REFLECTIONEN
The Iron Triangle, One Year On
A year after writing that AI bends the iron triangle, the numbers: commits, tokens, hours, and the one line I did not want to write.
Continue on casey.berlin →Workshop · NotesCanonical at casey.berlin →
Notes.
Curated from writings on casey.berlin. Pieces that show how I think, build, and work, not the journal that lives next door.
- WORKBENCHEN
Five thousand mockups and no way to search them
Building an MCP server on the Mockuuups Studio API, and the four undocumented behaviours that shaped every design decision in it.
github.com/CaseyRo/mcp-mockuuupsContinue on casey.berlin → - WORKBENCHEN
Moving data you can't afford to lose
The boring disciplines behind a data migration you can actually prove: irreplaceability order, checksum gates, offsite-restore tests, uid preservation, and verifying by function.
Continue on casey.berlin → - WORKBENCHEN
The Quiet Press: a newspaper that turns itself off
A Raspberry Pi, an e-paper panel, and a battery that lasts because the device spends almost all its life switched off. The architecture, the design, and what the schedule taught me.
Continue on casey.berlin → - WORKBENCHEN
Draining a server with the lights on
Retiring a flaky, load-bearing box in an afternoon: DNS, public ingress, home automations and all, with nobody noticing.
Continue on casey.berlin → - WORKBENCHEN
Blueprint: Migrating a 70-Device Zigbee Network to a New Coordinator Stack, Without Re-Pairing
A field-tested runbook for moving Zigbee2MQTT from an ember (EFR32) coordinator to a zstack (CC2652P) one in place, including the undocumented channel_mask trap, a socket-contention root cause, and what an AI pair-operator actually contributed. With three postscripts: the beta-firmware auto-update ambush, the week-long hunt that ended in a wrong-board-variant firmware and a Wi-Fi AP squatting on the mesh's spectrum, and a 72-hour soak that finally turned the claim into proof.
Continue on casey.berlin → - BLOGPOSTEN
Your data is the asset. The agent is the excuse.
The infrastructure layer of MCP has already won. The mass-market moment has not arrived. That gap is exactly where the cheap experiments live.
Continue on casey.berlin → - WORKBENCHEN
An EPUB, via email.
why mcp-readwise has fourteen tools, but the one that actually mattered ships markdown to your Reader Library by SMTP, and what that detour says about API design.
github.com/CaseyRo/mcp-readwiseContinue on casey.berlin → - BLOGPOSTEN
You Already Know What to Build
The gap between "I know exactly what this should do" and "I have working software that does it" has collapsed from months to days. You don't need to code. You need to specify.
Continue on casey.berlin → - BLOGPOSTEN
The Five-Hour Test: How to Know If Your Business Is Ready for Digital Change
Five patterns that signal your business is ready for digital transformation, a practical self-assessment from 15+ years of consulting.
Continue on casey.berlin → - NOTEEN
Heimweh: A State Machine for the House
How we built a proper state machine for our home automation, and why Home Assistant handles devices while Node-RED handles the logic.
Continue on casey.berlin → - BLOGPOSTEN
The Mittelstand Automation Paradox: Why Smaller Companies Have the Biggest Advantage
Mittelstand companies think they're behind on digital transformation. They're not, they're actually better positioned than enterprises. Here's why size, speed, and proximity to customers create an automation advantage.
Continue on casey.berlin → - BLOGPOSTEN
From “Transform or Die” to Threat → Agency: The Human Side of AI in 2026
Rolling out AI with 'transform or die' energy breeds resistance, not adoption. How to help teams move from threat to agency in 2026.
Continue on casey.berlin → - NOTEEN
From AI to AX: 9 simple rules for designing empathetic AI experiences
Nine practical rules for designing AI experiences that feel human, built on EY research into empathy, trust, and high-stress moments.
Continue on casey.berlin → - BLOGPOSTEN
From Clicks to Citations: Staying Visible in the Age of “Google Zero”
Zero-click searches are replacing website visits. Here's how to stay visible when AI answers the question before anyone clicks.
Continue on casey.berlin → - BLOGPOSTEN
Trust as Our Compass on the AI Speedboat
AI moves fast, but speed without direction is drift. Six bearings, from transparency to education, that keep your AI compass true.
Continue on casey.berlin → - BLOGPOSTEN
Why Automation Feels Easier Than Ever (Beyond AI)
AI gets the headlines, but open source, low-code, serverless, and better hardware all bent the automation payoff curve. The xkcd math has changed.
Continue on casey.berlin → - BLOGPOSTEN
The Iron Triangle, Bent but Not Broken
Fast, cheap, or good, pick two. AI bends the iron triangle by stretching speed and budget, but quality stays stubbornly human.
Continue on casey.berlin →
One essay a month, on the way technology quietly reshapes ordinary life. It is the thinking half of this practice, written next door and sent by email. No tips, no frameworks.