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-rw-r--r--content/posts/gcz-rvz-wia-size-comparisons.md69
-rw-r--r--content/posts/using-nordvpn-on-arch.md29
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+---
+title: "GCZ, RVZ and WIA size comparison"
+date: 2020-12-29T15:18:00
+tags: ["Emulation", "Formats", "Games", "Media", "Software"]
+---
+
+For as long as I can remember, the [Dolphin emulator](https://dolphin-emu.org/) has supported GCZ compression, and since version 5.0-12188, it has added two new formats, WIA and RVZ (as outlined in [this blog post](https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2020/07/05/dolphin-progress-report-may-and-june-2020/)). The original post has a quick overview of size comparisons, but it doesn't detail how well each compression method works.
+
+I tried this with Kururin Squash!, a Japanese exclusive Gamecube game and sequel to the GBA exclusive Kuru Kuru Kururin. No junk data was removed during any of these tests.
+
+The compressed sizes were as follows, with percentage values to match:
+
+| Format | Size (bytes) | Relative size (percent) |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| ISO (Original) | 1,459,978,240 | 610.57 |
+| ISO (Uncompressed) | 239,116,400 | 100.00 |
+| GCZ (Standard) | 107,272,770 | 44.87 |
+| WIA (No Compression) | 239,149,168 | 100.01 |
+| WIA (Purge) | 229,449,768 | 95.96 |
+| WIA (2MiB, bzip2, level 1) | 106,515,768 | 44.55 |
+| WIA (2MiB, bzip2, level 5) | 105,127,440 | 43.97 |
+| WIA (2MiB, bzip2, level 9) | 104,732,188 | 43.79 |
+| WIA (2MiB, LZMA, level 1) | 91,674,188 | 38.34 |
+| WIA (2MiB, LZMA, level 5) | 86,715,744 | 36.26 |
+| **WIA (2MiB, LZMA, level 9)** | **86,618,716** | **36.22** |
+| WIA (2MiB, LZMA2, level 1) | 91,688,008 | 38.34 |
+| WIA (2MiB, LZMA2, level 5) | 86,728,708 | 36.27 |
+| WIA (2MiB, LZMA2, level 9) | 86,728,708 | 36.27 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, bzip2, level 1) | 106,771,616 | 44.66 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, bzip2, level 5) | 106,339,216 | 44.47 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, bzip2, level 9) | 106,339,216 | 44.47 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, bzip2, level 1) | 106,568,640 | 44.57 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, bzip2, level 5) | 105,239,600 | 44.01 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, bzip2, level 9) | 105,093,188 | 43.95 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, bzip2, level 1) | 106,515,768 | 44.55 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, bzip2, level 5) | 105,127,440 | 43.96 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, bzip2, level 9) | 104,732,188 | 43.80 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA, level 1) | 96,654,712 | 40.42 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA, level 5) | 92,597,268 | 38.72 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA, level 9) | 92,521,648 | 38.69 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA, level 1) | 93,891,916 | 39.27 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA, level 5) | 89,668,640 | 37.50 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA, level 9) | 89,586,320 | 37.47 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA, level 1) | 91,674,188 | 38.34 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA, level 5) | 86,715,744 | 36.27 |
+| **RVZ (2MiB, LZMA, level 9)** | **86,618,716** | **36.22** |
+| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA2, level 1) | 96,666,280 | 40.43 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA2, level 5) | 92,608,300 | 38.73 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA2, level 9) | 92,532,604 | 38.70 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA2, level 1) | 93,905,124 | 39.27 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA2, level 5) | 89,681,068 | 37.51 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA2, level 9) | 89,598,776 | 37.47 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA2, level 1) | 91,688,008 | 38.34 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA2, level 5) | 86,728,708 | 36.27 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA2, level 9) | 86,631,708 | 36.23 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, Zstandard, level 1) | 111,340,684 | 46.57 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, Zstandard, level 5) | 105,730,496 | 44.22 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, Zstandard, level 10) | 104,140,564 | 43.56 |
+| RVZ (128KiB, Zstandard, level 22) | 100,217,436 | 41.91 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, Zstandard, level 1) | 109,719,948 | 45.89 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, Zstandard, level 5) | 103,921,924 | 43.46 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, Zstandard, level 10) | 102,535,204 | 42.88 |
+| RVZ (512KiB, Zstandard, level 22) | 97,270,064 | 40.68 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, Zstandard, level 1) | 108,380,880 | 45.33 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, Zstandard, level 5) | 100,285,556 | 41.94 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, Zstandard, level 10) | 98,800,396 | 41.32 |
+| RVZ (2MiB, Zstandard, level 22) | 93,857,212 | 39.25 |
+
+As you can see, from this extremely limited test, the best performing archive format is LZMA using a 2MiB block size at compression level 9. It doesn't matter which container, our of RVZ and WIA you use.
diff --git a/content/posts/using-nordvpn-on-arch.md b/content/posts/using-nordvpn-on-arch.md
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index 0000000..fa6e1d6
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+---
+title: "Using NordVPN on ArchLinux"
+date: 2020-12-03T13:43:00
+tags: ["Linux", "Networks", "Snippets", "Software"]
+---
+
+I found myself with access to a NordVPN account a while back, and while VPN's have many, **many** downsides and the advertising of them is even worse, there is still a place for them.
+
+The CLI client is available in the AUR, so it can be installed via:
+```
+yay -S nordvpn-bin
+```
+
+Once installed, you can manually start the daemon as root:
+```
+sudo nordvpnd
+```
+
+With the daemon started, you can login to your account, list available coutries to connect to and connect via:
+```
+nordvpn account
+nordvpn countries
+nordvpn connect Iceland
+```
+
+Once you've finished your nefarious activities, you can disconnect logically using:
+```
+nordvpn disconnect
+``` \ No newline at end of file