Muelsyse

Been Busy

Muelsyse — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been busy.

This month, I had 6 quizzes, 4 tests and 3 major deadlines. All of which had to take priority over almost everything else.

My finals are still approaching, so I’m not sure if I can blog more. At the very least, now I have a one week ‘break’. I’m going to keep it short, but I just wanted to mention a few things that seriously helped me throughout this really stressful month.

Notesnook and the Monograph

A screenshot of the Monograph, with some sections censored for privacy.

I used to be pretty disorganized. This meant that I would constantly forget about deadlines and other important dates. Unfortunately, in my university, there are a bajillion places that I had to pay attention to for announcements. As a result, I decided to create a notepad where I keep track of all these quizzes, tests and deadlines (‘Upcoming Q, T & D’ as I called it). This proved to be integral to my workflow and allowed me to plan for the present and next few weeks.

Notesnook has this free feature that way too few people talk about: Monographs

Monographs are essentially public notes. You can password-protect them, make them self-destruct after view, or you can leave them there (they are, by default, unlisted). Every Monograph is static, so it does not update automatically - and I love that. So, I can edit the note locally on my computer/phone and then ‘publish’ it again (under the same link) when I believe it’s ready. So, what does that have to do with me?

Well, I thought that it would be helpful to my course-mates if I made the note public, so I published it as a Monograph and shared it with them. I’m glad I did, as it turned out to be helpful to them as well and they also helped me if there was anything missing. To my course mates reading this, a major update is underway but it’s going to be gradual. Stay tuned!

I’m planning to subscribe to the Notesnook Education Plan to fully take advantage of Notesnook and to support the developers. I have been using it since the v2 era, and I believe it’s one of the best FOSS notetaking apps. It’s up there with QOwnNotes (which I use to draft my blog posts). Check out /uses for more cool apps I use.

Daudix’s Calendar

I think this angle goes hard, print yours now with the link below!

Despite being a computer science student, I still prefer using pen and paper. It’s in my blood I suppose. Back in high school, I would print out a calendar to use. For me, it’s a lot easier as I would be more likely to remember stuff if I wrote it down rather than if I typed it. Furthermore, keeping track of multiple digital calendars is not fun.

For the past year, I’ve been using Microsoft’s Hummingbird template. However, once I stumbled upon Daudix’s Portal-themed calendar, I knew I had to use it. I’ve always been a fan of the aesthetic and lore of the Half-Life universe (despite not finishing a game from the series. I’ll get to it, I promise). This seemed like the perfect calendar for me. It was also fun to show it to my friends who have played Portal, and they love it as much as I do.

The calendar has seen extensive use this month with all the important dates (so plenty in fact I had to gamify it to cope. Creatively dubbed: ‘Stronghold Protocol’) and man I can’t thank Daudix enough for creating it. I wish him all the best with Ametrine, I look forward to using it once its complete :D

I Gotta Do Better

This is my first year and first semester in uni. I’ve made a lot of nice friends, and they’ve helped me a lot. I want to thank them and apologize for my deficiencies. It’s not even finals week yet and I’m already tripping all over the place academically. I have about three weeks to prepare, and I am on that grind now. I’ve also realized that I need to balance my time right, as working all day is not sustainable as shown by my results and mental health. Going to the Surau/Mosque more often has helped me a lot to clear my mind and soul as well. Oh yeah, don’t forget to sleep early.

I did not keep this as short as I had promised lol. My bad.

This post marks Day 3 of #100DaysToOffload

Sending Memes Using Radio

Muelsyse — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The internet has fallen, billions can’t use social media. How are you supposed to send your horrendous memes to your bro now?

Using radio of course!

Well, kinda. There are many limitations to this which I’ll elaborate on later, but it does make for a fun side-project. Furthermore, I can also see a number of alternative use-cases for this which may be helpful. Even if you have none, at least you have a cheap wireless speaker now!

Yo, What? But How?

That was my exact reaction when I saw this post by adminispwd on Instagram. Thankfully, he was nice enough to even share a tutorial on how to do this! So, how does this work?

This uses a method called slow-scan television (SSTV), which is used by amateur radio operators to send images to each other. SSTV systems operate on voice frequencies, and in this post I will show you how this can work over FM radio, which is part of the Very High Frequency (VHF) range.

SSTV also has multiple modes of operation that affects the resolution of the image and the time it takes to transmit. The most popular modes (according to my basic research) seems to be Martin M1 in Europe and Scottie S1 in the US. In this guide, we will instead be using Robot36 as it is fast and can transmit in color too!

What’s the Next Step of the Operation? 👽

You’ll need a few things to get started. Thankfully, all of them can be bought for cheap or even free!

Things you need. You don't need a laptop, you can use two phones instead.

