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All Posts (549)

• 

  Published on

  2025-07-08 8:31 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  applemacos

  Am I the problem? Even onboarding to the Apple ecosystem failed miserably.

  I'm on Summer vacation, and I figured it's a good time to do something slightly different - it might finally be a good time to put the finishing touches on this lighter article about my recent forays into the Apple ecosystem. Which haven't exactly been perfectly smooth sailing.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-07-01 2:11 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  aksazurekubectl

  Any kubectl command throws "Unhandled Error" err="couldn't get current server API group list: Get "http://localhost:8080/api?timeout=32s": dial tcp [::1]:8080: connect: connection refused" - what do?

  This article explains a fix to a - frankly possibly a little bit dumb - problem, where all kubectl commands suddenly throw an error along the lines of "couldn't get current server API group list: Get \"http://localhost:8080/api?timeout=32s\": dial tcp [::1]:8080: connect: connection refused". Since I don't ever have Kubernetes running locally, and I actually don't even change kubectl connections, I was quite confused by this.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-06-24 2:27 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  onenote

  "Sync error. We are having trouble syncing. Click 'Sign in again' to fix the issue." in OneNote? Let's fix it!

  This article explains a fix to an annoying issue, where OneNote sync randomly breaks. Yes - another one of those! This time, it's probably one of the earlier issues again, but coming back with a different error message. For whatever reason... Read on to see what went wrong this time and how to fix it! Problem This issue surfaces in 2 dfiferent ways. You might see this in the Notebooks list for 1 or more notebooks: "Sync error. We are having trouble syncing.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-06-17 2:56 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  macosoutlook

  How to set Outlook as Your default email client on a mac (because that's definitely a totally sensible thing to do)

  This article explains how to commit a crime so heinous Steve Jobs would throw a backflip in his grave: start using Outlook as the default mail app on your mac. But, as I've discovered is OFTEN the case with macs, changing default apps isn’t always as intuitive as you’d hope. Few things are. And don't get me wrong - I'm not saying Windows is intuitive.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-06-10 2:37 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  GitHub Actions build for Blazor Static (or rather StaticBlazor) never ending? Super-easy fix!

  This article explains how to fix an issue where a BlazorStatic build job running on GitHub Actions never finishes. It's a puzzling case, but can't really blame GitHub for this one. Can't actually blame anyone but myself, now that I think about it. But enough about that. What's the issue look like? Background Now that the biggest craze on static websites is long gone, I'm jumping on the bandwagon. After evaluating other options, I ended up going with BlazorStatic - a library built on Blazor.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-06-03 3:55 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  onenote

  Help! My OneNote just turned into "Sticky Notes" - what do?

  This article explains how to "fix" (I use that word very loosely here) your OneNote when it suddenly goes bonkers, losing all of the controls and becoming this weird floating ancient thing that the boomers used to call "sticky notes". It's out of control, floating somewhere on your screen, insufferably difficult to actually navigate and to do anything with. Annoying. Background

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• 

  Published on

  2025-05-27 7:53 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  macosonenote

  Where's the CTRL+E search in OneNote for mac?

  This article explains how to search through all of your workbooks in OneNote for Mac OS. The same thing you can do with CTRL+E on Windows - that is. Because for whatever reason, in OneNote for Mac, it's hidden. Background (and problem) Oh, OneNote for Mac, my dearest... Why must you be the neglected sibling of the Windows version? It’s like Microsoft gave it a pat on the head and said, “You’ll get there someday, champ.” But someday never comes. And that's rare!

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• 

  Published on

  2025-05-20 3:23 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  devdrivedevhomewindows

  How to remove DevDrive.vhdx?

  This article explains how to remove a virtual Dev Drive (DevDrive.vhdx), after it's stuck on your machine. Dev Drives are separate drives in Windows, that are optimized for Developer workloads. Mostly installing npm packages, that is. I've posted about the performance improvements before: Dev Drive performance increase in real life scenarios Background I've been using a Dev Drive for my npm -heavy workloads for about half a year now.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-05-13 7:46 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  windows11

  How to disable Narrator.exe from narrating your life?

