Jun 20, 2026
Journal / Index
Journal
Published dispatches
19 entries / newest first
Jun 2, 2026
Part 17 — When Apple Charged Me €99 to Confirm I Was Still Alive
There comes a point in every hobby project when the technical challenges stop being the biggest obstacle and bureaucracy takes over. For Needlefin, a tvOS application I’ve been building alongside Needle Music, that moment arrived this week.
May 29, 2026
Part 16 — The Day a 4K Nozzle Camera Joined the Audio Lab
Needle was supposed to be a music player. Then it became a library manager. Then a backend. Then a web player. Then an infrastructure project. At this point, I've stopped pretending I know where the boundaries are.
May 24, 2026
Part 15 — When Madonna Crashed the iPhone App
The detective work pile claimed another victim. After spending hours scanning records into Needle’s newly born physical media archive system, I eventually stumbled upon a Madonna record that refused to cooperate with reality itself.
May 23, 2026
Part 14 — The Archive Awakens
The barcode scanner experiment escalated quickly. What started as: “Wouldn’t it be neat if Needle could keep track of physical records too?” turned into an entire weekend of pulling vinyl records out of shelves, scanning barcodes, arguing with Discogs, rediscovering forgotten albums, and slowly realizing that physical media collections are gloriously chaotic creatures.
May 23, 2026
Part 13 — How a README Became a “Dear Me”
Through absolutely no fault of mine. There’s a very specific moment in personal projects where documentation stops being documentation and quietly turns into emotional support. It usually happens somewhere after midnight...
May 19, 2026
Part 12 — Oh, I Won. iOS Did Not Stand a Chance.
I crossed the finish line. The iOS app is done. The Android app has been updated to use the new streaming quality system. The backend now properly handles pre-generated AAC streaming files. Everything works smoothly, reliably, and honestly… beautifully.
May 19, 2026
Part 11 — How iOS Demanded Things Be Done Properly
The iOS version of Needle was so close to being done. The UI looked fantastic. The library synced beautifully. Artwork loaded instantly thanks to the cache system. Offline mode worked. Heartbeat-based online/offline recovery worked. The app felt smooth, polished, and oddly… complete. Then it all broke...
May 18, 2026
Part 10 — So Close I Can Taste the Victory. But I Ain’t Celebrating. My Body Won’t Let Me.
May 17, 2026
Part 9 — How I Dug Myself Into a Home DNS Hole
There is a very specific kind of danger that comes with personal projects. Not the obvious danger. No. The truly dangerous moments begin with innocent thoughts...
May 17, 2026
Part 8 — Building an Android Needle Player
There comes a point in every personal project where reality taps you on the shoulder and politely asks: "This is all very impressive, mate… but can you actually use it?" That moment arrived shortly after I finished building the Needle backend and web player.
May 16, 2026