1- I use a pen and paper to jot down ideas and brainstorming to expand on an idea (in the initial phase). I personally find it easier to think of ideas and expanding on new stuff, while writing on paper. This is mostly for general stuff > I have this huge white paper spiral notebook where I like to make all my general planning/idea exploration. I really like having the big white space and no lines. (for my creative writing, I prefer using notebook with lines lol) but for IT stuff and broad ideas, this big notebook is the way to go.

When I have more clarity on what I want to do, I bring things into Notion

2- For me, Notion is pretty much a replacement for Google Notes (which I still often use on my phone), Google Cal, Microsoft Word, And a messy Folder arrangement for all my stuff XD Now, no more headache trying to piece things together. Only converted to using Notion full time since I have a lot more projects and ideas to keep track of and organize (paper and pen ain’t enough anymore..) I still use them, but less, since I prefer having everything Centralized. I love my paper calendar tho <3

For my IT workspace > I modified a social media management Template and made it suit my taste (I had to remove A LOT and add a few things). Basically, I have All the Tittles/Steps Needed on the Left Tab, Status in Middle, ETA and Complete check on the right. And There’s an option to expand the Tittles into a new page when I’m ready to draft out a blog/make detailed Steps > It’s really simple, yet very effective for me.

Thanks to this workspace, I can go from Listing ideas for a post, or anything, to finishing a whole draft, all in one space. And I really like having the Status thingy. I have some custom status to keep track of things, or give reminder, so I don’t have to think much, the status reminds me what I need to do next.

3- I keep everything related to my IT stuff in one place > VirtualBox (It’s solid and there are a lot of resources online for it). I have all my VMs and things related to I.T. on there. If it can’t be a VM, I just put it inside one LOL (like getting packet tracer in Ubuntu VM, or getting Firewall IOS in EVE-NG). I really like having everything related to IT in one place. That makes it a lot more organized and again, less friction for my brain when I need to do something -It’s all just there. Also, there’s a VM for everything/some workaround to getting the thing into VirtualBox > I make it work to make my life easier LOL (tho the process can be wayyy harder XD.. Challenge accepted >__<). And Yes, VirtualBox over a dedicated server for a lot of reasons for me (Topic #1 on HomelabExp)

4- In my Stream deck, I have a shortcut set for Snipping tool (Shift+Win+S). This is SOO important for me because I take A LOT of screenshots for making tutorials. I can’t not have this thing XD. I also have shortcut buttons for all the folders I use often (download, screenshot, common F keys (cus of my keyboard LOL), a bunch of websites, etc.. The stream deck is also a must for me since it saves me a lot of steps. I also have a few thingies set on my mouse but it’s mostly for media and navigation stuff (Logitech G502 with all of its buttons!)

5- Last and but still make my life easier > I got this cheap drawing tablet thingy off of eBay (I think it was $20 somethin’) It’s for scribbling on the screenshots, which I do a lot of sooo it’s good to have when I’m ready to draft out the whole blog. I don’t want to struggle with a mouse for annotations..

And kinda not important, but still good to have > I customized my keyboard with fun tactile switches and some simple mods. After the mods, I really like typing on it. It is really nice to have a fun keyboard when I have to type on for hours at a time XD. The fact that I love typing on it make the process of putting my thoughts into writing a lot smoother.

The things I listed on here are what I have for my PERSONAL setup. Some of these things are more impactful than other, but they all play their part in creating a seamless experience for creating the learnings on my IT website –Homelab Experiments. With the creation process more or less Standardized, I can use most of my brain for struggling when I troubleshoot broken stuff in my VMs XD.. and for learning new things + finding ways to get stuff I use into VirtualBox..

The workflow I have for this are process and thingies I built up overtime, and I still working on improving. There’s always something you can do to make things easier, and more fun/less annoying to Streamline the process of going from Ideas to a finished product. (Just updated my Stream Deck shortcuts after this XD)

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It took one random hunch of wanting to go to Canada, this feeling of wanting to go adventure and do something different, to make me book my hotel and get on the road a few days after.

It only took one person, to change the destination, from Toronto, to this random city, Moncton in New Brunswick.

