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Welcome to the Power Users community on Codidact!

Power Users is a Q&A site for questions about the usage of computer software and hardware. We are still a small site and would like to grow, so please consider joining our community. We are looking forward to your questions and answers; they are the building blocks of a repository of knowledge we are building together.

Activity for matthewsnyder‭

Type On... Excerpt Status Date
Question How to configure custom DNS for only one Wifi network?
One of the Wifi networks I connect to has a DNS server on it, which is better than public ones. This DNS server is not available when connected to other networks. When I'm on this network, I want my phone to use eg. `192.168.1.2` as the DNS. When on other networks, it should use the default automa...
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about 2 months ago
Answer A: How can I make moving from Chrome to Firefox as simple as possible?
Firefox is apparently able to automatically import all that: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switching-chrome-firefox I personally don't use these auto-imports. I find that browser migration is an opportunity for spring cleaning and decluttering my config. You can exports bookmarks to HTML, a...
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about 2 months ago
Question My hard drive is screeching, now what?
My hard drive is making a screeching/scraping/scratching sound. Is this bad? Will it explode? What I do? How do I figure out which hard drive is doing it, if I have multiple?
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about 2 months ago
Answer A: Is there a memory book for humans?
Not a real answer, but may be interesting: Silly Tavern includes a memory book Of course, Silly Tavern is a frontend for talking to AIs. So passages from the memory book will be shown to the AI, not you. There are various ways you could see them anyway (view full prompt, ask AI to repeat them) but...
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2 months ago
Question Is there a memory book for humans?
LLMs (AI) have limited context windows which makes it challenging to include all necessary context in the prompt. A common solution is a memory book. The memory book stores arbitrarily large amounts of text (typically past conversations as well as reference material like wikipedia articles), segme...
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2 months ago
Answer A: Browser video sometimes stops working; how can I figure out why?
Does the Mac Mini have a GPU? This sounds like something that could happen due to a graphics driver issue. AFAIK Youtube relies on the HTML5 `video` element. If it freezes in all browsers, it's probably not a browser problem. Nevertheless, most browsers (eg. Firefox) have a "Safe Mode" which start...
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3 months ago
Answer A: What are the security or privacy implications of browser clipboard events?
It's hard to comment definitively on this because both attack vectors and countermeasures evolve rapidly. My guess would be that Firefox would not allow tab X to see that you copied something on tab Y. It's a DOM method so presumably it is specific to that page. This would also be the only logical...
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3 months ago
Question Is there a program for systematically testing keyboard function?
My keyboard is getting old and occasionally I notice the key presses don't quite register. This keyboard uses membrane switches so I can see how they would wear out after a while and not be as responsive. I haven't been able to take careful note of which keys exactly are failing and how often. ...
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3 months ago
Answer A: Best practices for small, internet-critical company's ISP for maximal uptime
Your only real option here is redundancy. Besides what manassehkatz explained already, you can also open a second office in a different location. It seems unlikely that internet would fail in two different cities at once, and this will work even when there is an ISP monopoly in each area.
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3 months ago
Answer A: Recommended way to back up large photo/video library on iOS device
I believe the recommended solution by Apple would be to buy a more expensive phone with more storage. This is usually not a very good deal financially. For example, currently the iPhone 15 has a 128GB model for $800, while the 512GB model is $1100, so they want you to pay $300 more. Meanwhile a 50...
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3 months ago
Question How can I separate a home LAN to isolate resources?
I have a home network, including a server (not on public internet) that runs various services. For example, a Nextcloud instance with family photos. Currently, the server is connected to my router by Ethernet, while other devices connect to the WiFi. All computers can see each other. I want to ...
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3 months ago
Answer A: Alternative to Cheese that allows custom capture directory?
After posting this, I realized that I could simply replace `/Pictures/Webcam` with a symlink. Perhaps this is what the devs intended, in some Zen/Koan way... I would still like to know if there is a good alternative that provides this obvious feature directly. Also, with the symlink it's harder to...
