Until recently, I had the emails for themtparty.com to either redirect to each authors or the admin address. I wasn’t interested in having a separate email service for self-hosted WordPress blog, but there were times when I needed @themtparty.com email addresses.
How to Generate Random Password with Custom Special Characters
In one of the previous post, I wrote a Python code to generate “type-friendly” version of random passwords, where “type-friendly” meant generating clusters of strings. But touchscreen isn’t the only time I want custom grammar rules from password managers.
App to Replace Google Analytics, GDPR-Compliant, and Cookie-free
I wrote an op-ed recently on changing the analytics tool on The Mad Tea Party, and this is my app-to piece on what happened. Now, due to the nature of what GDPR and other privacy related regulations, there are a lot of grey areas. One thing I found while researching what to do with the website was that many tips and guides writers decided not to touch on GDPR subject, even though it has been around since 2018 or so.
How to Set Orientation Lock with Action Button on iOS
Of many things Apple have added to iPhone, or removed from iPhone, one thing I do not understand is how half-baked Action Button is. It’s true that configurable button is more preferable, but it is also true Action Button is not configurable enough to become a new feature of its own. A lot of it comes down to what Shortcuts can do and can’t do, and while setting Orientation Lock is perfectly doable with a simple shortcut, it’s not clear cut why Apple hasn’t made this system-provided option.
How to Add Other Holiday Calendars to iCloud Calendar
With the Lunar New Year now come and gone, it’s time to prepare for other holidays that will come. Again, the macOS calendar does provide default holiday calendar of the place you are at now; but if you are planning to travel, for example, you might want to add a new calendar for destination. And we would want a calendar that is well maintained and in use, otherwise it might just be useless.
Lunar New Year, Lunisolar New Year, and Old New Year
I’m sure people are now aware of the hot topic which is about to erupt again next week —what to call New Year festivities celebrated by Asians, which is somehow not on the day of the New Year. I don’t consider myself to be an etymologist, but I’m old enough to remember how things were back in the 80s and 90s. We were throwing the word “Chinese” to describe pretty much anything Asian, —or oriental, as I was taught back then— and the public didn’t care for accuracy in the usage. It meant something exotic, and it meant something not…
How to Sync Sublime Text Packages
I’ve been using Sublime Text since version 2, and of its many features, one I needed the most is definitely the additional packages and extensions you can install based on your needs. Only problem is that Sublime Text doesn’t support cloud sync out of the box, so the user does have to tweak it to get it working.
How to Change Username and Home Folder on macOS
Choosing the right username can never be more important now than it did before. If your journey in computing started in some computing center with UNIX, no doubt the importance of 3 characters-long username hasn’t escaped you. Whereas, if you started your computing with a PC like I did, a proper or useful username is likely an alien concept. On POSIX systems, it’s a simple enough concept to either change the username (if system allows) or simply transfer over to the newly created account.
When Nokia Downplayed Touchscreen on iPhone
Back in 2007, when Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone on stage, there were mixed responses to Apple’s new product. “Smartphones” weren’t around to capture the every historic moments, —and frankly, the PR nightmares tech companies faced— but with recently released Nokia Design Archive’s internal iPhone launch presentation, it seems the Finnish company decided to have their analysts take a look at iPhone launch. It’s an interesting read of its own, but I want you to to focus on page 12:
Analytics Tool, Google, and Geo-Lock
This post is a rant than a spiel, but thought to share some ideas on it. It you have seen some random cookie notices this morning, my apologies, if you were one of them. Long story short, I have been using Google Analytics on the website for the longest time, —probably since I started self-hosting it— and the latest changes in privacy regulations mandated that the website needs to have a cookie consent pop-up. And that cookie consent management, in Google’s words, came with paid partners. No more.
App to Test Your Audio Quality Hearing
There was a time about a decade ago when wireless audio was simply not acceptable. I recall The Verge called wireless headphones to be the next quartz watch; the new technology that will soon replace the existing ones, and the consumer wired audio will live on as niche, maybe for hobbyists to admire the craftsmanship. Though I disagree on technical point of the metaphors, —unlike quartz, wireless isn’t inherently cheaper yet— The Verge was right: wireless is the new norm.
Benchmarks, dGPU, and Apple Silicon
When I bought my Mac Pro in 2019, I was running under the two assumptions: a. Apple may not be able to deliver competent SoC until later iterations, b. Apple will surely support Pro models for non-ARM works. I was sorely mistaken on both parts. Apple did deliver its M1 with huge success, and now Mac Mini —that Mac Mini— is on the list for cheapest and most cost-effective workstations. What really caught me off guard was how Apple showed no hesitance to throw away its AMD graphics card support, the last of its kind on Mac front.
How to Run Local LLM for Thesaurus and Writing
I don’t particularly appreciate AI in the field of writing. My experience with AI so far as a reader was that it’s either so good you could have hired a squadron of ghost writers with the same budget to run the AI, or it’s so bad you are spamming Google with the AI-generated contents. Ultimately, the ones that make the final cut from LLMs, from my experience, were the ones that were used in the hands of the professionals. That’s where thesaurus comes in.
Sonos, Apps, and IoT
Sonos CEO has stepped down. I won’t go into details about his departure from the company, nor the company’s future plans for its apps, product warranties, and/or future releases. I do recall I wrote a dreary review on dead Sonos Roam, but that’s really besides the point. What I had experienced was most likely a hardware failure, coupled with softwares incapable of detecting early signs —and this all happened in 2023. The overhauled app was launched in May 2024, and most of the problems were related to the software itself.
How to Generate Type-Friendly Password
For the life of me, I do not see why this is a thing for Korean websites and apps, but Korean apps often require “virtual keyboard” on a smartphone. Yes, you heard me correctly. On a smartphone’s virtual touchscreen keyboard, they insist to put in a new randomized keyboard for security sake, while banning the use of simple copy-paste or password manager. Not to mention the password policy of these apps often limit the length to either 8 characters in extreme cases and maybe 16 in some half-decent banks. KISA, Korea Internet & Security Agency, actually published an article NOT…