I’m an idiot and never linked the link

https://www.smarthomebeginner.com/authentik-docker-compose-guide-2025/

1. I got started with a guide from these guys back in 2020. I still use traefik as my reverse proxy and Authelia for authentication and it has worked great all this time. As someone else said, everything is in containers on the one host and it is super easy this way. It all runs on a single box using containers for separation. I should probably look into a secondary server as a live backup, but that’s a lot of work / expense. I have a Cloudflare dynamic DNS container running for that.
2. I would definitely advocate for owning your own domain, for the added use case of owning your own email addresses. I can now switch email providers and don’t have to worry about losing anything. This would also lean towards a more memorable domain, or at least a second domain that is memorable. Stay away from the country TLDs or “cute” generic TLDs and stay with a tried and true .com or .net (which may take some searching).
3. I don’t bother with this, I just run my server behind Cloudflare, and let them protect my server. Some might disagree, but it’s easy for me and I like that.
4. Containers, containers, containers! Probably Docker since it’s easy, but Podman if you really want to get fancy / extra secure. Also, make sure you have a git repo for your compose files, and a solid backup strategy from the start (so much easier than going back and doing it later). I use Backblaze for my backups and it’s $2/month for some peace of mind.
5. Do it!!!

Ngl it’s in the weird uncanny valley for me too, I’m not sure what is going on.

This is true! There is no accounting for sentimentality.

There are certainly better investment options. You don’t see Jeff Bezos sinking his fortune into Rolexi

I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to write this out. I definitely had stereotypes about NJ being less than pleasant based on all the memes, but I realize I should probably reconsider that. A wine -> casino -> boardwalk tour sounds like it could be fun (I have no idea of the geography so no clue if this is possible).

I thought that’s genuinely how they did it at high end restaurants to make sure you have a perfectly portioned bit of pasta cooked to the right doneness. I swear I’ve seen this method on Hell’s Kitchen.

Granted, I may be thinking about something else vs what you’re talking about but still.

You cannot work on your on-premises servers if you shit the bed with your server management.

(Just playing devil’s advocate)

Hey, I’m pretty slow… the second that I heard the guitar riff I understood the joke immediately, but I did need the help!

I can’t tell you how much “unnecessary” quotes just “bother me”. There are other ways to “convey emphasis” that actually make se”nse”.

Airlines do in fact use excess cargo space to ship things for shipping companies / postal services. I’ve also heard before (I can’t verify though), that airlines are more than happy to leave your luggage behind if it means they can squeeze on one more piece of cargo since the cargo makes them much more money than they otherwise would have to pay you for delaying your luggage.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/air-freight1.htm

Especially since this seems to be a big one what with the upgrade to python 3.13

It seems some people in the comments of the post have said there are issues with their installations after upgrading to 2024.12.0. I might recommend waiting for .1 if you’re not too fussed about having the brand newest software.

One another*

Don’t worry, Bambi, in Germany, die means something else entirely

Touché

This is a screenshot from the Morning Brew newsletter. They’re honestly pretty great, love these stock hot takes.

Only options available to me on the work computer are Chrome and Edge. FWIW, I use Edge, but still I understand the choice between the two.

This is what I use on my Raspberry Pi. It’s a USB dongle.

https://www.home-assistant.io/connectzbt1/