All About Berlin
@allaboutberlin.bsky.social
Plain English guides for Berliners. - https://allaboutberlin.com
Residence permit feedback, before and after
November 18, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Residence permit feedback, before and after
When I started measuring immigration office wait times, I did not plan to get this many responses. I did not design for this at all. Just look at the pagination buttons!
November 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM
When I started measuring immigration office wait times, I did not plan to get this many responses. I did not design for this at all. Just look at the pagination buttons!
I'm adding instant, accurate private health insurance quotes to my calculator. No more "write an email to book a call to get a quote".
What do you think of the design?
What do you think of the design?
October 28, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I'm adding instant, accurate private health insurance quotes to my calculator. No more "write an email to book a call to get a quote".
What do you think of the design?
What do you think of the design?
An update about my appointment finder: Berlin.de added new anti-bot measures in August. Their devs helped me figure out what's wrong. I will try a different approach, and hope it fixes the issue.
September 25, 2025 at 7:57 AM
An update about my appointment finder: Berlin.de added new anti-bot measures in August. Their devs helped me figure out what's wrong. I will try a different approach, and hope it fixes the issue.
All About Berlin is 8 years old!
September 22, 2025 at 8:45 AM
All About Berlin is 8 years old!
My Bürgeramt appointment finder is down since 6 August. I'm working to get it back online.
Two lessons:
1. I would have caught it earlier if I had proper error monitoring and alerting in place.
2. Don't build castles on quicksand.
Two lessons:
1. I would have caught it earlier if I had proper error monitoring and alerting in place.
2. Don't build castles on quicksand.
September 19, 2025 at 9:59 AM
My Bürgeramt appointment finder is down since 6 August. I'm working to get it back online.
Two lessons:
1. I would have caught it earlier if I had proper error monitoring and alerting in place.
2. Don't build castles on quicksand.
Two lessons:
1. I would have caught it earlier if I had proper error monitoring and alerting in place.
2. Don't build castles on quicksand.
Should I add comments to All About Berlin? It has been on my mind for a few months now. I am picturing something similar to Reddit and Hacker News, with threaded comments and vote counts.
September 10, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Should I add comments to All About Berlin? It has been on my mind for a few months now. I am picturing something similar to Reddit and Hacker News, with threaded comments and vote counts.
This tool helps you find English-language movies in Berlin. It's so clean and simple! - ov-berlin.info/movies/
August 28, 2025 at 12:21 PM
This tool helps you find English-language movies in Berlin. It's so clean and simple! - ov-berlin.info/movies/
The browser sends us the user's preferred language. I could use this to show language-specific placeholders. How about "Alex Mustermann" in German or "Wei Zhang" in Mandarin?
I already use this technique to recommend countries at the top of my country picker.
I already use this technique to recommend countries at the top of my country picker.
August 13, 2025 at 6:47 AM
The browser sends us the user's preferred language. I could use this to show language-specific placeholders. How about "Alex Mustermann" in German or "Wei Zhang" in Mandarin?
I already use this technique to recommend countries at the top of my country picker.
I already use this technique to recommend countries at the top of my country picker.
I have built a new letter generator to do your Abmeldung by email. As recommended by experts, it gives multiple fallback options for sending the deregistration certificate, because each Bürgeramt does it differently.
August 11, 2025 at 2:08 PM
I have built a new letter generator to do your Abmeldung by email. As recommended by experts, it gives multiple fallback options for sending the deregistration certificate, because each Bürgeramt does it differently.
I have made a series of small improvements to my resignation letter generator. I wrote a short blog post about it here: nicolasbouliane.com/blog/resigna...
August 11, 2025 at 10:27 AM
I have made a series of small improvements to my resignation letter generator. I wrote a short blog post about it here: nicolasbouliane.com/blog/resigna...
I'm currently adding a bit of information to my health insurance guides. Having an insurance expert right in front of you is really helpful!
August 7, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I'm currently adding a bit of information to my health insurance guides. Having an insurance expert right in front of you is really helpful!
All About Berlin is losing half of its traffic to ChatGPT and Google AI summaries, but don't worry, I have a plan:
nicolasbouliane.com/blog/health-...
nicolasbouliane.com/blog/health-...
August 4, 2025 at 12:09 PM
All About Berlin is losing half of its traffic to ChatGPT and Google AI summaries, but don't worry, I have a plan:
nicolasbouliane.com/blog/health-...
nicolasbouliane.com/blog/health-...
Most of my days consist of improving the same content over and over again.
This is disability insurance, before and after. It's more complete, easier to read, better connected with related content, and backed by more sources.
This is disability insurance, before and after. It's more complete, easier to read, better connected with related content, and backed by more sources.
