book from my collection each day! 📚 Book 07: The LaTeX Companion! Long time before Markdown was a twinkle in all our eyes, we had LaTeX (Pronounced lah-tek). Well, math and science people still have LaTeX! Also, book covers used to be way cooler in 1994.

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 04/06/2026

I'm posting one vintage computer book from my collection each day! 📚 Book 06: First of the O'Reilly books! And the first thing I love/hated in web development - jQuery!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 02/06/2026

I'm posting one vintage computer book from my collection each day! 📚 Book 04: First of the "For Dummies Book" in this series, and yeah It's all about Visual C++ 6.0 here! I guess no time like the present to build those sweet sweet Win98 and NT applications!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 29/05/2026

I'm posting one vintage computer book from my collection each day! 📚 Book 02: The PC Configuration Handbook by John Woram! A 1990 specimen explaining how to actually build that PC. Even contains BASIC code showing how to get current ROM date on an IBM PC

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 28/05/2026

I'm posting one vintage computer book from my collection each day! 📚 Book 01: 68000 Assembly by Gerry Kane, Doug Hawkins and Lance Leventhal. This book came out in 1981 and goes over programming that sweet Motorola 68K!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 03/05/2026

I’ve recently upgraded to an EV ❤️

Photo of a Hyundai Ioniq5 and me standing next to it

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 02/05/2026

Enjoying some vintage Japanese hardware with @thevowel.com at VCF PNW 😍

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 13/04/2026

What is the most cursed storage system I could make? This is a RAID0 array running on 32 of the worst USB flash drives money can buy. 🤞 Right now, on top of it I am running an Amazon S3 compatible object storage system. Let's see how many 9s can I get!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 02/04/2026

Finally! I saw a S3 Bucket experience a race condition!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 27/03/2026

I have a stack od Dell Optiplexes that draw around the same amount. But are *way* less powerful! So I think I wanna keep it in my rack, with some GPU on it. So either as a dev station, or just a way to experiment with Linux on ARM! But I am very cognizant of the power draw! 😅

A Computer rack with Dell Optiplexes and some Cisco gear

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 27/03/2026

If I can quote my good friend Cobus: I am getting ARMd and Dangerous! 😍 For a long time I wanted to experiment with running some Linux on ARM (beyond just a Raspberry Pi). And with the current day RAM and Storage prices, the Minisforum MS-R1 with 64GB of RAM and 1TB of storage at ~ $640 is a steal!

A picture of the box of the Minisforum MS-R1 computer. Sitting on a desk in front of an IBM PC XT

Screenshot of Neofetch showing the current configuration of the Minisforum MS-R1 PC

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 19/03/2026

In my computer collection I have plenty of interesting specimens! But none are as interesting to me as this old Yugoslav Pecom32 from Ei Niš! 😍 Running on a RCA1802 CPU, some West German Toshiba RAM chips, and all Made in Yugoslavia. Stay tuned for a full write up on this!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 16/03/2026

Weekend project: Display home lab rack power use! Using a ESP32 and a 1602 LCD, I extract power usage from my smart plug via MQTT! Kids, never do home labs! It keeps getting out of hand! 😅

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 14/03/2026

Setting up a k3s cluster from mini PCs means replacing a lot of CMOS backup batteries!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 12/03/2026

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 09/03/2026

Did you know that you can use the CLI and SDK to upload objects to other clouds!? This was a fun little experiment this weekend, where I got to upload files to Nebius's object store using my tools built for S3 buckets! rup12.net/posts/s3-api... #aws #s3 #sdk

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 08/03/2026

Since the release of obsidian-sync has made my initial blog post outdated, I've decided to give a little update with the current instructions on how to setup a headless obsidian sync on homelab server! rup12.net/posts/running-obsidian-he…

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 07/03/2026

Implementing post view tracking: Commit messages tell a story

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 04/03/2026

There is something special about this Pentium II server I picked from the trash. See if you can spot it at the end.

