<p>My name is Sufyaan. My passion lies in computing and design. In fact, I regularly work for 4-7 hours on end tinkering applications, brainstorming new software ideas and practising brand design. <strong>My end goal is to impact the lives of as many people as possible through design and software.</strong></p>
<p>I am currently open for brand design projects for technology companies.</p>
@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
<p>I prefer to use products that are not from big corporations like Apple, Google, Microsoft or Meta. This is because of the invasive tracking, data collection and also because of centralization. If I have my email, pictures, videos, documents, notes and calendar on a Google account which gets banned or deleted, I will lose everything. Also, Google has full control over all of the aforementioned things even though they are technically mine. Don't get me wrong, I still use some of their products for specific things. However, I do not have complete dependence on them.</p>
<p>To chat with people, I use many apps. As mentioned before, I use XMPP, Session, Signal and WhatsApp. I also use email and will talk regularly with people as long as they use encryption with their emails.</p>
<p>If you would like to connect with me, please keep reading.</p>
<h3>Email</h3>
<p>My preferred way of communication is email. However, it is incredibly insecure. Therefore, I request you to <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../email">encrypt your emails</a> with me.</p>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>22 September 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>3 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/software/"><strong>Software</strong></a></p>
<p>Your smartphone keyboard is an astoundingly sensitive piece of software. You use it to type everything from the most innocent of messages to the most crucial passwords. In terms of messaging on encrypted chat applications like Session or Signal, your smartphone keyboard bypasses encryption. They could know what you are searching about even on private search engines like SearX. This is because your keystrokes are unencrypted. With respect to passwords, your smartphone keyboard, if invasive, can potentially view your bank account details. This means that an individual who can access your smartphone keyboard does not need to utilize advanced techniques to view your data. Therefore, in terms of trust, you should make sure you absolutely trust your smartphone keyboard not to store your written text.</p>
<p>When you keep the above statements in mind, it gets unhealthily fear-inducing when you read how <ahref="https://www.androidauthority.com/swiftkey-suspends-service-data-leak-706680/">SwiftKey had a cloud syncing glitch which led to users being able to view other users' email addresses.</a> It is also scary how <ahref="https://www.zdnet.com/article/600m-samsung-galaxy-phones-at-security-risk-due-to-pre-installed-keyboard-flaw/">SwiftKey that shipped by default on 600M Samsung Galaxy smartphones had a vulnerability that allowed hackers to setup a proxy server to access sensors and install apps without the user knowing.</a> There was also a keyboard called ai.type that had over 40M users. Out of these, <ahref="https://www.zdnet.com/article/popular-virtual-keyboard-leaks-31-million-user-data/">31M users had their data leaked because the MongoDB database had no password.</a> This included information like <ahref="https://mackeeper.com/blog/data-breach-reports-2017/">phone numbers, full names, device names and models, screen resolution, Android version, IMSI and IMEI numbers, email addresses, country of residence, social media profiles, IP addresses and even locations.</a></p>
<p>What is the solution to this madness? Fortunately, if you are on Android, you have <ahref="../definitions/free-software"style="color:#50fa7b">free software</a> options. By using <ahref="../definitions/free-software"style="color:#50fa7b">free software</a> keyboards, you can ensure that none of your keystrokes are stored or sent to a server. This brings us to <ahref="https://anysoftkeyboard.github.io/">AnySoftKeyboard</a>. AnySoftKeyboard is a free, libre and open-source keyboard for Android that has multiple modes, layouts, theme customizations and more. It has all the features you would expect. Gesture typing, keyboard effects, corrections, emojis, you name it. Most importantly, it does not track any of your keystrokes. I have been using it for almost an year. It has been fast and efficient due to the minimalism and has saved me a lot of time. It has many niche features like a terminal layout that has arrows, tabs, pipes and forward slashes for ease of use in Android terminal emulators like <ahref="https://termux.dev/en/">Termux</a>.</p><p>If you are on an iPhone, the best option is ironically Gboard. You can block Gboard's tracking using iOS' tracker blocking. Gboard does not log the text you store and instead uses federated learning to improve its autocorrect. There are no private options for an iPhone so it is better to choose the best out of two evils.</p>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>27 July 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>5 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/technology/"><strong>Technology</strong></a></p>