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3 months ago
Answer A: Are non power users questions welcome in Power Users?
I think the way to interpret the site name is not "this site is for power users only", but rather "this site is for any aspiring power user". It doesn't really matter if you're not an expert, and there isn't much of a bar for a question being too simple. If it's so simple, then it should take a mi...
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3 months ago
Answer A: How can I do a one-time data import to DokuWiki to create many pages?
While I was writing the answer, I realized that actually Selenium can be used to do this without any need for Dokuwiki plugins that support your specific use case. Selenium is an automated Chrome, where you can have a Python script open Chrome, go to a URL, find a link, click it, fill out some forms,...
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3 months ago
Answer A: Are there consequences for going VR for primary computer display?
The obvious risk is probably developing myopia due to prolonged focusing on a near object. This is similar to the idea that being on the computer too much exacerbates myopia (and perhaps also the idea that prompted this question). I believe the current mainstream view in the medical field is that myo...
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4 months ago
Question Alternative to Cheese that allows custom capture directory?
I use Cheese) to take photos with my webcam. The photos get saved under `/Pictures/Webcam` which I don't like. I want them somewhere else. In typical, presumptuous Gnome fashion, there is no UI in Cheese to "move file to another directory", nor is there any place in settings to change the default...
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4 months ago
Question Low cost programmatic access to US brokers
Are there US stock brokers that allow programmatic access for retail investing? I would like to be able to connect to my broker's API to check my stock portfolio and place trades. I'm not looking for any nanosecond-level HFT support, I just want a script to update stop loss orders every few days. ...
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5 months ago
Question Google voice rings only a few times in browser
When I receive a call with Google Voice open in a browser on my desktop, it only rings briefly in the browser (about 2 seconds). After that, my phone starts ringing. When I'm at my computer, I want to answer the call on my computer, not my phone. But the very short period of ringing is not enough ...
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5 months ago
Answer A: Can't subscribe to Google Calendar from URL
The URL `https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/1?cid=abc123` is not the right format for the `From URL` field. `https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/1?cid=abc123` goes to a website showing the calendar. When you open that in your browser, you will have the option of adding it to your own accoun...
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5 months ago
Question Can't subscribe to Google Calendar from URL
I have created a Google calendar in Google account A. In the calendar's settings, under `Access permissions for events`, I have left `Make available to public` unchecked. When I click `Get shareable link`, it gives me a URL with the pattern `https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/1?cid=abc123`. No...
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5 months ago
Question How do I trick Google meet into letting my browser use backgrounds?
When I use my Firefox-family browser to connect to Google Meet: > Update your browser to use visual effects > > You're using an older browser version that doesn't work with Meet's visual effects I bet they're just looking at the UserAgent, and if I put the one they expect it would work. What ...
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6 months ago
Question Easiest way to set up a mailing list
What is the easiest way to set up a mailing list? The goal is to send an email to one address, and it gets automatically re-sent to everyone who is currently subscribed to that list. Ideally, the solution should: Not require much technical expertise from the admin (no setting up your own mail ...
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6 months ago
Question KMail: Run script on open for local mail dirs
I use offlineimap to synchronize my mail, and I have the directory set up as a local folder in KMail. Currently, I open KMail and also run `offlineimap` to synchronize my mail. Is there a way to make KMail to run this command automatically, similar to how it would synchronize an IMAP account? N...
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7 months ago
Answer A: How can I filter GitHub commits by date range, in a friendlier way than git log?
I would handle this with `git bisect`. Assuming you have a known good old commit `CGOOD` (this would be your "since") and a known bad new commit `CBAD` (this would be your "until"), `git bisect start CBAD CGOOD` will walk you through running a manual binary search to efficiently find which commit int...
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7 months ago
Answer A: How do I make animated dotted lines ("marching ants") in images on my web page?
SVG apparently has an `` tag which can do this. The thing you would animate is the offset of the points/dashes on the line. This is called ``. It sounds like you are not writing the SVG by hand, but exporting from a program. You could of course edit the resulting SVG with a text editor. But sou...
