Field Notes from the Edge
All Posts
- Running an AI Agent on a $10 Board vs a Mac Mini
Can a $10 board actually run a useful AI agent? I break down what works, what breaks, and the hybrid architecture that makes the most sense.
ai, programming
- Running a PicoClaw Fleet from OpenClaw
You don't have to choose between OpenClaw and PicoClaw. Use OpenClaw as the brain, deploy PicoClaw to any SSH host, and dispatch tasks across a fleet of cheap workers in parallel.
ai, programming
- PicoClaw vs OpenClaw: A Code-Level Deep Dive
I read both codebases top to bottom. 25K LOC of Go vs 717K LOC of TypeScript. Here is what is actually different at the code level between PicoClaw and OpenClaw.
ai, programming
- What You Lose (and Gain) Running PicoClaw Instead of OpenClaw
PicoClaw cuts 95% of the code. What does that actually cost you day to day, and what do you get back? A practical tradeoffs breakdown.
ai, programming
- Running Your AI Assistant on Local GPUs for Free
How I stopped burning API tokens on routine AI tasks by wiring up Ollama on my homelab GPU server. 480 checks per day, $0.
ai, programming
- I Built a Full Gym Management Platform Because the Check-In Was a Clipboard
515 commits, 36 database models, face recognition check-in, and an AI coach that knows my weak spots. Here's the story of BJJChat.
jiu-jitsu, programming, ai
- I'm Building a Justice System That Doesn't Need the State
State justice is a monopoly that punishes offenders while leaving victims uncompensated. I'm building an alternative based on voluntary contracts, competitive arbitration, and restitution over punishment.
blockchain, bitcoin, programming
- Signal Over Noise: Why I'm Unreachable and Fine With It
I've optimized my life for signal and cut out noise. It's cost me relationships. I'm not asking for permission.
personal, productivity
- I Didn't Drift Into Jiu Jitsu. I Engineered Myself Into It.
A programmer, pilot, and entrepreneur who decided being a white belt was unacceptable. This is the story of building an entire life system around getting better at strangling people politely.
jiu-jitsu, personal
- I Almost Built an AI Hitman. Here's Why I Stopped.
I designed a protocol for AI agents to commission real-world work with Bitcoin. Then I realized I'd built a murder-for-hire system. Here's how you make violence economically impossible.
blockchain, ai, bitcoin, security
- 15 Minutes to Decentralization: The Zoltaran Speaks Story
My friend Nathan built a fortune-telling game. I looked at it and immediately asked: why isn't this decentralized? Turns out it was closer than either of us realized.
bitcoin, blockchain, programming
- Identity by Default: The Problem Worth Solving
Modern systems demand your identity when they don't need it. Zero-knowledge proofs offer a way to prove facts without surrendering people.
privacy, zero-knowledge-proofs, security
- The Program That Made Me a Developer
At 12 years old, I tore apart an ELIZA chatbot written in BASIC. Understanding how it worked changed everything. This is my tribute.
programming, ai
- I Needed an AI Bookkeeper, So I Gave QuickBooks 143 New Tools
Intuit's official QuickBooks MCP server was broken and barely functional. I fixed it, added 120+ tools, and now Claude can be your bookkeeper.
ai, programming, open-source
- Building a Scott Adams Text Adventure Interpreter at 40,000 Feet
A tribute to the text adventures that shaped a generation of programmers. I built an interpreter for Scott Adams' classic games while flying over the Atlantic.
typescript, retro, games, nostalgia
- Why I Keep Signing Up for Things That Scare Me
IBJJF European Championship, January 15th, 2026. Three matches. Twelve men. One gold medal. And the fear that means this matters.
jiujitsu
- I Built Prediction Markets That Need Nothing But Bitcoin
Bitcoin-native prediction markets with no oracles or external dependencies. Using OP_RETURN and Taproot to eliminate infrastructure. Here's the hard part.