<p>Taking backups is crucial in every single context. There is simply no situation where the lack of backups was beneficial. Such situations are always detrimental to people. Backups are also important for businesses, especially ones which are responsible for the lives of people, like hospitals.</p>
<p>Taking backups prevents data loss due to software or hardware errors. Even accidents have a minimal impact if you have a backup. It allows businesses to keep growing instead of being worried about recovering crucial client data. For public services like hospitals, being hit with ransomware is an extremely difficult moment. If the ransom is not paid immediately, it can result in loss of human lives. This is why you either have backups or lose money.</p>
<p>Losing precious memories hurts. Backups prevent this gut-wrenching scenario from ever occurring. With many spectacular backup solutions being free or cheap, there is absolutely no reason to take backups. If you work with new computers and devices regularly, then taking backups makes it easy to migrate and install multiple instances on new devices. This is especially easy with <strong>Linux</strong> systems due to the simple dotfile method. It also provides version control. If you have old versions of documents and files, it is easy to refer to previous examples for future work.</p>
<p>If there is one thing that people love about backups, it is the peace of mind you get knowing that you have an extremely low chance of losing your important data.</p>
<p>It does not matter if you are a normal person or a massive business; you should spend time and money to back up your data properly.</p>
<p>The 3-2-1 backup rule is a rule that many people recommend following to remember to take proper backups. Here is the meaning of each of the numbers:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Three Copies</strong>: The "3" in the rule means that you should at least three copies of your data. This includes your original data, so you should have at least your original data along with two other copies. The advantage of having these many copies is that it is the perfect balance of simplicity and redundancy.</li>
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<li><strong>One Off-site Copy</strong>: The "1" in the rule means that you should have at least one off-site copy. Off-site in this case means somewhere other than your main home or regular backup methods. This can be an encrypted external hard drive that you leave at your relative's house, for example.</li>
</ol>
<p>It is important to note that these rules are not a plan for everyone, and are instead meant as a base for your backup plans. The least important data that you own should at least be backed up using the base 3-2-1 backup plan.</p>
<p>When it comes to using Big Tech's invasive services, you have to be extremely careful since they do not respect your privacy at all. At the bare minimum, you should be encrypting the files you upload if they are even of a little importance to you.</p>
<p>A popular program for file and drive encryption is VeraCrypt. To learn how to use it in detail, <ahref="https://yewtu.be/watch?v=cxo8xosH_TI">watch this video</a>. The overall process goes like this:</p>
<ol>
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<li>Upload it wherever you want</li>
</ol>
<p>This makes it difficult to easily access your files from your phone or another device, but it is totally worth it for your privacy.</p>
<p>Services like Mega allow you to pay for more storage, just like Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox. There are privacy concerns with the latter three, however. ProtonDrive is also a good option, but it has had some controversy due to the <ahref="https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/">privacy concerns of ProtonMail</a>. However, I am comfortable recommending it.</p>
<p>BackBlaze is a backup program that is under the <ahref="https://opensource.org/license/mit/">MIT licence</a>. It works really well for most of their customers, so I am comfortable recommending it.</p>
<p>When you are using services you own, you have to make sure that you verify the integrity of your files. File corruption can happen on every platform, but it is much better to verify your files on your server since there may be issues with your setup that causes file corruption.</p>
<p>It is also important to keep a separate drive or storage medium on your services if possible. If anything happens to your main system, it becomes really easy to just wipe the system and install a new one, knowing that your data is safe.</p>
