I believe Dwarf II crowdfunding started back in 2021. I barely knew about the first Dwarf device, so when I heard the rumors of the new “smart” telescopes, I kinda wished I hadn’t invested so much on short tube telescopes already. There is something fundamentally beautiful, different even, being able to see through what the night sky hides from bare eyes — but being able to see something only through computational imaging can see, without much works or equipments, and converse about the observations, that was something I could not do on my own with traditional telescopes.
By Rian
Gray, a writer.
App to Replace Launchpad on macOS 26 Tahoe
macOS 26 Tahoe does not have Launchpad. If you were not using it, Launchpad is an iOS-like feature on the Mac side to arrange and view apps on pseudo Home Screen. Whether or not you use Launchpad is irrelevant I suppose; at least for Apple, the company has already decided it wasn’t a popular feature. It was introduced in Mac OS X Lion, but the feature hasn’t seen any updates either.
App to Convert PC Xbox App Saves for Different Platforms
I’m on the process of writing a similar themed op-ed that highlights the exact issue I am having with the Xbox App. One would imagine save files on all PC games would be platform-agnostic, so long as the platform in question has a Windows presence. That is simply not the case with the Xbox app for PC. Xbox uses its unique save file structure, possibly for cloud support.
Dyson PencilVac Spiel
Dyson has released PencilVac in Japan, Singapore, and South Korea first. I thought it was an unusual choice from Dyson to release it in South Korea early, as the handheld vacuum market in Korea is quite different from, say, America, as the most common types of flooring is simply not carpet. Carpeted floors are rare here.
Blue Prince Spiel
I remember when I played Myst back in the 2000s when it was released for the iPhone. It was one of “those genres” from the 90s that did not survive the test of times; the puzzles can be mildly infuriating, but you had no other game to play. I was in such a joy when I made a progress after days of being stuck on one puzzle. I’ve seen several reviews mentioning similar stories with The 7th Guest, though my personal “that game” was always the Myst.
Apple Watch 8 Spiel: From Perspective of Super App Supports
Apple Watch 8 came out in 2022, and with that, it would render this post out-dated soon as it is published. My point here has little to do with the hardware changes that were made 3 years ago, or the watchOS that were announced 3 years ago. In fact, during those time, I learned it the hard way that I prefer to have biometrics on the physical machine, instead of using Apple Watch to log me in.
Upcoming iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods
Apple is set to release new iPhones, Apple Watches, and possibly some minor gadgets such as AirPods this coming Tuesday. The rumors surrounding each and every one of them were too comprehensive to the point the actual Keynote is likely going to be a repeat of the rumor mixed with Federighi’s “crack product marketing team” jokes. In other words, had it been a decade ago, this year would be an “s” year for the iPhones — minor improvement from previous year.
Fears to Fathom – Home Alone Spiel
The second season of Fears to Fathom series is already underway, and I thought to come back to the series as it is slowly being released on other platforms. Currently, only the fourth episode is available on the PlayStation with DualSense support. Fears to Fathom is an anthology; the episodes are not connected from one another, as of yet. Home Alone, the one this piece is about, was the debut title of the series and also available for free.
App to Convert Lossless Audio on macOS
There are several tools out there, some of them professional and some of them only CLI-based, to convert lossless audio files on macOS. I was specifically looking for a convertor that is preferably free or more affordable and has a GUI support for casual uses. In my specific cases, I happen to have quite a bit of FLAC, ones that I ripped from old CDs, and Apple Music uses ALAC, once proprietary turned open source codec.
Why Regional Support Matters: The Case of Corsair RM1000e
I don’t closely follow news on PC component manufacturer, especially not on PSU. I do recall, back when I could confidentially call myself an enthusiast, there were several brands called out for being unreliable. Now, this is where the stories often get even more juicer — when a manufacturer is not directly selling its products in the region.
BrokenLore: DON’T WATCH Spiel
Would you believe it if I told you I found the game due to its usage of NHK, or MHK in-game, fee collector as a horror? BrokenLore: DON’T WATCH is part of the franchise that seems to be publishing multiple titles this year alone. DON’T WATCH primarily focuses on the Japanese societal issue of hikikomori, or as often translated as shut-ins. And NHK fee collector, believe me, is part of the horror.
Platform 8 Spiel
I remember when Platform 8 came out, the indie market was already saturated with Exit 8-likes, especially with trains, trolleys, subways, and tubes — any kind of public transit that would be remotely reminiscent of liminality. In essence, Platform 8 is late in the game; subways and trains are already tried ideas as Exit-8 likes.
My Friendly Neighborhood Spiel
I believe I’ve heard about My Friendly Neighborhood as a mascot horror and a survival horror back in 2023, when the the subgenre was getting all the attentions from the fans of horrors. The reason why I started now, in 2025, is due to its console release. Though, there is something to be said about releasing a game without much changes after 2 years without considerations for controllers.
The Sale of Intel Mac Pro Pt. 2: Regional Support
I thought to expand on the whole regional support issue I had mentioned in the prior post. If you are here for the “regional support” only, the only relevant info from the previous op-ed is that it was one of the reasons why I ended up selling my machine. Warranty and importation in South Korea are tad bit weird in my opinion.
Order 13 Spiel
I suppose calling Order 13 a job simulator would be a euphemism. Order 13 is a horror game with big enough emphasis on the job of warehouse workers. Though I have never worked in Amazon warehouse before, I can safely assume jobs in the warehouse is more separated and specialized, instead of having one employee on the look out for the products, packaging, labeling, and shipping it out from his/her lane.