https://www.nioctib.net/ Software reviews, code tips, and net culture. en Sun, 01 Nov 2026 20:16:23 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/robot-vacuum-wifi-audit-pi-hole-wireshark/ https://www.nioctib.net/robot-vacuum-wifi-audit-pi-hole-wireshark/ I spent twelve months spying on the things spying on me — a $300 vacuum, a smart plug, and a video doorbell — using nothing but a Raspberry Pi and free network tools. The destinations will not surprise you, but the volume might. Nioctib Net Culture Sun, 01 Nov 2026 20:03:03 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/one-ugly-spreadsheet-beat-four-apps/ https://www.nioctib.net/one-ugly-spreadsheet-beat-four-apps/ I ditched my calendar app, habit tracker, budgeting tool, and notes app for a single homemade spreadsheet with zero design sense. Here's what survived the month, what didn't, and which apps actually earned their subscriptions back. Nioctib Software Reviews Sun, 01 Nov 2026 16:03:09 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/browser-extension-permission-audit/ https://www.nioctib.net/browser-extension-permission-audit/ I installed ten of the most popular Chrome extensions, one at a time, and read every privacy policy and permission prompt like a paranoid lawyer. Some of them deserve a permanent spot in your toolbar. Others I deleted before I even finished the install page. Nioctib Software Reviews Sun, 01 Nov 2026 08:04:50 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/lawyer-reads-terms-of-service-10-apps/ https://www.nioctib.net/lawyer-reads-terms-of-service-10-apps/ Nobody reads the terms of service — but an actual attorney does, and I paid her to walk me through ten of them. What she found buried in Instagram, DoorDash, and Duolingo made me rethink every 'I Agree' tap I've ever done. Nioctib Net Culture Sun, 01 Nov 2026 00:05:32 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/silence-is-a-feature-30-days-no-push-notifications/ https://www.nioctib.net/silence-is-a-feature-30-days-no-push-notifications/ I killed every push notification on my iPhone and Android tablet for a full month to find out which alerts actually earned their place. Spoiler: it was about five of them, and the rest were engagement bait dressed up as urgency. Nioctib Software Reviews Sat, 31 Oct 2026 16:04:40 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/password-manager-knows-me-better-than-my-therapist/ https://www.nioctib.net/password-manager-knows-me-better-than-my-therapist/ For one month, I treated my password manager's vault like a diary — reading every stored string, address, and security note as an archaeological record of my digital self. What I found: 214 accounts, a 2011 AOL email I never deleted, and a billing address from an apartment I moved out of during the Obama administration. Nioctib Net Culture Sat, 31 Oct 2026 12:06:42 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/every-website-is-the-same-website-tailwind-monoculture/ https://www.nioctib.net/every-website-is-the-same-website-tailwind-monoculture/ Hero section, three feature cards, a testimonial carousel, dark mode toggle. The modern web has converged on a single design language, and this piece reviews the tools behind that convergence — and the ones fighting against it. Is uniformity an accessibility win or the death of the weird web? Nioctib Software Reviews Sat, 31 Oct 2026 12:06:42 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/ai-pair-programmer-week-of-bugs/ https://www.nioctib.net/ai-pair-programmer-week-of-bugs/ I spent seven days building a side project using nothing but Copilot and Cursor, and the speed was genuinely intoxicating. Then I opened the hood and found security holes, copy-pasted logic, and code I couldn't explain to save my life. Nioctib Software Reviews Sat, 31 Oct 2026 04:04:33 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/zip-tld-panic-revisited/ https://www.nioctib.net/zip-tld-panic-revisited/ In 2023, security researchers swore the new .zip and .mov domains would fuel a phishing apocalypse. Three years later, your aunt is still clicking the same sketchy links she always has. A retrospective on tech's favorite pastime: predicting doom. Nioctib Net Culture Sat, 31 Oct 2026 04:04:33 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/io-domain-retirement-startup-migration/ https://www.nioctib.net/io-domain-retirement-startup-migration/ The .io top-level domain is on a scheduled path to retirement, and thousands of tech companies built their entire brand on it. Between SEO headaches, domain squatters, and the awkward geopolitics of it all, this is the biggest forced migration the modern web has seen. Nioctib Net Culture Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:04:27 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/google-account-app-permissions-audit/ https://www.nioctib.net/google-account-app-permissions-audit/ I spent a Saturday afternoon revoking OAuth grants from every app with access to my Google account, and the body count was ugly — dead startups, abandoned extensions, and one weather app that somehow had Gmail access. Here's how to run your own audit without losing your mind. Nioctib Software Reviews Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:04:27 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/30-days-zero-subscriptions-open-source-mac-experiment/ https://www.nioctib.net/30-days-zero-subscriptions-open-source-mac-experiment/ I swapped every paid app on my MacBook for free, open source alternatives and lived with the results for a month. Some swaps were life-changing, some lasted exactly four days, and one made me cancel a subscription permanently. Nioctib Software Reviews Fri, 30 Oct 2026 20:05:01 GMT https://www.nioctib.net/gen-z-hand-coded-html-web-revival/ https://www.nioctib.net/gen-z-hand-coded-html-web-revival/ Webrings, visitor counters, and marquee text are back — built by developers who weren't even alive for the original wave. Here's why the messy, personal web is winning hearts again, and how to stake your own claim. Nioctib Net Culture Fri, 30 Oct 2026 20:05:01 GMT