August 1, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Most of my days consist of improving the same content over and over again.
This is disability insurance, before and after. It's more complete, easier to read, better connected with related content, and backed by more sources.
This is disability insurance, before and after. It's more complete, easier to read, better connected with related content, and backed by more sources.
Traffic from ChatGPT shows that it hallucinates All About Berlin pages, and cites them as a source.
July 5, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Traffic from ChatGPT shows that it hallucinates All About Berlin pages, and cites them as a source.
I am disappointed that nobody noticed the 50% more rounded corners. It took a lot of sanding.
July 1, 2025 at 4:46 PM
I am disappointed that nobody noticed the 50% more rounded corners. It took a lot of sanding.
I think about this passage from "Doing Business in Japan" a lot. German and Japanese bureaucracy have a lot in common.
June 30, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I think about this passage from "Doing Business in Japan" a lot. German and Japanese bureaucracy have a lot in common.
I'm so happy that people keep adding feedback about immigration office wait times. They also add info about their experience during the appointment. It's super helpful.
June 18, 2025 at 10:52 AM
I'm so happy that people keep adding feedback about immigration office wait times. They also add info about their experience during the appointment. It's super helpful.
Friday project: a mobile table of contents with no extra markup. It will make large guides much easier to navigate on your phone.
June 13, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Friday project: a mobile table of contents with no extra markup. It will make large guides much easier to navigate on your phone.
The new health insurance guide is (mostly) done. 3 insurance brokers have reviewed it, and countless relocation experts have added their advice.
I'm now working on a much better health insurance recommendation tool.
I'm now working on a much better health insurance recommendation tool.
May 1, 2025 at 4:44 PM
The new health insurance guide is (mostly) done. 3 insurance brokers have reviewed it, and countless relocation experts have added their advice.
I'm now working on a much better health insurance recommendation tool.
I'm now working on a much better health insurance recommendation tool.
From May 1, the immigration office will require biometric pictures from certified photo studios, or from their self-service kiosks.
This line from the announcements page is pure gold. They're testing a new system in production after deploying it the Friday after a public holiday. Absolute madlads.
This line from the announcements page is pure gold. They're testing a new system in production after deploying it the Friday after a public holiday. Absolute madlads.
April 7, 2025 at 9:56 AM
From May 1, the immigration office will require biometric pictures from certified photo studios, or from their self-service kiosks.
This line from the announcements page is pure gold. They're testing a new system in production after deploying it the Friday after a public holiday. Absolute madlads.
This line from the announcements page is pure gold. They're testing a new system in production after deploying it the Friday after a public holiday. Absolute madlads.
I'm still working on a massive overhaul of my health insurance guide and tools. It's mind-numbingly boring work, but it will be worth it.
April 3, 2025 at 8:57 AM
I'm still working on a massive overhaul of my health insurance guide and tools. It's mind-numbingly boring work, but it will be worth it.
My new policy is "curation over aggregation". I want to make specific recommendations instead of listing dozens of options.
That's what the "Recommended" label is for. It means "if I were you, this is what I would choose". It helps you make good decisions faster.
That's what the "Recommended" label is for. It means "if I were you, this is what I would choose". It helps you make good decisions faster.
March 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM
My new policy is "curation over aggregation". I want to make specific recommendations instead of listing dozens of options.
That's what the "Recommended" label is for. It means "if I were you, this is what I would choose". It helps you make good decisions faster.
That's what the "Recommended" label is for. It means "if I were you, this is what I would choose". It helps you make good decisions faster.
I just took my citizenship test today!
After hours of looking for an appointment, a pointless in-person appointment during a BVG strike, and a few hours of studying, the actual test took 10 minutes.
I will explain everything in my upcoming citizenship application guide.
After hours of looking for an appointment, a pointless in-person appointment during a BVG strike, and a few hours of studying, the actual test took 10 minutes.
I will explain everything in my upcoming citizenship application guide.
March 4, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I just took my citizenship test today!
After hours of looking for an appointment, a pointless in-person appointment during a BVG strike, and a few hours of studying, the actual test took 10 minutes.
I will explain everything in my upcoming citizenship application guide.
After hours of looking for an appointment, a pointless in-person appointment during a BVG strike, and a few hours of studying, the actual test took 10 minutes.
I will explain everything in my upcoming citizenship application guide.
Friends, you are making me feel like a rockstar! 398€ in donations in a month, holy moly! 🤯I am so flattered by your kind words and consistent support. It really keeps me going.
February 25, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Friends, you are making me feel like a rockstar! 398€ in donations in a month, holy moly! 🤯I am so flattered by your kind words and consistent support. It really keeps me going.