As I was upgrading to a new router this week, one of the things I immediately wanted to test was the existing ethernet cables and ports. As reliable as they are, cables and ports are also physical objects with lifespans. If cables running behind the walls are damaged, that’s a major headache; and if one…
Apple started adopting biometrics in its devices beginning with iPhones, back in 2015. MacBooks released in 2016 were the first Macs that had embedded Touch ID Keyboards, and later an updated wireless keyboard with Touch ID was released in 2021. It’s been 4 years since the first Touch ID keyboard came out; and I’m yet…
If you are a fan of Shortcuts on either macOS or iOS, no doubt you would have encountered a similar problem as I. In order to load some data on to a custom shortcut, only sensible way would to do so is via a dictionary-type variable. But Shortcuts doesn’t make it easy to enter the…
If someone asked me what kind of game Expelled! is, I would say it is a visual novel, or a mystery novel stylized in a video game. Its experience is akin to what many Agatha Christie novels were when I first read them —bleak, and justice served was not always what I would have imagined.…
I’ve been using password managers for a while, and I believe I started using 1Password beginning with either version 3 or 4. Inevitably when I say I am using 1Password, I’m not just talking about simply using an app; I’m talking about the entire password manager platform. 1Password has gone through series of audits, bug…
Back in late 2000s, back when I was considering to move to OS X as my primary system, one of the big appeal —albeit it’s not always up to the level— was that Macintosh was bundled with first party softwares that are often exorbitantly expensive on the other side. And let me tell you, the…
One of the obvious challenges of using Time Machine is that not all apps and databases are optimized to use automatic backup. Or to be more blunt on the subject, with modern video games ranging roughly up to several hundred gigabytes with day one patches that are equally large, Steam has been enabling developers to…
I was on a lookout for a certain trigger to automate macOS, a sleep trigger. I try not to automate any of the scripts around uncertain triggers, especially sleep cycles, when there may be certain expectations of how things should be at that moment. For example, if a script inadvertently disrupts the machine from going…
This one is for documentation purposes. Networking issue is usually the rabbit hole that gets deeper and weirder more we find out. My method of approaching networking is to leave the ones that are currently working, as-is. In other words, don’t jinx it. The problem I encountered was just plain weird. I was spooked by…
I suspect this is yet another “tabs or spaces” question for developers, but I believe there is a silver lining for all —we want consistent UIs. I want my numpads to work as number pads throughout. There are only few cases when I need it to be something else, be it may directional keys, application…
Choosing the right username can never be more important now than it did before. If your journey in computing started in some computing center with UNIX, no doubt the importance of 3 characters-long username hasn’t escaped you. Whereas, if you started your computing with a PC like I did, a proper or useful username is…
I’ve written in the past about Time Machine errors with the same error messages, and this is yet another one of the troubleshoots. I didn’t realize hibernation managed by Synology DSM could have an effect on the client side’s Time Machine. Symptoms Symptoms are nearly identical as before. I was seeing the pop up message…
Adobe Photoshop is not for all consumers. This might come as a surprise for some, but there are other less known alternatives that provide more economical (i.e. less tools and options) options for average home users. I, for one, don’t do any illustrative works nor photography works; all my astrophotography hobbies often rely on open…
My old iOS shortcuts usually walked the path of tedious madness for the pure purpose of compatibility. I needed a shortcut that would work equally well on all platforms, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and even on HomePod, and that meant several things: one. I can’t have shortcuts relying on apps that do not exist universally, two.…
I found out No Umbrellas Allowed after I had short, yet fun, experience with Good Pizza, Great Pizza. I was ready to see more difficult customers in different context, and this being the pawn shop, —or secondhand shop— I was expecting to see some real actions. Not the gun blazing kind, of course. I played…