Marcus
@gerowen.bsky.social
• Privacy, open source software, cybersecurity, self-hosting/homelab and tech enthusiast
• Father, husband, occasional gamer
• Website: https://marcusadams.me
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@gerowen
• Father, husband, occasional gamer
• Website: https://marcusadams.me
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@gerowen
Another year with not a single Windows PC in use.
December 17, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Another year with not a single Windows PC in use.
December 17, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Can confirm, the complete installed size of #Skyrim Special/Anniversary edition with all the creation club content installed is only 32 GB on PC.
Headline: Players report major issues with #Switch2 Skyrim port, #Bethesda responds
Source: www.neowin.net/news/players...
#ElderScrolls #Gaming
Headline: Players report major issues with #Switch2 Skyrim port, #Bethesda responds
Source: www.neowin.net/news/players...
#ElderScrolls #Gaming
December 11, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Can confirm, the complete installed size of #Skyrim Special/Anniversary edition with all the creation club content installed is only 32 GB on PC.
Headline: Players report major issues with #Switch2 Skyrim port, #Bethesda responds
Source: www.neowin.net/news/players...
#ElderScrolls #Gaming
Headline: Players report major issues with #Switch2 Skyrim port, #Bethesda responds
Source: www.neowin.net/news/players...
#ElderScrolls #Gaming
Well this is certainly interesting. #Microsoft's #security controls do seem have stopped whoever/whatever it was and I've gotten back in after resetting my password, checking the recovery email, etc.
I have noticed however that, unless they've moved it and I haven't found it yet,
I have noticed however that, unless they've moved it and I haven't found it yet,
December 3, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Well this is certainly interesting. #Microsoft's #security controls do seem have stopped whoever/whatever it was and I've gotten back in after resetting my password, checking the recovery email, etc.
I have noticed however that, unless they've moved it and I haven't found it yet,
I have noticed however that, unless they've moved it and I haven't found it yet,
They also changed the default swap partition size. I'm not sure what math they're using, but previously the installer only made a 1 GB swap partition, for me at least. If I wanted more I would manually create a swap file. Now however it created a swap partition equal to the RAM in my laptop.
December 2, 2025 at 8:10 AM
They also changed the default swap partition size. I'm not sure what math they're using, but previously the installer only made a 1 GB swap partition, for me at least. If I wanted more I would manually create a swap file. Now however it created a swap partition equal to the RAM in my laptop.
If you've been running #Debian for a while and been doing in-place upgrades, you might want to do a clean install. I use LUKS encryption on my laptop and whatever version I originally installed only gave 512MB to /boot so I've been getting warned during kernel updates about it being full.
#Linux
#Linux
December 2, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Apparently the original #CallOfDuty Black Ops still has some players online. Been playing it a little the past few nights. Captured this on my #SteamDeck.
#Gaming #PCGaming
#Gaming #PCGaming
November 25, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Apparently the original #CallOfDuty Black Ops still has some players online. Been playing it a little the past few nights. Captured this on my #SteamDeck.
#Gaming #PCGaming
#Gaming #PCGaming
One other area where it falls behind slightly is in local DNS. That's under "DNS Rewrites", one big list where you make DNS entries, CNAMEs, etc. BUT, these entries do not show up in the query log. Query log pretty names are based on "clients", meaning you need to enter clients in both places.
November 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM
One other area where it falls behind slightly is in local DNS. That's under "DNS Rewrites", one big list where you make DNS entries, CNAMEs, etc. BUT, these entries do not show up in the query log. Query log pretty names are based on "clients", meaning you need to enter clients in both places.
And when it comes to adding community maintained blocklists, like you do with PiHole, it offers the option to add your own custom list, OR you can pick from a built-in curated list, with links to view the source of those lists. This is accessible any time, not just during first-time-setup.
November 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM
And when it comes to adding community maintained blocklists, like you do with PiHole, it offers the option to add your own custom list, OR you can pick from a built-in curated list, with links to view the source of those lists. This is accessible any time, not just during first-time-setup.
And going back to the custom rules area. If, when creating "clients", you set a "tag", you can then use those tags to apply custom filters only to clients who fall under that tag. This effectively lets you block or allow things only for certain classes of user/device.
November 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM
And going back to the custom rules area. If, when creating "clients", you set a "tag", you can then use those tags to apply custom filters only to clients who fall under that tag. This effectively lets you block or allow things only for certain classes of user/device.
There is a LOT of pre-configured services toggles that can be used to block various services without manually looking up or creating your own lists for these services. This makes it easier to lock down the kids' devices.
November 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM
There is a LOT of pre-configured services toggles that can be used to block various services without manually looking up or creating your own lists for these services. This makes it easier to lock down the kids' devices.
"Clients" is where you can give pretty names to devices for the query log, and is how you can create "groups" because you can add multiple addresses to each client. Each client can then be configured to supersede the global settings for things like blocked services and safe search.
November 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM
"Clients" is where you can give pretty names to devices for the query log, and is how you can create "groups" because you can add multiple addresses to each client. Each client can then be configured to supersede the global settings for things like blocked services and safe search.
Also, all of the text entry boxes for things like DNS server, or when entering custom allow/block rules, support adding comments. This is a bit less "pretty" than the PiHole way of doing things where you had graphical dialog boxes for this action, but it still works just the same.
November 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Also, all of the text entry boxes for things like DNS server, or when entering custom allow/block rules, support adding comments. This is a bit less "pretty" than the PiHole way of doing things where you had graphical dialog boxes for this action, but it still works just the same.