<p>You can also use sync services like Syncthing for small files that you need synced within all of your devices. I use it to sync my password manager and personal notes. It is encrypted and open-source software and works extremely fast. It is so fast that by the time I save a file and open my phone, the file is already updated. This prevents conflicts.</p>
<p>If you are taking offline backups, you should be careful with encrypting your data if you need it. You should first assess whether you need encryption or not. If you live in an area with a lot of robberies, encrypt it, as a robber who is smart enough may steal your drive.</p>
<p>Make sure to get an external hard drive or SSD from a reputable company like <ahref="https://www.westerndigital.com/products?filterByUseCaseName=Backups">Western Digital</a> or <ahref="https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/portable-solid-state-drives/">Samsung</a>.</p>
<p>By buying a product from a reputable company, you get a reliable product that lasts a long time.</p>
<p>While it is important to back up your data, it is also important to maintain your backups. At the end of every month, check your backups to see if your files are still intact. If a specific backup medium keeps showing corruption in files, move it to another drive immediately, since they can fail at any time.</p>
<p>While it is important to take backups, it is also important to make sure you are taking them properly. Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule. If you are using invasive services, encrypt all of your files before uploading them using a trusted piece of software like VeraCrypt.</p>
<p>Try to use services that you own as much as possible, to be completely independent. Make sure to have offline backups.</p>
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<li><codeclass="code-posts">13/05/23</code> - <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../../tfa/">Start Using 2FA Properly</a></li>
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<li><codeclass="code-posts">19/10/23</code> - <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../../palestine/">Boycott These Israeli Companies</a></li>
<li><codeclass="code-posts">30/07/23</code> - <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../../fp/">Writing With Fountain Pens</a></li>
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<divstyle="text-align:center;"><imgsrc="arch-linux.webp"alt="Arch Linux Logo"><figcaption>Arch Linux</figcaption></div>
<p>Arch Linux is a barebones <astyle="color:#50fa7b"href="../linux-distribution/">Linux Distribution.</a> It is often referred to as a 'do it yourself' distribution due to the fact that it has the absolute essential packages and nothing else. Everything else, you install yourself. It is also known for the AUR or the Arch User Repository. It is a community-driven repository that has a plethora of packages. It has so many packages that many people switch to Arch Linux because of the AUR. There is no need to add extra repositories like Debian-based distros or RHEL-based distros because almost every package you can think of is on the AUR.</p>
<p>Arch Linux has become a meme in the Linux community. This is because there are many people who say that they use Arch. Due to this, the phrase 'i use arch btw' became famous.</p>
<p>Proprietary software is often deemed to be non-free because the owner exercises a legal monopoly by modern copyright law to exclude the recipient from freely sharing the software or modifying it. It is shunned in the free software world as it strips users of their rights.</p>
<imgsrc="operating-system.webp"alt="The three major operating systems (left to right): Windows (by Microsoft), Linux-based opearting systems, MacOS (by Apple)">
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>6 October 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>1 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/technology/"><strong>Technology</strong></a></p>
<p>The domain has been changed to <ahref="https://sufyaan.me/">sufyaan.me</a>. I also have a new email which is <ahref="mailto:sf@sufyaan.me">sf@sufyaan.me</a>. Download the PGP keys <ahref="../key/sufyaan.gpg">here</a>.</p>
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<hr/><p><ahref="../">sf.cu</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../blog/">Blog</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href=".">Why I Switched Fonts</a></p>
<h1>Why I Switched Fonts</h1>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>4 August 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>1 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/software/"><strong>Software</strong></a></p>
<p>This post is just a quick update to announce a hard decision that I have made. I have switched the font on this website from <ahref="https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/">JetBrains Mono</a> to <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courier_(typeface)">Courier New</a>. This change was made because I feel like JetBrains Mono looks more fitting in a terminal because it looks janky on a website. Courier New is a monospace font but still maintains the feeling and look I want from my website.</p>