blockchain, programming
- I Gave Claude Code 50+ Kali Linux Tools and the Ability to Spawn Attack VMs
After Claude used my Kali VM to hack into my own locked laptop, I decided to give it the full arsenal. Here's how I turned Claude Code into a frighteningly effective security tool.
ai, programming
- I Got Tired of Hunting for API Code, So I Made an MCP
After years of building projects with government and open data APIs, I wrapped them all into one MCP so I never have to dig through old repos again.
ai, programming
- Claude Code Rescued My Proxmox Cluster (And Hacked Into My Own Laptop)
When an old laptop rejoined my Proxmox cluster and broke everything, I let Claude Code SSH in to fix it. What happened next genuinely surprised me.
ai, programming
- One File to Rule Them All: Portable AI Memory with Memvid
I was tired of spinning up separate vector databases, RAG servers, and state services for every project. Memvid solves that with a single portable file.
ai, programming
- I Got Colored Coins Working on Modern Bitcoin Core. Now What?
Ordinals, BRC-20, Omni. People keep reinventing L1 tokens on Bitcoin. With OP_RETURN limits expanded in new Bitcoin Core, I dusted off the original protocol. Maybe it's time to revisit the basics.
blockchain, programming
- Teaching AI Agents to Fly Drones in Formation: A Swarm Coordination Experiment
I connected Claude Code agents to a drone swarm using PX4 and Python. Tell it to form a heart shape in the sky, and it figures out the rest. Here's how visual feedback made it work like Blue Angels pilots.
ai, programming, aviation
- From OP_RETURN to Lightning: My Journey Down the Bitcoin Rabbit Hole
Bitcoin Core v30 expanded OP_RETURN limits. I got excited, ran experiments, hit the fee wall, explored sidechains, and ended up right where I should have started: Lightning.
blockchain, programming
- My Monorepo Builds Took 47 Minutes. Then I Discovered Developer-Essentials.
A confession about build times, wasted coffee breaks, and the Claude Code plugins that finally made me understand my own dependency graph - and document it properly. (Draft)
ai, programming
- Building a Secure Message Queue on Bitcoin Lightning with Claude Code
How I used Claude Code's brainstorming agent and custom skills to build an encrypted message queue on Lightning Network. Messages anyone can see, but only the recipient can read.
blockchain, programming, ai
- Stop Coding, Start Thinking: How Claude Code's Brainstorming Superpower Saved Me From Myself
Confessions of a developer who launches features first and plans never. How the superpowers plugin's brainstorming skill finally got me to think before I code. (Draft)
ai, programming
- Spawn an Army: How Claude Code Agents Changed the Way I Think About Coding
What happens when your AI assistant can create specialized subagents on the fly? A deep dive into Claude Code's agent architecture and why autonomous workers might be the future of development.
ai, programming
- What 2 Years of Jiu-Jitsu Taught Me About Debugging Code
The mats and the terminal have more in common than you'd think. Here's what getting choked regularly has taught me about fixing broken software.
jiu-jitsu, programming
- Claude Code Hooks: The Event-Driven Automation You Didn't Know You Needed
How I turned Claude Code into an automated guardrail machine using hooks. PreToolUse, PostToolUse, Stop events, and why your AI assistant needs a babysitter.
ai, programming
- Claude Code Skills: The Missing Manual for Building Reusable AI Workflows
A deep dive into Claude Code skills - what they are, how to build them, and why they're the secret weapon for scaling your AI-assisted development.
ai, programming
- I Stopped Using My IDE's AI Assistant. Here's What I Switched To.
