Currently, and I could be wrong, the alternative to a Pi 4 from Pine64 now would be a Pine64’s Quartz64 Model B. A Star64 might be interesting, but that’s RISC-V so who knows what OS you could boot on it currently and if it would even be stable.

Plus with the Quartz64 Model B, who knows if you’ll able to get a good case for it. There’s the $28 “Model B” ALUMINUM WATERPROOF ENCLOSURE, but, eh, no thanks. There’s the open enclosure, but that’s also a no for me. I want a case I can hide the device itself, the cables, put a heatsink and fan on, be able to use an SSD with USB connect and connect a power supply all stuffed in a case. Which you can find plenty of for Raspberry Pi’s.

Not to mention the Pi 5 isn’t even out yet, and it’s entirely possible it’ll be better than the Quartz64 Model B, on top of having a ton of accessories. Plus, I can Pi up practically any Pi at the Microcenter or similar store near me as opposed to having to pay for good shipping.

I’m totally for having alternatives to the Pi, heck I might pick up a Quartz64 Model B if I can find a case, but a lot of alternatives don’t have the same support and accessories the Pis do.

I got a RPi 3B as my Pi-Hole that I’ll eventually use as my Wireguard VPN, too. Hoping to get another Pi device for hosting Jellyfin on.

Outside of the (theoretical) technical specs of the OPi5 being better, I’ve heard/read mixed things about OPis. Some say they’re a good alternative, some say they’re cheap Chinese-made crap. I’ve had no experience myself, so take it with a grain of salt.

I’m interested to see more data on the RPi5 when it’s out, as to figure out if it’s worth getting over trying an OPi5 for a home media system with Jellyfin.

Tailscale just partnered with Mullvad so this works out of the box for that setup: https://tailscale.com/blog/mullvad-integration/

Ah I literally saw that post here a few days ago! How could I forget about that? I might just switch over to Mullvad. Way cheaper, I can downgrade the Proton account I have (I’ll still use their email service until I have time and figure out how to self-host my own email) and I can use Mullvads encrypted DNS servers until I can configure DNS-over-HTTPS + Unbound on my PiHole.

It’s a nepenthes Diana.

Ah yes! That’s a great little hybrid. This plant, no?

It was winter and I assumed it would drop all it’s pitchers and go dormant. However its leaves are also a bit brown.

In cooler times in nature they don’t go dormant, they just make less pitchers.

Here’s my suggestions

• Let the medium get almost dry between waterings

When it does, fill up the tray and let the water be absorbed or evaporated.

• Move it to an east facing window, or outside during spring

Maybe it needs more light. New Zealand has a fairly tropical climate IIRC so outdoors in the spring might be a great idea. Here’s an interesting read about light.

• If you tap water has a PPM above 50, repot

I don’t think you’ll have to do this as looking at your governments legislation the water is a lot better than some parts of America.

Here’s another guide to repotting from a reputable grower. They even have suggestions of when to repot.

Other than that Nepenthes ‘Diana’ is a pretty vigorous and hardy hybrid.

Force tailscale to route all traffic through the DERP servers?

No no, sorry. I mean can I still have all my network traffic go through some VPN service (mine or a providers) while Tailscale is activated?

So if I’m torrenting something, I don’t have to turn off Tailscale on that device and switch on a VPN before I start the torrent process?

I’m going to guess either “no” or “yes, on paper, it’s possible.”

If your plant looks similar to this or this then yea then that’s an entirely different plant genus than nepenthes and it’ll do fine wetter conditions. I would still like the water in the tray get soaked up before filling it again, just make sure the medium doesn’t get dry.

Are you growing this indoors or outdoors?

Also, if it’s winter then keep in mind sarracenia are perennial, meaning they go dormant starting in the mid-late fall and all through winter.

your traffic is not routed through the Headscale server

Damn, well is there a means of using both Headscale and routing your traffic somewhere else?

My big reason for looking into Tailscale/Headscale is the ability to connect to my devices at home, at the office or a VPS that’s in a different state/province and having the ability to use my PiHole as my DNS, but I would still like my network traffic to be (mostly, as an VPN doesn’t save you from other tracking methods) protected.

What do you think we should actually do about those problems? Ask nicer? Vote harder?

I think your rent should be due a week early this month.

Bog plants are more like Sarracenia (American pitcher plants), some Drosera (sundews) and Dionaea muscipula (venus fly traps). They’re plants that like more wet soils and don’t want it to dry out, and, obviously, their native habitats are bogs.

Nepenthes, or tropical pitcher plants, are tropical plants. Some species grow on the sides of cliff faces or more in the mountains of tropical areas. They like wet air more than wet soil.

