I used this convert.py script:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
from pathlib import Path

def convert_pdf_to_markdown(pdf_file: str) -> None:
    pdf_path = Path(pdf_file).expanduser().resolve()
    if not pdf_path.exists():
        raise FileNotFoundError(f"PDF not found: {pdf_path}")

    root_dir = pdf_path.parent
    venv_dir = root_dir / ".venv"
    output_dir = root_dir / "output"
    python_bin = venv_dir / "bin" / "python"
    pip_bin = venv_dir / "bin" / "pip"
    marker_bin = venv_dir / "bin" / "marker_single"

    def run(cmd: list[str]) -> None:
        print("+", " ".join(str(c) for c in cmd))
        subprocess.run(cmd, check=True)

    if not python_bin.exists():
        run(["python3", "-m", "venv", str(venv_dir)])

    if not marker_bin.exists():
        run([str(pip_bin), "install", "marker-pdf"])

    output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    run(
        [
            str(marker_bin),
            str(pdf_path),
            "--output_format",
            "markdown",
            "--output_dir",
            str(output_dir),
        ]
    )


if __name__ == "__main__":
    convert_pdf_to_markdown("path/to/the/pdf/you/want/to/convert.pdf")

Then run:

cd path/to/the/folder/with/convert.py
chmod +x convert.py
./convert.py

Output goes to:

path/to/the/pdf/folder/output/<pdf-name>/<pdf-name>.md

First run will be slower because it creates .venv, installs marker-pdf, and downloads model files.

Typical failure logs look like this:

[VPN] Creating interface [wg0-fix].
RTNETLINK answers: Not supported

Or later during firewall setup:

Error: Could not process rule: Not supported
add table inet hotio

The Fix

Pin the image to the last known working WireGuard build from the TRaSH-Guides PR #222:

services:
  qbittorrent:
    image: ghcr.io/hotio/qbittorrent:release-e799f87

Tradeoffs of pinning an old image:

• No security or feature updates.
• Potential breakage when VPN providers change endpoints or auth flows.
• You’re stuck on older qBittorrent/libtorrent versions.
• This is a temporary workaround, not a real fix.

Long term, move the VPN to a dedicated container (for example, gluetun with OpenVPN) and run qBittorrent without VPN logic inside its container. That keeps your NAS kernel limitations out of the qBittorrent image and avoids the nftables requirement.

Resources

• TRaSH-Guides Synology Templates PR #222
• gluetun
• hotio qBittorrent container docs

If you’re interested, check out how to set up qBittorrent with PIA on Synology, verify your qBittorrent VPN IP, or add a reverse proxy to your Synology setup:

• Setting Up qBittorrent with Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN on Synology NAS
• Verifying VPN Status for Docker qBittorrent on Synology
• Setting Up Caddy as a Reverse Proxy on Synology NAS

⚠️ Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes. Bypassing corporate security controls may violate your company’s IT policies. Use responsibly and at your own risk.

First, confirm the block and grab the real IP from an external resolver:

# What your system resolves (potentially filtered)
dig +short example.com

# What the real IP should be (Cloudflare DNS)
dig +short example.com @1.1.1.1

If the IPs differ, the domain is being filtered.

The Fix

Option 1: /etc/hosts (recommended)

Requires admin access. This bypasses DNS for all apps.

1. Get the real IP:

   dig +short store.steampowered.com @1.1.1.1
   

2. Add the mapping:

   sudo nano /etc/hosts
   

   Example entry:

   23.197.161.221 store.steampowered.com
   

3. Verify:

   ping -c 1 store.steampowered.com
   

Option 2: Proxyman DNS spoofing

Useful if you want a toggle and do not want to touch system files. Only works for traffic routed through Proxyman.

1. Open Proxyman and go to Tools → DNS Settings.
2. Add a custom mapping with the real IP.
3. Enable the mapping and ensure Proxyman is capturing traffic.
4. Test in your browser.

