Tech |

Improving WFH Setup with OBS Virtual Camera

Sun, 21 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Working from home has become the new normal as the global COVID-19 pandemic situation continues. Apart from work, we are also using video calls more and more to stay in touch with friends and family.

Joining work meetings with webcam on is becoming normal and it certainly helps with communication - facial expression, body language, nodding and other visual cues are helpful apart from voice. It is also pleasing to see the faces of co-workers whom we haven’t met in person for a long time.

However, not everyone has a nice background and we also want to protect the privacy of our family members at home. Most video call applications (such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom) provide virtual backgrounds, or the ability to blur your background. Depending on your webcam and the actual environment, the effect might or might not be satisfactory.

I decided to buy a (green screen) so that I can play with OBS Virtual Camera and still be able to store the green screen to save space.

To improve video quality, I’ve also upgraded to a , and I’m very happy with the image quality. (It also comes with an attachable privacy shutter)

Furthermore, this is also one of the few webcams which support Windows Hello Face sign in. See how it works:

To make use of the green screen, I use OBS Virtual Camera like most people. You can find a lot of tutorials online with details. I’ll do a quick run-down here with my personal setup.

First of all, with the webcam already added as a “Video Capture Device” in OBS, simply add a “Chroma Key” filter to the camera. The green screen is visible when the filter is hidden.

Next, add an image or media source (video) to the scene in OBS and they will be displayed within the chromakey area.

How it looks with a static image (of Singapore 🇸🇬):

For some extra fun, download a loopable short video online and let it play in loop:

With everything setup, simply click Start Virtual Camera under the Controls.

Back in the video call application (Teams in this example), select “OBS Virutal Camera” instead of Logitech Brio:

My Work From Home Setup

Sat, 20 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Like many others, I have been working from home since March 18^th due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, as a software developer, all my work can be done on a computer, remoting into the workstation in office. In the past, I had also worked from home occassionally so my VPN is already setup way ahead.

I thank my past self for building a good desktop PC (mostly for gaming though 😆) which make the transition to fully WFH a lot more comfortable.

Most of my “gears” were shipped from Singapore when I moved to Montreal in 2017. I self-built this PC back in 2011, it’s almost 10 years old. Over the years, I have upgraded/replaced many components except the CPU and motherboard.

Intel Core i5-2400 CPU (Sandy Bridge)
24 GB DDR3 RAM
Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 Graphic Card
Total 700 GB SSD
Total 7 TB HDD
EVGA 650W fully modular PSU

For the displays, I have two Dell monitors with a pairing with an older 23" U2311H. Both are the UltraSharp series from Dell, using In-plane Switching (IPS) panels which make the color looks really great. I also prefer this type of stands which allow height adjustment.

💡 Tip: Workspace ergonomics suggests that the main monitor should be placed at the center with about an arm’s length away from the body, instead of a /\ shape.

💡 Tip: You can use both screens for Remote Desktop by checking the “Use all my monitors for the remote session” box.

To maximize space, I bought two which not only allow me to set the monitors on eye level, but also to slot in the keyboard and mouse under it whenever I need more space.

For typing, I am using the . Its simple design takes away the unnecessary gaming function keys and gets the job done. It is using Cherry MX Blue mechanical switches so there is the unavoidable clicking sound during typing. (My Logitech G710+ keyboard with less noisy MX Brown switches is still stuck in the office, unfortunately 😓)

The mouse and headphones are two new additions to my setup, bought during this WFH period, to replace their predecessors which were not as comfortable.

The has a simple design and works comfortably for my hand size. The side buttons are always a must to me because they allow me to easily navigate back and forward (in browser, explorer, IDE etc.). It also has a light that changes color (configurable).

The has a noise-canceling microphone that is 360° adjustable. It allows me to speak much clearly during calls. As a plus point, it can also be plugged into a PS4 controller.

I don’t usually turn on video during work calls but I do have an sitting on top of the Dell U2311H monitor, ready to serve when needed. It also has a built-in microphone.

Last but not least, a very comfortable chair - the . Mine is the 2016 series bought in Singapore. It is made by a company founded in Singapore, and now they have expanded to Europe and North America.

I don’t need my all-in-one Canon MX727 (seen in picture above) for work, but it is always useful when I need to scan and print documents.

WFH is going be the “new normal” for developers like us, and I am ready.

Now I just need a hair cut. 💇‍♂️

ConFoo Montreal 2020

Sat, 29 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve had the opportunity to attend at Hotel Bonaventure Montréal this week.

What is ConFoo?

is a nonprofit organization founded by . In 18 years, the event has evolved from a PHP conference to include all web technologies and related topics.

All the topics this year are listed and the presentation slides were uploaded by the organizer at this Github repository: 😍

The Presentations

The presentation on Go and Kubernetes were most related to my current job, and they were super popular with the rooms fully packed. Sadly there was only one single session on Go.

It was also nice to see some cool things in Python 3 since I’ve been coding using Python 2.7 for the past 3 years. Even though the chance of me switching to Python 3 at work remains low.

For historical reason, the conference is mostly on web technologies with a lot of them on PHP (which I didn’t attend any). Besides those, there were many talks on various JavaScript topics. It’s interesting to know that we now have browser API to get battery status and connect to Bluetooth devices; you can also build an indie platformer game (like ) running at 60fps and publish on Steam.

from Google looks promising and I am eager to try it out. It looks like an attempt from Google to promote .

The Swag (Stuff We All Get)

Every participant get a goodie bag with some stickers and magnets in it.

Of course, food, drinks and lots of coffee ☕ to keep us awake

… plus community cocktail 🍻 with retro games 🎮 after a long day.

Thank you Confoo, the event sponsors, and my employer for sending me to attend. Until next time!

Why and How I Built This Website

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Update 2026-01-25: This was originally written in February 2020. As of January 2026, Academic theme for Hugo is no longer available. This website has since been rebuilt with .

Hello and welcome! You probably found this website from my or other social media profiles.

Why eson.dev?

For years, I have always wanted to own a personal website. Back when I was living in Singapore, I even reserved the hostname eson.sg for many years without hosting anything 😅. I was still building up my career and LinkedIn is the best place to display my skills and experience.

In 2019, I found that .dev has become a top-level domain, as . A quick search showed that eson.dev is still available and I purchased the domain in no time. I wanted to use it as an alternative to my LinkedIn profile and give it a more personal touch, to showcase my experience and game projects, and maybe write some articles to share some tips and tricks.

Deciding the tech to use

After owning the domain name, it was time to decide on the technology to build the site on. A long time ago, I learnt website building with just HTML and JavaScript using (it was also a period when was prominent) 😂. Of course, we are living in 2020 now and there are so many ways to create your own website without even writing a single line of HTML.

I tried out with the GitHub’s own project. It uses as the site generator. For some reasons, I didn’t really like Jekyll. Soon after that I discovered as an alternative (it’s also written in Go and I use Go every day at work) and decided to give it a try, and it fits my needs. While searching for a theme on Hugo, I found Academic (link no longer available ❌) and it looks fantastic!

By following Academic’s installation guide, I was able to setup to automatically build and deploy my changes, and the first version of my website was published in less than 10 minutes! The best of all is that I am able to use the Starter (free) tier of Netlify to host my website and tie it to my custom domain .

Keeping it updated

Now that the Netlify pipeline has been setup, I simply have to push my changes to the Github repository, and everything will be automagically built and deployed live by Netlify in less than a minute. Sweet! 🎉