It only took a chill interaction with an old friend, to make the whole trip worth the drive.

It only took one invitation to going out together, to have a whole adventure with awesome people and start a friendship.

But it took a whole journey, from Canada, to NYC, to Washington DC and back to Jersey, to get my mind clear and find something worth having as a goal. A goal to help me stay focused, head down, doing the monotonous work.

Some of my best decisions ever were done in the spur of the moment, and some of the hardest problems I had were solved with the outcome of those random decisions.

I’m pretty happy seeing things fall into place, and really happy that I took the chance on doing something a little crazy. Sometimes, it takes one freaking impulsive decision that you decide to follow through, to break out of the hole you were stuck in.

Sometimes it only takes one reason-

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There are a lot of cool gasy, and you wouldn’t even expect some of these people to be such passionate and interesting folks. I love seeing those cheerful and joyous people, who despite the challenges can still smile and push forward, those are my kind of people.

When I got to Canada to visit my friend, I was really fortunate to attend the independence day event thingy they had going on in Moncton, New Brunswick. And to say it was awesome is an understatement.

I haven’t seen such vibrant and well executed way of showing our culture in so long (they really put a lot of work into it!). I’ve always loved seeing traditional dances and clothing from Fetin’ny Teny Malagasy in my school, or from the TV and some local thingies, but seeing the such awesome performance in person, in New freaking Brunswick, was really really shocking… in a good way.

From the opening ceremony with Lamako, to the closing dance with everyone doing the Afindrafindrao, and all the absolutely awesome traditional dances in cultural clothing in-between, it was really a joy to witness my culture be shown off like this in such a faraway place. Annnd I got to eat some maskita, not the best I’ve had, but it tasted emotionally amazing XD.

It was so much fun watching traditional performance, with proper outfits and looks! Everyone had something fun an unique to show, and it was really enjoyable. I also loved the fact that the event had a homemade vibe to it. It was just a small communities that came together to create something that feels familiar which everyone enjoyed.

Meeting new people there was soo niiice too! They felt pretty familiar, even tho it was really the first time I was there. It’s cool feeling familiar in another country while visiting there for the first time. It feels good meeting gasy in different places, and getting to meet many cool people there was a great experience. Lots of people were open and chill, and so much smiles! ‘Will definitely be back to visit that otherwise pretty boring place.

You know the one thing that I really love, not just in Malagasy, but also those who immigrated to a new country, is that everyone is working hard for a better tomorrow. And I know, literally everyone is doing this, but those who come from another country I believe knows this better. And most of all, with a lot of the gasy that I talked to, they all have goals and aspirations to achieve something that seems far-reaching, or that might even seem impossible in the short run. But they are fighting against the odds, they are doing their best. They are dreamers, working to make the impossible come to life.

So it’s really awesome to see events like these, where the gasy smiles and have fun together. You wouldn’t even know how hard they’re working, or how much they are carrying on their shoulders, because they smile so wide and have such passion and energy.

These colorful people, they’re my people, they are Malagasy.

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Whenever I take a portrait of others, I always try my best to capture the light within, to make sure I get a faithful glance of their story.

The most important part of being a portrait photographer isn’t just the knowledge and the skills to get ‘the shot’, but to know how to make the other person comfortable and confident with you.

Only when you get familiar do you get to really see their emotions, and you get in the creative zone. You’ll be able to truly capture the emotions and stories in their eyes as you work together.

This is why I absolutely love doing portraits for my friends. Because I know who they are, and they are cool with me, it’s much easier to get a great shot for them. And most importantly, I can tell their stories, because I know them, and I am confident to show their light, truly.

I also love doing shoot for people I meet, because I get to know them a little better through our interactions. There are so many little things you pick up about others when you do a shoot, as you try to figure out what style/mood/narrative would look good on them.

Everyone has that ‘style’ that just works really well with them (unless they are used to modeling, then they can pull of multiple styles). But for most people, they look the best when they stay true to themselves. It just feels right when you’re true to yourself, it’s much easier (but still gotta fight being awkward in front of camera -aaaaahhhh ;-;)

You’ll know you’re doing things right when you get the expression in the eyes to be just right. The expression can be very different, Serious, Moody or freaking dying laughing. As long as the person stays true to their stories, it will feel just like them, it will feel right.

