Projects
Switch from iPhone
On September 20, 2025, iOS and macOS was banned from use on CTCL systems, as result, this bans all Apple hardware with the exceptions being the 2006-2008 Mac Pro. As a result, I would put into motion efforts to find an S21 (SM-G991B/DS; whatever has Exynos) when funds allow.
My distrust in iOS specifically is not new. What was the final straw for me was seeing this: . I should not be surprised but I cannot have a device with software that does this; at least with Android I can remove packages like Gboard.
Update on Homestuck situation
What initiated this "ban" on September 19, 2025 was how in-game OST (Game Bro) has been censored. I feel like this was not the original intent was done retroactively as it was in stark contrast with the rest of the comic leading up to page 5308 where it is featured. I was also told there was an "older" version of the OST that did not contain the auditory bleeps. I was very disappointed this even happened with the OST or really any part of the comic but I do not feel like I should drop it completely, especially over something like this. However, out of any community I have seen yet, the Homestuck community remains to be the most obsessed and celebratory of real-life violence and conflict. Though this is somehow the norm for the 2020s, there just seems to be a higher concentration of it in Homestuck. I do not want to be associated with that behavior. Yet, some of the kindest people I have ever met were those who associated themselves with Homestuck, leading to me exploring the franchise in the first place so I am not saying the entire community is like this.
Existing media on this website featuring the Hiveswap character Marvus Xoloto will remain. I love the idea of him and I should not have to reject that with deassociating with the rest of the franchise. However, media from the Homestuck franchise would no longer be seen in future posts, used in testing hardware or referenced in any project.
For anyone who would ask: I do not plan on watching the Homestuck Animated Series pilot any time soon but I did actually download it for when the time comes.
WBPC Monitors
On September 27, I packed up the two ViewSonic VG2249 monitors for return as one of them stopped working (described in the previous weekly blog post) and since they both use the Rev.C5 panel that, honestly, was painful to look at. I plan to acquire the VG2249 I have been using at work which as far as I know uses the much better Rev.C6 variant of the M215HJJ-L30.
In the meantime, I switched the central, "main", monitor over to the Acer X213H that I haved been used as my main from 2011 to 2020. Though using a TN panel, it is actually not bad. Service menu mentions AUO (AU Optronics) but no specifics on the panel model.
memholder
How we store memory modules at 2nd Life Inc. I consider to be far from optimal and I think I should come up with something to improve it. This week, I started to consider redesigning the 3D-printable memory module holder design I had from 2022-2023, which I named "memholder".
The "memholder" design is actually quite an engineering challenge, with great effort being put into balancing strength with minimizing material usage. The former designs did not really do good in either regard. With how much RAM we have, minimizing print filament usage is crucial at this scale while at the same time, it must be strong enough to have hundreds of DIMMs stacked on top of each other.
2nd Life Inc.
Monday, September 22
Looking for something to do, I noticed that some monitors were brought up to the inspection area. Finding out from over the weekend (during Week 38) that monitor service menus do have valuable data for resale, most importantly, the Power-On Hour count. I was able to consistently get this information from all monitors except for Dell. I also noted the panel if it was disclosed by the service menu, unsurprisingly, most of the panels I encountered were IPS or TN from LG Display. One unit had 47690 power-on hours and still had considerbly good backlight brightness, using an LG LM230WF5-TLD1 panel.
After work, I successfully reached Maymont from 2nd Life Inc. and back on Lime scooters only. While I was there, I took some pictures I may add to MediaCow Touch 2's wallpaper collection. I did not stay for long as the Robins Nature Center was closed and I did not feel like going around to another entrance; most of the Byrd Park area is a "no parking" zone and Maymont itself is a "no go" zone, likely complicating transportation if I did try to ride to another entrance. This trip was seen as a success and was a good final ride before I had to discontinue scooter riding altogether as described in the following section.
Tuesday, September 23
As money is continuing to be tight for me, I had to do something to prevent the temptation of scooter riding so often. The ride to and from Maymont the day before was US$40.30 in total. This adds up very quickly if I did this every day. In order to prevent temptation, I rode the scooter that I had parked in front of 2nd Life Inc a mile away and walked back. Most often I am not willing to walk a mile to go for a ride so this may work.
Wednesday, September 24
With some desktops from a smaller quote appearing in the inspection area. One of them were an eMachines ET1161-07, it has felt like forever since the last time I have seen an eMachines desktop. Unfortunately, the system would hang on boot splash if a bootable USB was present, having me unable to properly inspect this unit.
I started to work on disassembling the four 2013 Mac Pros (the "trash can" model). These were slightly more difficult to tear down than the older iMacs. To my surprise, three out of four of these systems had Intel Xeon E5-1680 v2 along with one with an E5-2697 v2, both being comparatively valuable CPUs for Ivy Bridge.
Thursday, September 25
I continued to work on desktops, then in an effort to match RAM that I put into these desktops, I found myself sorting RAM once again which seems to be something I really like doing.
Friday, September 26
Finding a couple bags of M.2 SSDs during scrap sorting from the previous day, I set back up the one iBUYPOWER desktop with the ASUS PRIME Z490-P board that I used before for wiping drives. I know on SSDs that zeroing is not really a secure wipe; I do this to more or less stress test the SSD and ensure whatever system it goes in sees it as cleared.
Personal
Though I do enjoy the work at 2nd Life Inc., I feel like I really do not have time to do anything that I want to do, if I even want to do anything else anymore. The work I do there is mostly predictable and I just feel fine staying within that comfort zone then see that US$820 get dumped into my bank account at the end of the two week period. At this point I get home at 5 PM, get ready to go to bed by 8PM then wake up to go to work. At this point, I do not see MediaCow Touch 2 or any other project happening any time soon and I do not seem to care anymore.