Things

Last Updated: 16.02.2023

Communication

I use the following chat services (in order of personal preference):

• Signal
• Apple iMessages
• Whatsapp

Bitcoin

You know what Bitcoin is, but how does it work?. 3blue1brown (Grant Sanderson) on Youtube explains it best. How secure is Bitcoin? A numerical explanation, again by 3blue1brown (Grant Sanderson) on Youtube.

Services and Hardware

I self-host a good number of services on my inexpensive private cluster of ARM single-board computers (SBCs) and a x86 NUC.

My cluster machine composition is as follows:

• ~Odroid XU4 (armv7l running ArchlinuxARM)~ (Deprecated in 2021 due to no kernel updates)
• Odroid N2 (aarch64 running Ubuntu)
• Kobol Helios64 (aarch64 running Armbian)
• Gigabyte Brix S NUC (x86_64 running Archlinux)
• Up2 UpBoard (x86_64 running Archlinux)

My setup involves setting Docker Swarm and each service is then spun up using a docker-compose.yml file, therefore all my services are Linux distribution-agnostic. Unfortunately, I need to stick with specific distributions for specific hardware due to poor/slow kernel maintainenance by the hardware vendors. For storage, I have disk drives physically mounted in one of my nodes and I share the NAS using NFS with LAN. All my devices operate within the docker swarm network which is encrypted within my LAN and the only ingress/egress network interfaces are an exposed HTTPS port and wireguard UDP port whitelisted on my router.

Since June 2020, I have ceased paying for any online services besides virtual private server hosting.

Some example services that I self-host:

• MTA (internel.nl results)
• Bitcoin w. Lightning
• Nextcloud
• Jellyfin
• HomeAssistant
• and more…

VPS Providers

I use OVH to host my MTA.

Internet Service Provider

Now that I have moved to Singapore, I use Viewqwest. Their default plan puts customers behind a CGNAT, you need to pay $3/month extra to get a static IPv4 address and they don’t even give out free dynamic IPv4 addresses.

When I was in Melbourne, I use Superloop as my ISP. They have relatively good and reliable international transit compared to other past ISPs I have used (i.e. TPG, Tangerine, AussieBB and Exetel).

Cycling

** THIS BICYCLE WAS STOLEN IN DECEMBER 2020!! **

Thief came into bike garage with an angle grinder and cut the lock. Stolen in Melbourne CBD.

Merida Reacto 6000 Disc 2021

My upgraded bicycle since March 2021. I now keep my bicycle with me personally, at all times. Bicycle locks aren’t really effective in Melbourne since angle grinders can be purchased for cheap from Bunnings.

Singapore

I only ride on roads in Singapore. The speed limit on sidewalks and the park connector network is too slow.

Hazards

Cycling on the road in Singapore can be FUN and FAST but hazardous if you dont know what you are doing.

Below is a collection of road intersections that are particularly bad based on my cycling experience:

• AVOID ALL VIADUCTS/FLYOVERS. No clearance on side for evasive manuveurs. Left turns often result in crashing into concrete barriers and a guaranteed trip to the hospital.
• Northbound Upper Serangoon Road/Serangoon Central (where NEX shopping mall is). Without fail, car drivers (especially Taxi drivers) often merge left late to turn into Serangoon Central and do not bother with a fucking head check or turning on their left indicator and expect users with right of way to yield.
• Southbound Upper Serangoon Road/PIE/Macpherson Road/Bendemeer Road Roundabout. Car drivers do not obey lane markings when entering roundabout or turn into the wrong lane. Expect to yield to stupid drivers.
• Eastbound Nicole Highway Very wide road, relatively uncongested most of the time so vehicles often travel very fast.
• East/West-bound Braddell Road. DO NOT ATTEMPT Use of flyover is unavoidable at some sections and its design almost resembles an expressway, very unsafe for cyclist.

Generally, relatively road bike friendly roads for fast commuting (faster than Bus/MRT) in SG have the following characteristics:

• 2 ~ 3 lane wide. 3 lane wide roads should have a dedicated bus lane.
• Does not have have on/off-ramp to expressways.
• With speed limit of less than 60kph.

Examples:

• Downtown -> Punggol – Serangoon Road (except the roundabout that connects to PIE)/Upper Serangoon Road
• Punggol -> Downtown – Upp. Serangoon Road/Serangoon Road/Bendemeer Road/Jalan Besar/Victoria St
• Downtown -> Changi – Victoria St/Kallang Road/Sims Ave/Upp. Changi Road/Xilin Ave./Tanah Merah Coastal Road

Some tips when cycling in SG roads:

• Do not tail bus. Always overtake when possible.
• Always indicate and perform head checks.
• Try to maintain pace above 30~40kph. Drivers usually yield and provide pretty good spacing if you can maintain good pacing.
• Turn right using hook turns. Much safer than negotiating a lane change across a 3+ lane wide road.

Melbourne

Map of Melbourne Bike Trails. Credits to /u/Fozzaroo from /r/melbourne. Use browser-zoom to view map in detail.

Riding on the road around Melbourne is also pretty good. There are some excellent dedicated pop-up cycling lanes such as the recent Heidelberg Pop-up Bike Lanes that connect Collingwood/Fitzroy all the way through to Heidelberg or the Chandler Highway/Heidelberg Road intersection.

Heidelberg Road Link

There’s plenty of signage along the Heidelberg Road Link both inbound/outbound from Collingwood. It is easy to follow the signs and the road condition along this particular road link is excellent. Cyclist now travelling across the Heidelberg Road bridge have a wide dedicated lane, so there’s no need to be concerned of side-swipes from cars.