By Rian

Gray, a writer.

App to Test Internal Network Bandwidth

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…

How to Upgrade WiFi Router Platform-Agnostically

Upgrading a router every few years takes more than what it should. The price tag on these machines is generally on par with entry-level smartphones, and smartphones with the average upgrade cycle of 4 years have better upgradability and migration softwares. Not to mention, all the manufacturers are eager to support migration away from the…

Call to Router Manufacturers for Better EOL Disclosure

WiFi is the basic necessity of 21st century. We fight over it, much like cowboys have fought over lands to grow their, well, cows. Wild West is an unusual metaphor for WiFi, but my reasoning is that home networking markets lack transparency and control on how much these home-grown radio wave generators are sold and…

Where are Touch ID Peripherals?

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…

How to Enter and Manage Dictionary on iOS Shortcuts

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…

OLED Screens, Mac Studio, and MacBook Pro

My last TV, the one I had replaced just few months ago, lasted well over a decade. It was a 3DTV, (the one with the 3D glasses) but as far as the screen goes as a generic television, its panel wasn’t damaged even as I was planning to have it upgraded. It didn’t support HDR…

Expelled! Spiel

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.…

Monster Hunter: Wilds Spiel

Monster Hunter franchise had lots on its shoulders —it’s been 21 years since the first title was released in 2004. World, previous title for non-portable devices from 2018, had introduced new set of features to entice new gamers. Wilds, on the other hand, had to compete against plethora of other RPGs that are quite literally…

How to Generate Random PIN Codes

One of the rather recently added feature on 1Password, which I believe was both an oversight and the inherent flaw of the system, was PIN generation. The password manager was always capable of saving PIN codes, often only 4 digits long. Randomly generating one wasn’t supported until recently. To play devil’s advocate, it is only…

How to Generate Custom Length Passwords for Apple Passwords App

In my previous post, though I didn’t go into any details as to what limitations I’ve faced, I believe I’ve hinted enough that Apple’s Passwords app has missed the mark on the convenience features. One of which was rather shocking; the app doesn’t let a user generate a custom length password. The app is certainly…

How I Tried Leaving 1Password in 2025

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…

How to Change Ollama Model Path

I’m not particularly a big fan of having a big system storage. Most of my machines usually have 1 TB or less, and when needed, I use external drives or NAS. If you are interested in playing with Ollama, especially with the new Mac Studio, one of the missing key features of Ollama is to…

How to Port Forward PS Remote and PS Portal

This one is a collective study post. As far as I could find, Sony hasn’t released an official documentation on which ports are needed to use PS Remote and PS Portal. Official support documents and manuals for the PS Portal make no mentions of the matter, let alone for the PS5 console networking features. I…

How to Disable In-App Ratings Popup on iOS

I had a moment of pause while I was trying out Reminders. After using it for a while, Reminders app asked if I wanted to leave a star. A to-do list app from Apple called Reminders is asking if I want to leave a star. If I wanted to leave a review for a third-party…

App to Test UPnP for External Discoverability

As much as I would like to recommend simply disabling UPnP and be done with it, there is no complete replacement, from what I can gather, in terms of day-to-day home network environment. It warrants a separate write-up, but long story short, on IPv4 with NAT, there is no theoretical replacement for UPnP yet. With…