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7 months ago
Answer A: How to mark a folder as the destination for pasting in ranger?
Still don't know how to do this, but bookmarks kind of accomplish it. You can do `m1` too bookmark a folder as "1". Then move to another folder and bookmark with `m2`. Now, to switch use: ``` `1 `2 go back to previous bookmark `` ``` That makes the copying a lot easier.
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7 months ago
Question How to mark a folder as the destination for pasting in ranger?
In ranger, I am often copying a bunch of files from one folder to another. Currently I do it like this: Select files with `Space` Cut with `F6` Navigate to the destination folder Paste with `pp` This is tedious when I am actually moving over files in multiple batches, or from multiple di...
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7 months ago
Answer A: What is a good browser suitable for every-day use that respects user privacy and freedom?
Pale Moon Pale moon is technically a Firefox based browser, but it has diverged considerably over the years. It was originally a fork of an old version and has retained many "good old" FF features which were replaced with arguably inferior designs by Mozilla: In 2014, Firefox overhauled its UI...
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8 months ago
Answer A: How to unlock/set locked preferences in Firefox-family browsers?
It seems possible to do this with `unlockPref`. ``` unlockPref("signon.rememberSignons"); ``` This technically only "unlocks" the setting, but in my case when unlocked it changes to `true` on its own in `about:config`, probably because that's the default. To explicitly set the desired value you...
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8 months ago
Answer A: What is a good browser suitable for every-day use that respects user privacy and freedom?
qutebrowser Qutebrowser is a small, independent project that is not a fork of any major browser. It is notable in being designed for keyboard-only navigation, inspired by the Vimium extension, which is in turn inspired by the Vi text editor. The keyboard navigation is a very useful feature for ...
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8 months ago
Answer A: What is a good browser suitable for every-day use that respects user privacy and freedom?
Brave The Brave project was started by Brendan Eich, one of the key figures in original Firefox, after he left the Mozilla foundation due to political reasons. From this, one could presume that it has greater commitment to respecting user privacy and freedom, or not. Brave is based on the Chrom...
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8 months ago
Answer A: What is a good browser suitable for every-day use that respects user privacy and freedom?
Firefox family browsers. These have good compatibility because Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari are the browsers most commonly tested by web developers. With more obscure browsers, many commercial website operators like to blame the user for breakage and refuse to fix issues unless you switch to o...
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8 months ago
Question What is a good browser suitable for every-day use that respects user privacy and freedom?
What is a good browser suitable for every-day use that respects user privacy and freedom? This browser should: Respect user privacy. Ideally no telemetry, or at least opt-in telemetry. Does not comply with website tracking if possible without breaking the site. Respect user freedom. Good sup...
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8 months ago
Question How to unlock/set locked preferences in Firefox-family browsers?
How do you unlock about:config settings which are locked? How do you set them despite being locked? As an example, Librewolf disables the password manager, which I find silly. However, they also disable your ability to turn it back on. The `about:config` key appears to be `signon.rememberSigno...
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8 months ago
Question Practical wireguard VPN on Android
I tried to use my Wireguard VPN on Android, and, it sucks! I installed https://f-droid.org/packages/com.wireguard.android/ thinking that would be "the" wireguard app. I configured it with my connection details and confirmed that it's being used. To turn it on, I have to launch the Wireguard app...
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8 months ago
Answer A: Ought I clone my C Windows drive, from my old SSD to new SSD in new computer?
Cloning is fine provided you do a proper clone. Something I used to do with Win7 is to actually clone the partition with a partition manager, and then boot from the new one. After everything is fine, resize the partition to fill the disk. The PCWorld article sounds like meaningless filler. I ha...
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8 months ago
Answer A: Linux distro and documentation for a Windows power user wanting to become a Linux power user without spending a lifetime in the process?
>Please, correct me if you think I'm wrong! What you're asking is at cross purposes with the Linux movement. Linux is fundamentally different from Windows because its development model is different. It needs to be highly modular because there is no big company managing development (Red Hat and Fed...
