On Parallels, especially when it is the only option to run Windows ARM on Mac currently, the installed copy of Windows 11 has some peculiar settings turned on by default. One such settings I found was check boxes. On Parallels-run Windows 11, though previous versions may have had it too, any icons selected would have additional check box on the upper-left corner, on top of traditional glass panel to indicate what items have been selected.
How to Match Months against Current Date on Shortcuts
If you are an avid Shortcuts user, there is a good chance you would want to automate certain things to run quarterly, or semiannually, or perhaps only on specific months of the year — a feature current version of Shortcuts does not have. But a shortcut can be automated to run every month. In other words, if you have a subroutine shortcut, it is possible to selectively run on specific months.
Is Desktop the Only Way to Game on PC?
I was in the process of researching and investigating for an op-ed I was preparing for, — FYI, still far away to start writing a draft — and I was hit with a problem much sooner than I thought. Gamers were using “game” as a term quite colloquially. The serious games, as they put it, didn’t have serious definitions. Many often called hyperrealistic AAA titles were serious games, and some called any games with competitive multiplayer with esports league attached to it.
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.
Apple One Needs Proper Single-User Plan
If you are subscribing to Apple Music on Apple ecosystem, at one point you must have considered subscribing to Apple One instead. The bundled subscription plan does have its merits. For one, the supposed “individual” plan already includes all the popular Apple Music and Apple TV+ with the 50GB iCloud storage. Apple Arcade is like a third wheel, even though I play Slay the Spire through the platform. Then, there’s the “family” plan, with up to 6 participants through family sharing and 200GB iCloud storage. Did you spot the issue? The key is the price tag.
How to Play Mixed Audio Sources to AirPods on macOS
It might sound odd, but there are times you simply wish to stream audios only — not the whole video stream — to an AirPod connected to another Mac. It happens most often for me when I’m watching YouTubes or Podcasts on the side while I have my AirPods connected to the workstation. I prefer to listen to the audio only until I want to take a peek. Previously I had to buy a software to get the polished experience that is equivalent to something as this, now macOS supports it; possibly starting from macOS 15.
Coway IoCare+ Migration Horror Spiel
I currently use two types of Coway products, number of air purifiers and a water purifier. Neither of them particularly need to have IoT features, but recently Coway decided to sprinkle the smarts onto their new products. It does have its advantages. For instance, Coway water purifiers with built-in ice makers traditionally had light sensor to only make ice during day time. With IoT, Coway’s IoCare app can actually trigger when the ice maker function will kick in. There are still buttons on the appliances, so the app is technically secondary.
Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest Spiel
The lovecraftian horror game from yesteryear has a story DLC set in 1986, 11 years past since the events of the Still Wakes the Deep. Because of the time it is set in, this piece will inevitably have some spoilers, though I’ll try my best to avoid it. In Siren’s Rest, you are playing as Mhairi, a diver, seeking to find the answers behind what had happened on the faithful day of Christmas in 1975.
How to Use Apple Music Classical on PC
This one is a PSA for Apple Music Classical users — a separate app for classical music. Despite Apple’s delayed release of Classical app for PCs, for both Mac and Windows, it is possible to use web UI Apple has built to enjoy near identical experience of what you would get on smartphones or tablets.
Alone in the Dark (2024) Spiel
As I have said about other classical franchises, the reboot of the franchise offers a great opportunity for newcomers to join. Alone in the Dark was a franchise I have only heard of and read of, and haven’t dared to try to play it. Even after the announcement of the reboot, I had thought only of the actor, David Harbour, playing as Edward Carnby, not much else. Aside from it being a horror game, I didn’t have much else to go on as a newcomer.
How to Disable Group View in File Explorer
Though I’m not a specialist in UI design, I can certainly add to the fact that having lists inside supposedly sorted list negates the purpose of arranging the items. Why arrange a list into yet another list? I would understand it if File Explorer was set to display icons, but I generally keep it in list view.
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.
Apple Pay Makes Landing in South Korea
I had written the introduction for this op-ed in 2012, and the op-ed was in making since. It began with Apple’s stance on NFC, whether the NFC on smartphones will become the next de facto standard, especially against chip-and-pin and contactless. And not so surprisingly, with Apple Pay introduced only in the United States in 2014, and increasingly more number of countries adopting EMV, the answer was self-evident. Users prefer the convenience and safety of Apple Pay or Google Pay for Android, if not the contactless from their plastic cards.
How to Add Sleep Hotkey on Logi Options+
To customize Logitech keyboards, users can opt to use Logitech’s included software,Logi Options+, or third-party alternatives to either enhance the Options+ or completely replace it. The reason why I am writing a how-to on Logitech’s official software has little to do its capabilities; frankly, I would recommend exploring third-party alternatives for any advanced customizations capabilities. But I also experienced long term support for third-party apps can be a deal breaker for many, including myself.
How to Disable “Open in Windows Terminal” in Context Menu
If your intent with Windows is to develop or write codes, “Open in Windows Terminal” in the context menu may be a nice touch. But for the majority of the average users, including myself who only use Windows as a secondary, having an added option to already well-established UI can simply be disturbing.