Welcome ... I'm Kristof

I've been a passionate software developer for almost 30 years and currently a tech-savvy IT manager. In my spare time, I tinker with things like this blog, because creating software never lets you go. Here is more about me ...

Alter Bridge 26

Alter Bridge & Deutsches Museum, Munich @ 2026-02-20

What Lies Within Tour and Tech Culture

It’s not every day that one of our favourite bands tours Germany and brings along guests that we like just as much. We last saw Alter Bridge in Frankfurt 2016 and had never seen Daughtry before. So there was no question about whether we would go to Munich. Of course we would. And since the concert was on Friday evening, it was also the perfect opportunity to enjoy beautiful Munich for a weekend.

Grass Gathering
IndieWeb

IndieWeb Carnival: Intersecting Interests

Complementary and Contrary Passions

When I read about this month’s Indieweb Carnival topic (Intersecting Interests by Zachary Kai), I initially misunderstood ‘intersecting’ as interests that cross paths and thus get in the way, but what is meant is rather overlapping interests. As a non-native English speaker, I lack a feel for the nuances of the language. But basically, it doesn’t matter, because I knew immediately what I wanted to write about, and my interests actually include both aspects: contrary and complementary.

I miss thinking hard

This text accurately reflects the main problem with AI: We are gradually losing our cognitive abilities, because we are ceasing to train our biggest muscle: the brain.

“Vibe coding” satisfies the Builder. It feels great to see to pass from idea to reality in a fraction of a time that would take otherwise. But it has drastically cut the times I need to came up with creative solutions for technical problems

#AI

Teams Call and The Shining

We try to have as much fun as possible in the department, because everyday life is hard enough. A quick-witted and funny response not only immediately lights up conversations, it also helps to create a good working atmosphere in general. Laughter is medicine for everything.

I usually can’t write about funny business anecdotes in public, because on the one hand, it often requires context that I can’t provide, and on the other hand, it’s up to each person involved to decide whether something like that should be made public.

In this screenshot of a chat following a Teams call in which I and another colleague participated, whose first name also begins with K but who, unlike me, has not configured an avatar, I am making an exception because it is too good and only affects me:

Somehow, this picture reminds me of something.

Ah, I know.

🤣 Bull’s-eye! Where the hell is my axe …

Addo Road
IndieWeb

IndieWeb Carnival: Meaning of Life

My thoughts on this month's topic and whether it is even worth thinking about

I don’t often participate in the IndieWeb Carnival. The last thing I contributed was in November 2024 with my post You will never know whose butterfly you were on the topic of “Impact.” Maybe I should do it more often, because it’s really exciting to read other people’s posts on the same topic. Different opinions offer new perspectives.

This month’s topic from Jeremiah really triggered me this time, and I’ve been thinking about it for days… The Meaning of Life … and here are my two cents on the matter.

#TIL |  Display horizontal container initially scrolled to the right

On my /stats page, I used the wonderful web component activity-graph to implement an Activity Graph that displays my posts over the entire lifetime of my blog.

Now, as is common in Western cultures, the graph starts on the left side and is displayed horizontally. This means that the most recent and interesting entries are on the very right, and you have to scroll to the end to see them.

The question was how to make the graph display directly scrolled to the far right at the start, and the solution is quite simple and uses the component’s various HTML levels:

<div class="activity-graph-wrapper">
  <activity-graph>
    <figure>
      <table>
       ...
      </table>
    </figure>
  </activity-graph>
</div>

Using the CSS direction property, I first rotate the graph in the reading direction to RTL (right to left) at the top level, then rotate it back again at the next lower level. This means that the browser displays the graph starting on the right, but everything below has the usual western-style reading direction.

.activity-graph-wrapper figure {
  direction: rtl;
}
.activity-graph-wrapper figure table {
  direction: ltr;
}

#CSS #TIL

Dama Cuddling
New Photos

Remaining Photos from 2025

Loreley, Kronberg, Wiesbaden

Every now and then, when my sweetheart and I go on a day trip in the region, I sling my camera over my shoulder in the hope of capturing a beautiful scene or two. Last year was no exception. Often, however, I don’t get around to reviewing and editing the photos, but I have now caught up on three events from 2025. Enjoy…

Swedish Windows
IndieWeb

New Approach on Sending Webmentions

Console Script vs. EchoFeed

Four years ago, I made this blog fit for IndieWeb. The most important part for me was the integration of Webmentions, which are mainly automated “pings” sent from one website to another, telling the latter: “Hey, I mentioned your post ABC in my post XYZ.” Such a connection between two blogs is certainly not the same as the fast interactions of the Fediverse platforms, which are more like email or chat, but are usually one-way and, unfortunately, still rather rare. But for me, they offer a healthy basis for networking my own digital home with others who think along similar lines.