The eyes tells the story.

The post The stories the eyes tells appeared first on Nyght Light.

If someday, you were to read this. I want to express my deepest gratitude and respect for inspiring me, and for teaching us how to tell stories. The regular uploads, the tips and tricks, the two minutes Tuesdays, the Bucket shot, and so many more, those were what got me to find, grow and continue onward with my passion.

I have never expected that watching a video for premier pro transition tips six years ago, for my Minecraft video, would ever lead to this ever evolving creative journey that I’ve embarked on.

The things you taught, and the stories you shared, were one of the biggest reason why I started ‘creating’. And when I lacked time for videos, it was the photography tips that helped me shift gears to keep going. Your videos, your personality, and your magic tricks, just resonated a lot with me, and really gave me the confidence to find my own style and tell my stories. Thank you.

About a week ago, I finally had the chance to visit 185 Main St. I finally got to see one of your work in person and it was freaking awesome! I was really happy to finally see something you put your time, effort and care into. Got a nice cup of tea, and a small souvenir. It was great being able to see your work and give the little support I could. ‘Will be back again another time.

I will forever be grateful to the gift you shared. This lad will always be a follower of the greatest Pirate!

Thank you for always inspiring, for helping us get in the game and for keeping the flame alive with your stories. You are truly an amazing person, and I am honored to have you as Captain.

With deepest respect and gratitude,

-Nyght

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-You know, I was once really afraid of being anywhere near the edge of a cliff.

The first few times I would try to see what’s beyond the edge of a cliff, I would feel my body sending all sorts of red alerts. And when I move my body towards it, I would feel my heart sink in my stomach and my breath shorten.

-I would just freeze

For me personally, this reaction is funny, because I’m someone who love doing stunts and things that not many people would do. But getting near the edge is something I haven’t done before, so I really didn’t understand it.

-I didn’t have the courage to even attempt getting close to it.

That said, I was really interested in seeing what’s beyond the edge-

-what’s beyond the fear I had.

So, on the days I went hiking, I would try to get closer, inching forward little by little. And as I got more familiar with being near the edge. It is no longer as scary as it used to be.

Now, after many times sitting at the edge of the cliff. I find it really pleasant and quite freeing. The feeling you get of being on the edge of a cliff, looking at the view, while having the wind cool you off is just sooo freaking good!!! Feels like I’m a gosh darn pirate! It feels so liberating!

-The perspective changes when you get more familiar with it.

It is no longer something to fear, but something familiar, something pleasant.

There are many things that starts like this. That starts off as something big and scary. Things that you would want to run away from the moment you even think about it.

And sometimes, that scary thing can be something you make inside your mind…

But that too, can be understood. And once you get it, it’s easy to overcome it, and see what’s beyond what you fear.

-Freedom

That freedom, was not something that came out of nowhere. It was obtained after putting in the work.

The post -Freedom appeared first on Nyght Light.

Summary 

This is one of my favorite hiking journeys; something I do to clear up my mind, get inspired and RESET. The trail I’m hiking up this time is the Appalachian National Scenic Trail at Bear Mountains, New York. There are also some awesome photos of Bear Mountain bridge and the area around it, cuz they’re just too cool to pass up! 

The trails there were some of my favorites, and the views were really breathtaking! The photos and things I’m sharing here are just a glimpse of that amazing place, as that is my first time exploring that side of the park. 

And if you guys wanna go hiking over there, let me knowww. It would really be awesome going over there in a group!

Why I love hiking

For me, there is nothing better than going out for a hike in nature to clear up my mind. There’s just something about being in the middle of the forest, by the lake, up the mountains, in a quiet place away from all the distractions. 

The calming feeling that those places bring to you is just different. It helps clear up all the tension that you’ve been feeling and instead, it makes you be amazed at how freaking beautiful nature is. 

There is also the good feeling from doing a nice ‘workout’. The physical exercise that makes you feel more alive and feeling fresh. And the sleep you goin’ get the night of, is always so good. 

I could list more reasons, but man, I just love doing it -it makes me feel good. 