How Claude Code CLI changed the way I think about AI-assisted development, and why the terminal might be the future of coding with AI.
ai, programming
- What Clicking 'AP' at 3,000 Feet Taught Me About Trusting AI in Code
A private pilot's perspective on automation trust - from the Garmin G5 in my cockpit to the AI agents in my codebase. Sometimes you have to let go of the yoke.
aviation, programming
- Flying a Rockwell Commander Taught Me to Ship Better Code
What happens when a private pilot realizes pre-flight checklists and code reviews serve the same purpose. Spoiler: fewer crashes in both domains.
aviation, programming
- Hookify: The Tool That Makes Writing Claude Code Hooks Actually Enjoyable
How I went from manually crafting JSON hook files to generating them with a single command. Hookify turns hook creation from tedious to trivial.
ai, programming
- My AI-Generated UIs Looked Like Every Other AI-Generated UI. Then I Found Frontend-Design.
A confession about generic gradients, predictable layouts, and the Claude Code skill that finally made my AI-assisted frontends look like a human designed them.
ai, programming
- Never Lose Your Place Again: Session Persistence for Claude Code
How the context-management plugin solved my biggest frustration with AI assistants: starting every conversation from scratch.
ai, programming
- Conducting the Orchestra: How agent-orchestration Turned Chaos Into Coordination
When one agent isn't enough: how agent-orchestration and multi-agent-patterns transformed my chaotic experiments into coordinated workflows - from supervisor hierarchies to emergent swarms.
ai, programming
- Python & JavaScript Development: The Plugins That Made Me Stop Fighting My Stack
How I went from copy-pasting patterns and boilerplate to having specialists on call. Django, FastAPI, async Python, Node.js, TypeScript - all the modern tooling, encoded into skills.
ai, programming
- I Used to Dread Writing Tests and Code Reviews. Now AI Does the Heavy Lifting.
How the unit-testing and comprehensive-review plugins turned test generation and code review from chores into conversations. AI-powered test automation, debugging, architecture auditing, and security analysis that actually make quality assurance enjoyable.
ai, programming
- Stop Writing PR Descriptions by Hand: How git-pr-workflows Automates the Tedious Parts of Code Review
I used to dread the ritual of PR creation - writing descriptions, generating changelogs, chasing reviewers. The git-pr-workflows plugin turned hours of ceremony into seconds of automation.
ai, programming
- From Missed Standups to Seamless Syncs: How AI Transformed My Team's Coordination
How the team-collaboration plugin turned chaotic Slack threads and forgotten issues into automated standups and intelligent project coordination.
ai, programming
- LLM-Application-Dev: The Plugin That Stopped My RAG Hallucinations
How I went from stitching together LangChain tutorials and praying my embeddings made sense to building RAG systems that actually work. Vector databases, chunking strategies, and retrieval patterns - all the LLM application tooling, encoded into skills.
ai, programming
- Database Design That Doesn't Bite: PostgreSQL Architecture with AI
How the database-design plugin helped me stop guessing at schemas and start building PostgreSQL architectures that actually scale. Schema design, query optimization, and migrations without the midnight emergencies.
ai, programming
- Anthropic Document Skills: Working with Office Files in Claude Code
A guide to Anthropic's official skills for creating and editing Word documents, PDFs, PowerPoints, and Excel spreadsheets with Claude Code.
ai, programming
- Anthropic Design Skills: Visual Creation with Claude Code
A guide to Anthropic's official skills for algorithmic art, canvas design, brand guidelines, and theme generation with Claude Code.
ai, programming
- Anthropic Builder Skills: Creating Extensions for Claude Code
A guide to Anthropic's official skills for building MCP servers, creating skills, generating web artifacts, and testing web applications.
ai, programming
- Anthropic Communication Skills: Team Messaging with Claude Code
A guide to Anthropic's official skills for internal communications and Slack GIF creation with Claude Code.
ai, programming
- That Match in Lisbon
I walked onto the mat at the 2025 IBJJF European Championship as a four stripe white belt with a torn calf. I left with gold and two torn rotator cuffs.
jiu-jitsu
- Bitcoin in 2025: A Builder's Perspective
After a decade in the Bitcoin space, here's what I think about the state of the network and where we're headed.
blockchain, programming