PDF internals research
What Our PDF Analyzer Cannot Tell You
If the analyzer reports object counts, stream shares, and inflation ratios, what is it still not able to say about a PDF?
Guides and strategy
BeanNest Guides
Practical strategy for classic puzzles, step-by-step how-tos for everyday file and device jobs, and reviewed research behind the BeanNest games and tools. Written and reviewed by BeanNest Studio.
Strategy and how-to articles
Puzzle strategy2048 Strategy: How the Corner Method Works and How to Recover When It Breaks
Word game guideFive-Letter Word Guessing Strategy: From First Guess to Final LetterPDF how-toHow to Compress a PDF Without Losing Quality (or Knowing Exactly What You Lose)
Number puzzle guideHow to Make 24 From Four Numbers: A Practical 24 Game StrategyPhoto privacyHow to Remove Location Data From Photos Before You Share Them
Eye tricks guideHow to See Hidden 3D Images: Parallel and Cross-Eyed Viewing, Step by Step
Puzzle strategyHow to Solve Sudoku: A Practical Guide from Scanning to X-Wing
Card game strategyHow to Win More Klondike Solitaire: Practical Strategy for Draw 1 and Draw 3
Card game guideHow to Get Better at Memory Matching Games: Find Every Pair in Fewer Moves
Puzzle strategyMinesweeper Strategy: Read the Numbers, Learn the Patterns, Guess LessPDF internals
PDF internals research
Reading PDF Objects with a Byte Scan Instead of the Cross-Reference Table
A PDF has a cross-reference table that is supposed to make object lookup fast. Why would an analyzer ignore it, and what does it find instead?
PDF internals research
Why PDF Stream Share Sets the Compression Ceiling
How much of a PDF can compression change when stream bytes make up very different shares of the file?
PDF internals research
How PDF Structural Overhead Hides Inside Your File
Two PDFs render identically and hold the same content, but one is seven times larger. Where did the extra size go?
PDF internals research
Measuring Real PDF Compression Instead of Trusting the Label
A PDF says its content stream uses FlateDecode. Does that mean the content is actually compressed, and how would I know?
Image metadata and privacy
Image privacy research
JPEG and PNG Store Metadata in Opposite Ways
Both formats can carry metadata, so why does the same metadata operation behave so differently between a JPEG and a PNG?
Image privacy research
How a GPS Location Is Actually Stored in a Photo
A photo can carry the location where it was taken. Where does that location physically live in the file, and why does searching for the word GPS not find it?
Image privacy research
How Much of an Image File Is Actually Metadata
A photo carries metadata alongside its pixels. How much of the file is that metadata, and does the answer depend on the format?
Image privacy research
PNG Text Chunks: Real Metadata You Never Notice
PNG is often assumed to carry no metadata, but it has a text chunk system. What can actually be stored there, and how do you detect it?
Image privacy research
Why Metadata Removal May Barely Change Image File Size
If metadata is a large share of one small image, why can the same amount of metadata become a tiny share when the pixel payload is larger?
Browser and device diagnostics
Device diagnostics research
What a Browser Microphone Test Can and Cannot Prove
A page plays a tone and the microphone picks something up. What has actually been proven about the speakers?
Device diagnostics research
Why a Dead-Pixel Test Can Be Wrong in Both Directions
A screen shows a solid color and the user looks for a spot. What can make that test report a defect that is not there, or miss one that is?
Device diagnostics research
The Measurement Floor in Browser Input Lag Testing
A page reports an input lag figure. Below what value can that figure not be trusted?
Device diagnostics research
Why Some Key Combinations Do Nothing
Pressing three keys sometimes registers only two. Is that the browser, the operating system, or the keyboard itself?
Device diagnostics research
Why a Browser Frame Count Is Not a Camera Hardware Rate
What mechanisms in the repository's derived device-definition set can make a browser delivery count differ from a camera's hardware output?
Time, DST, and scheduling
Time zone research
How Daylight Saving Shifts a Recurring Meeting Across Time Zones
A recurring meeting is pinned to a fixed local time. When daylight saving changes, what actually happens to the other participants?
Time zone research
How We Verify a Time Zone Conversion
A time-zone tool reports a conversion. How can that value be independently checked rather than trusted?
Time zone research
Time Zones That Are Not on the Hour
If I assume every time zone is a whole number of hours from UTC, what breaks?
Time zone research
Why Storing a Time Offset Loses Information
An offset and a zone both produce a time. What does storing the offset alone throw away?
Time zone research
Why Sydney Drifted Twice as Far as London in Our 2026 Model
Why did the selected Vancouver-to-Sydney pairing span 120 minutes while the selected Vancouver-to-London pairing spanned 60 in the 2026 evidence file?
Puzzle mechanics and design
Puzzle design research
How Bit Balance Pins a Deterministic Daily Puzzle Board
How does Bit Balance keep its Daily board reproducible for players using the same local calendar date, and what does the current source actually prove?
Puzzle design research
Designing a Hint That Does Not Leak the Answer
A hint that tells you the right cell is just a solution. What can a hint usefully do instead?
Puzzle design research
What We Refuse to Claim About Our Own Games
A game publisher can claim anything about its own games. What does BeanNest decline to claim, and why?
Puzzle design research
How BeanNest Versions and Bounds Browser-Game Progress
What does BeanNest's shared progress transport contract guarantee, and which progress decisions remain owned by each game?
Puzzle design research
How to Tell a Signature Rule from a Reskin
How can a published rule set show that a puzzle changes legal decisions instead of only changing presentation?
Game mechanic guides
These guides explain the rules behind current published BeanNest games and link to the exact play page they describe.
Free Browser Puzzle Games to Play on BeanNest
Which current BeanNest puzzle fits the kind of thinking I want to do?
Read guideTypes of Browser Logic Games
What kinds of logic mechanics can I play in the current BeanNest catalog, and how do their rules differ?
Read guideBinary Puzzle Deductions in Bit Balance
How can I make a forced 0-or-1 deduction in Bit Balance without guessing or using a hidden solution?
Read guideHow Lumen Sudoku Constellation Paths Change a Puzzle
What does the Constellation rule add to ordinary Sudoku, and how should I combine a star path with row, column, and box constraints?
Read guideHow to Reason Through a Rungshift Word Ladder
How do I choose legal rungs and recover from a dead end in Rungshift without confusing assistance with an automatic move?
Read guide