To a first approximation, Tailscale/Headscale don’t route and traffic.

Ah, well damn. Is there a way to achieve this while using Tailscale as well, or is that even recommended?

Are younreally expecting 10gb/s speeds over your encrypted links?

Eh, no. You have a good point there. I mean in a more perfect world that would be wonderful, but that’s not the case.

but your traffic is not routed through their servers,

Hmm so correct me if I’m wrong (I probably am), but with a basic Wireguard setup you’d have one device act as the server and other devices that connect to it are the clients. But can’t you have 2 devices that act as servers/clients to each other, and then have other devices connect to them and the connect with bounce between those two devices?

I’m assuming that if this is even achievable, it’s not something Tailscale or Headscale will let you do.

are you the only user or is this for some family members also?

Probably just me and my fiance at the moment.

you can 9/10 just get a basic 5$ or less gigabit VPS.

Sweet, good to know!

$20 per month for 400mb of email + a VPN was an acceptable cost maybe in 1998, now it’s insanely expensive

Yea I have a business plan with Proton. No idea why I upgraded but I remember doing it.

And then you need to tell us why you’re using the VPN. Just privacy when using unsecured wifi? Or ISP tracking paranoia? Or torrenting?

Yes, yes and yes lol. Also I would like to connect to devices privacy and see if I can make use of my PiHole when I’m not on my home network where the PiHole is located.

I have a business account with them. I don’t really remember why I upgraded to a business plan. Might downgrade it to save a few bucks for now.

If you are not trusting Proton, you should not trust Tailscale as well, in my opinion.

True, although I don’t know if I say I don’t trust them. It’s more of a sense of skepticism that’s always in the back of my mind when it comes to any service.

Another question is that why are you paying $19 for that? They have $10-12 plans that come with 500 GB storage, emails with 3 custom domains and high-speed VPN.

I have a business account with them. I’m trying to remember why I upgraded…

Another question that pops in my mind is, why do you need a VPN? Do you need to connect to your services privately, or do you just need to change your IP for (relatively) better privacy?

At this point, if I’m going to do be doing more self-hosting I’d want the ability to connect to services privately. The other thing is that with Tailscale I can set my PiHole as my DNS server. That way any device on the tailnet gets the ad blocking as well. Plus, if I can get unbound with DNS-over-HTTPS (via stubby) setup on it then I have a pretty secure and fairly private setup. That’s kind of what’s got me thinking about moving to Tailscale.

No they don’t prefer sitting in water. From the RedLeaf Exotics site:

Nepenthes like being kept moist, not wet. Think of a moist sponge. They appreciate a well draining potting mix and dislike standing in water constantly. They should never be allowed to completely dry out. You can keep them in saucers of water indoors, but they must be allowed to evaporate in between waterings.

And from Carnivero:

Nepenthes like to remain moist but not flooded. This is best accomplished by top watering them 2-3 times per week. The shallow tray method can be used when going out of town. Fill the tray with about 1” of water and then allow the tray to dry out for a couple days before refilling.

Just to give you info from some professional and reputable nepenthes growers!

because these topics are de facto censored on most of the internet

Complaining about capitalism, landlords and US Politics are censored on most of the internet? Have you been to Reddit or Twitter?

Also aren’t a bunch of other websites specifically dedicated for discussing specific topics? I.e. modding video games, agriculture/horticulture, etc?

Are there like a bunch of bloggers complaining about living in the West that are being censored, or are they just not popular because they’re terrible writers and have 0 reach?

Also no one talks about Linux besides weird and niche communities. It’s not censored either. I say this as a Linux user.

It sits in water so it’s always wet.

I use tap water but it’s from a well so It might be a bit overly mineral. I can try and deionize it.

Ah well I’d start with the first thing. Nepenthes aren’t bog plants, they don’t like sitting in water. They like they’re medium moist. So I’d dump the water out of the tray it’s in and only pour water in the try when the medium starts feeling like it’s about to dry out.

There’s a few things you might want to double check if your nepenthes is not looking peppy:

• How often are you watering?

Too much and it won’t like that, too little and it won’t like that either. Water when the medium starts to feel a little dry, like right before a sponge is dry.

Also double check the PPM of your water. Nepenthes can tolerate some salts, but above 50 PPM is generally not recommended.

• Did you repot it recently?

Nepenthes especially don’t like their roots being disturbed. I have a plant that I repotted waaay more than I should’ve that’s still recovering a month or a little more later. Give it a month or two if you’ve reported it, and try giving it extra humidity as that helps the plant settle in when repotting.

• How much light is it getting?

An east facing window is usually what’s recommended for nepenthes. Morning light followed by “dappled” light (like slightly shaded) is what most nepenthes like.