Nico Verbruggen
@nicoverbruggen.be
I build software, like 🚛 https://phpmon.app and ⚡️ https://calodin.app. 💻 Hardware & 👨🏻💻 software tinkerer, 🏃🏻 daily runner, 🧠 mental health advocate, 📖 typography nerd. Read my blog on https://nicoverbruggen.be.
Pinned
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.10 is now available, and it's a big one. Major architectural changes under the hood, certificate expiry checks, automatic (opt-in) crash reporting, many bug fixes...
New blog post (about PHP Monitor):
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/phpmon-...
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/phpmon-...
PHP Monitor in 2025 and beyond
It's time for a bit of a Fall status update for PHP Monitor.
nicoverbruggen.be
November 10, 2025 at 1:21 PM
New blog post (about PHP Monitor):
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/phpmon-...
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/phpmon-...
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.10 is now available, and it's a big one. Major architectural changes under the hood, certificate expiry checks, automatic (opt-in) crash reporting, many bug fixes...
November 7, 2025 at 1:35 PM
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.10 is now available, and it's a big one. Major architectural changes under the hood, certificate expiry checks, automatic (opt-in) crash reporting, many bug fixes...
PHP Monitor 25.10 should release later this week with some nice improvements and bugfixes.
And another update will follow later this month after PHP 8.5 (stable) is available via Homebrew. Stay tuned.
And another update will follow later this month after PHP 8.5 (stable) is available via Homebrew. Stay tuned.
November 4, 2025 at 9:38 PM
PHP Monitor 25.10 should release later this week with some nice improvements and bugfixes.
And another update will follow later this month after PHP 8.5 (stable) is available via Homebrew. Stay tuned.
And another update will follow later this month after PHP 8.5 (stable) is available via Homebrew. Stay tuned.
Big news! I've gone solo. Figured I'd write a blog post about it :)
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/hello-m...
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/hello-m...
Hello, Mylonia!
Today I'm officially launching Mylonia, my freelance software development practice specializing in Laravel, native iOS/macOS development, and dev tooling.
nicoverbruggen.be
October 21, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Big news! I've gone solo. Figured I'd write a blog post about it :)
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/hello-m...
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/hello-m...
I've been tinkering on PHP Monitor and been modernizing various underpinnings of the project. I had a lot of static singletons which are generally a bad idea with modern Swift, so that was a whole migration... my tests can run randomly and concurrently now, so that's a solid improvement.
October 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I've been tinkering on PHP Monitor and been modernizing various underpinnings of the project. I had a lot of static singletons which are generally a bad idea with modern Swift, so that was a whole migration... my tests can run randomly and concurrently now, so that's a solid improvement.
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.09 is now available and ready for macOS Tahoe, and comes with an improved background update check mechanism.
(If you never turned off the app and kept your computer in sleep mode, background update checks would not work... fixed now!)
(If you never turned off the app and kept your computer in sleep mode, background update checks would not work... fixed now!)
October 1, 2025 at 11:12 AM
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.09 is now available and ready for macOS Tahoe, and comes with an improved background update check mechanism.
(If you never turned off the app and kept your computer in sleep mode, background update checks would not work... fixed now!)
(If you never turned off the app and kept your computer in sleep mode, background update checks would not work... fixed now!)
My favorite bit about building phpmon is how frequently past me has solved issues for current me, who has long forgotten the details about the many things that can break when dealing with Valet and Homebrew...
New Tahoe-ready minor update coming next week, by the way.
New Tahoe-ready minor update coming next week, by the way.
September 26, 2025 at 12:59 PM
My favorite bit about building phpmon is how frequently past me has solved issues for current me, who has long forgotten the details about the many things that can break when dealing with Valet and Homebrew...
New Tahoe-ready minor update coming next week, by the way.
New Tahoe-ready minor update coming next week, by the way.
To an outsider like me, it seems like politically the US is very much a country divided on a few key topics.
I hope the country can come together, because the US sliding further into violence is not good for humanity, also because certain trends tend to blow over into other territories, in time.
I hope the country can come together, because the US sliding further into violence is not good for humanity, also because certain trends tend to blow over into other territories, in time.
September 11, 2025 at 2:07 PM
To an outsider like me, it seems like politically the US is very much a country divided on a few key topics.
I hope the country can come together, because the US sliding further into violence is not good for humanity, also because certain trends tend to blow over into other territories, in time.
I hope the country can come together, because the US sliding further into violence is not good for humanity, also because certain trends tend to blow over into other territories, in time.
More details on this later this month, but I will likely have some availability for freelance projects starting later this year.
I've now officially left employee life behind me.
Been wanting to start my own company for years now, and this seemed like the perfect time to do it.
I've now officially left employee life behind me.
Been wanting to start my own company for years now, and this seemed like the perfect time to do it.
September 9, 2025 at 8:32 PM
More details on this later this month, but I will likely have some availability for freelance projects starting later this year.
I've now officially left employee life behind me.
Been wanting to start my own company for years now, and this seemed like the perfect time to do it.
I've now officially left employee life behind me.