Why This Works

Cisco Umbrella intercepts DNS on port 53 (often via a local proxy like: /opt/cisco/secureclient/bin/dnscryptproxy --listenPort=53 --listenAddress=127.0.0.1).

Both methods avoid that lookup: /etc/hosts is checked before DNS, and Proxyman can rewrite DNS answers before they hit the network.

Troubleshooting

• Confirm Umbrella is running: ps aux | grep -i umbrella.

• Check your hosts entry: grep -n "steam" /etc/hosts.

• Test a direct IP mapping with curl:

  curl -I https://store.steampowered.com --resolve "store.steampowered.com:443:23.197.161.221"
  

• Flush DNS cache if needed:

  sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
  

Resources

• Cisco Umbrella documentation
• Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 DNS
• Proxyman DNS Mapping

My first two suspects in these situations are always Xcode junk or a full Trash.

I opened OmniDiskSweeper and started scanning. I love it because there is no visual fluff. You scan, you delete, you move on. I cleaned up old runtimes, old Xcodes, and VM images. That saved ~70 GB.

The mystery was not solved though. macOS Settings still showed ~300 GB of “System Data.” OmniDiskSweeper did not show it.

Next up I tried CleanMyMac X. I usually prefer OmniDiskSweeper, but I was out of ideas. It found some big caches, but nothing close to 300 GB.

So I kept googling and landed on DaisyDisk. It was blazing fast. I also do not hate the UI, but I do not love it either. It is definitely original.

DaisyDisk solved the mystery tho: all that “System Data” was Time Machine local snapshots.

It clicked. A few weeks earlier I had re-set up my Time Machine backup to a remote drive. The backup started failing, I missed it, and the snapshots kept piling up.

I deleted the local snapshots and freed ~300 GB.

Remove local snapshots

I followed this thread:

How to delete all local TimeMachine snapshots

The commands I used:

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots <snapshot-id>

If you want to delete all of them, the thread includes a one-liner. I didn’t need anything local, so I wiped everything and got my disk space back.

One feature I missed dearly from Bear Notes was the ability to quickly navigate between notes using up/down arrow keys. This couldn’t be replicated using Obsidian hotkeys or plugins, and other people were missing this feature too.

Turns out Obsidian just added this in version 1.9.10!

The Fix

In Obsidian 1.9.10+ you can navigate through your notes using CMD + up/down arrows.

Make sure the File Explorer view is active, then hold Command/Ctrl while using the arrow keys to browse through files. The file under the cursor will open automatically.

Resources

• Obsidian 1.9.10 Changelog
• Reddit discussion about missing arrow key navigation
• Kepano’s announcement

Seeing a red dot with “401 unauthorized” status for Plex in your Homarr dashboard, even though your Plex server runs perfectly fine? The issue is likely your URL format.

Instead of using the standard IP:PORT format like other containers, Plex requires the full web interface path.

The Fix

Change your Plex internal address from:

192.168.1.100:32400

To:

192.168.1.100:32400/web/index.html#!/

Why This Path is Required

Plex’s web interface uses a single-page application architecture with hash-based routing. The /web/index.html#!/ path serves as the entry point to the bundled Plex Web App. This specific URL structure is how Plex handles authentication and routing for external integrations like Homarr.

Unlike other services that expose simple API endpoints at their base URL, Plex requires access through its web application interface to properly authenticate and respond to status checks.

• Homarr Plex 401 Discussion
• Plex Media Server URL Commands | Plex Support

This happens because macOS has “Press and Hold” enabled by default, which interferes with Vim’s key repeat functionality.

The Fix

Run this command in Terminal to disable Press and Hold specifically for Cursor:

defaults write com.todesktop.230313mzl4w4u92 ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Restart Cursor for the changes to take effect.

Finding Your Bundle ID

If the command above doesn’t work (Cursor updates might change the bundle ID), you can find the correct identifier:

1. Right-click on Cursor in Applications
2. Select “Show Package Contents”
3. Open Contents/Info.plist
4. Look for the CFBundleIdentifier value

Replace the bundle ID in the command with your specific identifier.