<p>This change has had an unintended benefit. Previously, my website's homepage weighed around 50KB in size which is spectacular. However, what I did not realize was that around 40KB were being taken up by JetBrains Mono. By switching to a default typeface, my website now weighs a shockingly low 12KB. If you would like to view the full GTMetrix report, <ahref="website-report.pdf">do so here.</a></p>
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<hr/><p><ahref="../">sf.cu</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../blog/">Blog</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href=".">Forget Your Passwords</a></p>
<h1>Forget Your Passwords</h1>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>9 September 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>1 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/technology/"><strong>Technology</strong></a></p>
<p>If you are trying to remember your passwords, you are doing it wrong. Trying to remember your passwords is absolutely fatal and has numerous disadvantages. To describe the demerits of trying to remember your passwords, here is a cycle that most people follow. You set a password. You forget it. You set a weaker password. And repeat.</p>
<p>Eventually, people have passwords that are not only weak, but they also never change them unless they forget them. This leads to passwords that are short and easy to crack. Worst of all, people continue this habit on sensitive websites like finance or government services.</p>
<p>The solution to this issue? As always, <strong>a password manager.</strong> You do not have to be an absolute genius to navigate around password managers or use them securely. Memorize a strong <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../pwd"><strong>password system</strong></a>, not a lone password. Use the password system on your password manager and on accounts where you absolutely know that you will not have access to a password manager.</p>
<hr/><p><ahref="../">sf.cu</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../blog/">Blog</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href=".">Writing With Fountain Pens</a></p>
<h1>Writing With Fountain Pens</h1>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>30 July 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>2 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/other/"><strong>Other</strong></a></p>
<h3>Table Of Contents</h3>
@ -28,15 +28,15 @@
</ol>
<p>I have heard great things about writing with fountain pens and decided to try one. I have recently purchased the Jinhao X750 and I have to say that I am not going back.</p>
<p>Buying a fountain pen elevated my writing experience. It is more about keeping in touch with an old lost art, that is writing. As an extreme technology user myself, using digital versions of literally everything, it is refreshing to write using a good tool and love writing again.</p>
<p>I used the <ahref="https://www.pelikan.com/int/products/writing/supplies-accessories/156-inks/125-pelikan-4001-ink-glass-jar.html#gallery_125-3">Pelikan 4001</a> in black, and it is going great so far. I might use this pen for all my writing as it makes it a treat.</p>
<p>The first time I wrote with my pen, it felt like I had unlocked a new door in writing. It felt like I was writing something that would impact the world in some way, even though I was just writing my name. Every time I write using it, it feels like I am doing something extraordinary, rather than just doing it for the sake of it.</p>
<p>The art of customising what goes in your pen also really piqued my curiosity. The fact that I can choose what ink and converter I want to use makes me relieved, even though I most likely will never change my converter. I can use glow-in-the-dark ink, green ink, purple ink and much more in the same pen and can switch it at almost any time.</p>
<p>I would say that fountain pens are expensive up-front, but cheaper in the long run. You do not have to keep spending money like you would with ball-point pens or roller-balls.</p>
<p>This page includes links to websites where you can find me and other people's websites online. I include links to websites which I browse regularly. The reason this page exists is because using search engines to find new websites is futile nowadays. Please note that linking a website here does not mean endorsement for everything they post and do.</p>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>28 July 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>5 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/design/"><strong>Design</strong></a></p>
<p>People often ask me why I choose minimal design for brands. This is because it has numerous practical advantages that provide ease and consistency in a brand.</p>
<h2id="requirements">Focusing On The Requirements</h2>
<p>One of the main aspects of minimal design is that it focuses on only the required elements of a specific brand. As a result, design becomes distractionless. This is especially easy nowadays since almost no one cares about the meaning behind a logo except in rare cases.</p>