I've been tinkering and decided to swap out my #PiHole for an #AdGuardHome installation. #AdGuard has a few more niceties in the user interface, like ready made checkboxes to block a ton of services for the kids' devices without having to manually create my own domain lists.
#Networking #Privacy
#Networking #Privacy
November 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM
I've been tinkering and decided to swap out my #PiHole for an #AdGuardHome installation. #AdGuard has a few more niceties in the user interface, like ready made checkboxes to block a ton of services for the kids' devices without having to manually create my own domain lists.
#Networking #Privacy
#Networking #Privacy
While browsing YouTube I've been getting these #AI generated ads for some kind of car insurance thing in Kentucky. The longer you look at it, the worse it gets. Even the image for the supposed state seal is wrong.
November 19, 2025 at 2:23 AM
While browsing YouTube I've been getting these #AI generated ads for some kind of car insurance thing in Kentucky. The longer you look at it, the worse it gets. Even the image for the supposed state seal is wrong.
November 16, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Playing #Fallout4 on #SteamDeck and have an observation. The shadows aren't screen space because they persist when an object is well outside your viewport, including characters and other non static objects. Also, the sun in #Fallout 4 moves in discrete steps instead of gradually.
#Gaming #PCGaming
#Gaming #PCGaming
November 12, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Playing #Fallout4 on #SteamDeck and have an observation. The shadows aren't screen space because they persist when an object is well outside your viewport, including characters and other non static objects. Also, the sun in #Fallout 4 moves in discrete steps instead of gradually.
#Gaming #PCGaming
#Gaming #PCGaming
Playing some #Fallout4 on #SteamDeck and two obserations about a recent update.
1) Having the "SteamDeck=0 %command%" launch argument seems to break the game's ability to launch now.
Continued...
#Gaming #PCGaming
1) Having the "SteamDeck=0 %command%" launch argument seems to break the game's ability to launch now.
Continued...
#Gaming #PCGaming
November 12, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Playing some #Fallout4 on #SteamDeck and two obserations about a recent update.
1) Having the "SteamDeck=0 %command%" launch argument seems to break the game's ability to launch now.
Continued...
#Gaming #PCGaming
1) Having the "SteamDeck=0 %command%" launch argument seems to break the game's ability to launch now.
Continued...
#Gaming #PCGaming
So, using systemd-analyze, I was able to add several options to my service files for Minecraft and Luanti to lock them down considerably without breaking their core functionality. I may poke around some more and then use this as a template for the future.
#Security
#Security
![My Minecraft systemd service file.
[Unit]
Description=Minecraft Java Edition Server
ConditionPathExists=/opt/minecraft/minecraft_server
[Service]
Type=simple
User=minecraft
Group=minecraft
ProtectProc=invisible
ProcSubset=pid
WorkingDirectory=/opt/minecraft/minecraft_server
ProtectHome=true
PrivateTmp=true
ProtectSystem=strict
ProtectKernelLogs=true
ProtectKernelModules=true
ProtectKernelTunables=true
PrivateDevices=true
PrivateUsers=true
ProtectControlGroups=true
ProtectClock=true
ProtectHostname=true
RemoveIPC=true
RestrictNamespaces=~user pid net uts mnt cgroup ipc
NoNewPrivileges=true
SystemCallFilter=~@reboot @clock @swap @resources @raw-io @privileged @obsolete @mount @module @debug @cpu-emulation
CapabilityBoundingSet=~CAP_SYS_PTRACE CAP_NET_ADMIN CAP_SYS_ADMIN CAP_CHOWN CAP_FSETID CAP_SETFCAP CAP_FOWNER CAP_IPC_OWNER CAP_SYS_BOOT CAP_SYS_CHROOT CAP_SYS_PACCT CAP_KILL CAP_IPC_LOCK CAP_SYS_TTY_CONFIG
ReadWritePaths=/opt/minecraft /var/log/minecraft
InaccessiblePaths=/mnt /media
ExecStart=java -Xms2G -Xmx8G -jar server.jar nogui
ExecStop=/opt/minecraft/mcrcon/stopserver.sh
TimeoutSec=0
RemainAfterExit=yes
StandardOutput=append:/var/log/minecraft/survival.log
StandardError=append:/var/log/minecraft/survival.log
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2v3wa6qxcmdh4zavdnhvvatt/bafkreihcunlg6gg3vhkqgxr7pn7vmjj3s3mx4enz3o44gil6glhz5l7dbu@jpeg)
November 10, 2025 at 9:42 PM
So, using systemd-analyze, I was able to add several options to my service files for Minecraft and Luanti to lock them down considerably without breaking their core functionality. I may poke around some more and then use this as a template for the future.
#Security
#Security
My yearly viewing of #VForVendetta feels oddly more appropriate on this #November5th.
November 5, 2025 at 2:10 PM
My yearly viewing of #VForVendetta feels oddly more appropriate on this #November5th.
Not my first time apparently.
November 5, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Not my first time apparently.
My wife and I were playing #VampireSurvivors together and something flaked with the network play and she got kicked and it gave me all of her items, so I ended up way more powerful than I should have been. I'm curious though, I bet Death can be killed, there are items past him on the map.
#Gaming
#Gaming
November 3, 2025 at 7:14 AM
My wife and I were playing #VampireSurvivors together and something flaked with the network play and she got kicked and it gave me all of her items, so I ended up way more powerful than I should have been. I'm curious though, I bet Death can be killed, there are items past him on the map.
#Gaming
#Gaming
It's addicting, but no matter how good you think you're doing, you WILL die eventually.
November 2, 2025 at 4:44 AM
It's addicting, but no matter how good you think you're doing, you WILL die eventually.