Ryan Johnson

  • Performance profiling your app with Procexp

    If you want to ever see how much CPU or GPU a particular process is using over time, use Sysinternals Process Explorer (procexp) and find the process, open up its properties, and have a look at the Performance Graph and GPU Graph. This is a feature I didn’t know existed in Procexp, but I…

  • The Best Way to Maintain Windows 11

    Updated Feb 2025 Maintaining a system has always been a pain point, especially on Windows, where getting your OS back up to speed after a fresh reinstall requires manually searching, downloading, installing, and configuring about a hundred apps and individual mods for Windows. As of the past few years, the maintenance story has changed…

  • How to use Winget package manager

    A few years ago, Microsoft, under Sundar Pichai’s leadership, changed its stance on open source and started to embrace Linux ideas. The package manager concept was one of them. For a long time, Windows did not have a package manager. Some people made a 3rd party one called Chocolatey, but it often contained outdated…

  • Windows PC Recovery Sources

    Updated 2025-02-13. Windows 11 has a confusing mess of options for how to back-up your computer, with the most useful and powerful ones being hidden in the older Windows 7 Control Panel locations. This article should present all of the options and more or less de-complicate finding them and knowing when to use them.…

  • Light Speed Computers TLDR

    Anastasi in Tech on YouTube recently came out with a new video about Light Speed Computers. There have been a number of contenders for the next big step in computing technology, notably quantum computers and Graphene chips. As this breakthrough seems to be a big one, I am posting a quick TLDR summary here.…

  • Practical concerns for a Hash-based filesystem

    So, as you may know, I am ardently pursuing a new file system architecture that incorporates a few key strategies for organizing files. One of these strategies is using unique ID’s, generated by a hash function, for each file so that they can be requested by an app without relying on a namespace (folder…

  • Dear File System, stop breaking my workflow

    Why does my computer break so much? As I work on more coding projects, I use more tools, which come with limitations, so I have to restructure my folder hierarchies. Sometimes, these necessary changes break things. Today I wanted make a QR code for some links, but did not want to use one of…

  • Developing a Windows Theme Auto-Switcher with Claude: An AI Pair Programming Journey

    Developing a Windows Theme Auto-Switcher with Claude: An AI Pair Programming Journey

    Recently, I decided to create a Windows application that would automatically switch between light and dark themes based on sunrise and sunset times. Instead of tackling this project alone, I worked with Claude 3.5 Sonnet as my pair programming partner. Here’s how that experience went. The Initial Concept My goal was simple: create a…

  • The Mystery of the Indestructible Folder: A Windows NTFS Experience

    The Mystery of the Indestructible Folder: A Windows NTFS Experience

    As someone who’s no stranger to the intricacies of Windows and NTFS, I thought I had seen it all—until I encountered a folder on my external drive that refused to be deleted. What should have been a straightforward task turned into a head-scratching journey through NTFS permissions, hidden attributes, and the peculiarities of Windows…

  • Merging and Moving Folders in Windows: Why So Complicated?

    Moving or merging folders in Windows can be unexpectedly frustrating. If you’ve tried a simple move or mv command in PowerShell only to see baffling errors, you’re not alone. Let’s look at some common gotchas, why they occur, and which tool might actually be “one tool to rule them all.” The Problem You have…

  • Adding Diacritics to Letters with PowerToys

    Today I found out Microsoft PowerToys has added a new feature called QuickAccent that lets you add diacritic marks and other special characters related to a letter you click. For example, you can add e-tilde (é) for Spanish languages by clicking the letter ‘e’ then quickly holding down a trigger key to pop up…

  • The Case for a Redesign of WordPress Admin panel

    The WordPress Admin interface is undeniably one of the most pivotal entry points into the WordPress ecosystem for millions of users and developers. However, despite its critical importance, it has long suffered from design issues that hinder productivity and usability. Below, I address some of the most pressing concerns and propose potential solutions to…

  • Understanding Block-Based Themes and the New Workflow for WordPress

    Note: This article was generated with ChatGPT-4o based on a conversation I had with it. Recently, I updated my WordPress website to use a block-based theme, and it came with a major shift in how the homepage and overall site design are managed. If you’ve been using traditional WordPress themes like I had, this…

  • Zeffy Donation Form Demo

    3 ways to embed Zeffy donate into website. Note, the black border will not show up in the website. Button Popup

  • My time working at St. Francis Hospital

    When I started working here, the kitchen floor was always dirty, and equipment was dirty and often unmaintained. Various areas with equipment had caked on layers of grease. The dish room was poorly run, and a workflow nightmare, and the delivery carts had mold growing in them. Most workers didn’t care about the cleanliness,…