Been wanting to start my own company for years now, and this seemed like the perfect time to do it.
Read my way through 'Tress of the Emerald Sea' and 'Yumi and the Nightmare Painter' by Brandon Sanderson this week.
Loved both. Yumi is now my favorite standalone book set in the Cosmere. Next up: Mistborn Era 2.
Loved both. Yumi is now my favorite standalone book set in the Cosmere. Next up: Mistborn Era 2.
September 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Read my way through 'Tress of the Emerald Sea' and 'Yumi and the Nightmare Painter' by Brandon Sanderson this week.
Loved both. Yumi is now my favorite standalone book set in the Cosmere. Next up: Mistborn Era 2.
Loved both. Yumi is now my favorite standalone book set in the Cosmere. Next up: Mistborn Era 2.
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.08 is now available with various speed improvements for Homebrew operations, automatic fixes for recommendations, and a new feature that lets you upgrade Laravel Valet via the GUI.
August 31, 2025 at 10:57 AM
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.08 is now available with various speed improvements for Homebrew operations, automatic fixes for recommendations, and a new feature that lets you upgrade Laravel Valet via the GUI.
There's another blog post in my Kobo font saga, this one is about automating fixes with Python!
Go check it out here: nicoverbruggen.be/blog/kobo-fo...
Go check it out here: nicoverbruggen.be/blog/kobo-fo...
Automating Font Tweaking with Python
I was lazy, so I spent twelve hours writing a Python script to trivialize font conversion for Kobo devices. Yup, here we go again!
nicoverbruggen.be
August 24, 2025 at 6:11 PM
There's another blog post in my Kobo font saga, this one is about automating fixes with Python!
Go check it out here: nicoverbruggen.be/blog/kobo-fo...
Go check it out here: nicoverbruggen.be/blog/kobo-fo...
Here it is: it's my longest post yet, about my burnout journey, depression, fragmented sleep, and more.
📝 How Poor Sleep Quality Ruined My Life (No, Really)
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/sleep-q...
(Feel free to skip to the takeaways if you don't want to read the entire thing.)
📝 How Poor Sleep Quality Ruined My Life (No, Really)
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/sleep-q...
(Feel free to skip to the takeaways if you don't want to read the entire thing.)
How Poor Sleep Quality Ruined My Life (No, Really)
I thought I was just burned out, but a medical journey revealed the hidden culprit was... my sleep. This is my story of discovery and recovery.
nicoverbruggen.be
August 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Here it is: it's my longest post yet, about my burnout journey, depression, fragmented sleep, and more.
📝 How Poor Sleep Quality Ruined My Life (No, Really)
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/sleep-q...
(Feel free to skip to the takeaways if you don't want to read the entire thing.)
📝 How Poor Sleep Quality Ruined My Life (No, Really)
nicoverbruggen.be/blog/sleep-q...
(Feel free to skip to the takeaways if you don't want to read the entire thing.)
Tomorrow, I'm publishing my most personal and important blog post yet.
While it is very long, I think many of you would benefit from the key takeaways at the bottom of it, even if you don't read it in its entirety.
Don't sleep on it.
(That's a hint on the subject matter btw)
While it is very long, I think many of you would benefit from the key takeaways at the bottom of it, even if you don't read it in its entirety.
Don't sleep on it.
(That's a hint on the subject matter btw)
August 7, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Tomorrow, I'm publishing my most personal and important blog post yet.
While it is very long, I think many of you would benefit from the key takeaways at the bottom of it, even if you don't read it in its entirety.
Don't sleep on it.
(That's a hint on the subject matter btw)
While it is very long, I think many of you would benefit from the key takeaways at the bottom of it, even if you don't read it in its entirety.
Don't sleep on it.
(That's a hint on the subject matter btw)
Looking for some chair recommendations from the community. What are you using right now? Herman Miller's a bit too pricey right now, maybe next year. What should I get in the interim?
August 5, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Looking for some chair recommendations from the community. What are you using right now? Herman Miller's a bit too pricey right now, maybe next year. What should I get in the interim?
I recently set up a new Mac and I really want to improve the onboarding experience for phpmon. It may be time to add a significant new feature.
I was thinking: one single button press to install Homebrew, Valet, and other dependencies? That would be super sweet. 🤔
I was thinking: one single button press to install Homebrew, Valet, and other dependencies? That would be super sweet. 🤔
August 2, 2025 at 12:02 PM
I recently set up a new Mac and I really want to improve the onboarding experience for phpmon. It may be time to add a significant new feature.
I was thinking: one single button press to install Homebrew, Valet, and other dependencies? That would be super sweet. 🤔
I was thinking: one single button press to install Homebrew, Valet, and other dependencies? That would be super sweet. 🤔
I pushed a small update for PHP Monitor out today, version 25.07.
It's a minor update. but as always: I recommend updating and making sure you're on the latest version of Valet, too.
(I'm planning on making it easier to upgrade Valet in an upcoming version.)
It's a minor update. but as always: I recommend updating and making sure you're on the latest version of Valet, too.
