Notes and Plans
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Notes and Plans
Recording a few recent little achievements. 🥳
Bought a Domain, Made the Blog Accessible from China ✅
I'd been deploying the blog on GitHub Pages at its default .github.io address. Accessing it from China was so difficult, and it had been bothering me for ages.
But recently, on March 1, 2025, I bought moyuin.top from NameSilo, put it under Cloudflare, and pointed the GitHub Pages site to that domain. Now my blog can be browsed smoothly from China too.
It's much easier to send notes to classmates now. 😎
Automated Deployment ✅
A First Pass at Automatic Deployment!
I used to find Hexo's three-command routine far too much trouble. Whether I'd written a post on my phone or tablet, I still had to transfer it to my computer over the local network, organize and categorize it there, then run those three Hexo commands.
My note-taking setup is now Obsidian + Git + Sync. Having Obsidian's repository plugin integrated into the folder is so handy. Once all my devices have synced, the Git plugin and everything in the folder are available across devices and work without a hitch.
Then I can just commit and push from Obsidian, send it straight to the repository, and let a remote GitHub Action handle the three Hexo steps. It's made writing blog posts so much more comfortable.
And in VS Code, I can commit and sync with a few clicks, which makes organizing coding notes on my computer easier too.
Lazy-person syncing achieved! 🤪
Or is it? 😢
Sync Problems
There's still one problem. To save space on my phone and tablet, and avoid conflicts with other configuration files, I'm only sharing the source folder that holds the blog posts.
😭 Which means my git folder hasn't been synced.
For now, I still have to finish writing and commit from a computer...
Thinking about a solution.
It seems the best approach is to manage it with a submodule. I'll need to look into that.
Of course, another option is to turn the whole Obsidian vault into the blog's source repository. But that would be too much trouble, and my little tablet, with only 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, is begging for mercy. My phone is also asking me not to clutter it with random junk files. 😔
Solved!
Connecting source to the blog repository as a submodule linked the Git repository inside source with the blog repository! I also added a new GitHub Action: when changes to the source folder are pushed to its repository, the blog repository automatically commits and pushes, triggering deployment!
😋 Lazy-person deployment achieved!
Remote Desktop! ⭐
This is absolutely my greatest achievement so far!
Starting on the Local Network
I bought a tablet over winter break and heard about using Moonlight + Sunshine for a remote desktop over a LAN. Wanting to get the most out of the tablet, I started trying it during the break.
The LAN connection was fast, and my tablet connected to the computer smoothly! I put the heavy gaming laptop aside and took my keyboard, mouse, and tablet to bed… As long as they're on the same network, my tablet can connect to the computer and play all sorts of games smoothly at high image quality: Black Myth, Red Dead Redemption, Watch Dogs, you name it…
But I chose to spend every day in bed or by the heater playing Genshin Impact with the frame-rate cap unlocked 🤪… That's what playing Genshin does to you.
A local network still has one limitation, though. If the tablet and computer aren't on the same network, the tablet can't see the computer.
Next step: connecting remotely.
Getting Started with Remote Access
When term started, I hauled my computer back to university. After a winter break with a lightweight tablet, my gaming laptop was starting to feel very heavy. (Even though I'd deliberately bought the lightest gaming laptop I could find.) So I began investigating how to use a remote desktop across different networks.
Microsoft's Remote Desktop, RDP? ❌
RDP is Microsoft's remote desktop for Windows. It works well, but with no router for port forwarding and no server of my own to help, all I could consider was connecting the dorm and classroom over the campus LAN.
Besides, RDP wasn't particularly stable even on the LAN. And from a post by Skywt, a senior student, I learned that HNU's campus network isn't like a normal LAN: it uses AP isolation. Devices connected to it can't reach one another. Even with both the computer and tablet on the dorm area's campus network, Moonlight couldn't find the computer.
So I'd have to use another application's remote-access service, or work with the campus network and use NAT traversal to make a connection.
