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.
From App-to
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.
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.
App to Fix Globe Bookmark Favicon on Firefox
Firefox is giving me different varieties of issues lately. Partly, because I think most apps are now geared toward Chrome and Safari — the most popular on all platforms or the most popular on single platform browsers. But that’s an excuse for Firefox not working with websites and web UIs, not the Firefox’s own bookmarks failing to grab favicon from added URL. The usual fix I could find after some Googling suggested re-adding or editing the URl to force Firefox to update the icon, but only to no avail.
App to Stop YouTube AI-Translation via User script
I had covered this issue before using a dedicated add-on on browsers. While it worked, there were two problems, at least in my opinion: a. it’s a separate app just for one website, b. it’s not available on iOS. Granted, I was not able to find a universal user script that works on both platforms, but tweaking it takes little to no effort as most of the script can be edited by the user.
App to Run Userscripts on iOS Safari
What I like about Firefox and its community-driven open source nature really coincides with a lot of what I like about Python. There are always like-minded people trying to solve a problem that is often too niche for other browsers. Having said all the that, Safari, as a browser platform, lacks that community attention yet. I often found myself trying to find which “slop” is the real extension I am looking for.
App to Manage Documents DB
Back in 2000s, when I got my hands on Intel Mac for the first time, there were two things that immediately caught my attention: Spotlight, the functioning search tool on OS, and DevonThink, the highly regarded documents management software beloved by many Mac users. Some even called DevonThink to be the savior of Macintosh lineage — otherwise there would be no space left for OS X.
App to Replace Built-in VPN Server on Router
I suppose it needs some context to explain what even is a “VPN server on a router” for home and small offices. If you have a home lab, DIY projects, or even a simple NAS, chances are, you don’t want to have them all exposed to the internet. Prudence dictates every device should have its security, especially with the coming days of IPv6; however, many security advices I read online and still abide by always recommend keeping them behind the locked door — the router. A VPN server, therefore, lets users connect to LAN, just like a VPN in a…
App to Override CSS User Drag or Select on Websites
As I am still doing migration projects from Pi (the hardware) to everything hosted on NAS, there were few things I wanted to try. One of which is open-source community-backed DBs. So far, not all of them were as good as I thought, but every projects I had seen so far showed the signs of efforts on the developing communities’ part. Now the pleasantries are out of the way, there is one area these databases suck at — collecting metadata of niche contents automatically.
App to Create Synology SSD Pools on M.2 NVMe Slots
As I am migrating from Pi setups to one NAS, one of the immediate upside and downside was HDD. I get more storage out of the physical machine, but HDDs are still slower than microSD cards on Pi. Fortunately, I had some old NVMe drives sitting around and decided to make use of it. The only problem was, DSM 7.* currently does not allow creating a pool from NVMe drives for my model.
App to Backup Raspberry Pi over Network
I’m still in the process of retiring old projects. While I’m at it, I wanted a backup solution that will work over network. Putting a USB stick to a working Pi is a solution, only when that Pi is not headless (i.e. stuck away in a network closet). As far as I know, and this is a common enough warning seen in most Pi threads I’ve read, microSD card is the weakest link in Pi hardware. And once it fails, unlike HDD, there is no rescue.
App to Download YouTube Videos
There are many web-based YouTube downloaders out there, but I thought to share one that is known to work locally. Instead of worrying about which button is the real “download” on the web, I thought why not use a program that runs locally and possibly from more reputable sources.
App to Read X (Twitter) Threads without Logins
I still have an account from Twitter days, I rarely it. X, or formerly Twitter, is simply not my style. While I appreciate some official communications done through X as a backup in rapid response (e.g. service status), I wouldn’t mind it if the same memos were written on Bluesky, or else. In fact, I would very much prefer it if these services had simple blogs instead for us to infer to.