Posts on andrew zah's thoughts

Godot, Nvim, C#, and GDscript

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Configuring Nvim to work with Godot, C#, and GDscript

Logitech MX Ergo S

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A look at the Logitech MX Ergo S wireless thumb-trackball mouse.

Realforce RC1

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A look at the Realforce RC1 - C1HJ11, purchased in Japan.

Dareu EK87 Pro Keyboard

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Initial Impressions

The Dareu EK87 looks and feels great so far. It had RGB lighting on by default, but that was easy to disable. I’m currently using it in wired mode, but it does support connecting over wifi and bluetooth. It comes with PBT keycaps, hotswappable switches, and a 4000mAh battery rated for approximately 20 days.

MonoGame: Shader Compilation on Linux

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This is how I set up Monogame shader compilation for Linux.

Happy Hacking Keyboard - Professional Hybrid

Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A look at the Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional Hybrid, purchased in Japan.

Street Fighter 6: Type Arcade, with Nesica

Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

How to set up a Nesica card to get the best Street Fighter 6 experience in Japan.

Deploying Docker Containers with Nix

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Nix's virtualisation and oci-containers options let us configure container deployments.

Useful Apps for Travelers in South Korea

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Visiting Korea? Set up these apps ahead of time for a great experience.

Notes on Bluesky: Feeds

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Custom feeds are a genius concept that make social media palatable again.

Useful Apps for Learning Korean

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

These are apps that I’ve found useful for learning Korean while living in Korea, in no particular order. Many of these will apply to various languages, not just Korean. Please let me know if I missed any good ones!

Also, note that there is no “one best app”. Learning a language requires using multiple different resources.

Essential

Youtube | 유튜브

If you had to have 1 app for learning, youtube is probably the ultimate choice. For beginners, there are incredible channels such as:

My Korean Journey: Update #1

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The first update on my Korean learning journey.

Why and How I acquired a Korean Resident Card

Sat, 24 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This is why and how I acquired a Korean Resident Card, or RC (previously known as the ARC).

Philips TAH7508 Bluetooth Headphones

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

A look at the Philips TAH7508 Bluetooth Headphones.

How I acquired the Korean Digital Nomad Visa

Sat, 02 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I documented the entire process for the Korean F-1-D 'Workation' / Digital Nomad Visa.

Garmin's $850 smartwatch can’t render CJK text

Sat, 11 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

My $850 watch can’t render CJK languages because Garmin assumes people living in one region only use 1 language.

Living out of 2 backpacks: A 6-month retrospective

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

In January of this year, I set out for semi-permanent traveling with only two* backpacks: A Goruck GR1 26L, and a Goruck GR2 40L. Prior to setting out I had done a -lot- of research, and made a detailed spreadsheet (down to the gram) of what I’d be taking. It’s not too bad I think, although the gorucks are more weighty than I’d like.

* Including a daily bag. See EDC below.

Better Anki Usage Guide

Sun, 19 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Anki is a great app, but making some modifications really makes it shine.

Things to avoid with Anki

Sat, 18 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Anki has some unintuitive defaults that can end up impeding your learning progress!

Korean Food & Cooking Vocabulary Reference

Fri, 28 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Here is a reference list of Korean words related to food, cooking, eating (out), going out, and nutrition.

Selfhosting Gitea, Docker, Caddy

Tue, 15 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

This walks through hosting a git frontend with docker, caddy, and gitea.

Cats

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cats

Changelog

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Changelog

Contact

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

gpg key - message.txt.asc

Primary links:


email (preferred)	hello { at } andrewzah.com
matrix	@andrew:matrix.andrewzah.com

Other links:


Github	andrewzah
mastodon / fediverse	@andrewzah@fosstodon.org
linkedin	andrewzah

Friendly Sites

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sites of friends and colleagues that write about interesting things.

Now

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

2026-01-09

It’s the dawn of the new year. My current focuses are adjusting my habits to be more productive, studying Korean deeply, and working on a game in Godot.

April marks the end of my current apartment lease, so I’m looking for apartments in Seoul with at least 2 bedrooms so I can move in with my fiance.

Inspired by: https://nownownow.com/

Openbook

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Openbook

Technical Books

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Technical Books

Here are the books related to software design, hardware, programming, etc, that I recommend, presented in no particular order.

Miscellaneous

The Timeless Way of Building - Christopher Alexander
Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software - Charles Petzold

Software Architecture Patterns

Game Programming Patterns - Robert Nystrom
Design Patterns in Ruby - Russ Olsen
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software - The “Gang of Four” - Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides

Networking

DNS and BIND, 5th Ed. - Cricket Liu, Paul Albitz

Tools

Practical Vim, 2nd. Ed - Drew Neil
Pro Git - Scott Chacon, Ben Straub

Language/Domain Specific

C#

C# 12 in a Nutshell - Joseph Albahari

Hadoop

Hadoop: The Definitive Guide, 4th. Ed - Tom White
Apache Iceberg: The Definitive Guide - Tomer Shiran, Jason Hughes, Alex Merced

Haskell

Haskell Programming from First Principles - Christopher Allen, Julie Moronuki

Kubernetes

Kubernetes in Action - Marko Luksa

Ruby/Rails

The Ruby on Rails Tutorial - Michael Hartl

Rust

The Rust Programming Language - Steve Klabnik, Carol Nichols, Chris Krycho

Inspired by https://edw.is/good-books/.

Top 4

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Top 4

Uses

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This is a living document of the hardware and software I use for work, personal projects, and hobbies.

Software / Tooling

editors: neovim, vscode
font: Iosevka - SS03 Consolas
distros: NixOS (see my system configs)
rest endpoint debugging: Bruno
shell: zsh
browser: firefox
terminal: ghostty
calendar: thunderbird

What’s in my bag | Mobile Setup

I alternate between working from home and cafes in the U.S. and Asia. In my bag, I keep:

Thinkpad T14s Gen 6 - AMD Laptop
Apple Airpods Pro 2
Anker USB Fast Charger - 120W, Raichu Edition
UGREEN Adjustable Magnetic Phone Stand
INIU Powerbank - 20000mAh 65W, Yellow
6ft USB-C to USB-C charging cable
USB-C to lightning cable
cheap 3.5mm headphones

Occasionally I’ll travel with a more ergonomic setup: