Netlify build minutes are replenished, but I’ve shifted gears—preparing my hardware for a new season of local AI development. Security and self-reliance are the guiding principles now.
May marks a fresh reset—300 free build minutes now available on Netlify. But rather than pushing site updates, I’ve taken a strategic pause to focus on my local development environment. The goal is simple: streamline my system to support a fully offline, self-hosted AI assistant project.
In a world where data is the most valuable currency, I find myself asking: What companies do I trust with my most sensitive digital intentions? That question pushed me toward a new direction—one where I own my infrastructure, manage my own models, and only connect to the web to download new libraries when absolutely necessary. From here on, privacy and security take center stage.
The Dell T3600 has been a solid machine, but it's time to bring it up to speed. After careful research, I opted for the NVIDIA RTX 3060 as a budget-friendly yet capable GPU to support local model training and inference. The old Quadro 5000 served me well for its era, but it's finally time to let go—fifteen years later, the CAD card has started to sizzle.
Alongside the GPU, a 2TB SSD will allow me to dual-boot Ubuntu and move cleanly between Linux and any fallback systems. I’ve already maxed out RAM at 64GB, so the rest is plug-and-play. A 6-to-8 pin power adapter completes the shopping list.
With tariffs in place, I’m admittedly a little behind the curve on sourcing affordable hardware—but this upgrade marks an intentional move toward independence. I want to own my tools, understand them intimately, and build in a space that feels entirely mine.
I look forward to booting the new system and beginning my local bot project in earnest. It’s more than a build—it’s a commitment to sovereignty in a digital age.
// Final upgrade checklist:
- [x] NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU
- [x] 2TB SSD (for Ubuntu dual boot)
- [x] 6 to 8 pin adapter
- [x] 64GB RAM already installed
- [ ] Awaiting parts delivery
Now that my Netlify minutes have refreshed, you’d think I’d rest—nah. I immediately used 65 minutes to deploy the new hamburger navigation across all major pages.
The hamburger menu is now live on the top left of every page. It expands into a dropdown box with links to all sections of Arynwood—Terminal, Projects, DevLogs, the 3D Gallery, even contact. Readers can move freely without relying on back buttons or losing context.
Every DevLog going forward includes this layout, and I’m retrofitting older posts to match. It creates a consistent experience, terminal-themed and mobile-first, exactly how I want the site to feel: sleek, quiet, useful.
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
const toggle = document.getElementById('menuToggle');
const box = document.getElementById('menuBox');
toggle.addEventListener('click', () => {
box.classList.toggle('show');
});
document.addEventListener('click', (e) => {
if (!box.contains(e.target) && e.target !== toggle) {
box.classList.remove('show');
}
});
});
Here's a link: Arynwood Terminal
— Lorelei Noble