<p>Another advantage of this type of design is that it focuses on the core message, or in this case, brand type. Too much designing can confuse viewers on whether a brand is a playful brand or a luxury brand, for example.</p>
<p>Minimal design, especially in the realm of branding, makes a brand feel timeless. You could take almost any minimal design from 200 years ago and use it for your brand today if there were no limits on copying. On the other hand, a sophisticated design from even 50 years ago will look dated most of the time.</p>
<p>This works because the elements that cause a brand to look dated are reduced to an absolute minimum. With minimal design, you have as little correlation with time as possible in your brands.</p>
<p>Minimal design when performed properly can make any brand look elegant. This is due to their simple nature. Look at most luxury brands, and you will notice that their designs are all simple.</p>
<p>Minimal designs are also consistent. This makes it easy to make a strong and impactful brand that reminds viewers of you. This can also be achieved through other types of design, but it is more powerful on average with minimal design.</p>
<p>Such types of consistency also provide versatility. You can place your brand design in any context, screen size, device and media type while also maintaining a strong brand presence.</p>
<p>Many designs nowadays are complicated and provide barely any breathing space for your eyes. With minimal designs, however, you can rest easy. Your eyes will not be overwhelmed by minimal design as much as complicated designs.</p>
<p>This is useful on informational posts or flyers. It allows your users to process information clearly without any clutter.</p>
<p>Minimal designs often make use of negative space or whitespace to make a design look appealing. This can look spectacular if executed correctly. Below is an example:</p>
<divstyle="text-align:center;"><imgsrc="spade.webp"alt="A Spade Logo using whitespace properly"><figcaption>A Spade Logo</figcaption></div>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>10 July 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>2 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/software/"><strong>Software</strong></a></p>
<p>Oversimplification kills. It is as simple as that. Most of the time, there are simple solutions to a problem that work well which are not used because individuals feel like they need to be more simple.</p>
<p>If you want to get more technical, think about the over-engineering of website builders. Instead of having a simple piece of software that generates static sites and blog posts based on <astyle="color:#50fa7b"href=../definitions/markdown>markdown</a> files, we have ultra-bloated website builders that provide a simple way to make a website at the cost of extremely slow websites and unneeded JavaScript. We also have oversimplified user interfaces in Windows and MacOS. These <astyle="color:#50fa7b"href=../definitions/operating-system>operating systems</a> have made bad and oversimplified interfaces a norm, which makes good interfaces such as ones you can customize on <strong>Linux</strong> seem too complicated or confusing even though it would be easier for someone with no experience in computing to get started with most desktop environments available.</p>
<p>As <ahref="https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/obvious-technical-solutions/">Luke Smith mentions in his post,</a> we never thought about using wheels on suitcases until the 1990s even though children in the Incan empire did have toys with wheels. This is one of the examples where trying to oversimplify something by making an all-in-one or a good solution delays progress.</p>
<p>Israel has been oppressing Palestinians for decades now. They have taken their land and resources. I refuse to support such a country and you should too. It is not just about preventing yourself from buying Israeli products but also buying products from companies that support Israel. These companies may be providing military aid, tracking technology or just money in general. I noticed that there are no sources which have an extensible list of companies that support Israel. This is why I wrote this post to make supporting the Palestinian cause easier.</p>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>10 August 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>1 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/technology/"><strong>Technology</strong></a></p>
<p>I forgot the passwords to my PGP keys. <strong>PLEASE DO NOT USE MY OLD PGP KEYS TO SEND ME EMAILS!!!</strong> I did not make a revocation certificate as well which is a bad mistake. I have learned my lesson to say the least. Please use my new <ahref="../about/files/sufyaan.gpg">PGP key over here.</a></p>
