https://www.jackpearce.co.uk Exploring home automation, cloud architecture, and artificial intelligence. en-us Thu, 23 Apr 2026 08:58:02 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/notes/gpt-5-3-codex-spark-wse3-real-time-coding/ I tried the research preview of OpenAI's GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark in Cursor; it's very fast and very addictive. Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/notes/gpt-5-3-codex-spark-wse3-real-time-coding/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/improving-api-response-times-using-d1-global-read-replication/ Enabling Cloudflare D1 global read replication reduced cumulative D1 read latency from 1,800ms to 78ms for users in Australia - a 95.7% improvement. Cloudflare, Development Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/improving-api-response-times-using-d1-global-read-replication/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/notes/purple-gradient-ai-aesthetics/ Exploring why AI-generated designs often default to purple gradients and what this reveals about training data bias. Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/notes/purple-gradient-ai-aesthetics/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/starlink-failover/ I recently picked up a Starlink Mini to use as a backup connection for my home network. The underlying technology is fascinating - thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit delivering broadband almost anywhere. With the new £4.50 standby plan, it's an excellent way to keep things online. Home Lab Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/starlink-failover/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/extracting-xcodes-claude-code-prompt/ A journey from TLS decryption and Frida patching to a surprisingly simple solution for extracting the system prompt that Xcode feeds to Claude Code. Language Models Sun, 08 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/extracting-xcodes-claude-code-prompt/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/solar-2025-year-in-review/ A detailed breakdown of my first year with solar panels - generation, consumption, battery usage, and costs analysed. Solar Energy, Home Automation Wed, 24 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/solar-2025-year-in-review/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/debugging-websocket-upgrade-failures-safari-ios26/ I discovered Safari/iOS 26 has a critical bug where it sends CONNECT requests instead of proper WebSocket upgrade requests, breaking connections. This issue is only apparent when using Safari with iCloud Private Relay enabled. Here's how I debugged it and what I found. Home Lab Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/debugging-websocket-upgrade-failures-safari-ios26/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/eight-sleep-atoms3-control/ A hardware interface for Eight Sleep temperature control using an ATOMS3 Dev Kit, displaying current bed temperature, sleep stage, and bed state on a small screen with button control for temperature adjustments through Home Assistant. Home Automation Fri, 03 Jan 2025 19:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/eight-sleep-atoms3-control/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/trooli-fttp-ubiquiti-dream-machine-pppoe/ A technical guide for configuring a Ubiquiti Dream Machine to work with Trooli's FTTP service in the UK, including steps to obtain PPPoE credentials and set up IPv6 connectivity by bypassing the provided Technicolor DGA4134 router. Home Lab Sun, 25 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/trooli-fttp-ubiquiti-dream-machine-pppoe/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/home-assistant-automation-rewrite-llm-gpt4o/ A technical walkthrough of using GPT-4o to automatically generate clear, descriptive titles and descriptions for Home Assistant automations from their YAML configurations. Home Automation, Language Models Fri, 12 Jul 2024 18:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/home-assistant-automation-rewrite-llm-gpt4o/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/ai-powered-github-actions-automating-home-assistant-history/ A technical walkthrough of using GitHub Actions to automatically track Home Assistant automation changes. The workflow uses AI to generate commit messages, creates versioned releases, and maintains a chronological history of smart home configuration updates. Home Automation, Language Models Sun, 07 Jul 2024 22:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/ai-powered-github-actions-automating-home-assistant-history/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/automating-home-assistant-updates-with-github-actions/ A GitHub Actions setup that automatically updates Home Assistant Core and OS versions when new releases are available. Uses Renovate for version detection, Tailscale for secure remote access, and the Home Assistant CLI for executing updates. Home Automation, Language Models Sat, 06 Jul 2024 09:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/automating-home-assistant-updates-with-github-actions/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/eight-sleep-pod-3-my-thoughts/ I have owned the Sleep Pod 3 for coming up to 30 nights now, here are my initial thoughts. Home Automation Tue, 27 Feb 2024 21:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/eight-sleep-pod-3-my-thoughts/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/home-assistant-yellow-review/ My review of the Home Assistant Yellow 5 having used it for 5 months. Home Automation, Home Lab Thu, 07 Dec 2023 06:27:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/home-assistant-yellow-review/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/building-helpful-chat-bots-is-easy-using-openai-assistants/ How I used OpenAI GPT-4 and OpenAI Assistants to build a bot that answers questions around DigitalOcean's documentation. Language Models Thu, 09 Nov 2023 06:27:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/building-helpful-chat-bots-is-easy-using-openai-assistants/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/automating-docker-in-a-homelab/ In this post I explain how to introduce Renovate into your docker-compose setup, this allows us to pin docker image versions in our docker-compose but also declare them as dependencies that Renovate will raise pull requests for when a new image is published. Home Lab Sun, 29 Oct 2023 19:24:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/automating-docker-in-a-homelab/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/running-rook-ceph-on-digitalocean-doks-managed-kubernetes/ In this guide we will deploy a Rook / Ceph cluster and give some working examples of consuming RWO Block and RWX Filesystem storage. Cloud Architecture, DigitalOcean Thu, 27 Apr 2023 12:51:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/running-rook-ceph-on-digitalocean-doks-managed-kubernetes/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/dell-wyse-3040-as-a-wireguard-router/ A guide to repurposing a Dell Wyse 3040 thin client as a WireGuard VPN router with AdGuard for DNS and DHCP services, achieving speeds up to 850Mbps. Home Lab Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/dell-wyse-3040-as-a-wireguard-router/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/digitalocean-kubernetes-doks-and-netmaker/ Netmaker is a platform for creating fast and secure virtual networks with WireGuard. Cloud Architecture, DigitalOcean Wed, 01 Mar 2023 13:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/digitalocean-kubernetes-doks-and-netmaker/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/1gb-internet/ I recently switched from using a HP T730 Thin Client running OPNsense as my home router to something more 'off the shelf'... a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Special Edition. My OPNsense router ran absolutely fine and I absolutely loved the reliability and performance it gave me. Home Lab Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/1gb-internet/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/deploy-ghost-on-digitalocean-app-platform/ Deploying Ghost on DigitalOcean App Platform. Cloud Architecture Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/deploy-ghost-on-digitalocean-app-platform/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/home-assistant-google-assistant-local-connectivity/ Configure Google Assistant to communicate directly with Home Assistant over your local network using mDNS, eliminating the cloud roundtrip for faster smart home control. Home Automation, Home Lab Sat, 08 Oct 2022 12:58:46 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/home-assistant-google-assistant-local-connectivity/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/cloudflared-opnsense/ I use cloudflared to provide a secure tunnel to my home resources. I struggled to find any instructions for running cloudflared on OPNSense so here is a quick how-to. Home Lab, Cloudflare One Thu, 22 Sep 2022 06:27:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/cloudflared-opnsense/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/icloud-custom-email-domains-is-slightly-better-now/ An updated look at iCloud+ Custom Email Domains in 2022, covering the new catch-all support while highlighting remaining limitations around DNS validation, Apple ID coupling, and email alias restrictions. Cloud Architecture Sun, 18 Sep 2022 19:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/icloud-custom-email-domains-is-slightly-better-now/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/automatically-decrypting-mounting-unraid-array-at-boot/ Unraid is my favourite NAS OS to run at home. It's super easy to get setup and administer. Home Lab Mon, 05 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/automatically-decrypting-mounting-unraid-array-at-boot/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/adding-lsi9211-hp-microserver-gen8/ I recently installed a LSI 9211-8i HBA into my HP MicroServer gen8 as a replacement for a PCI-e M2 SSD adapter that kept putting my filesystem into read-only mode. Home Lab Fri, 25 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/adding-lsi9211-hp-microserver-gen8/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/have-a-lightning-fast-blog-and-host-it-for-free-github-actions-cloudflare-workers/ There are so many ways to build and host a blog for free nowadays. In 2020 I am using Hugo, Github Actions and Cloudflare Workers Sites. Cloud Architecture, Cloudflare Sun, 07 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/have-a-lightning-fast-blog-and-host-it-for-free-github-actions-cloudflare-workers/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/replacing-ring-ring-jurassic-park-theme-song-using-pbx/ Today I learnt something new. The 'ring ring' you