2 devices (one to transmit and one to receive. Ask a friend if you lack an extra device.)
SSTV encoder and decoder software for both devices
- For Linux: QSSTV (Flatpak Version)
- For Android: SSTV Encoder and Robot36
FM transmitter
Radio
Optional: A USB-C to headphone jack adapter (if you get an FM transmitter that only uses a headphone jack)

The majority of basic FM transmitters in the market are mainly for use in car cigarette lighters to provide cheap wireless speaker functionality for old cars. Make sure you don’t buy a Bluetooth transmitter either. The one shown in the image uses a headphone jack rather than a USB connection, because I don’t want to connect a random USB I bought online into my phone or computer. It cost me about RM17 (~4 USD) at the time of writing.

Funnily enough, just ask around for a radio. Someone probably has some dusty old radio lying around. Anything that can receive FM signals will work. You can even use your car radio! Also, ensure that your FM transmitter is not too far from the receiving device, it has a relatively short range.

This post will exclusively focus on Linux and Android. However, there are SSTV decoders for iOS and SSTV encoders/decoders for Windows but I haven’t tested those so explore on your own.

It’s Tuning Time.

Enough with the static, it’s time to tune in.

Connect your FM transmitter to your transmitting device and turn it on.
Tune your radio to the same frequency displayed by the FM transmitter. If the radio is tuned correctly, you’ll hear silence instead of static.
If there’s interference, search for a frequency with no or little interference on the radio. Once found, adjust your FM transmitter to that frequency. For reference, my FM transmitter is set to 107.2MHz.

From Left-Right: QSSTV, SSTV Encoder, Robot36 (all are set to their correct modes)

After that, you should start up your SSTV encoders and decoders.

On your transmitting device:
- Open QSSTV (Linux) or SSTV Encoder (Android)
On your receiving device:
- Open QSSTV (Linux) or Robot36 (Android)
Ensure both devices have their decoders/encoders set to Robot36 mode (or Robot36 Color).

On your transmitting device, pick a meme to transmit. Since the resolution is lowered to 256 x 240, simple memes are best. However, you can just send whatever you want.

Ensure that your receiving device is placed close to the radio/speaker. Noise will cause interference in the signal, but a little bit of noise may add some charm to the final image if you’re into that (I certainly do).

Finally, start the transmission! You can do so by clicking the Play button on your encoder.

Original input (left) vs SSTV output (right)

Beep boop. Slowly but surely, an image should start to form line by line as your receiving device decodes the raw output of your radio. Congratulations, you’ve just sent a meme over FM radio! You are now a certified radio shitposter 🎉 !

NOTE TO SELF: Find an actual certification 😅

That’s Sick, but What’s the Catch?

Cheap FM transmitters generally have a short range due to legal restrictions. Technically, you can’t host your own amateur/ham radio station (which is essentially what you’re doing) without a license. However, that mainly applies to larger-scale operations that are meant to cover entire towns, and it’s also subject to your local laws.

There’s also the interference factor: another radio station can interfere with your radio transmission easily. If the default frequency doesn’t work, it will take some time for you to find a functioning frequency.

I can think of multiple use-cases for this beyond sending memes:

If you’ve bought one, you can use your new/old radio as a wireless speaker, since you’ve essentially created your own little radio station. My radio has become my primary wireless speaker because of this.
Embed an image into an coded radio transmission in your horror game or alternate-reality games (ARGs). It would probably increase the depth and creepiness of your game.
Use a screen recording of the output or the image output itself in an analogue-horror series. The potential from the grainy/noisy nature of the image can’t be understated.

Once again, I want to thank Muhammad Isa @ adminispwd (his website) for the original idea! I had a lot of fun doing this and seeing the reactions of others when I demonstrate this is incredibly funny. Dumb yet interesting experiments like this add spice to your life, and I look forward to see what you would end up using this knowledge for.

This post marks Day 2 of #100DaysToOffload

Cleaning My Gallery with a Sponge

Muelsyse — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I switched to Linux around two years ago, and I’ve been so engrossed in the FOSS world that I’ve become accustomed to hating on every piece of proprietary software I come across. However, I’ve mellowed out since and adopted a more reasonable approach: I would prefer to use FOSS, but if the proprietary software is just that good, I’ll use it.

This is how I felt when I discovered Sponge.

No-frills, fun, and probably the most effective way to clean your gallery.

A Little Obsession with Storage

My first smartphone was an ASUS Zenfone 5. No, not the iPhone X clone, the 2015 one with the… Intel Atom chip (I know, right?). It came with a meagre 8GB of storage. This seemed like a lot to me back then but a few games and photos/videos were enough to fill it up quickly. Every time that dreaded ‘Your phone is running out of space’ notification popped up, I would have a minor crash-out. This habit carried over to this day, where I feel a little worried every time I fill up space on my device, compelling me to go on a cleaning/optimization spree.