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<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>25 July 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>2 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/software/"><strong>Software</strong></a></p>
<p>Almost everything I write is in plaintext or is as close to plaintext as possible. For example, I prepare plans to work on a project, future articles or brand case studies in plaintext before further processing.</p>
<p>The first step of everything I do is plaintext. I store my notes in <ahref="../definitions/markdown"style="color:#50fa7b">markdown</a> format. However, the first step is always to write everything in plaintext to get whatever I need to write out of my head. Formatting such as headings and underlines come after the aforementioned initial step.</p>
<p>So, why do I do this? Why am I so boring when it comes to writing down text?</p>
<p>By writing in plaintext, you drop the fear of losing your files in case you do not have the internet. If you use a notes app that fetches your notes from the internet, then it will be tedious to access your notes when you really need them.</p>
<p>Another unspoken advantage of having offline plaintext files is that you can turn off your internet to avoid all distractions and simply write your heart's desires out.</p>
<p>If you save your notes in a proprietary notes app or use an application like Microsoft Word to write your notes, then you are at the mercy of the creator of the specific file format you are using. If you do not have access to the program in question at any moment, you will not be able to open your notes at all.</p>
<p>Plaintext files are universal. You can open them on any device anywhere in the world. This makes them extremely powerful as you can use them on the slowest of devices without any issues.</p>
<p>If you write text in plaintext files, it is trivial to write without any distractions. This is similar to the operating structure of HTML or LaTeX. You focus on one thing at a time. If you need to do something else with the file, you can use another program to do it instead of having everything in one big file.</p>
<p>You can use scripts to automatically search for content in plaintext files and perform actions on them. This can, for example, be used to automatically look for categories in a plaintext file and convert them into <ahref="../definitions/markdown"style="color:#50fa7b">markdown</a> files.</p>
<p>All in all, I use plaintext files because I can access them whenever and wherever I want on any device. It allows me to future-proof my writing and it also allows me to be more productive.</p>
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<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>24 September 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>1 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <ahref="literary/"style="color:#ff79c6"><a style="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/literary/"><strong>Literary</strong></a></a></p>
<hr/><p><ahref="../">sf.cu</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../blog/">Blog</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href=".">Switching To SVGs</a></p>
<h1>Switching To SVGs</h1>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>6 August 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>1 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/software/"><strong>Software</strong></a></p>
<p>Debloating my website has been an educational experience to say the least. There were so many small things which seemed insignificant at first but made a massive difference to the speed of my website. Most of these changes have had little to no impact on the look and feel of my website but have reduced the size and improved the efficiency by a lot.</p>
<p>One of these changes was definitely moving away from Font Awesome. I did not think much of the icons on my website as they were already too many in size for me to switch every single one to another library. However, <ahref="https://odysee.com/@ericnmurphy:9/web-icons-with-no-external-libraries!:c">after watching this video from Eric Murphy,</a> I thought about it. Then, I still said no because there were way too many icons on my website.</p>
<p>Then, I did a GTMetrix scan of my website and saw that my icons and fonts were taking up 90% of my website's initial load resources. That forced me to take on the challenge to change every single icon to SVGs. It was much easier than expected.</p>
<hr/><p><ahref="../">sf.cu</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../blog/">Blog</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href=".">Why You Should Torrent</a></p>
<h1>Why You Should Torrent</h1>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>16 July 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>4 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/technology/"><strong>Technology</strong></a></p>
<p>I believe that everyone should download most of the files they use through torrents as much as possible. This is because of its philosophy to share and contribute. It has numerous advantages as well.</p>
