A few of my bookmarklets

I have a few Javascript bookmarklets that I thought I’d share. Bookmarklets are short snippets of JavaScript code that run in the context of the current web page in the browser. I prefer them over extensions since I can see what the code does. There are plenty on the web, here are a few of mine. ...

18 Apr 2021

Of mice and... keyboards

I have a desktop PC and a notebook, both sharing a mechanical RGB keyboard, RGB mouse, and “air mouse” (which I use as a media remote control). This post describes my setup. ...

10 Apr 2021

Visual Studio Code key bindings for curly quotes

When I write, I want proper curly quotes, with the correct opening and closing ‘single’ and “double” quote marks. However, the standard QWERTY keyboard doesn’t have these keys, having only straight ‘single’ and “double” quotes. Microsoft Office and Apple Pages “Smart Quotes” will automatically fix this, but since I write this blog in Visual Studio Code, here is how I setup my keyboard. ...

27 Mar 2021

What I learnt shopping for decent computer speakers

I was looking for “decent” budget computer speakers… I’ll be the first to admit that I know nuts about this topic, but, after some research, I landed up getting the Edifier R1280DBs launched sometime H1 2020. Here are some things I learnt while researching my purchase. ...

21 Mar 2021

Tweaks and Hacks to Configure Windows 10

I’ve been meaning to post this from the time I built my Windows desktop. But I keep adding to the list of things I need to configure to get Windows 10 into a ”usable” state for me. Unlike with macOS - for which the default installation is well configured, secure, and pretty much good-to-go - the installation and setup of Windows is extremely painful and a terrible experience. I have to spend hours trying different methods to remove junk, disable telemetry, and secure Windows (and still fail)… ...

13 Mar 2021

Command to turn off monitor in Windows 10

I wanted to turn off my monitor in Windows 10, while listening to music, rather than wait for the Power plan “Turn off the display” timer to kick in. Hmmm, seems Windows has never improved, because I recall having this requirement back-in-the-day - haha, that was during my first project ever, when I was involved in some Win32 development… ...

12 Mar 2021

Migrating from bash shell scripts to Python

I recently wanted to migrate from a Bash 3 shell script to Python 3. This is nothing but a brain dump comparing a few bits and bobs. ...

11 Mar 2021

North Bayou H80 Monitor Mount Review

Since building my Ryzen-based Windows desktop, I have had a bad case of G.A.S. or Gear Acquisition Syndrome. This time I wanted an adjustable monitor mount to fit my old-fashioned computer table. I couldn’t find well written reviews nor a comparison with a similar model, so here is my opinion of the H80 and F80 monitor mounts / arms by North Bayou. ...

21 Feb 2021

Configuring Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2)

Here is how I configure Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). I do things a bit strangely: by changing the mounts, by running a GUI Desktop, and by running Docker in WSL2 and not on the Host… ...

13 Feb 2021

DNS settings to fix emails being marked as spam

Recently a number of emails sent from one of our domains was getting tagged as spam by the receipent. Here are some things I learnt trying to fix this problem… ...

7 Feb 2021