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Smartphones, tablets, laptops and so on

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Choosing the best TWS earbuds for music playback in summer 2025: market research and my final choice

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time9 min
Reach and readers775

I regularly choose various things for myself and always strive to get the best price/quality ratio. The warm season has begun, walks have become longer, and my new Redmi 13 Pro+ 5G, as luck would have it, doesn't have a headphone jack. This means it's finally time to buy myself a pair of TWS earbuds.

As a long-time audiophile with a FiiO M11 player and FiiO FH5 earphones, I have always avoided wireless headphones. Some 5-10 years ago, I tried early TWS models and, frankly, was disgusted—the sound quality was terrible. Since then, I haven't trusted wireless connections at all, preferring wired solutions.

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What is Flipper and why is it Zero. Understanding the Tamagotchi for geeks from a newbie's perspective

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time5 min
Reach and readers639

Not so long ago, about a year ago, I finally received my long-awaited package. Flipper Zero. For those who don't know, Flipper Zero is a small device that allows you to engage in all sorts of fun activities in life. The fun starts with the Sub-1 GHz antenna and continues with micro-scripts for PC. If you're interested, please read on.

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Best free VPNs for PC and smartphone 2025 (that work)

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time6 min
Reach and readers333


Free VPNs.

In recent years, internet traffic filtering using TSPU has intensified in the Russian Federation. Hundreds of websites and internet services have been blacklisted and blocked. They can only be accessed via a VPN. However, the most popular VPNs have also been blocked.

The restrictions can be bypassed through a channel on your own foreign server by buying the cheapest hosting there for a couple of dollars or a ready-made VPS with a VPN installed (such ads can be found on Avito). If you don't have your own server, the only option is to use third-party VPN services that are not yet blocked. The best free VPNs among those that have survived are listed below.

Note. Habr will likely block this article for users from the Russian Federation in compliance with Roskomnadzor's ban on information about circumventing blocks, so it's best to save it immediately after publication or subscribe for updates on Telegram.
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Fixing YouTube Throttling at the Router Level

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time6 min
Reach and readers1.2K

A categorical welcome to everyone. Literally on the first of August, right in the middle of the night, YouTube started lagging terribly for me. Naturally, I didn't like this at all. Well then, let's figure out why and how to fix it within my personal network.

What happened?

What happened is well described here, on Habr. In short, in my own words - during the SSL connection setup, the domain we are connecting to (the so-called SNI) is transmitted in plain text. And if it's googlevideo.com, then "interesting things" start to happen. You can check this locally with the commands from the article.

$ curl https://speedtest.selectel.ru/100MB -o/dev/null

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Installing the NFQWS network packet modification program on a Keenetic router

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time13 min
Reach and readers1.7K

Hello, Habr!

Today we'll look at how to install the network packet modification utility Zapret on Keenetic routers. Unlike using it on specific devices, installing it on a router allows you to process traffic from all devices connected to your home local network (PCs, smartphones, and smart TVs).

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How to increase capacity of drive from 32 to 256 GB for Asus E200H laptop

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time5 min
Reach and readers1.7K

Hi Everyone.

Recently I got Asus E200H laptop, which I would like to use as a portable computer to work with a high-precision equipment.

Within the scope of the article we will perform the experiment about the upgrade of the default 32 GB eMMC capacitor to 256 GB and will test it.

Have a nice reading!

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Push notifications. How to write push notifications that won't piss you off

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time11 min
Reach and readers2K

Push notifications are similar to promoters. You're peacefully walking down the street, and suddenly promoters approach you, urging you to take their flyers. You take them, but you don't read them and throw them into the nearest trash can.

The same goes for push notifications. You're reading an article, and suddenly a notification pops up with a promo code for free delivery of products. Then another one arrives, informing you about a giveaway. And then another one, offering a discount on all fruits. Notifications can appear on your screen at any time. If there are too many of them, your reaction is either to ignore them or disable them.

In this article, we will talk about how to write push notifications that people will click on and show you how to build a push notification strategy. At the end, we will provide a template for a push notification strategy.

Push Notifications - What is it?

