Ham Vocke

TIL that you can reference git commits by providing (parts of) the commit message

You can make your software developer life suck a bit less by using task runners to run common coding tasks consistently across multiple repositories

Software can be a home-cooked meal.

Reminiscing and reflecting on 2025.

I revived an old pet project of mine that's been dormant for years

I built a new feature for this website to highlight personal moments.

I got featured in a lovely YouTube video.

Friends, family, adventures, sunshine & outdoors make things so much better.

My personal website got a new look

When it comes to the command line, I prefer to define a color scheme once, in my terminal emulator, and let all other command line tools inherit that scheme.

I cured and cold-smoked another batch of ham.

I struggle with long winters.

Be more kind, my friends.

As software developers we're often quick to adopt the latest shiny technology.

Same ritual as last year; I look back at 2024 and reflect on the things that kept me busy over the course of the year.

I built a small tool that helps you become the most obnoxious person around.

Today I learned my first random bit of Korean thanks to a reader of this blog and I couldn't be happier.

I commissioned a new avatar to use for my website and some social media channels.

Trying to create my own terminal color scheme, I went down an intense rabbit hole.

I went on a short trip to Athens, Greece with the family.

Feature branches and mandatory pull requests have become a standard for a lot of modern software development teams.

I cured and cold-smoked ham this winter and I'm pretty pumped about the results.

Just before the year ends I'm taking a look back at 2023 and reflect on my personal highlights, the big things that happened and the things that had a lasting impact on myself.

I used to think too much about what should and should not live on my personal website.

Dan Simmons' "Hyperion Cantos" is a series of science fiction novels and one of my all-time favorites.

My review of Kent Beck's “Tidy First?”

Here's one from the consulting toolbox.

I wrote lnks, a small tool that helps you find and open browser bookmarks from the command line.

A book review for Saleem Siddiqui's “Learning Test-Driven Development”.

About 1.5 years ago I quit my job, started working remotely and moved to a small town.

3 years ago I started building a browser-based Doppelkopf card game as a pet project.

Want to write without distractions and don't feel like buying an extra app for that?

I'm starting a new job remotely after leaving the adventures of a consultancy behind.

An hommage to my nickname.

Learn how to test Ansible provisioning scripts locally

I started implementing a browser game version of the German "Doppelkopf" card game and it's great fun.

Yeah, the "testing microservices" post series got a little out of hand.

Learn how to test your Java & Spring Boot microservice, based on the "Testing Microservices" article

Learn the concepts you need to build a reliable, fast and effective test suite for your microservices

For many developers pair programming is the way to go.

There are a couple of really great tools out there that can help you getting more fun out of your day-to-day command line use.

tmux has its flaws when you use its vanilla configuration.

tmux is a tool that can boost your productivity while using the terminal.

Probably everyone has moved at least once in their life.

I've recently tried a new approach for facilitating an agile retrospecitve based on Twitter.

Homebank is a great and free personal finance tool.

More than three months into my new job at ThoughtWorks I tell the story of my first day at my new job and take a first look in the rearview mirror to reflect about work, company culture and other remarkable stuff

Today is my last day in Gütersloh.