My AMD GPU Has a New Job: Running llama.cpp Without Guessing What Fits
How I run llama.cpp on an AMD GPU with HIP, verified GGUF weights, a private API and measured context limits instead of optimistic VRAM maths.
Karl.Fail
Blog
Articles in Blog.
Ghostwire: Reading My Own WhatsApp Desktop Without Clicking Through It
How Ghostwire uses a native Windows WebView bridge for local exports and authenticated webhooks, with session, compatibility and queue limits.
I Gave My AI Agents Credentials. I Would Rather Not Give Them All of Them.
How I use self-hosted Infisical, machine identities and selected credential injection for AI tools, with reproducible examples and honest permission boundaries.
I Built a Search Setup That Gives My Local Model Something to Read
Vane, SearXNG and local inference: searchable sources, honest engine failures, document conversion and a reproducible way to check the answers.
Pre-Astro: How I Got My WordPress Cache Above 90%
The caching setup I used before Astro: anonymous HTML at Cloudflare, an origin page cache, Redis limits and tests for private-content bypass.
My Websites Have a Bouncer Now: OPNsense, NAXSI and a Very Particular Block Button
A technical tour of my OPNsense nginx reverse proxy, NAXSI policies, Elastic evidence and guarded n8n response, including tuning, tests and current limitations.
CitrixPot: My Low-Interaction NetScaler Honeypot and What Actually Hit It
Why I built a low-interaction NetScaler honeypot, how its capture-only stack works, and what real payloads and the private evidence console actually show.
I Took WordPress Off the Internet: Karl.Fail on Astro and Cloudflare Pages
How I moved Karl.Fail to Astro and Cloudflare Pages, kept WordPress private, and built automatic publishing, local search and a faster reading experience.
Ultimate Guide to Self-Hosted Dynamic DNS: Ditch DuckDNS for KarlDNS
Stop dealing with expiring hostnames and insecure API tokens. Learn how to deploy KarlDNS, a secure, account-free, self-hosted DynDNS using FastAPI, SQLite…
How I Built a Sub-Millisecond Threat Intelligence API for $0
How I built a free, sub-millisecond threat intelligence API using Node-RED to identify malicious IPs and domains. Stop paying vendors for open-source data.
The Great Karlflix Migration: Moving My Media Stack to a Proxmox LXC
Meta Description: Learn how I migrated my bloated Debian VM media stack to a sleek Proxmox LXC, enabling Jellyfin hardware transcoding, Gluetun WireGuard, and SSO.
Claude SysAdmin: An AI Guide for the Exceptionally Lazy
Too lazy for homelab chores? Learn how I used AI tools like Claude as my personal SysAdmin to automate Proxmox updates, fix WordPress, and refactor UniFi firewalls.
I Spent 250€ on AI Pentesting Agents (PentAGI, Strix, Xalgorix)
Curious if autonomous AI pentesting actually works? I spent 200€ on OpenAI and Claude APIs to test PentAGI, Strix, and Xalgorix. Read my real-world…
Monitoring Your Personal Attack Surface with Shodan and n8n
Automate your home network security with n8n and Shodan. Monitor your personal attack surface, scan your DynDNS, and get instant Discord alerts for open ports.
Windows 11 VM Performance: Hardening, Debloating, and Setup Guide
I am currently testing a Windows 11 VM for gaming with GPU passthrough, instead of CachyOS, which I talked about in my previous post. While Linux has made
How I Automated My WoW Nerd Obsession with n8n, Browserless & Python (A Self-Hosting Guide)
In which a grown adult builds an entire self-hosted automation flow just to find out which World of Warcraft specs are popular this week. Priorities?…
Unlocking Full PS5 DualSense Features in Moonlight & Sunshine
There is nothing worse than buying premium hardware and having your software treat it like a generic accessory. I recently picked up a PS5 DualSense…
The 2026 Guide to Linux Cloud Gaming: Proxmox Passthrough with CachyOS & Sunshine
Build the Ultimate Linux Cloud Gaming Server: A step-by-step guide to Proxmox, CachyOS, and AMD RX 7900 XTX passthrough. Fixes for Vulkan, Sunshine, and…
Why I Cancelled ChatGPT Plus: Saving €15/Month with Gemini Advanced
The Switch: Why I Dumped ChatGPT Plus for Gemini For a long time, I was a loyal subscriber to ChatGPT Plus. I happily paid the €23.99/month to…
Forget Google: Build Your Own Search API with SearXNG
Learn how to self-host SearXNG on Proxmox or Docker, use its free search API, and integrate it with Node-RED for OSINT, automation, and…
How to Orchestrate Hetzner Cloud Servers with Node-RED Flows
Learn how to automate Hetzner Cloud with Node-RED. This guide shows step-by-step flows for creating, managing, and destroying cloud workers on demand.…
ClamAV on Steroids: 35,000 YARA Rules and a Lot of Attitude
Built a scalable ClamAV + 35K YARA rule cluster with FastAPI, HAProxy, and DB storage for fast, insightful malware analysis – born out of…
I Tested a Viral Anti-Spam Prompt. It Failed Spectacularly
Okay, I’ll admit it, I was rage-baited into writing this article. Lately, I’ve been spending some time automating all of my LinkedIn tasks. I don’t…
Caffeine & Exploits: Hacking Coffee Machines with Social Engineering
How I hacked dozens of WMF coffee machines using social engineering, default PINs, and a bit of boldness. A fun real-world red teaming story—from free…
From Krakow with Access: A Casual Hotel Tablet Hack
A while ago, I got invited by a large corporation to visit their offices in Krakow. I got lucky since all the hotels were full, I had to go to a nicer one…
Outsmarting Enterprise Email Security: The Easy Way
Like most enterprises—or any business, really—you probably have multiple email security appliances. Sometimes these are part of your provider package like…
Forget ChatGPT, I Built My Own Local AI with AMD RX 7900 XTX, Ollama & DeepSeek-R1
The journey to bringing you this guide was paved with rage and hardship. Before we go any further, let me be clear: local AI is nowhere near as good as…
From Typos to Treason: The Dangerous Fun of Government Domain Squatting
Hey there 👋 Since you’re reading this, chances are you’ve got some chaos brewing in your brain. I love it. For legal reasons I must kindly ask you to…
Passkeys: Your Key to a Safer, Simpler Online World
Passwords have been the cornerstone of online security for decades, but let’s face it: they’re far from perfect. Whether it’s phishing attacks, password…
Locking Down the Web: How I Secure My WordPress and Other Self-Hosted Public Sites
Securing a WordPress hosting setup requires more than just the basics—it’s about creating a layered defense to protect your server and adapt to emerging…
My Home Server: “PrettyLittleKitten” – A Personal Tech Haven
Hardware RAM My server is equipped with a total of 128GB of DDR5 RAM, made up of two Kingston FURY Beast kits (each consisting of 2 x 32GB, 6000 MHz,…
Inception-Level Data Safety: Backing Up Your Proxmox Backups with Borg on Hetzner
Today, I want to walk you through how I handle backups for my home server. My primary method is using Proxmox’s built-in backup functionality, which I…
Before “PrettyLittleKitten”: A Brief Affair with the Mac Mini M4
Before I built my beloved server, affectionately named “PrettyLittleKitten“, I had a brief fling with the brand-new Mac Mini M4. Spoiler…
Why HedgeDoc Reigns as the King of Self-Hosted Note-Taking Apps
This is going to be a bold, highly opinionated take on how note-taking apps should be. For the non-technical folks, discussing text editors and…
Effortless Cron Job Monitoring: A Guide to Self-Hosting with Healthchecks.io
Do you ever find yourself lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering if your beloved cronjobs ran successfully? Worry no more! Today, we’re…
Creating AI-Art with Midjourney
Hi there! Today, I’d love to share how I create the Featured Post Images for my blog posts—or really any graphic design project I’m working on. I use…
Visualizing Home Assistant Logs in Grafana with InfluxDB: A Practical Guide Using FRITZ!Box Data
Let’s face it—this is a pretty specific use case. But if you’ve ever had your internet throttled, you’ll understand why I’m doing this. I wanted a way to…
Changing the Server response header in Nginx Proxy Manager
This is going to be a very short post. If you deployed Nginx Proxy Manager via Docker in your home directory you can edit this file with All you need to…
Prompt Engineering: Making AI Work for You
Hey There! Welcome Back! Wow, it’s been a while, huh? I tried to spend less time in the tech world, but, you know how it goes… to really avoid doing tech…
Securing Your Debian Server
Hey there, server samurais and cyber sentinels! Ready to transform your Debian server into an impregnable fortress? Whether you’re a seasoned sysadmin or…
YOURLS: The Ultimate Weapon Against Long URLs
Introduction Let’s face it: long URLs are the bane of the internet. They’re unsightly, cumbersome, and frankly, nobody enjoys dealing with them. Every…
Certsplotting: Elevating Intelligence – Part 2
Welcome back to the second installment of our exploration into Certspotter and the world of passive reconnaissance. In Part 1, we laid the groundwork for…
Certsplotting: Exploiting Certificate Transparency for Mischief – Part 1
Certspotter stands as the original authority in certificate transparency log monitoring—a mouthful, indeed. Let’s dissect why you, as a hacker, should pay…
Master Google Dorking: A Guide for Beginners – Part 1
Ever found yourself deep in the abyss of the internet, wishing you could uncover more than what’s on the surface? If so, Google Hacking, also known as…
Exploring OSINT Tools: From Lightweight to Powerhouse
Welcome to a journey through the exciting world of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools! In this post, we’ll dive into some valuable tools, from the…
Node-RED, building Nmap as a Service
Introduction In the realm of cybersecurity, automation is not just a convenience but a necessity. Having a tool that can effortlessly construct endpoints…
AdGuard Home for security and blocking ads
Introduction In today’s digital age, the internet is saturated with advertisements and trackers, leading to slower browsing speeds and potential security…
Unveiling HTML and SVG Smuggling
Welcome to the world of cybersecurity, where adversaries are always one step ahead, cooking up new ways to slip past our defenses. One technique that’s been…
Using Brave Search Goggles for Recon
Introduction The world’s most potent OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) tools are search engines. They collect, index, and aggregate all the…
How to sell rugs online (fast) – hosting your own Dark web market
So, you’ve made the bold decision to take your rug-selling business to the mysterious realms of the internet’s underworld? Congratulations on joining the…
Vaultwarden: A Lightweight, Self-Hosted Password Manager
What is Vaultwarden ? According to their GitHub page: If you’re unfamiliar with Vaultwarden or Bitwarden, here’s a quick primer: Vaultwarden is a…
Unlock the Power of Remote Development with code-server
In the fast-paced world of software development, flexibility and efficiency are paramount. Enter code-server, an innovative tool that allows you to…
How to Get Real Trusted SSL Certificates with ACME-DNS in Nginx Proxy Manager
Today, I’m going to show you how you can obtain real, trusted SSL certificates for your home network or even a public website. Using this method, you can…
Denial-of-Wallet Attacks: Exploiting Serverless
In the fast-paced world of cyber warfare, attackers are always on the hunt for new ways to hit where it hurts – both in the virtual world and the wallet.…
Building a static site search with Pagefind
Today, I’m here to spill the beans on a magical tool that’ll have you searching through your static site like a pro without sacrificing your users’ data…