  ... if by "life", you mean "absolutely everything you do in Windows 11", that is. And Windows is life, right? Doubling the price of environmentally friendly plastic bags is not helping this otter Doubling the price of environmentally friendly plastic bags is not helping this otter.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-05-06 11:50 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  blazorblazorstaticfrontmatterwordpress

  Frontmatter Fields Not Populating When Setting Up Your BlazorStatic Website? Easy Fix!

  This article explains a quick fix to FrontMatter fields in a solution not getting populated when using BlazorStatic. I ran into it after repeatedly exporting all of my stuff from my legacy WordPress site to my in-the-works BlazorStatic site. StaticBlazor is a game-changer for developers who want the power of Blazor combined with the simplicity of static site generation. However, like all powerful tools, it comes with a learning curve.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-04-29 3:05 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  copilotoutlook

  Outlook doesn't show flagged emails as tasks

  I feel like this is a regression in the "New Outlook (New)"©, but I could be wrong. Not sure if it worked in the client before, but it definitely did work in the "Outlook Classic (New)" (which is the legacy version of Outlook), and it isn't working in the new app now.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-04-22 3:36 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  dotnetnuget

  dotnet tool install fails with "Settings file 'DotnetToolSettings.xml' was not found in the package." - what do?

  If you’ve just tried to install a .NET tool and got smacked with the dreaded error message: “Settings file 'DotnetToolSettings.xml' was not found in the package,” congratulations: You are today’s lucky recipient of yet another cryptic dotnet installer hiccup! But don’t worry, we’re about to sort this nonsense out. Namely, this article explains a couple of things you can try out to possibly fix the issue. Problem

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• 

  Published on

  2025-04-15 2:32 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  androidoneplus

  How to fix YouTube stuttering on OnePlus 10 Pro?

  This article explains a couple of different ways to fix any video playback stuttering, when watched on YouTube, on your OnePlus phone. I first ran into this on OnePlus 8 Pro, but according to the chatter online, there are plenty of other OnePlus handsets with the same... Well, I'm not sure if it's a bug or issue, so let's call it a feature. Let's get to it.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-04-08 6:27 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  microsoftexcelmicrosoftloop

  How to Copy-Paste a Table from Excel to Microsoft Loop Without Losing Your Mind

  Struggling to transfer tables from Excel to Microsoft Loop? Weirdly enough, you’re not alone. In this wonderful world of ours, simply copying and pasting often turns your perfectly organized rows and columns into an illegible blob. It’s frustrating, inefficient, and downright maddening for a superficially fancy and shiny new tool such as Microsoft Loop. But don’t worry—there’s a solution! With a quick detour through HTML, you can preserve your table’s structure and make Loop finally behave.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-04-01 2:26 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Clipboard History disabled - "This setting is managed by your organization?" | Easy fix!

  Reinstalling a Windows machine is always a lot of fun! And that's why I've been more and more of my time doing just that. See, my most favorite pastimes over the last few months have been staring at System Restore failing, endless reboot loops, looking for lost Bitlocker keys and finally entering them manually key-by-key, and of course the best part - waiting hours for Windows to "Reset" - all that good stuff!

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• 

  Published on

  2025-03-25 3:24 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  netspotwindows11windowssearchwindowsupdate

  Windows Search not finding anything? That might be the default now, but you don't need to accept it!

  This article explains how to tweak Windows Search so that it finds something. Or better yet - that it finds even the files that your applications are trying to HIDE from you (by storing your personal files under Application Data folder)! Microsoft is actively trying to hide these files from you, and for a reason. You should store functional files (like cache) inside %AppData%, not the user's personal documents.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-03-18 3:08 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  copilotwindowsupdate

  "The Copilot key isn't connected to an action. Choose what you'd like to happen when you press the Copilot key"

  So about a year ago, I paid (or made my employer pay) 4000 USD to get an AI-PC. That laptop had no AI features whatsoever, so its NPU is still in brand new condition. Great savings abound if I ever end up selling it! 😜 But about 6 months later, that pc got its first AI feature - the standalone Copilot app. I mean, I never got the fabled native app that actually integrated with Windows.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-03-11 3:25 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  lync-2skypeforbusinesswindowswindows11

  How to remove Skype for Business, if it sneaks back onto your machine?