Sponge’s Ingenious Use of the Swipe System

Sponge's UI

When you launch the app, you’re greeted with a percentage of your cleaning progress. When you choose to start cleaning, it sorts your gallery by month and reveals how many images/videos there are and how many you’ve processed. Once you select a month, you’re shown the deleting interface, and that’s where Sponge really shines.

The way Sponge works is reminiscent of the Tinder ‘Swipe Left/Right’ matching paradigm that took the dating (and software) world by storm a decade ago. When you swipe to delete, the app does not immediately delete your selected items, allowing you to confirm or undo your decision. There’s also a settings option that gives you a choice on whether to send your selected items to the trash or delete them completely.

This workflow makes going through my gallery a lot more pleasurable and intuitive, compared to using my gallery’s built-in delete system or my laptop’s file manager to sift through the thousands of images and videos.

Funnily enough, I just realized why they named the app ‘Sponge’.

So Good, I Got the Premium Sponge

Unfortunately, cleaning videos and other non-essential features are locked behind a paywall. Thankfully, Sponge Premium is a one-time, lifetime purchase and it’s also great value for money at RM 26.99 (~$6 USD). This is the first time I’ve ever spent money on an in-app purchase for a proprietary program (outside of games), and I’m very happy with my purchase.

Once again, I highly recommend this app if you’re looking for an effective and simple way to clean your gallery. You don’t have to go through them all at once. Personally, I spend around 30mins a day just cleaning my gallery and I save between 300MiB to 3 GiB+ just doing that, daily!

How to Unfubbernuck Your Android Phone: Part 1 (Easy)

Muelsyse — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Search

I needed a new phone. My 5-year-old iPhone XS had a broken FaceID module (plus no fingerprint sensor to fall back on) and was plagued by constant boot loops and failures, which made me question its long-term viability. The iPhone was a hand-me-down, which I accepted because the Android phone I used before was practically unusable for my workflow. However, after using Linux and becoming enamoured by FOSS, I really wanted to get back into the Android ecosystem. After a few weeks of research, I finally settled on a device: The POCO X6 Pro.

The POCO X6 Pro seemed like a steal. For around $300 (RM 1300), you get 512GB UFS 4.0 storage, 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, a beautiful 120Hz AMOLED screen with HDR support and a CPU/GPU that is significantly more powerful than rivals at its price range! It was basically a no-brainer. Or at least I thought it was.

The Catch

With such amazing hardware, it surely came at a cost right? Yeah… massive ones…

POCO is a subsidiary of Xiaomi, and it mostly sells rebranded Redmi phones outside China. Chinese phones generally have a mixed reputation: they provide good value for money, but are horrendous for privacy and security. They even have ads and trackers embedded within so many parts of the operating system, including the system apps! Despite the fact that my POCO runs Android 14, it actually runs Xiaomi’s heavily modified spin of Android called HyperOS. It lacks optimization, contains plenty of bloat and with HyperOS 2.0 showing Xiaomi slowly moving away from the Android kernel, I am not hopeful for its future.

I’ve spent the past few months optimizing my phone so that not only is it more private and secure, but it is also a joy to use. The knowledge I’ve gained will now be imparted to you in a 3-part series on “How to Unfubbernuck Your Android Phone”, sorted from easy to hard.

Enough with the waffle, lettuce begin.

Step 1: Block Ads/Trackers using Private DNS

Some organizations and schools block DNS-over-TLS as part of their firewall. If you can’t access the internet after using Private DNS, enable Airplane Mode and then disable it.

If this does not fix your problem, switch back to the default Private DNS setting and skip this step (or enable it everytime you are not using the organization’s WiFi).

Since Android 9 Pie (2018), encrypted DNS has been supported in Android in the form DNS-over-TLS. In essence, the Domain Name System (DNS) is the ‘phonebook of the Internet’. It translates the youtube.com that you type into the search bar into an IP address like 142.250.188.14 so that your browser and other services can load the website through a decentralized network of servers.

By switching to a filtered encrypted DNS server, you can use this ‘phonebook’ to not only block trackers, but also ads and malicious websites! This can boost your device’s security and increase your digital quality of life.

Every manufacturer lays out their settings differently, so it’s best to look up on how to access Private DNS for your specific device. For my POCO X6 Pro, which is running HyperOS 1.0.13.0.UNLMIXM at time of writing, you can change it by going to Settings > More connectivity options > Private DNS > Private DNS provider hostname. Input the DNS-over-TLS address of the DNS server you want to use in there (e.g., p2.freedns.controld.com).