hear when you make a phone call isn't generated by your phone, your network or even the country you're in, that noise is generated by the receiving ends phone system, and this means it can be customised. Home Lab Thu, 28 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/replacing-ring-ring-jurassic-park-theme-song-using-pbx/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/making-wireguard-vpn-work-with-ee-4g-in-the-uk/ WireGuard VPN refusing to connect on EE mobile data? The culprit is IPv6. Here's a simple iOS profile fix that forces IPv4 and solves the problem. Home Lab Tue, 16 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/making-wireguard-vpn-work-with-ee-4g-in-the-uk/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/home-assistant-nest-thermostat/ A workaround to integrate Nest Thermostat with Home Assistant using Wink as a proxy, bypassing Google's developer program restrictions after the Works with Nest program changes. Home Automation, Home Lab Mon, 15 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/home-assistant-nest-thermostat/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/automating-alexa-guard/ A creative Home Assistant automation that uses Google Home's text-to-speech to trigger Alexa Guard when leaving the house, enabling automatic smart alerts for smoke alarms and glass breaking. Home Automation, Home Lab Wed, 15 May 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/automating-alexa-guard/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/sky-broadband-transparent-dns-proxy/ Unfortunately this means they now proxy all your DNS traffic using a transparent DNS proxy, regardless of what DNS resolver you have set on your client. Home Lab Tue, 14 May 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/sky-broadband-transparent-dns-proxy/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/social-attack-against-sim-cards/ How attackers can social engineer mobile carriers to issue replacement SIM cards, bypassing two-factor authentication, and steps you can take to protect yourself by using authenticator apps instead of SMS-based codes. Cybersecurity Wed, 06 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/social-attack-against-sim-cards/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/ipv6-over-ipv4-at-home/ In this article I explain how to enable IPv6 connectivity from any desktop in less than 5 minutes. Home Lab Wed, 29 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/ipv6-over-ipv4-at-home/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/investigating-the-dirty-world-of-phishing-emails/ A deep dive into a NatWest phishing email, tracing the attack through compromised Joomla sites in Poland and Ukraine, and revealing how attackers chain together vulnerable systems to avoid detection. Cybersecurity Wed, 22 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/investigating-the-dirty-world-of-phishing-emails/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/have-a-lightning-fast-blog-and-host-it-for-free/ I recently migrated my blog from Wordpress to Silvrback to Ghost. I was very happy with Silvrback, it's an excellent writing platform. In the end I got fed up not being able to change how my site looked (no theming), so switched to Ghost. Cloud Architecture Fri, 17 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/have-a-lightning-fast-blog-and-host-it-for-free/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/organising-a-massive-photo-collection/ Organizing my photo collection has been incredibly liberating these past few days. I set out to de-duplicate, sort my photos into some sort of folder structure, shrink their file size down somewhat without affecting the quality of the images and then finally automate this for the future. Photography Mon, 13 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/organising-a-massive-photo-collection/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/virgin-media-why-are-you-manipulating-my-traffic/ Virgin Media why does www.google.com resolve to host-62-253-8-99.not-set-yet.virginmedia.net? What a funny name for a PTR record, but seriously, why are you manipulating my traffic? Home Lab Sat, 04 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/virgin-media-why-are-you-manipulating-my-traffic/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/everpix-is-awesome/ I use Everpix to backup and organise every photo I've ever taken – all 27,159 of them. Photography Sun, 18 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/everpix-is-awesome/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/securing-your-digital-world/ Everything requires a password. A long time ago it bugged me that I couldn't think of something secure so I visited a web page that randomly generated passwords for you and I used the same 8 character password ever since, it contained 1 number and 7 letters one of which was uppercase. Cybersecurity Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/securing-your-digital-world/ https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/yubikey-mac-os-x-filevault/ If there's one thing I seem to be obsessed with lately and that's security. I've never had any of my accounts hacked but that doesn't stop me. It happens all the time though and working in IT I should know how to prevent it. Cybersecurity Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT https://www.jackpearce.co.uk/posts/yubikey-mac-os-x-filevault/