A push notification is a pop-up message on a smartphone screen. To send one, you need to use a delivery service. You can send a notification instantly, schedule it for a specific time, or set up a trigger-based delivery - a chain of notifications that will be triggered by specific user actions.

Triggered push notifications are sent after a specific action is taken. For example, if a person starts adding items to their cart but doesn't complete the purchase, you can send them a notification urging them to complete the transaction after a certain period of time.

Notifications are sent to users who fall into specific segments for targeting. Segments are formed based on specific events. For example, the event "6 hours ago, a product was added to the cart but no purchase was made" will divide users into two segments: those who made a purchase and those who didn't.

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Journey to find a headset with a good side talk cancellation mic for calls in an open office

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time6 min
Reach and readers6.1K

TL;DR: All AI-based noise cancellations suck, only the physical cancellation technique works! And physical cancellation is implemented well only in Jabra devices yet, but other features suck them! All Bluetooth headsets suck too! So, no solution yet, just complaints!

The environment: I work in a pretty talky office room, where sit around 10 people, and all of them have many online conferences every day, including me. So, silence in the room is a rare situation.

The problem: The main problem is that most of the microphones pick up all side talk pretty loud, which makes it very unpleasant for other people to listen to my voice in meetings!

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Smart house with Xiaomi on the example of a sauna

Reading time12 min
Reach and readers3.3K
There are quite a few reviews and videos on the Internet about building smart houses. There is an opinion that all this is quite expensive and troublesome in the organization, that is, in general, the fate of geeks. But progress is not standing still. Devices are becoming cheaper and more functional, and design and installation are quite simple. However, the reviews mainly focus on 1-2 examples of use, practically not covering nuances and not creating a complete picture. Therefore, in this article I want to make an overview of the finished project, demonstrate the use cases and pitfalls encountered in building a smart home with Xiaomi devices on the example of a sauna. The described ideas with small variations can also be applied to the automation of the apartment.

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Background or why all of this is necessary


For starters, a little background so that the context can be understood. In the early autumn of 2018, the sauna was finished and put into operation. The sauna is an autonomous capital structure with year-round heating and water supply.

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The Flight with a Dosimeter in the Pocket

Reading time3 min
Reach and readers2.1K
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The developer of personal dosimeters presented me with an interesting gift at one of Skolovo conferences in early 2011. It was a funny DO-RA gadget made in the form of an Easter egg and packed in a large cardboard box like a smartphone. Apparently, its designers new that their boss Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation, was fond of Faberge eggs. They made a plastic copy of the famous Easter gift of the Russian Imperial Court.

I found a dusty box with the DO-RA gadget just before a business trip to the United Arab Emirates. The device had no battery and was connected to Apple smartphones via a standard audio jack. It is worth noting that, starting with the 7th iPhone model, the Apple Inc. no longer releases smartphones with an audio jack considering it an anachronism. However, the abandonment of the quite utilitarian interface such as audio jack coincided with the release of expensive Airpod earphones. Well, it's their business to earn money on all sorts of restrictions.
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Setting up network sales channels for DO-RA gadgets

Reading time7 min
Reach and readers1K
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Introduction


In early March 2019, Intersoft Eurasia team completed work on a test batch of DO-RA gadgets — personal, cross-platform dosimeters-radiometers to monitor the radiation situation at the measurement site, compatible with iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

By buying such a device, the user receives the following: reliable electronics which have undergone radiation testing in the factory laboratory, stylish colored case in the spirit of Malevich ;) for every taste, gift packaging, color insert instructions in Russian and English, special USB charging cable, a free updateable DO-RA.Pro application from the App Store and Google Play.

The next step in our project implementation is to find the best sales channels for Made in Russia products in the challenging environment of stagnant purchasing power.
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DO-RA: Preparing for Industrial Production

Reading time6 min
Reach and readers1.6K
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1. Transporting prototypes

The idea of the DO-RA project originated in March 2011 after a nuclear disaster on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. This gadget was conceived as a personal dosimeter/radiometer working with eponymous software (DO-RA.Soft) on mobile platforms (iOS, Android, WP) as well as on desktop platforms—Windows/Linux/MacOS.