<p>First, let's clear a few myths about torrenting.</p>
<h3>"Torrenting is illegal!"</h3>
<p>No. Torrenting is not illegal. This is the most common myth about torrenting that scares people off. Torrents are a way to share files of all types and this also includes illegal files and copyrighted material. If you get caught torrenting files that are copyrighted, then the owner of the file has the right to take action. However, you torrenting a <strong>Linux</strong> ISO or a file that is in the public domain and free for anyone to use is not illegal. In fact, it is recommended to prevent censorship.</p>
<h3>"Torrenting is only used to pirate material!"</h3>
<p>While there is some truth in it, <strong>it is not used only to pirate material.</strong> Torrenting is an amazing way to share files with numerous advantages.</p>
<p>Torrenting has numerous advantages, mainly:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>RELIABILITY: </strong>Files are not hosted on a single source. If a file is popular and being seeded by many people, it is practically impossible to shut down its torrent.</li>
@ -41,10 +41,10 @@
<p>Torrenting is also a tool used to combat censorship. If there are any files that a government does not want its citizens to view, torrenting allows individuals from outside the country to share it with citizens of the government in question.</p>
<p>You can contribute heavily by torrenting. After you finish downloading (leeching) a file, you begin a process known as seeding. Seeding is a process in which you start sharing the file you have with other people. This is helpful for many people as, without seeding, there would be no torrents. The whole philosophy of torrents is to be a good person and share the files you have with other people.</p>
<p>Originality is also a factor in torrenting. With torrenting, you can be sure that a file is the same file that you should be downloading and that there is no modification or tampering with the file.</p>
<p>Do not pirate illegal content. ISPs will block your service after a few strikes if they take it seriously. Do not be a leecher. A leecher is someone that downloads a file from a torrent but does not seed it. If most people are leechers, then the torrented file is unlikely to thrive as leechers take and do not give back. Let your ratio reach to at least 1.05:1 to give back how much you take and also to allow for failed downloads to be compensated for.</p>
<p>Be smart when downloading torrents. Make sure you have enough disk space and verify and scan for viruses.</p>
<p>Torrents should be used whenever possible. They are reliable, fast, prevent censorship, allow people to contribute easily, are flexible and cannot be manipulated easily. Just keep in mind to give back to the community by seeding and do not download illegal media.</p>
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<hr/><p><ahref="../">sf.cu</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../blog/">Blog</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href=".">Tools I Use</a></p>
<h1>Tools I Use</h1>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>31 July 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>4 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/technology/"><strong>Technology</strong></a></p>
<p>This post consists of all the hardware, software and other tools I use on a daily basis for all of my work. <strong>I am for tools that are lightweight, minimal and work fast on all types of devices.</strong></p>
<p>I have a custom-built computer that I bought in 2021. This was during the chip shortage but I needed a PC and could not wait as it was impacting my work. These are the specs:</p>
<ul>
@ -93,7 +93,7 @@
<h3id="phone">Phone</h3>
<p>I use the <ahref="https://us.nothing.tech/pages/phone-1">Nothing Phone (1)</a>. It is a spectacular phone from a great new brand that keeps getting better with each update they release. It looks extremely cool with the glyph lights, which I find to be useful in some cases.</p>
<p>Along with my phone, I use the <ahref="https://www.oneplus.com/us/product/oneplus-bullets-wireless-z">OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z</a></p>
<pid="os"><em>Operating System (<strong>Linux</strong> Distribution):</em></p>
<p>I use <ahref="https://archlinux.org/">Arch <strong>Linux</strong></a>. I love its lightweight and do-it-yourself nature. It gives me more control over what is installed on my PC.</p>
@ -129,7 +129,7 @@
<p><astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="https://sufyaan.me/plaintext">I write in plaintext formats as much as possible</a>. When writing posts or other formatted notes, I use <astyle="color:#50fa7b"href="https://sufyaan.me/definitions/markdown">Markdown (.md)</a> and I use <ahref="https://www.latex-project.org">LaTeX</a> for documents.</p>
<pid="image-editing"><em>Image Editing:</em></p>
<p>This is perhaps the only non-free software I use. I use <ahref="https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html">Adobe Photoshop</a></p>