Internet Remote Access with ToDesk and Similar Apps? ❓
Smoothness depends on network speed.
The campus network's speed is something else, just so you know. It serves all HNU students and staff, and I don't know how the university allocates bandwidth. If the remote desktop goes through a relay server, with the campus network's generous help, it can't even hold a stable 60 fps.
ToDesk and similar apps do let me connect remotely, but their device support isn't as good as Moonlight's. For example, alt+tab in ToDesk switches apps on the tablet itself. Deeply annoying. Still, its lock-screen and power-on features work normally and could be useful in a pinch, so I'm keeping it.
Apply for Public IPv6 Connectivity? ❌
Uh, there's no chance of public IPv6 on this campus network. I haven't subscribed to the dorm broadband service either—I've heard it's a waste of money, slow and unstable. All I have in the dorm is a portable Wi-Fi hotspot with a SIM card acting as a router, so public-network forwarding is even less of an option.
Campus Network + Tailscale NAT Traversal: Past AP Isolation, Direct P2P on Campus ✅
That leaves one approach on campus: back to the campus network... Since it doesn't let LAN devices access each other, use NAT traversal to connect them directly. In my testing, this has been the smoothest option, reaching 2K at 120 fps. With Moonlight's excellent device support, using the tablet keyboard feels no different from using the computer's keyboard.
I'm using the free Tailscale service for NAT traversal. It assigns IPs, and I just have to sign all my devices into the same account. Very convenient.
With both devices on the campus network, Tailscale can get the connection through. It supports Sync's data transfer too, which fits my needs perfectly. I don't want to tinker much more for now. I'm already very happy with how it works.
There Are Still Drawbacks, Though....
With this Tailscale setup, connecting the devices to different networks makes it fall back to a relay. It's an overseas service, after all, and the nearest relay server is in Tokyo... You can imagine how smooth that is.
So the moment I leave the campus area—that is, the coverage of campus Wi-Fi— my remote desktop is practically unusable.
As far as I can tell, solving this will require a server in China that I can use as a relay... There are so many restrictions at the moment, and I'm still a beginner who knows nothing about maintaining servers. If it gets attacked one day, I'd be helpless. So for now, I can only keep learning...
There's a long way to go before this setup is perfect. But if I get there, I could even consider leaving a desktop PC in the dorm instead...
What Do I Want to Do Next?
Get a Server ✅
Tinker with a Way around the Great Firewall ✅
I'd really like a smooth internet-access tool of my own.
The one I use now is stable, and I don't have to pay to maintain it—thanks, Dad—but I still want to try being independent. I have to try sometime; I can't always rely on him. If something goes wrong one day, it's better to be able to maintain my own setup.
Got one, got one! GitHub's student verification got me a DigitalOcean VPS. Setting up WireGuard was enough of an adventure 🥳, and the credit should last until I'm old enough to buy my own.
The problem is that it's not very stable. I haven't figured that out yet. Leaving it for now.
Move the Blog
Deploying on GitHub Pages is certainly convenient, but it also seems to limit some of my... freedom? Things like getting an ICP filing for my blog in China. (Though I won't turn 18 until November....)
Find a Usable Server for frp Forwarding and Finish the Remote Desktop Setup.
Look into RSS Subscriptions ✅
I see lots of experienced bloggers with an RSS subscription link on their sites. What is it? Can I do it too?
It looks quite advanced, but I don't even have any friend links yet. I need to tinker properly.
Successfully set up an RSS feed… Though I suspect I'll be my only subscriber. My articles don't exactly have much valuable, thought-provoking content 🤕.
Make a Friend for the Blogroll
Mostly, I blog to leave a record for myself: see my notes nicely presented on a website, switch devices, open the blog, and get the information wherever and whenever I want. Very convenient.
But I'd also like a friend I can add to my blogroll... Not for any practical gain. Just one more person in this little circle to share thoughts and reflections with.
To be continued...