While it is possible to use dd command on Unix-like systems to make a bootable disk or installation disk, the method has flaws. And apparently I wasn’t the only one noticing the issue. With larger files, dd can inexplicably fail without much notice. Current USB drives are fast enough that few transferring gigabytes would take mere minutes, but it is an annoyance I would wish to avoid as much as possible.
From App-to
App to Calculate PSU Requirement for PC Builds
As obvious as it sounds, having a bigger PSU is not always recommended. In fact, from my experience, PSU has changed as the “meta” behind the PC builds have changed. Back when I was shopping my last PSU for eGPU, I was interested in how many PCIe auxiliary it can support. Nowadays, both PCIe cards (or rather, graphics cards) and PSU use 16-pin 12VHPWR instead.
App to “Solve” Magic Eyes
I remember seeing a framed Magic Eye picture hanging in my grandmother’s, and that became my side Summer project — to be able to see what is “hidden” inside. Unfortunately, I was never able to see it for myself; but I was told the answer later. I remember thinking to myself, how is this TV-static looking image is supposed to morph into a 3D image?
App to Manage Python Versions
I know it’s a well known tool. But having introduced Python many times as go-to method to write codes to automate and for personal uses, I realize now that I didn’t mention the tool to manage Python. Unlike like programming languages, Python has gone through some major changes from versions to versions, most notably from Python 2 to 3.
App to Organize Recipes Across Devices
There are always free apps for the same job, but there are some kinds of apps I would strongly advise investing in, or at least don’t be too put off from buying. One such job is recipe keeping. It sounds like a simple job; just keep the text files on cloud, and text editors are freely available on almost all the platforms. But much like music and ebook library, you can only get so far with bare metal approach.
App to Customize External Monitor Settings on macOS
There are several external monitor control apps on macOS — some paid, some free. One thing I can say for sure is that not all features are overlapping with each other. It’s easy to imagine have one universal app fixing all the monitor needs, but I found out different apps focus on different areas. My focus were primarily the following:
App to Disable WordPress Native Functions
There are several native WordPress features that fell out of use naturally, or became loopholes bloggers would want to plug, or became the subject of privacy regulations. WordPress is a strong platform that enables much of the extra toppings that, in my opinion, at the time sounded like interesting social media features.
App to Measure Disk Read Write Speeds on macOS
Unlike spinning hard drives of old, SSDs, especially M.2 NVMe, have few more criteria to test throwing out the box. Firstly, the drive may not be capable to perform as the spec says. Secondly, your computer — or any device that will connect to the drive — may have unforeseen bottleneck somewhere. At any rate, you do need a testing software to get started.
App to Stop AI-Translation on YouTube
When I began browsing to find a monitor, there was one unescapable trends amongst the YouTube-based reviewers. Most of them have enabled AI-based translations on their videos, and some went so far to enable AI-dub their videos. Before anybody embraced by AI-grace would shout at me otherwise, AI powered translations are not perfect; in fact, I often find them to be either misleading or flat out wrong. The only element AI has gotten it right, for the lack of better words, is the mimicry of the original speaker’s voice in target language.
App to Install Latest macOS on Legacy Devices
With the leak macOS 26 may be named Tahoe, I’m seeing reports on the list of the devices that will be left behind. No doubt this is more a concern for personal Macs than ones handled in an organization — they would already have made an upgrade plan. It is likely Apple will release few more major versions of macOS in x86, and if your machine is capable of meeting the needs, it is possible to install the latest macOS on your legacy-listed Mac.
App to Turn off Internal Display on MacBook without Clamshell Mode
MacBooks are known for its clamshell mode — I think laptop’s popularity plays a big role. It does make sense why it could be more appealing. As of now, maxed out M4 chip is available on both MacBook Pro and Mac Studio, and the heat throttling from form factor is known to be minimal. I’ve seen some professionals jokingly suggesting the IT must have chosen the laptop over Studio, because setting up a UPS for the workstation could cost more.
App to Manage macOS Login Items and System Extensions
I have been migrating from one Mac to another whenever I upgrade the machine. Often it is delivered with the convenience that I get almost identical experience as before, but only on the newer hardware. That said, the part of the ‘migration’ includes, though I didn’t verify it, copying over login items and system extensions that are likely outdated and fell out of use.
App to Add 2FA on WordPress
Surprisingly, WordPress supports neither 2FA (two-factor authentication) nor passkeys. Considering the prevalence of both and how readily available they have become, it’s still hard for me to believe WordPress does not have native solutions. Websites, of any kind, due its nature, are bound to be exposed. No wonder why WordPress is being preyed on.
App to Keep Mac from Sleeping
I was quite surprised to see that there were inquiries into the recommendations for customizing sleep behaviors for macOS, as apparently some of the third-party apps fell short. Back in the 2000s, I would have said Caffeine without a doubt. It had not seen major updates for a while until it’s under the new ownership. It’s still freely available, open source. True to their words, the new developers seem to focus primarily on the simplicity of Caffeine —that was the motto of the era.
App to Eject Water from iPhone Speakers
Apple has added waterproof to iPhones since 2016. It’s been roughly 9 years since iPhones speakers had chance to be engulfed in water, yet Apple hasn’t provided an effective method to eject water from the speakers. Whereas, on Apple Watch, since 2022, watchOS has a built-in water ejection mechanism which plays specific tune of sounds to eject water from the speaker. It’s not a perfect solution, but I found it to be practical enough.