I know the title can be mouthful. So let me start by describing the problem first. There are different services available on the internet showing what streaming services in your region carry the contents you are after. The problem I had with these services were: one. it often fails to parse the localized titles used outside of North America, two. these services are not always up to date with licensing. What it means, in the real world, is you might be buying or adding a new subscription to watch a movie or a TV show that either you already own…
By Rian
Gray, a writer.
LLM, Subscriptions, and Tokens
As I have previously said, I don’t see Claude replacing a proper programmer’s job anytime soon. I am subscribing to meager Pro tier, and that’s nowhere near enough to replace my hobbyist’s job. Granted, there is the joy of not needing to fiddle with technicalities. Being able to implement new algorithm and upgrade existing core algorithm to a new one like blocks falling into places feels like a vindication. But this is from a hobbyist’s perspective.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) Spiel
I had to rewrite this piece several times over as I wasn’t sure what to add more on the subject. Headphones of any kind are already being reviewed extensively with audio equipments one can only see in the lab. And these reviews aren’t being published on academic journals; these are for average consumers and hobbyists, laying out what are their, audio-wise, strength and weaknesses are. Headphones generally make an interesting case for having a professional reviewers, as different manufacturers have different priorities on what to focus on a good speaker; after all, with only so much room, it can’t have…
App to Import and Download Films for Plex
This is a related post from yesterday’s. Both Plex and *arr platforms share the same categorization of video contents. They are either films or series. Sonarr handles series, Radarr handles films or theatrical runs. One would think films would have less an issue fetching metadata, but managing media libraries can create some extreme edge cases.
App to Import and Download Series for Plex
One of the automation self-hosting streaming aims to achieve is matching and fetching metadata. Plex handles both rather well and is quite forgiving with file names on average. I suppose the emphasis is on average. Plex divides medias into two major categories: films (or theater) or series (TV shows, and others). If Plex fails to match the existing files for series, it has to be done manually; at worst, it could be a grueling work to match the show, the seasons therein, and then the episodes therein.
How to Setup Multi-user Plex without Subscription
As I was saying about Plex, and it would apply to any other self-hosted streaming, my goal — and most people’s, no doubt — is to fill in the gaps between what mainstream streaming services offer and the contents that fell through licensing since we signed up for it. It’s pointless to argue that the users should be jumping through VPNs to see if the said media is still available in another region.
App to Self-Host Media Streaming Server
I had heard about Plex before, but I had never seriously put a thought into it. That is, until I realized how vulnerable of a geolocation I was in. If you are reading this in North America or Europe, it might not affect you as much; but geoblocking, coupled with intentional licensing lapse, it becomes impossible to trust a streaming service as a subscription to a media library.
How to Prevent URL Stripping on Szurubooru
One of the platforms I didn’t anticipate I needed, but ultimately found myself pondering over were images DB. If it were personal or interpersonal photos, there are free and paid viewers, libraries, and management softwares available. If it were creating and catering new images, those exist for the professional illustrators. But neither particularly helps when the images in question are meant to be read and/or referenced. Szurubooru is one of these image board platform that could be the solution for personal uses. I am still in the process of doing a proper write-up on it.
How to Setup Caddy + DuckDNS for Local HTTPS
After starting few containers on Docker, the one problem nobody mentions, and quite frankly, none of the installation guides talk about, is the web UI management. Not a management UI of a single project, but managing the UIs, the plural. More and more user friendly open source projects are adopting web UI as baseline, yet, the only method these projects openly recommend is connecting via IP address. If you were using a NAS like I am, it would end up looking like this: NAS_ip_address:port. Now don’t forget all the other ports NAS is already using, along with additional ports these…
How to Use Space Bar on Komga Web Viewer
There are two parts advantage of moving to web-based apps and platforms from my experience: one, web-based development seems to be more active (completely anecdotal), and two, web-based means I can come up with an add-on rather easily.
App to Redirect URL on Browsers
The prevalence of web UIs with advanced DB features on them make it possible to save search queries on bookmarks. For example, I could keep track of a favorite author on a eBook platform with a url similar to service.ddns.org:port/search?=authorname. Each platforms have their own URL scheme, but the point is simple. This approach would effectively serve as “smart playlist” available on iTunes or Apple Music, if set up correctly. That is, if all platforms are willing to play ball.
App to DDNS with API for Local HTTPS Certificate
I’m still in the process of writing up the Caddy + DuckDNS post, but I thought to make a separate post anyway what DDNS is and why I am writing about DuckDNS for the particular home lab setup. DDNS is often used for home or small office environment, when the IP address to the said network is not fixed. ISP usually ask extra for fixed IP address. DDNS effectively keeps the record of your machine’s public IP, thereby connecting to the said DDNS domain would lead back to home.
Claude Spiel: A Week with Claude Pro
It has been roughly a week, first week, on the paid subscription LLM service. I did hear good things about Claude, especially its versatility when it comes to answering general questions and coding. For the life of me, I was not satisfied with ChatGPT and Gemini when it came to getting helps on coding, — so much so vibe coding on those platforms would be risky — whereas Claude printed results like a bureaucrat.
App to Reverse Proxy on Synology DSM
Synology DSM is equipped with rudimentary level of reverse proxy feature, but after few home lab projects, I believe a user ought to notice the inherent reliability issue. In my setup, I keep my NAS unexposed the to the internet — the only way to access it is via Tailscale or VPN. The problem with the certificates were expected in the old setup; a certificate on DSM is issued on the premise NAS is exposed to the internet with the necessary ports.
App to Manage Multiple Tabs on Firefox
I suppose each developers have their own basic browsers to fallback to. If it works on this browser, it’s likely going to run on all browser. My go-to browser, especially for apps that offer web UI, is Firefox. Part of the reason why I haven’t moved to Chrome — aside from the usual memory jokes — is the reliability of the platform Firefox offers. Albeit not perfect, it has some level of reliability.