<p>These are all of the tools I use. They may change in the future, but there is a low chance of that happening since I have gotten used to all of these amazing tools.</p>
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<h1><svgclass="titles"xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"viewBox="0 0 20 20"><pathfill="currentColor"d="M1 3v14h3v-2H3V5h1V3zm4 0v14h4v-2H7V5h2V3zm11 0v2h1v10h-1v2h3V3zm-5 0v2h2v10h-2v2h4V3z"/></svg>VimWiki Is Terrific</h1>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>26 July 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>2 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/linux/"><svg class="posts"xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"width="16"height="16"viewBox="0 0 24 24"><pathfill="none"stroke="currentColor"stroke-linecap="round"stroke-linejoin="round"stroke-width="2"d="m5 7l5 5l-5 5m7 2h7"/></svg><strong>Linux</strong></a></p>
<hr/><p><ahref="../">sf.cu</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../blog/">Blog</a> > <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href=".">VimWiki Is Terrific</a></p>
<h1>VimWiki Is Terrific</h1>
<pstyle="font-size:110%">Posted on: <strong>26 July 2023</strong></p><pstyle="font-size:110%">Reading time: <strong><strong>2 min</strong><pstyle="font-size:110%"></strong>Category: <astyle="color:#ff79c6"href="../blog/linux/"><strong>Linux</strong></a></p>
<p>I have recently been using <ahref="https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki">VimWiki</a> to take all of my notes instead of Joplin, and it has been working really well. It has its own <ahref="../definitions/markdown"style="color:#50fa7b">Markdown (.md)</a> format, but I use regular <ahref="../definitions/markdown"style="color:#50fa7b">Markdown (.md)</a> with it. I use Syncthing to sync all my notes to all of my devices. There is barely any delay, so there are never any conflict issues.</p>
<h2><svgclass="heading2"xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"viewBox="0 0 15 15"><pathfill="currentColor"d="M7 1H1v3h1v10h3.74L14 3.675V1H8v3h1.432L6 8.119V4h1V1Z"/></svg>What Is VimWiki?</h2>
<h2>What Is VimWiki?</h2>
<p>VimWiki is a plugin for Vim or Neovim that allows you to create a personal wiki. On this wiki, you can add anything you want. It is essentially <ahref="https://obsidian.md/">Obsidian</a> but more minimal and scriptable.</p>
<p>Since it runs in Vim or Neovim, it is extremely fast, lightweight and has barely any bloat. It runs blazingly fast even on old devices. The capability is also extremely high, since you can edit files at light speed when you learn Vim or Neovim properly.</p>
<p>Using VimWiki, it is trivial to organise notes, ideas, diaries, to-do lists or even future plans. It supports tables, links and much more. There is even an option to export your <ahref="../definitions/markdown"style="color:#50fa7b">Markdown (.md)</a> files to HTML, which allows you to create webpages quickly.</p>
<p>VimWiki is so versatile that I wrote this post completely in VimWiki. View the raw <astyle="color:#50fa7b"href="../definitions/markdown/">Markdown (.md)</a> file <ahref="vimwiki.md">here</a></p>
<p>It allows you to do everything regular <ahref="../definitions/markdown"style="color:#50fa7b">Markdown (.md)</a> can do and more. For example, you can have checklists with progress on them, like this;</p>
@ -33,10 +33,10 @@
<p><strong>[O]--> 66% - 99% complete</strong></p>
<p><strong>[X]--> 100% complete</strong></p>
<p>You can even have pre-formatted text. This makes it useful to add and explain code.</p>
<h2><svgclass="heading2"xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"viewBox="0 0 24 24"><pathfill="currentColor"d="M4 19q-.825 0-1.413-.588T2 17V7q0-.825.588-1.413T4 5h16q.825 0 1.413.588T22 7v10q0 .825-.588 1.413T20 19H4Zm4-3h8v-2H8v2Zm-3-3h2v-2H5v2Zm3 0h2v-2H8v2Zm3 0h2v-2h-2v2Zm3 0h2v-2h-2v2Zm3 0h2v-2h-2v2ZM5 10h2V8H5v2Zm3 0h2V8H8v2Zm3 0h2V8h-2v2Zm3 0h2V8h-2v2Zm3 0h2V8h-2v2Z"/></svg>How Do You Use It?</h2>
<h2>How Do You Use It?</h2>
<p>On my computers, I use Neovim to use VimWiki. When it comes to my phone, I use the <ahref="https://github.com/gsantner/markor">Markor</a> app, which is a <ahref="../definitions/markdown"style="color:#50fa7b">Markdown (.md)</a> viewer. It is not the best experience on mobile, but I am willing to give that up for an amazing experience on my computers, since I use and note down things on my computer more.</p>
<p>The reason I am using VimWiki now is mainly to stay in line with me preferring plaintext to proprietary note apps or formats. As I mentioned in my last post, I try to use as much plaintext as possible to prevent distractions and have easy access to my notes wherever and whenever I want to.</p>
<p>To conclude, I switched to VimWiki because I find it faster and easier to use Neovim directly on my computer. I love using <ahref="../definitions/markdown"style="color:#50fa7b">Markdown (.md)</a>, so I feel at home when using VimWiki. It is also because I prefer to use plaintext as much as possible.</p>
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TitanE
1 year ago