At the bottom of the mountain 

There are some really cool stuff at the bottom of the mountain. There is a really cool lake, the Ski rink (open cus Winter time), the Inn and other buildings idk. BUT, the most awesome thing they have there, is the plaques and notice boards that have the history of the park, how the trail was made, and many little cool details that’s really cool and interesting. 

The most awesome stone steps I’ve ever seen! 

My god, the whole pathway up the mountain, was so freaking awesome. The stone steps were just soo well made and really clean. They are really well designed and very pleasing to the eyes. From the Crib walls, to the stone stairs, and all the pavements, it’s just sooo clean. Although it is winter time, and all the trees are naked, that only helps highlighting the beauty and craftsmanship of the stone steps. 

It’s just too good, what else can I say. 

The waterfall, getting up close and personal :3

Well, I had to do a little bit of off-roading and climbing to get really up close and personal to the small waterfall by the chair, up the mountain. It was just too good, and it was right there, so why not do a little climbing to get a good look (and a good pic) and the waterfall. 

I tell you what, it was really cool being so close to it. The sound of the water getting clearer, and even getting a bit of water coming my way -it felt so epic! The way up wasn’t such a big deal because I could see things clearly, and I didn’t have to see the rocks behind me. The real problem started when I was making my way down. 

Looking from the top to the bottom makes things a little trippy because of how steep it is, and how there isn’t any real landing spot I could jump on. So, I had to do the slow, awkward climbing down -like how I climbed up, instead of just jumping around the way I usually do. 

BTW, do not try doing this XD On my way down, I saw a sign that said not to go off-trail… sooo yea, really don’t recommend trying to climb up there (well I doubt you would be able to get up there anyway)

The Chair and the awesome view there

THE VIEW FROM UP HERE WAS EPICCCC! I got one of my favorite shots from here. It was just so grand and you could see really far, and all the nature and the bridge -it all came together to create this really beautiful picture. Seeing this gorgeous view makes you stop for a moment and just pause to try to take it all in. 

The awesome Bear mountain bridge

After getting down the mountain, I still haven’t really captured a good photo of the Bear Mountain bridge, which I really really wanted to get, so I decided to try out another spot to see if I could get a better view of it. And sure enough, a few minutes of driving on the other side of the bridge, there’s a bridge that gives an open view of the whole Bear mountain bridge. AND OMG, it’s another banger shot! 

The photo that I was able to capture of the Bear mountain bridge is definitely one of my favorite photos of all time (portraits not included ofc). There is just so much to love about the view! And the way it came out after the edit is just too epic and ‘professional’. It’s just too darn clean! I love it. 

Closing thoughts | Why I love going out in nature. 

I’m not sure if you felt it through my writing, but the way I thought about the journey changed as I went through the day. 

At the beginning, I was thinking about things outside of the day itself. I wasn’t thinking about the moment or what I was doing. I was more concerned about what it would make me feel, as well as trying to clear up my mind or whatever. Not that those thoughts are meaningless, but they are definitely thoughts that makes you not able to live in the moment. 

All the expectations and worrying about things working out is often the reason why I got my mind clogged up and not clear. 

That’s why I really love the fact that all those thoughts disappear when I’m in nature. When I’m taking a walk, taking photos with my camera, taking in all the surroundings, and taking that breath of fresh air, I’m not worried about things. I’m just in the moment. I’m just appreciating the beauty and quiet, calming place that the nature around me radiates. I’m just there, being present and chillin’ in the woods.

As I enjoy the moment, taking in the good energy and capturing these banger shots, my mind isn’t blocked by all the things that are uncertain in my life. Instead of feeling tired and overwhelmed by my days, I am invigorated and refreshed -ready to get back into the game. 

Not just that, I have also gotten some priceless memories and BANGER SHOTS! It’s just so niiiiceee -I LOVE IT!

Taking a walk in nature always helps me reset. It gives me the mental energy to get things done well. ANNND it’s just sooo fun and interestin! It’s so inspiring -aaaaaahhhh.

And just like how I got to experience this really cool journey alone. I also really love taking friends and fam to those cool places, to have them experience it for themselves. I just went there again last weekend with my dad and he also enjoyed it!