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8 months ago
Question How do I find a good KVM switch?
I regularly use two computers with the same keyboard and monitor(s) with a KVM switch. With one button press, the KVM switch can transfer both the video output (monitors) and input (keyboard and mouse) to the other computer, which is the part that I like. The part I don't like is the flaky behavio...
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8 months ago
Question Closing "unclear" questions
A frustrating situation is when a mod decides that a question is "unclear" and closes it, and yet the question is not actually unclear. Unfortunately, the close prevents anyone else from posting answers. I've seen this many times on Stack sites and I've now seen an instance here. This type of c...
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9 months ago
Answer A: Alternative to Google SketchUp for quick sketches?
I know three options: Blender - generic 3D modeling software. Very powerful, with many features and large community. A few years ago it used to be notorious for its steep learning curve. It is probably overkill for sketching out simple projects, but has the advantage in that if you do learn it, a...
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10 months ago
Question Alternative to Google SketchUp for quick sketches?
Google SketchUp used to be very popular among amateur "builders" - people would use it to design woodworking projects, 3D printer models, house renovations and so forth. The main strength was that it has a simple and intuitive interface that does just enough for an amateur who simply wants to have th...
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10 months ago
Question In FreeCAD, can you set units per-document?
I use metric units in some projects, imperial in others. It's annoying having to keep switching global units every time. Is there a way in FreeCAD to set the units per-document? When I open a document that is using imperial, it should automatically switch to imperial, but when I open another with ...
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10 months ago
Answer A: Trouble Running Diablo 2 resurrected on Windows 10 Home
How sad. I remember playing Diablo 2 as a wee lad, I think my computer at the time was a Celeron with an S3 Savage video card with 8 MB of memory. And then we have this "remake", probably with bloatware frameworks stacked on bloatware frameworks... God only knows where the horsepower is going. I f...
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11 months ago
Answer A: How can I transmit my current location to someone else's phone?
Surely there is a more elegant way, but I simply take a screenshot of the map (with a pip showing my location) and send it to the other person.
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11 months ago
Answer A: What technical steps can I take to reduce Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and discomfort from heavy computer use?
I think there are two aspects to this: Modifying your choice of hardware and software for various tasks, and improving quality of ergonomics in the chosen ware. In sum, for me it comes down to avoiding the mouse as much as possible and getting an ergonomic keyboard. Choice of hardware and software...
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11 months ago
Question What technical steps can I take to reduce Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and discomfort from heavy computer use?
I use computers heavily, both for work and out of personal habits. It's probably typical for me to spend 60 hours a week at a computer (how depressing, I know). Over the years, this has caused some issues for me like wrist pain (repetitive strain injury/carpal tunnel syndrome) and back pain. Wh...
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11 months ago
Answer A: How do I check email without depending on a mail client?
This is a broad topic, and I can't address all the details fully in one post. Instead, I will post an overview with enough keywords in each area, and leave it to the reader (and other questions) to explore each one in more detail. The solution here is to separate the mail synchronization (receivin...
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11 months ago
Question How do I check email without depending on a mail client?
I use email frequently, for many things, some of them important (banks, work). From what I've seen, all the offline mail clients (like Thunderbird, Evolution, Kmail) suck for a power user - mail filters are always some arcane, hard to use scheme that is difficult to version in a dotfiles repo, the pr...
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11 months ago
Answer A: HTML and Markdown aren't right for me. What other text markup types are around?
There is always a trade off between ease of writing and reading. HTML, Latex, rich text (docx/rtf) have excellent readability if prepared right, but writing in them is difficult. Plaintext is easy to write, but limited formatting can hamper readability. Which do you pick? It depends on how much you w...
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11 months ago
Question Hardware for occasional direct control of personal server
Sorry if the title is weird, please feel free to suggest a rephrase. I have a personal server in my closet. I host various software on this for my family's use. The vast majority of the time I control it with SSH. There are occasional times when SSH is not possible. For example, when the server...
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11 months ago