Jonathan Markevich

Category: Desktop

  • Thin Client as Desktop

    A low-power mini (micro) server is very handy for a small home office/hobbyist setup.  It’s nice to have an always-on server running something like Pi-Hole, a ddns client or even a small database server, without worrying about overt energy use.  Raspberry Pi seems to be the ideal device for this! Except.  Tried to get a…

  • Password Keeper

    I’ve been a huge fan of 1Password since the beginning. I bought several versions and upgrades for multiple machines and never regretted it. Something happened with version 7 though, and I haven’t been as happy with the change. What happened was subscriptions.  Now, I have a number of software subscriptions, very very few make me…

  • iTunes Without the iTunes Part

    I have been archiving all of my purchased media for quite some time now, I like the flexibility of a digital copy, but also flexibility to view it how and where I choose (i.e. Plex).  That usually means a lot of disc ripping, and I have set up a decent system and workflow to do…

  • Rescuing Encrypted files on ACD

    So Amazon is shutting out Linux users.  But what if I have a bunch of encrypted files there using old encfs and acd_cli scripts? I can copy down the encrypted files using their client at any point, but how will I know which one is which? I did the following.  First, create a temporary directory.…

  • MacDVDRipper Pro 5

    I was a fan of RipIt and DVDRemaster a couple of years ago, I had a nice workflow going where I could convert my DVD TV series discs into MP4s for the Apple TV  (We have a lot of discs).  I discovered MDRP since then, and I have been very happy with it, just a…

  • WD MyBook Live

    I discovered the other day that my WD MyBook Live is a lot more capable than I realized. It is actually running some flavour of Debian and has a fair suite of default unix commands. So what did I do with it? I didn’t go too wild… Due to the death of a previous MyBook…

  • WWDC 2014

    Apple had their WWDC keynote today, and announced, well, everything. Their user experience is converging like I couldn’t have imagined before.  Continuity lets you transfer your work from mobile to desktop just by being close to your Mac.  You can answer your phone from your computer. Mavericks looks awesome, despite my worry about flattening things.…

  • Sorry iBooks, it’s over.

    I’ve had it with iBooks, mostly because of its insane destructive syncing scheme.  Which isn’t syncing at all, is it?  See my logic below. I want to read books with my two portable Apple devices, optionally with my desktop Apple computer.  I want to highlight, bookmark or annotate in one device and sync to any…

  • Google Play Books redux

    I gave a quick review of Google Play Books when it first came out with user uploads.  (tl;dr version: meh.) It turns out that the iOS version is the weakest of their representations.  As foolish as that is, I should have known.  Now that I have tried the Android version, I see some significant advantages.…

  • iWork for iCloud Beta

    I just got to try it out. It’s… OK.  Definitely nicer looking than Google’s Docs offering, with some more conversion and graphics options, for sure, but some things elude me.  In Pages, for instance: Tabs/margins? Dragging or clicking on the ruler does nothing. Columns as shown on this page don’t seem to be possible. Editing or…