Solid state

2021 Week 324 min read

I initially planned to continue working on the game this week. As it happens, I ended up doing something else. Some things, actually.

This website now uses MDX for markdown content. Well, not really. Most of the content files are actually still in plain markdown.

I haven't really found the need to use MDX. However, it would be nice to:

  • apply syntax highlighting to code snippets,
  • automatically add target="_blank" and rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" to external links, and
  • if possible, use Next's image optimization.

The first two can be accomplished without MDX. Maybe the last one, too. But looking at other Next-based blogs, MDX seems to be the way to go. So, yeah.

That took longer than expected, though. Not going into details, but a lot of time was spent looking for the right plugins and configuring them.

With that out of the way, my Google Summer of Code blog content is now available on this website. For now, it's still in a separate section. It might be moved to the main posts section later, but that would need some kind of categorization feature in place. Redirects from the old domain have yet to be set up.

That's one out of three static sites that I'd like to import. It would be nice to get all my content centralized here, eventually. Including content written in Indonesian.

There's a footer now. A navbar with submenus is hard to get right, especially if you also want to make it responsive. A footer is cheaper.

Now there's also a simple guestbook made with giscus. Go ahead and sign it!

Speaking of giscus, the HTML structure has been refactored to improve its customizability using custom CSS. It is now possible to reverse the comments order and move the comment box to the top. There were also some bug fixes.

Oh, and we reached more than 200 stars this week. I'm glad.


In other news, there was a local seller who has the 2242 variant of SN520. Previously, I had been looking for it with no luck.

My laptop, T480, has two SSD slots: SATA 2.5" and M.2 2242 NVMe (B key). On purchase back in 2019, it only had a 512 GB hard drive in the SATA slot. I wanted to add an SSD to the M.2 slot, but it's really tough to find a compatible part.

For one, there's not many M.2 SSDs in 2242 form factor for consumers. They're usually made for manufacturers and mostly found included with the laptop.

The second, it's even harder to find one with the NVMe interface. I made the mistake of buying a SATA one earlier. Unlike in T470 and older models, the M.2 slot in T480 only accepts NVMe.

Lastly, it's even harder to find an M.2 2242 NVMe SSD that is compatible with a B key slot. I almost bought a M key one.

I had given up hope of finding it, so the hard drive ended up getting replaced with a 500GB 860 EVO soon after. That's what my laptop has been running on ever since.

Last month, I decided to try again. I checked several online marketplaces every few days. I found a seller on eBay who has a 256GB SN520 in 2242 form factor. I ordered it a few weeks ago, and it has not arrived yet.

Today, by luck, I saw a 512GB 2242 variant of SN520 on a local marketplace. The price was reasonable. I was a bit hesitant to buy it because I had already ordered the 256GB, but I couldn't resist.

I ordered it to be delivered instantly. It's installed now.

SN520

All good.

Still not sure which drive should contain the Windows installation, though.


At work, we mostly did some bug fixes. We're also designing a significant change to the database and application design, so that integrations with other systems at the company can be more streamlined.

I also rewrote my resume in LaTeX. I might publish it later.