Vuokko Vuorinnen's Blog

Tech

How I Used AI to Debug My Crashing Laptop

My homelab node froze overnight. Instead of digging through logs manually, I asked Claude Code to investigate. It SSHed in, traced the crash through kernel logs, and identified a known Intel i915 PSR lockup—then applied the kernel fix in minutes.

Drawing

The Incomprehendium

"Seven pages of ink on cream paper. A ship's technical manual that becomes, by the final page, something closer to a confession. The Nebuchadnezar has not been recovered. The investigation remains open in all jurisdictions that still maintain one."

Drawing

#25. The Old Man. Graphite on cheap sketching paper.

Something different today. Not just a drawing session - an experiment in AI-assisted creative coaching. I've been using Claude as a thinking partner for DevOps and engineering work for a while now. Today I pointed it at my sketchbook instead.

Tech

Something Big Is Happening

A chess algorithm on your phone now crushes every human alive. AI is about to do the same to every cognitive domain you work in. You're either the person who adapted early or the one still arguing when it was too late

Tech

CfgMgmtCamp 2026

While the conference schedule was packed with "GenAI" sessions, the reality on the ground was a shock. Most attendees are still just dipping their toes in, while I realized I’ve accidentally moved to the vanguard. Here is why the AI revolution feels different when you're ahead of the curve.

Gaming

Nintendo Switch 2: My 5-Month Review

My PS5 gathers dust while the Switch 2 takes over. Here's my 5-month review of the ultimate Dad Console: from battery trade-offs to playing Cyberpunk 2077 on the couch. Is the raw power worth the price tag for a busy parent?

Tech Featured

The Last Stack You'll Ever Build

Stop typing syntax and start building Cathedrals. Today I built a 3-node HA K3s cluster using OpenTofu and Ansible—orchestrated entirely by AI as my workforce. In 2026, the value is in the vision, not the boilerplate. #Vibecoding #K3s #DevOps

Gaming

Master of the Micro Session

I’m no longer chasing platinum trophies; I’m chasing 5 minutes of peace. As a dad of two, I’ve mastered the "Micro Session." Here’s how I use the Switch 2, a 3-game rotation, and zero-friction tactics to keep gaming in survival mode.

Gaming Featured

2025 Wrapped (Gaming Edition)

2025: became a dad again, got Switch 2, played tons despite diaper duty! Top 3: Death Stranding 2 (GOTY), Snowrunner (130hr obsession), Civ 7 (perfect dad game). From story-heavy Jan to turn-based survival mode. Sept jackpot: Switch 2 + Silksong! 2026: 007 First Light, GTA 6, Pokemon 30th?

Drawing

How I Unlocked the Pentel Pocket Brush

I set myself a challenge: 20 drawings with a Tombow Fudenosuke before I could buy the Pentel Pocket Brush. Three days later, I’d drawn mechs, rockets, and a hyperspace barista—cheered on by a hallucinating AI. Challenge done. New pen unlocked.

Tech

How We Built RDP-Aware Autoscaling on AWS (When CPU Metrics Weren’t Enough)

CPU was not the problem. People were. We needed autoscaling based on RDP sessions, not load. Here is how a small Lambda, some EventBridge glue, and scale-in protection let us shut down the right EC2 host without kicking anyone off.

AI

Clippy Prompt for VS Code

What if you're nostalgic for the 2000's? What if you actually loved Clippy? The annoying paperclip, remember? Well look no further! Here is a prompt that you can put in vscode setup to make copilot behave like clippy. Have fun!

AI

From Mini to Multi-Room Maestro

How I accidentally built a smart-speaker ecosystem out of ridiculously cheap used gear I didn’t plan to build a Google Home ecosystem. I swear. It started with a Google Home Mini, bought on a whim because I wanted to listen to music while cooking and set timers. Ten euros.

AI

How an AI Kept Me Sane Through a Midnight Database Migration

It's 23:16 on a Saturday night. I've been awake since 6am. I'm tired, slightly caffeinated, and staring down the barrel of a midnight database maintenance window. The job? Snapshot a 470GB production database, share it across AWS accounts, and restore it to our

Gaming

Git Gud

From Button Masher to Boss Slayer: How I Finally "Got Gud" I hated Soulsborne and soulslike games. The kind of games that expect you to fail over and over again. The only way to beat them is to grind and, according to the internet, "git gud"

Tech

Soup API

At the office, there's a catering service that brings soup to the workplace every working day. They have a menu online that tells you which soup it's going to be. So ofcourse we need some way to automate getting this information and displaying it in our

Audiophile

A Tale of Two Audio Purchases: DAP and IEM Mini Reviews

I recently splurged on some new audio equipment that's been putting a serious dent in my productivity—in the best way possible. Here's my take on two little nuggets that have been keeping me glued to my music collection. The IEMs: Bass That Makes You Smile

AI

Automating Email Categorization with n8n and Self-Hosted AI: A Journey in Prompt Engineering

From "simple" idea to working automation in 3 prompt engineering iterations 📈 Attempt 1: AI writes essays about emails 📝 Attempt 2: AI wraps JSON in markdown 🙄 Attempt 3: Perfect single-line JSON! ✨ Sometimes the hardest part isn't the tech—it's teaching AI to follow instructions exactly.

Tech

The Catfish Programmer

The catfish programmer takes on the jobs nobody wants: updating legacy code, cleaning backlogs, SSHing to production. While others chase shiny frameworks, we grind through the mud doing what needs to be done. Find your niche in unglamorous work, become irreplaceable.

AI

My Descent into AI Madness (and Why I Love It)

As you might've guessed from my previous posts—and the fact that I'm writing yet another one about AI—I'm deep in the rabbit hole. From summarizing grocery lists to debugging my emotional state, it's taken over. Here's the different

Audiophile

Edifier r1280t Bookshelf Speakers

A Surprising Gem: My Experience with the Edifier R1280T Speakers As someone who appreciates clean, detailed audio and a wide soundstage, I'm always on the lookout for gear that delivers quality without breaking the bank. The Edifier R1280T powered bookshelf speakers have done just that, and frankly, they’

AI

ChatDND

I've been selfhosting LLMs (Large Language Models, a fancy term for AI things like ChatGPT etc), and have been test driving the Mistral model. Throwing all kinds of prompts at it, but then I got the idea: hey, how about letting it generate a little text based DnD

AI

How I use AI (almost) daily

ChatGPT has been around for a couple years now. I'm a tech guy, my job title is DevOps Engineer for crying out loud, so I get wind of these new techs as soon as they get out of their Silicon Valley incubator somewhere. The rise of AI overlords

Drawing

Start to Draw (Part 1)

Back in August last year, I started to draw. Why? I just read 'Digital Minimalism' by Cal Newport (a must read imho, go ahead and read it!) and in that book Cal advocates for a digital detox (which I did in July) and replacing all the free time

Drawing

The Creative License

I started of the year by following this course: "The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to Be the Artist You Truly Are." by Danny Gregory. I follow him on YouTube, I'm constantly inspired by his art style and pep talks. They push me to keep drawing