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 02/03/2026

In my attempts to OptiplexMaxx I've given my nodes names based on rivers from my neck of the woods! 😍 Some servers are still pets!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 01/03/2026

I always keep my important backups close by!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 21/02/2026

Everyone is MacMinimaxxing for agents. Guess I should DellOptiplexmaxx!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 21/02/2026

How about a HP workstation for $18 😍 64 GB DDR4 ECC is the gold mine here

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 15/02/2026

A browser assistant I vibed up. Basically trying to have a web version of Kiro for my day to day tasks. Whats amazing about this is that is ALMOST ALL, just @htmx.org 🔥 The only non HTMX JS used is the SSE streaming and MD rendering and clipboard! Oh, and Rust 🦀

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 15/02/2026

Spent the day learning/exploring/trying out Ratatui. As *the* TUI framework for Rust, it has always been quite daunting to me. But I've decided to give it a good go. And, it's amazing! 😍 I have some interesting ideas for my CLIs to have TUIs (now that everyone likes them again 💘) #rust #tui

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 14/02/2026

Who wants to build a P(i)DP-8? ❤️

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 13/02/2026

Did you know that mpv can play videos from the TTY? Using the caca (yes) Video output, it shows the video from ASCII characters! 😍 There are better options like tct, but I do love the look here! #mpv #tty #linux

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 13/02/2026

Rust + WLED + JSON = 🚀⚡️🔥 I managed to get it down to 20ms 🤯

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 12/02/2026

It’s been 26 years since the Intel 80286 came out! ❤️ Up to 25Mhz of pure speed (hopefully with a co-processor) ⚡️

Photo of an I286 on the front page of BYTE magazine

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 11/02/2026

Ran into this glorious Olivetti keyboard in my collection!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 17/01/2026

Got that Sun Ultra 60 out last night ❤️

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 28/12/2025

This weeks project: Build a Rust app which generates BASIC code that prints large letters like this in Hi-Res mode!

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 20/12/2025

It’s Friday evening, and I’m backing up a collection of 5.25” Floppy disks! Thank you IBM PC XT 😍

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 17/12/2025

Something very special came in a box 😍

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 14/07/2025

What the hell is this weather NYC?! 😱🥵

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 11/07/2025

For this weekend! I have unopened copies of something vintage from our friends over at Microsoft 😍 Microsoft Excel 2.1 and Microsoft Windows/286 ❤️

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 08/07/2025

Can you smell these old manuals?

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 07/07/2025

What a way to end a week! Got my hands on a couple of Data General One laptops ! 😍 These (unfortunate ) laptops from the mid 1980s were quite one of their kind! A Minicomputer manufacturer making personal laptops? Preposterous 🤯 Expect an unboxing and demo video soon! ❤️

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 06/07/2025

Grilling never stops 🥩🔥

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 06/07/2025

Weeks worth of chicken! 🔥

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 05/07/2025

Whoa! 🤯 2000 subscribers on my YouTube channel! Thank you so much for checking out my content there 😭😍

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 03/07/2025

As I was recording a video last night, I had a fuzzy guest join me! 😻

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 02/07/2025

☝️ zsh pro tip: If you are using 'vi' mode in Zsh, and want to edit your current command using your $EDITOR, these three lines in your .zshrc will enable you to do so by hitting `Esc` + 'v'

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 28/06/2025

Finally set up my little retro corner 😍 Should be a good backdrop for videos!👏

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 28/06/2025

Rust 🦀 + Postgres 🐘 + sqlx compile time queries = ♥️ If my SQL is wrong, the compiler actually catches it! 😍

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Darko Mesaroš @darko.rup12.net · 27/06/2025

For all Rust 🦀 and AWS SDK fans out there. Here is how you can limit the max retries of your SDK calls. Very useful if you are invoking Lambda functions, that could cause a cascade of invocations!

Screenshot of some Rust code showing the AWS SDK configuration. Namely how the retry configuration is set up.

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