• I keep forgetting that Mastodon offers a way to follow posters via RSS. Gives me an opportunity to follow those that post way to frequently for my liking to follow them in Micro.blog. Strips out replies too, which don’t interest me, although I do loose the boosts (and maybe quote posts too?).

  • Good to hear that Stephen Lemay, a software developer, is taking over software design from Alan Dye at Apple. Having someone who knows how to use git revert might be useful. πŸ˜›

  • πŸ•ΉοΈ Downpour: A Proper Cup of Tea

    I find this delightful.

  • When it comes to reading social cues, I am the absolute worst. If you need me to know something, please don’t be subtle. You really need to bash me over the head with it.

  • Kind of nice to see that my heater and winter jacket is still getting some use on this lovely, supposedly summer evening.

    A peaceful park setting features lush green grass, tall trees, and houses in the background under a clear blue sky.
  • AWS should deprecate JSON and YAML CloudFormation templates and lean into CDK. As long as support for these formats continue, people will keep using them, and I’m left jumping through hoops doing things in these formats that would be trivial to do in a proper Turing-complete language.

  • Quite a shock to think about how fast 11 months have gone. I remember putting this tree away, putting the tape on and thinking “this will be difficult to untape without ripping the box.” Well, I’m faced with that challenge now.

    A closed cardboard box containing an artificial Christmas tree is sealed with tape and placed on a carpeted floor beside a leather sofa.
  • Laughed out loud when I heard this as my experience with Stripe's API has been quite different. Stripe does quite well with keeping support for old versions of their API, but they're not afraid of making backwards-incompatible changes between versions. We encountered quite a few of these last time we were updating the SDK, and while I was going through their API docs a few weeks ago, I saw quite a few more that we'll need to make next go-around. I wouldn't call that "low needs" myself.

  • 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.

  • πŸ“˜ 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 β†’

  • 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. 🌧️

  • 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).

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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 β†’

  • πŸ–ΌοΈ 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 β†’

  • Under the big, grey sky-rail.

    Auto-generated description: A concrete overpass runs parallel to a paved pathway and landscaped area, all beneath a blue sky with scattered clouds.
  • πŸ”— (AI) Smells on Medium

    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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Just taking a note of how I usually get sidetrack:

    1. Start exploring something
    2. Run into a wall, usually because something is not working or is taking too long
    3. Spend a few minutes fixing/waiting for it
    4. Realise more time is needed, so go grab a coffee
    5. Come back after completely forgetting what I was exploring.

    For kicks, occasionally replace 4 with “get interrupted”.

  • 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.

  • πŸ”— LinkedIn: Games

    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.

  • Three nuisance calls today so now call screening is being turned on. I think this feature deserves a “finally.”

    A mobile interface displays call screening options, including automatic call screening and varying levels of protection from spam.
  • 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. 😏

    Three people are sitting on stools, holding microphones, with a caption about cricket strategy displayed on the screen.