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The Proxmox Utility Toolkit: Stop Cloning That VM by Hand featured image

The Proxmox Utility Toolkit: Stop Cloning That VM by Hand

A tour of my open-source Proxmox utility toolkit — scripts, docs, and learning paths for homelabbers and enterprise engineers who are tired of repeating themselves.

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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Build Your Personalized AI System Prompt featured image

Build Your Personalized AI System Prompt

The secret to a great AI assistant isn't the model — it's what you tell it about yourself. Here's the framework for building a system prompt that makes AI actually useful.

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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Qwen3.5 Showdown: 27B Q8 vs 35B-A3B Q8 — Real-World Testing for Local AI featured image

Qwen3.5 Showdown: 27B Q8 vs 35B-A3B Q8 — Real-World Testing for Local AI

A real-world comparison of Qwen3.5 27B Q8 and 35B-A3B Q8 running locally on a dual RTX 3090 homelab — which one actually belongs in your daily workflow?

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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One Year Later: The Agentic CLI Revolution Revisited featured image

One Year Later: The Agentic CLI Revolution Revisited

A year ago, I predicted CLI AI tools would transform development. Here's what actually happened—the good, the unexpected, and the 'wait, what?' moments.

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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Homelab Database Decisions: Boring Is Brilliant featured image

Homelab Database Decisions: Boring Is Brilliant

A practical field guide for picking stable, boring databases that keep your homelab calm at 2 a.m.

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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Navigating Input Overload in Engineering and Leadership featured image

Navigating Input Overload in Engineering and Leadership

Practical strategies for managing the overwhelming flow of information, requests, and responsibilities in senior engineering and leadership roles.

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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Documentation Is Your Legacy: Why Your Docs Matter More Than Code featured image

Documentation Is Your Legacy: Why Your Docs Matter More Than Code

In the AI era where code gets rewritten every few years, your documentation is the real legacy you'll leave behind—here's why it matters more than you think.

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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From Google Skills to AI Skills: The Evolution of Information Discovery featured image

From Google Skills to AI Skills: The Evolution of Information Discovery

The art of crafting perfect search queries has evolved into the skill of prompt engineering. Learn how mastering AI interactions is the next generation of being a master Googler.

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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Writing Documentation That People Actually Use featured image

Writing Documentation That People Actually Use

What I've learned writing documentation that survives long enough to actually help someone — from runbooks to architecture docs, and why most documentation fails before anyone …

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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Nagios: A 10-Year Retrospective on Infrastructure Monitoring featured image

Nagios: A 10-Year Retrospective on Infrastructure Monitoring

A decade-long retrospective on implementing Nagios for enterprise infrastructure monitoring, from homelab validation to production deployment at scale.

Derek Armstrong - Payments Engineer · AI · Infrastructure
Derek Armstrong
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