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Burning my 1,000th post of the year on the sad state of desktop monitors. I had a brief look at what’s available today, and I hope you like curves or the 16:9 aspect ratio (or narrower) because that’s much of what’s out there. Despite what I hear about the LG Ultra Fine from podcasters, it’s probably the best monitor I’ve used.
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Devlog: Blogging Tools - Image Collections Triage App
Using Google Antigravity to add an improved image triaging feature for Blogging Tools, allowing the user to categorise images from posts and automate header image updates. Continue reading →
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I was pretty despondent with how little rain we got for much of the year. It’s all got made up in November though. 145 mm of rain this month, almost 3 times the monthly average, with the promise of more tomorrow. Good to have a wet start to summer. 🌧️
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Liked this line from Dave Winer post about official show podcasts:
i don’t know or care about the actors. If they’re any good they disappear. Whodat?
Never thought it that way before, but he’s right: a good actor should disappear, much like how a good UI design should disappear while it’s being used. It’s the bad ones that call attention to themselves and break the illusion.
(Don’t generally want to compare acting to UI design, but hey! It’s what I know, and it works as an analogy).
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Seems like I’m not the only person excited about the Metro tunnel opening. A few people at work expressed interest at seeing ANZAC station when it opens, and we’re actually planning the location of our next bocce season around use of the tunnel. Ought to be good.
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Hmm, it seems like my object-orientated design skills have atrophied to the point where a simple program requires 10 classes and 5 level of abstractions.
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Some Thoughts on the State of Python Package Documentation
The lack of standardized and accessible documentation for Python packages hinders the user experience compared to other languages like Java and Go. Continue reading →
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Gallery: Revisiting Preston Market
I was rendezvousing with a few people for dinner around Preston this evening. I was early so I’d though I’d walk around the closed market. I used to come here all the time when I was a kid, and it was nice walking the laneways again, even if everything was closed for the night. As with most places you revisit when you’re older, it’s smaller than I remembered. Continue reading →
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Just in case you need another reason to avoid Medium. Apropos of nothing, the post also includes some links about writing blog posts for developers which look interesting.
Via: lobste.rs
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Standard issue at work are LG Ultra Fine displays, but one of my coworkers was perfectly happy with a display that would’ve been considered small 15 years ago. Reminds me of my 15 year old Samsung display at home. I’d like to update it but I’m not sure my desk can fit anything larger.
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It’s been said that one should write what they know. It’s also been said that one should write what they themselves want to read. Some days, when it comes to decide on what to publish on this blog, these two things are polar opposites to each other.
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Just taking a note of how I usually get sidetrack:
- Start exploring something
- Run into a wall, usually because something is not working or is taking too long
- Spend a few minutes fixing/waiting for it
- Realise more time is needed, so go grab a coffee
- Come back after completely forgetting what I was exploring.
For kicks, occasionally replace 4 with “get interrupted”.
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Spent the evening revisiting Cyber Burger, my Pico-8 arcade game. What started as fixing some glaring proofreading issues turned into a little bit of tuning and adding some quality of life improvements. Played a few rounds too. Now that the stress of working on it has faded, it plays pretty well.
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That’s right, LinkedIn Games. For those that love their professional networking cum. social networking cum. messaging app but felt it needed more features. I’ve not tried these yet, I’ve only learnt about it today. But some might be enjoyable.
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Three nuisance calls today so now call screening is being turned on. I think this feature deserves a “finally.”
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Interesting to see how networks deal with a 5 day test match ending on day 2. Looks like Channel 7 has opted for three reporters sitting on the pitch talking about the match. Hope they’ve got enough material to fill 3 days. 😏
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Made a grave error today. I got invited to join people for tea, and I declined. That was a mistake: always go to tea! What’s so urgent in life that can’t wait an hour or so of socialisation practice? 🤦♂️
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First Impressions Of Google Antigravity
Testing Google Antigravity revealed its potential as a coding aid, but the overwhelming suggestions and interface design deterred further use. Continue reading →
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Would be nice for product feature pages to be a little more dynamic than they are, and indicate whether a particular feature is preview only, or not available on your plan or in your country, or just not enabled for your A/B cohort. Helps to know when best to look at it.
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Random luncheon thoughts wondered to the App Store, and how many users think that mobile apps all come from Apple. But isn’t that understandable if every App Store listing looks the same? Same colour scheme, same font, same layout. Only thing that is distinguishable at a glance is the screenshots and maybe the logo.
Apple likes to tout, at least in some contexts, that app developers are important to them. So would they even consider allowing developers to change the appearance of their app store page listing? Would one listing with a red background and another with serif fonts give a greater impression to users that these are very different apps from different developers?
I don’t know, and I’m sure Apple will never allow this. I imagine it’s beneficial to them to consider app developers as just one more commoditised supplier (I don’t agree, of course) and I think the general impression that all the apps come from Apple helps them believe this.
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I really enjoyed this video from Simon Willison giving a tour of his newsletter automation setup. Also made me aware of Observable, which looks like a JavaScript-based workbook (I’m guessing is a bit like Jupyter). Looks interesting. 📺
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I will concede, I am starting to like Liquid Glass on the iPad. Still plenty of bugs, but the aesthetics are growing on me. And as soon as the bugs are squashed, it may end up being a nice UI refresh.
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Gallery: Walking the Darebin Creek Trail
Had to do some stuff today that weighed on me a little, so it was nice to be given the opportunity to walk the Darebin Creek trail this evening. Walked as far as the Main Yarra Trail, beside the Eastern Freeway. It was a really lovely evening, and it called for some photos to be taken. Continue reading →
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I think I’ll stop donating to causes that podcasters are trying to raise funds for. Three times I told the cause to stop emailing me, and three times it ignored me. Is this what you do to people donating money to you? 👎
