Increasing Video Resolution and Frame Rate with video2x

Recently, I downloaded an old documentary made in early 2000s. The original resolution was 854×480 with a less than 1000 KB/S bitrate. Because I like the content so there is enough reason to enhance my watching experience. Download installer instead of the zip pack from k4yt3x’s github repo, this will install all binaries and dependencies for Windows. After restart the system, open video2x and load a video, it can automatically detect the GPU if it exists. Gaming GPU with higher frequency/hashrate is preferred over larger VRAM in this case. ...

August 30, 2025 · 2 min · Jun

My AI Learning Materials and News Feeds (Updated)

Forewords This is the 3rd time updating the lists, where I added a section of Prompt Engineering upon requests since it is a good starting point for those not into self-hosting nor theory. The term “Prompt Engineering” is a bit controversial but people will get better understanding after learning the listed materials. As a lifelong self-learner, I use all sorts of methods to learn new things, and AI is what I’m currently into. Although I’ve been using AI tools since 2022, my background wasn’t focused on AI. So, like everyone else, I had to do some “AI For Dummies” level study in order to get more involved. Below is a list of learning materials that I find very helpful for myself to get started with and might also be helpful for someone else in the same situation. ...

July 8, 2025 · 6 min · Jun

Migrating VMs from ESXi to Proxmox VE

There are many reasons why I’m doing this. In the days when Virtual Machine was the thing, VMware Workstation was the go-to option for a Windows host to run VMs. We have to find cracked version for personal use, since there was no VirtualBox neither Hyper-V. Many years ago, when I first decided to have a proper homelab in my household, I went blindly into ESXi just because VMware Workstation has already installed on all of my computers. Although I was pretty like Proxmox during that time, it was considered for not so serious projects. ...

May 2, 2025 · 4 min · Jun

On iPhone, Design and Jailbreak

iPhone Talks There are a many cellphones that make me feel nostalgic. None of them is Android nor iPhone. Some of them are QWERTY, some are flip phones. Phones were much interesting back in the days when Motorola, Nokia, Sony, Sharp, Blackberry and more are still competitive in the market. Today’s smartphones are indifferent and rather being “boredphones”. And all of these boredness are rooted in the “iPhone Moment”. Despite how much I dislike iPhone’s disruptive innovation and its market breakthrough as well as Apple’s philosophy behind it. There is one thing true about the spirit of Steve Jobs, that is, a phone should be comfortably used in one hand. Although this was his defense of iPhone’s 3.5 inch screen size, I strongly agree with his ergonomics minded UX design. ...

February 2, 2025 · 5 min · Jun

Reviving ThinkCentre M58p in 2024

Days before mini-PC become a thing, there was no NUC, MinisForum or Beelink. It was the time of thin client and SFF (small-form-factor), manufacturers such as Shuttle, Dell and Lenovo were made a lot of these. Back then, the performance of SoC was too weak so that even laptops wouldn’t use them. But my first dedicated home lab machine was an Atom D525, which was called embedded industrial computer. It served as a router rather than server due to its performance and heat. That was also the time when I got into the world of m0n0wall derivatives (pfSense/FreeNAS). ...

December 14, 2024 · 3 min · Jun