Personally, I am paying $20/year for Control D’s ‘Some Control’ plan because of how good it is (I can see statistics, customize my blocklists and even manage multiple devices!). Besides this, there are free filtered encrypted DNS providers out there. For the sake of longevity, I would point you to PrivacyGuides’ Recommended Providers. If you were to ask me, I would recommend Control D’s Free DNS or Mullvad DNS due to their many options . However, it is up to you to make the final choice.

Step 2: Delete Apps You Don’t Need

Image above (mobile) or to the side (desktop) shows an app with as many restrictions as possible

All phones come with their own set of preinstalled apps. A lot of these, especially if you bought a cheap phone, are sponsored apps. This is one of the reasons why cheap phones are priced as they are. Manufacturers often preinstall their own versions of standard Android apps as well which are more often than not inferior to the apps they were made to replace (e.g., Chrome/Firefox and YouTube Music).

All of these apps (aka bloat) take up precious resources on your device and can reduce your device’s security. You’re better off disabling/uninstalling them or restricting them to ensure that they don’t run in the background or permissions.

This can be easily be done by simply entering the Apps page in your settings. Go through each app, think about whether you need it, and delete/disable you don’t. If the app can’t be deleted, or shows only the option to Uninstall Updates (e.g., Mi Browser), you’re better off disabling every permission, notification, connection method and battery that app could utilize.

Step 3: Speed Up/Remove Animations Altogether

It is important for you to not touch any other setting within Developer Options unless you know what you are doing. Some critical apps - such as banking apps - can detect whether you have it enabled and temporarily block or warn you from accessing the app for security reasons. If this occurs, you can disable Developer Options and skip this step.

A lot of cheap Android phones can barely maintain a consistent 60fps during normal use. One way that immediately makes your phone feel faster is to speed up or remove animations altogether. However, you will need to enter Developer Options, which is hidden by default.

Once again, different manufacturers have different ways to enable and access it, so it’s best to look it up. Generally, it can be revealed by pressing your device’s Build Number multiple times until it says “You are now a developer!” — normally found in your device’s About Device section. On HyperOS devices, you will need to press OS Version instead.

Once you have it enabled, enter Developer Options and scroll down until you find Window animation scale, Transition animation scale and Animator duration scale. Play around with either .5x or off and see what you prefer.

Conclusion

Originally, there were four steps, but once I realized the post was getting long, I decided to defer the other step to future parts. I also removed a sizeable amount of waffle, in hopes of making it shorter. All of the steps involved were what I did to optimize my device and may differ from what others on the internet recommend.

This is also my first post for #100DaysToOffload. Thus begins my journey to publish 100 posts in a year. I have a number of interesting posts in the oven, and while they aren’t Part 2 and 3 of this series (they will come later as they take time), look forward to them as well!

Why I Decided on a Website

Muelsyse — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Hello World 👋

This is the first and hopefully many blog posts that I will write. There are a lot of things that I have at the back of my head that I wanted to talk about but I’ve never been sure to use what medium I should use until I created this website.

Why Did I Decide on a Website?

I’ve always been that guy who never stops talking about tech, for better or for worse. As with any kid who grew up in the early 21st century, I had ambitions to become a YouTuber. I just wanted a platform to express myself but in the end decided against it because to put it frankly - I am a terrible video editor. In hindsight, it was probably for the better, I can’t imagine relying solely on YouTube as my primary platform of expression (I may explore it again though if necessary, as a side-quest).

When I joined the Linux community back in 2022, it was the first time I started reading developer blogs to keep up with the news surrounding it (when I refer to Linux, I refer to the whole operating system, not just the kernel). This was how I got introduced to the concept of the IndieWeb, which I may end up elaborating on in a future post. To keep it short, this was also how I got introduced to the Fediverse, which can be described as humanity bringing social media back to the hands of the people rather than big corpos like Meta, Google and Bytedance.

Personally, I am very much fond of the idea that social media should be decentralized. Corporate web and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race and the environment. I grew up during a time where the IndieWeb was on its way out from the mainstream. It’s about time that we embrace it again. Thus, this website was created.

One of the posts I plan to write is a full on guide on how to set up your own website with Zola, my Static Site Generator (SSG) of choice. It’s relatively easy (I went through many problems myself so you don’t have to) but there would be no promises as to when that will release though. The lack of video guides on Zola also irks me slightly.

Extra Links

While the links to some of my online accounts can be found in the footer, I’ll repost them here so that people can check them out easier.

Mastodon (an open, federated alternative to Xitter)
Matrix (an open, federated alternative to Discord/Slack)
KDE GitLab (for all my KDE contributions)
Forgejo/Codeberg (a fully open-source alternative to GitHub, GitLab, SourceForge)
GitHub and Fedora Project accounts coming soon.