At the end of 2017, a tourist from China brought in his backpack ten long-awaited prototypes from the DO-RA.Q test batch. They were manufactured in China based on our design documents and then transported from Shenzhen to Moscow. By the way, the development of design documents was assigned to the largest Design Centre in Eastern Europe—the PROMWAD company. The documents were clear and plain—prepared in IPC format and written in proper English—to enable the automated production of electronic devices in a foreign country.
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Tech Insights: Are LED filament-lamps so good?

Reading time8 min
Reach and readers4.4K
Saluting my LED lamp fans!

Today we will talk about the palpitating and extremely popular subject in recent years — filament LED (Light-Emitted Diode) lamps. Numerous articles have been published here on Habr (1, 2, 3) and on the web, but none of them tells us a word about in-depth analysis of the lamps (what is actually inside) and comparison of their temperature characteristics. Therefore, especially for you — my dear LED-lovers — I conducted a detailed analysis of such lamps from different manufacturers, including temperature measurement of LEDs themselves.

Afterwards we will try to answer the question: are filament lamps as good as marketers present them to us?

Disclaimer: this is my very first attempt to translate and adopt an article from Habr into English, so I will ask you to give a fruitful feedback and correct some mistake if any present.
Shock, thrill and scandals!

Hack Your XiaoMi Vacuum Cleaner

Reading time2 min
Reach and readers68K
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Laziness moves the world. And today we have more and more robotic vacuum cleaners that are saving our time for something more pleasant than just vacuuming.

The robots were marketed as internet/Bluetooth/smartphone connected devices with a speaker and camera to report and explore the environment. They also have different sensors to dodge barriers and such. But that’s only some ordinary stuff everyone knows about the robotic vacuum cleaners.
But the most interesting thing about them is their software. The owners can reprogram these devices and implement different settings as well as voice acting that has a huge number of options, including funny ones. And all you need to “upgrade” your vacuum cleaner is a PC, an internet connection, and a smartphone:
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Making a DIY thermal camera based on a Raspberry Pi

Reading time6 min
Reach and readers63K
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Hi everyone!

Winter has arrived, and so I had to check the thermal insulation of my out of town residence dacha. And it just turned out a famous Chinese marketplace started to sell cheap thermal camera modules. So I decided to DIY it up and build a rather exotic and useful thing — a heat visor for the home. Why not? Especially since I had a Raspberry Pi lying around anyway… The result is down below.
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Choosing true wireless earbuds: 6 months later…

Reading time6 min
Reach and readers6.2K


Once I put on true wireless headphones and all the cables after that (even if it's a flexible headband on a “wireless” headset), became annoying. So I’ve tried a lot of AirPods-like earbuds in order to find the best ones. In 2018 aside from the AirPods themselves I tried: Jabra Elite 65+, Samsung IconX 2018 and Sony WF-1000X. The result was a neat table with all the objective data. Everything else — my personal opinion — let's discuss in the comments.

Understanding the POCSAG paging protocol

Reading time8 min
Reach and readers16K
Long time ago, when a mobile phone costed about 2000$ and one minute of voice call was 50 cents, pagers were really popular. Later cellular phones became cheaper, calls and SMS prices became lower, and finally pagers mostly disappeared.


For people, who owned a pager before, and want to know how it works, this article will be useful.
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A small notebook for a system administrator

Reading time21 min
Reach and readers166K
I am a system administrator, and I need a small, lightweight notebook for every day carrying. Of course, not just to carry it, but for use it to work.

I already have a ThinkPad x200, but it’s heavier than I would like. And among the lightweight notebooks, I did not find anything suitable. All of them imitate the MacBook Air: thin, shiny, glamorous, and they all critically lack ports. Such notebook is suitable for posting photos on Instagram, but not for work. At least not for mine.

After not finding anything suitable, I thought about how a notebook would turn out if it were developed not with design, but the needs of real users in mind. System administrators, for example. Or people serving telecommunications equipment in hard-to-reach places — on roofs, masts, in the woods, literally in the middle of nowhere.

The results of my thoughts are presented in this article.

Figure to attract attention
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