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?
Reviewed first-party research
BeanNest Guides
Every guide here is written from evidence BeanNest actually produced: measured results, worked examples, and reviewed rules. Cluster research explains a shipped product's real behavior, while game mechanic guides explain how a published puzzle works.
PDF internals
PDF internals research
Reading a PDF Object Graph Without Trusting 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 the Same PDF Compresses 5 Percent and 70 Percent
Two PDFs look similar and have similar page counts, but one compresses to almost nothing and the other barely changes. What actually decides the ceiling?
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 Removing Photo Metadata Barely Shrinks the File
If metadata is a large share of a small image, why does removing it barely change the size of a normal photo?
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 Counting Webcam Frames Gives the Wrong Answer
A browser can count frames from a camera stream. Why is that count not the camera's frame rate?
Time, DST, and scheduling
Time zone research
How Daylight Saving Silently Breaks a Recurring Meeting
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 Southern Hemisphere Meetings Drift Twice as Far
Two participants in zones that both observe daylight saving see different amounts of drift. Why?
Puzzle mechanics and design
Puzzle design research
How BeanNest Pins a Deterministic Daily Puzzle Board
Why does every BeanNest player get the same Daily puzzle on the same date, and how is that actually enforced?
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
Saving Puzzle Progress Without an Account
How does a puzzle resume exactly where you left off with no account, and what happens when the game changes underneath a saved board?
Puzzle design research
One Signature Rule Beats a Reskin
Many grid puzzles look similar. What makes one a distinct game rather than a themed copy of another?
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