  This article explains how to uninstall Skype for Business when it's not visible in your Control Panel, Settings, Installed apps or Programs and features. This article also (accidentally) underlines the futility of using a separate uninstaller application. They'll typically introduce more trouble than they're worth. Me, skilling up my knowledge worker skill tree. Me, min-maxing my knowledge worker (read: project manager) skill tree. According to Copilot, this is what it looks like.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-03-04 3:42 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  azuredevops

  How to output the value of a secret variable in Azure DevOps?

  This article explains how you can output the value of a secret variable stored in Azure DevOps. This applies both to secrets stored in a Variable Group, or Pipeline Variables stored as secrets. Is it safe, secure and advisable to do this? No! But is it possible? Yes it is! Let's get to it! Background There might be situations, when you want to output the value of a secret variable.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-03-03 12:40 p.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  bloggingkrojamsoftlongpathtool

  Long Path Tool - an unfortunate review

  In one of my article's comments section, I've been suffering from semi-automated spam advertising "Long Path Tool". It's a tool that can be used to create symlinks for files located deep in folder structure - a simple use case with a lot of free tools available to resolve the same issue, and all of them work just fine and contain the same value proposal. I guess this is the reason why the developers have had to resort to shady practices to advertise their solution.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-02-26 3:36 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  androidcopilot

  Copilot Android app refusing to take pictures? I have the dumbest fix you'll ever hear, but it'll work, trust me.

  This article explains how to work around the issue where the Copilot app fails to take pictures. Sounds boring, right? But hey - even with all of the gripes I have about Copilot, I do use it daily, and I'd really like it to work. Because when it does work - well, about 50% of the times it does work - it's really helpful, and it does make me more productive overall. Okay. That's enough of a sales pitch.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-02-25 3:29 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  dellwindows11

  Adventures in the Windows 11 24H2-land: How to restore your webcam after February 2025 Patch breaks it?

  This article explains how to get your built-in webcam back after a Windows 11 update (in my case, February 2025 Cumulative Update package) hides/disables it. The weird thing is, the camera is visible in the Device Manager. No app can see it though. And trying to update the driver through Device Manager is no use, as it's apparently already using the latest driver version. Background I can appreciate Windows removing any extraneous web cameras I might have - or rather, might've had.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-02-18 3:29 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  devhomemicrosoftstore

  Have you heard? Dev Home is going away before it even arrived!

  Microsoft has just retired the Windows Dev Home experience before it ever came out of Preview -status. And before it ever became that useful. Or even functional, if you ask me. It was a good idea (or maybe even a really good one), that never really materialized. I mean, I gave the app a go a while ago, and it didn't really do anything. Or the little it did were things easier to do elsewhere - or changes that didn't persist.

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• 

  Published on

  2025-02-11 4:43 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  homeassistanthomeautomationsql

  Taming my Home Assistant database growth

  This article explains how to sensitively and carefully limit your Home Assistant's database growth, without losing any valuable data. And because data is the new oil, pretty much all of the data is valuable. Who knows when you need to know whether your basement door was open or closed 1 year and 11 months from now?

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• 

  Published on

  2025-02-04 3:41 a.m.

  Authors

  koskila

  Tags

  devdrivewindows

  Dev Drive performance increase in real life scenarios?

  This article shows a few benchmarks I have run on the performance improvement that Dev Drive offers, using a real-life project I am (well, was) working on some time ago. The simple examples in this article should give you some guidance on what kind of performance you should be able to expect after adopting Dev Drive. YMMV and the usual caveats apply, but hey - it's still data you can use to decide if it's worth the (minuscule) set up cost.

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