(I'm planning on making it easier to upgrade Valet in an upcoming version.)
July 28, 2025 at 12:20 PM
I pushed a small update for PHP Monitor out today, version 25.07.
It's a minor update. but as always: I recommend updating and making sure you're on the latest version of Valet, too.
(I'm planning on making it easier to upgrade Valet in an upcoming version.)
It's a minor update. but as always: I recommend updating and making sure you're on the latest version of Valet, too.
(I'm planning on making it easier to upgrade Valet in an upcoming version.)
Remember when I said I was dealing with burnout and that it was going to take a while? Yeah, turns out it was actually caused by sleep apnea.
I got surgery a few weeks ago (it was a nasal thing) and things are MUCH better now. So, uh, get that sleep lab if you're not getting good sleep!!
I got surgery a few weeks ago (it was a nasal thing) and things are MUCH better now. So, uh, get that sleep lab if you're not getting good sleep!!
July 21, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Remember when I said I was dealing with burnout and that it was going to take a while? Yeah, turns out it was actually caused by sleep apnea.
I got surgery a few weeks ago (it was a nasal thing) and things are MUCH better now. So, uh, get that sleep lab if you're not getting good sleep!!
I got surgery a few weeks ago (it was a nasal thing) and things are MUCH better now. So, uh, get that sleep lab if you're not getting good sleep!!
It makes total sense that using LLMs will impact your ability to think and I find it sort of surprising so many people are seemingly totally fine with that.
I think it's imperative to find a good balance: i.e. autonomous thinking first, and using LLMs wisely, not blindly.
I think it's imperative to find a good balance: i.e. autonomous thinking first, and using LLMs wisely, not blindly.
July 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
It makes total sense that using LLMs will impact your ability to think and I find it sort of surprising so many people are seemingly totally fine with that.
I think it's imperative to find a good balance: i.e. autonomous thinking first, and using LLMs wisely, not blindly.
I think it's imperative to find a good balance: i.e. autonomous thinking first, and using LLMs wisely, not blindly.
If you're using a Mac for software dev work, which one do you have, what configuration and do you regret not getting a higher spec one?
I'm in the market to replace my base M1 Mac mini at some point and I'm curious what everyone is running these days.
I'm in the market to replace my base M1 Mac mini at some point and I'm curious what everyone is running these days.
July 9, 2025 at 4:03 PM
If you're using a Mac for software dev work, which one do you have, what configuration and do you regret not getting a higher spec one?
I'm in the market to replace my base M1 Mac mini at some point and I'm curious what everyone is running these days.
I'm in the market to replace my base M1 Mac mini at some point and I'm curious what everyone is running these days.
📖 I'm going to share my FREE customized fonts for e-readers here again, since there's a big update coming soon and I wanted to do a bit of a signal boost.
July 1, 2025 at 1:22 PM
📖 I'm going to share my FREE customized fonts for e-readers here again, since there's a big update coming soon and I wanted to do a bit of a signal boost.
To celebrate 100k downloads, PHP Monitor 25.06 is now available with a few fresh visual touches and some minor bug fixes. And yes, I've also changed the version numbering system!
Linked below is a brief blog post about this release with screenshots.
Linked below is a brief blog post about this release with screenshots.
June 27, 2025 at 6:37 PM
To celebrate 100k downloads, PHP Monitor 25.06 is now available with a few fresh visual touches and some minor bug fixes. And yes, I've also changed the version numbering system!
Linked below is a brief blog post about this release with screenshots.
Linked below is a brief blog post about this release with screenshots.
Turns out I was counting the downloads from GitHub on phpmon.app wrong. Forgot pagination 🤣
I was under the impression that the app had been downloaded about 80k times, but apparently it's over 110k already... with the last two releases being the most popular. Wow!
New update out later today, btw.
I was under the impression that the app had been downloaded about 80k times, but apparently it's over 110k already... with the last two releases being the most popular. Wow!
New update out later today, btw.
June 27, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Turns out I was counting the downloads from GitHub on phpmon.app wrong. Forgot pagination 🤣
I was under the impression that the app had been downloaded about 80k times, but apparently it's over 110k already... with the last two releases being the most popular. Wow!
New update out later today, btw.
I was under the impression that the app had been downloaded about 80k times, but apparently it's over 110k already... with the last two releases being the most popular. Wow!
New update out later today, btw.
tinkering again!
menu bar item icons, coming to phpmon later this month.
menu bar item icons, coming to phpmon later this month.
June 20, 2025 at 2:08 PM
tinkering again!
menu bar item icons, coming to phpmon later this month.
menu bar item icons, coming to phpmon later this month.
Reposted by Nico Verbruggen
A lot of the bluesky vs twitter chat is at cross purposes, really. I'm not here because it's better, or nicer, or algorithm free. I'm here because I don't trust the guy who runs that place.
June 18, 2025 at 7:24 AM
A lot of the bluesky vs twitter chat is at cross purposes, really. I'm not here because it's better, or nicer, or algorithm free. I'm here because I don't trust the guy who runs that place.