I hope to go exploring more with my people cus things are just better together!

The post Why I love hiking appeared first on Nyght Light.

This is an interesting story of me upgrading my PC and solving all the issues that kept popping up. For the most part, building a PC is quite simple when you get compatible parts. BUT when shit goes down, that’s when your skills and SANITY really gets tested. This also really showed that the stuff I got from work, can also be used for my personal projects – and money does solve problems/make things possible!

My Old PC + Planned upgrade path

When building my previous computer, I made sure to keep upgradability in mind. I used a B550 motherboard, so I can upgrade my Ryzen 5 3600 to the next generation later down the line. I also had enough power with my 750W PSU, so I thought it would be a good idea to upgrade to Ryzen 9 5900X. The price was really nice, and I wanted as much raw processing power as possible -in case I needed more cores… he rationalized.

Upgrading to a Ryzen 9 + problem start 

I was sort of surprised when my PC was unstable and kept powering off randomly. This is especially weird because the problems only started appearing after 2 days of things working normally -the Temps were good (Shoutout to the AK620), the Bios was new, no updates pending, all the components were connected properly and worked fine (I triple checked it boss!). 

Finding root cause of computer crashing 

After a few hours of typical hardware troubleshooting, and reading through reddit posts, I finally found the problem. The crashes would happen due to the CPU usage and power draw spiking when I was importing photos into Lightroom -I had OpenHardware Monitor and Task Manager open to, well, monitor things.

The B550 motherboard I had ‘technically’ supported the CPU, but that did not mean it could run it properly. The power delivery on my motherboard was not nearly enough to support the power hungry 5900X, even with good cooling/low temps. To put in perspective, the ryzen 5 3600 I had previously was drawing 70W after overclocking, while the stock 5900X spiked to 180W, now that’s a lot of power… and problems

Still more crashes after fix… This makes no sense!

-So getting a new motherboard is the solution, right? 

Yes, but actually No. It wasn’t really possible to get a Micro ATX motherboard in stock (at Microcenter) that could handle the 5900X properly, which I only found out after trying (sadly). When getting a new motherboard, I went a little extra, and got a really good X570 board. Unlike B550, X570 offers better power delivery alongside multiple new features. The only problem is that the Micro ATX board I got was still having  the same problem with intermittent shutdowns. What the hell man ?_? The Temps on the CPU were good, the new Mobo said it supported things properly, and I should have more than enough power… I have no idea why it was still crashing.

Fixing problem with money 

At this point, it’s been 3 days since I started trying to fix the problems and I was over it. So, I just went to Microcenter to see if they could fix it quickly for me.

The only problem was the 3 days it would take to get to troubleshooting my PC because they were backed up. This was too long for me since I had photos that I needed to edit and send out quickly. The main reason why I needed them to do it for me was due to the lack of components I could use to troubleshoot. 

So I made my most baller move yet, and just got a whole new computer LOL. (New Mid-tower case, ATX Mobo, another set of 32GB ddr4 RAM, PSU, M.2 boot drive, but not the GPU… sadly -not really my prio here). My reasoning was that, since I got a new Motherboard and Computer Case, I might as well get a whole new PC so I could give my old PC to my little bro -just spend a few hundred dollars more… as  I begged my poor wallet to take out all the money I had left ;-; 

More part failing/dead

Anyway, with the new and final build, I thought I would have everything working properly and stuff BUT things kept breaking bro. This time, the computer was not powering at all -PSU dead… after countless crashes, forced shutdowns, broken cables, unstable current; and honestly, a pretty fun wild ride. So (o-o) make that my 7th drive to Microcenter in a week… (those are 2+ hours round trip each depending on traffic -one reason why things were taking so long) 

New PC problems…

Finally, after getting all the hardware sorted, I had many other problems with Windows 11 not recognizing the new hardware, then I got multiple blue screens (for hardware issue), and in the end, it went into a boot loop (WOW, just what I needed…)

You know, I think windows was just tired of the countless shutdowns in the middle of loading, and Windows recovery mode failing many times. So, it decided it had enough… and same here brother -so I got a fresh windows install. (RIP all my apps, files and most importantly my VMs in Virtualbox -completely forgot I put them on my boot drive ;-;) 

