About YMK

Welcome to YMK Must be Kidding!

I am Yumao Kao, a tech enthusiast who spends way too much time in the terminal. This blog is my digital sandbox where I document my adventures in automation, reverse engineering, and the occasional struggle with moving between blogging platforms.

Why “Must be Kidding”?

The name is a recursive definition: YMK stands for YMK Must be Kidding.

It also carries two meanings that define my approach to tech and life:

1. The Joking: Half curiosity, half “is this actually going to work?”. When a script finally runs after 50 failures, you just have to laugh.
2. The Child-like Mindset: To “kid” is to maintain a child-like curiosity. In the world of reverse engineering and automation, I try to keep that sense of wonder—playing with systems just to see how they work, without losing the joy of discovery.

What I Do

• Automation: From automating PS4 games with Chiaki to handling Google Forms with Selenium, I love making computers do the boring stuff for me.
• Reverse Engineering: Exploring the internals of Android apps, debugging with JDWP, and finding out what’s really happening under the hood.
• Python & Dev: Writing clean (or at least functional) Python code, experimenting with asyncio, and building small tools like AliasDict.
• Linux & Open Source: A proud Linux user (currently kidding around in Crostini/Debian) who prefers a terminal-centric workflow.

The Journey

This blog has lived many lives:

1. It started as a static Hexo site (the “text-only” dream).
2. It migrated to WordPress (the “maybe a GUI is better” phase).
3. And now, it has come full circle back to a static site with Astro, combining the best of both worlds.

Feel free to browse my posts or check out my archives. If you find something interesting, or if you think I must be kidding about a particular solution, feel free to reach out!

“If it can be scripted, it shouldn’t be manual. If it can be reversed, it shouldn’t be a secret.”