https://blog.hiimmichael.com/ Hands-on projects and write-ups on software, IoT, smart gardens, self-hosting, AI, and building reliable things. en-US Mon, 14 Sep 2026 05:05:30 GMT https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/professional-now.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/professional-now.html Anonymity always made people crueler. Now it comes armed with AI. An essay on confidence, loneliness, and why anonymous platforms are the worst of it. Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/roost-setup-tutorial.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/roost-setup-tutorial.html A step-by-step guide to setting up Roost: a self-hosted Raspberry Pi camera pipeline with a Rust capture app, S3 storage, and a web dashboard. Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/ai-bots.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/ai-bots.html I built three AI-powered Discord bots powered by Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini to act as a personal support network. Here is how it works. Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/self-host-dashboard.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/self-host-dashboard.html I built a clean, minimal homelab dashboard in a weekend. No frameworks, no build step, three static files and a Docker container. Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/life-tips.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/life-tips.html Twenty honest, practical lessons I picked up during my twenties, on work, money, habits, relationships, and life. Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/kratky-hydroponics.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/kratky-hydroponics.html How to build a Kratky passive hydroponic bucket that grows lettuce with no pump, no air stone, and no electricity. Fill it once, plant it, walk away. Mon, 21 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/smart-garden.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/smart-garden.html Building an IoT smart garden with Arduino and AWS SNS that monitors soil moisture and texts me when my plants need water. Mon, 01 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/upcycle.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/upcycle.html Upcycling thrifted glass and odds and ends into a self-contained terrarium, a tiny closed ecosystem you can build at home. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/kokedama.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/kokedama.html A beginner-friendly guide to making kokedama, the Japanese art of wrapping a plant's roots in a living moss ball, no pot required. Sun, 01 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/smart-planter.html https://blog.hiimmichael.com/articles/smart-planter.html Building an IoT smart planter that tracks soil moisture and light so my houseplants can take care of themselves. Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT Michael Coughlin