Some random ass problem I’ve never seen 

So now, after all that, things should be good right? And well, sort of Yes? But not really. After I got everything sorted, and things being stable? (I was able to import, edit and export my photos and get that out of the *picture). Things were working fine, but then everything would be really unstable when I put my ram on their XMP profile (eXtreme Memory profile). This would cause, you guessed it, my computer to crash intermittently -not this again… I had my computer shut down in the middle of a RANKED game, so, definitely a big problems… especially because we were actually winning the game XD

This issue was actually the one that took the longest to figure out and I was thinking of leaving my memory at the stock 2133MHz speed, but it was just too much power under the table -remember brother, POWAH! Yeah, you right, we got this bad boy for a reason, for a just cause, for ‘science’ (wait, I did not say th-… YES, SCIENCE!)

I always knew that Ryzen chips have a few quirks (Thanks Tech Channels on YouTube!) and they are especially sensitive to voltage and memory speed (thanks for confirming the info Reddit brothers), but I did not think it would be as sensitive as a gamer to bright lights in their dark room

More Reddit and YouTube ‘research’ + Repurposing skills from previous job 

After going through some Reddit posts to figure out an answer, I found a thread about running stress tests to validate things, and then it clicked. Ahhhh, I forgot you could also do that for regular computers, similar to what I did with the server hardware at my old job… BRUH (I forgot this part because all the computers I built and upgraded before just ‘Worked’ without BS problems).

So anyway, I was off to some more Reddit posts and YouTube videos to ‘research’ Stress Tests program for PC. And after an additional 3 hours procrastinating, watching ‘research’ videos, I finally settled on Prime95… Just that, cus I wasn’t about to get too deep into another Rabbit hole (*Flashback to the countless hours I spent trying to undervolt to try making things stable… oh dear) Additionally, I knew my GPU was good (after testing it myself before -just to see the numbers I would get LOL)

Finally got PC to run properly 

Running the stress Test, while monitoring things was actually super helpful. It’s much easier to spot the problem. Running CPU and RAM at stock speed was really stable -it ran without crashes for 2 hours, which is more than enough for me (Some recommend running Prime95 12, 24 and even 48 hours for rock stable performance, but I’ve got things to do, so 2 hours more than enough -like a regular person lol).

When running the RAM with its XMP profile (3200MHz), it would cause a lot of problems -even with the CPU… really so gosh darn sensitive. My assumption with this, and correct me if I’m wrong, is that the higher voltage on the RAM with XMP enabled is affecting the picky, sensitive ryzen CPU.

So, I tried swapping back to my old RAM kit, with its XMP at 3000MHz, and well, IT WORKED! Everything’s stable! I had the stress test running for another 3 hours to make sure, and it was all good. Again, this makes no sense because the RAM kit worked well with XMP on the other system, and the 5900X is capable of supporting MUCH higher speed RAM… BRUH, this legit reminds me of all the BS errors that made no sense with the servers we were doing QC work on. 

Learning outcome

This is all to say that I, well, the nerd in me, really did enjoy this journey. (I told you it was for Sciec- Shush, I’m trying to wrap up this long story).  It was super fun figuring things out and making things work, and seeing it all come together in the end (Thankfully, otherwise I would have had to call in the ‘IT manager’ from his vacation -my dad, LOL).

There were so many learning opportunities here, and I love how this got me into Problem Solving mode. It reminds me of the times when me and the boys (well mostly me and my mentor Marek), were trying to figure out problems on the ‘unpassable’ Microsoft Servers we were working on back at ZT Systems. 

I always love being in the ‘zone’ whether it be with editing photos or videos, problem solving for hours on end, or like now -writing a cool ‘little’ story. It’s just such a good feeling to be so focused and interested in what you do, that you lose track of time

I hope you enjoyed reading this long short story :3 I’m trying to write more stories, in preparation for my other project. I would love to hear feedback from you, if it’s too long, too detailed, not detailed enough? Or if your time invested in a post is not too long so you ran out of time? Just any comments I guess, because this is just the beginning for me. 

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