menewsoft is teaming up with a neighbor site. Today I’d like to introduce C&K LAB (candklab.com). From here on, the two sites will link to each other and grow together. This post is the first step: what C&K LAB is, and what you can get out of it.
What it is
C&K LAB describes itself like this:
A place to actually build the things you only thought about, and to really solve the problems you got stuck on. — Where Everything Becomes Reality.
It is run by a working engineer who operates IT infrastructure, servers and databases, and who started the site to record the problems they hit on the job, how they solved them, and what they built along the way. If menewsoft is a developer’s log of building things with AI, C&K LAB is an infrastructure engineer’s log of running things for real. The spirit is the same; the layer is different, which is why the two fit well together. (Most posts are in Korean, with some available in English and Japanese.)
Why its rules stood out
The About page lists the site’s writing rules:
- Only write what has actually been tried and verified, with real screenshots and numbers.
- State the software version and the date of writing, so readers know what the post applies to.
- Mask sensitive data such as IP addresses and account details.
- Accept corrections, verify them, and fix the post.
- Use AI for research, drafts, summaries and translation, but publish only after fact-checking and review.
So many IT posts you land on from search are written against a version from two years ago, or copied from somewhere else, and simply don’t work when you follow them. Just “state the version and the date” makes a guide something you can trust.
Free tools, no install
The first thing worth trying is the Tools section. Everything runs inside your browser and files are never uploaded to a server, which matters when you are handling contracts or ID scans you would rather not hand to someone else’s server.
| Group | Tools |
|---|---|
| Merge · Split/extract pages · Organize (reorder, rotate, delete) · Rotate · Sign/add text · Watermark/page numbers · PDF→JPG · JPG→PDF | |
| Work | Image editor (crop, adjust, mosaic, text, resize, convert, hit a target file size) · IP subnet calculator (CIDR) |
| Everyday | Character counter (with/without spaces, bytes) · Date & D-day calculator · Pyeong ↔ m² converter |
The target file size option (for forms that demand “a JPG under 500 KB”) and the subnet calculator are the kind of tools that only someone doing this work every day thinks to build.
Posts worth reading
The blog has three tracks: Tech Notes, IT & Life Tips, and Reviews. A few recent picks:
- A phone photo backup server with TrueNAS 25.10 + Immich + Tailscale: automatic backup of two phones’ photos and videos on a spare PC, with no inbound ports opened, a firewall DMZ, snapshots, and an actual restore test.
- Installing local AI on your PC: Ollama, from setup to picking a model for your VRAM: fixing models that fill up the C: drive or run slowly, using environment variables and GPU settings. Read it alongside menewsoft’s post on running local LLMs on a Mac mini for both the Windows and Mac side.
- Windows 10 security updates extended to 2027: three things to check now: the consumer ESU sign-up steps and how to check Windows 11 eligibility.
- How to check a Galaxy phone you suspect is hacked: an eight-step check using only the Settings screens, from Play Protect to permissions, device admins and accounts.
- When downloaded PDFs won’t show in File Explorer’s preview pane: what changed after the October 2026 update, and how to unblock only files you trust.
What’s next
menewsoft covers games and tools built with AI plus tech and market analysis; C&K LAB covers infrastructure and server work plus everyday IT fixes. We’ll link related topics across both sites and keep pointing you to tools and posts worth your time.
Next time you need to merge a PDF, shrink a photo, or set up a backup server at home, stop by candklab.com.