Resources

• How do I press and hold a key and have it repeat in vscode? | Stack Overflow

$ pod install

❌ ArgumentError - [Xcodeproj] Unable to find compatibility version string for object version `70`.

At the time, I updated CocoaPods to the latest version, confirmed my project format was set to the latest Xcode version (16.3), and tried again. When the issue persisted, I assumed CocoaPods was incompatible with buildable folders and that I would need to migrate to Swift Package Manager (SPM) to use them. This conclusion seemed to be confirmed by several closed GitHub issues where the suggested workaround was to manually convert folders back to groups.

However, it turns out you don’t have to wait to use Xcode’s buildable folders with CocoaPods! The solution is surprisingly simple: set the Project Format in your project’s settings to Xcode 16.0. Any other selection will trigger the Xcodeproj error.

With that single change, you can start taking full advantage of Xcode’s buildable folders in your CocoaPods projects!

References

• Xcodeproj PR #985
• CocoaPods Issue #12671

In Xcode projects, you define supported languages at the project level (not scheme level). Because of this structure, each app variant inherits the same language settings.

My task was to force each app variant to support only the language for the region it was released in. The French app should only support French, no matter what the user’s device language is set to, and so on. This decision was made because large portions of the app are web-based and only supported a single language.

Solution

There are multiple ways to solve this problem. What follows is the approach that worked best for my particular use case, given the project’s current structure:

First, create a build configuration file for each of the schemes and define the LOCALIZATIONS_TO_KEEP variable.

LOCALIZATIONS_TO_KEEP = fr

Then, add a new build phase called “Remove unused localizations.” Remember to position it after the “Copy Bundle Resources” build phase:

echo "Keeping only ${LOCALIZATIONS_TO_KEEP}.lproj"
echo "Application .app path: ${CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH}"

# Only search in the main app bundle, excluding 
# Frameworks directory and other dependency folders
find "${CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH}" -type d -name "*.lproj" \
  -not -path "*/Frameworks/*" \
  -not -path "*/PlugIns/*" \
  -not -path "*/Watch/*" \
  -not -path "*/SwiftPM/*" \
  | grep -v "${LOCALIZATIONS_TO_KEEP}.lproj" \
  | xargs rm -rf

CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH is an environment variable used in Xcode build scripts that represents the path to the app bundle being built. It typically points to the directory where the compiled application and its resources are placed before code signing occurs.

You’ll want to exclude locations where third-party dependencies might be located, because you can’t guarantee that they support the same language you want to force the app to use.

You can verify that the script works by navigating to ${CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH} in derived data and checking if the script successfully removed all other localization files.

Alternative Solutions

This issue could be solved by setting CFBundleLocalizations and CFBundleDevelopmentRegion IF my project used separate targets instead of separate schemes for different apps.

Alternatively, I could dynamically select Info.plist files for each of the schemes. I opted against this approach since the project already had build configurations defined for each of the schemes.

It looks like Objective-C is still an option in the default iOS project template. You can access it after setting the Interface to “Storyboard”. I hadn’t realized these dropdown menus were interconnected.

All credit goes to Douglas for spotting this!

tl;dr use macOS → Application → Game or Command Line Tool

Recently I wanted to refresh my memory on Objective-C. My first thought was to open Xcode, create a new project with language set to Objective-C and play with it. To my surprise, none of the iOS Application project templates allow you to select any other language than Swift.

I (mistakenly) assumed that Apple must have removed Objective-C from all templates altogether. I ended up searching for some open-source Objective-C project that I could use as a starting point.

Later on I learned that Objective-C language options are still alive and well in some templates for macOS.

Even with killswitch enabled, I wanted to verify beyond the UI’s “Firewalled” status that my torrent traffic was actually routing through the VPN.

To check this, SSH into your Synology NAS and run:

sudo docker exec qbittorrent curl ifconfig.me

This command retrieves the container’s public IP address. If it matches your VPN IP address rather than your real IP, you’ve confirmed that the container’s traffic is properly routing through the VPN.