Leon Mika

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:25:05 +1000

Not sure why Numbers needs access to my Contacts. I granted it access anyway, as I had work to do and I needed to get the modal out of my face. Yes, this is a comment about how rubbish these permission modals actually are. (Also, I don’t have any contacts on my work laptop).

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 08:23:55 +1000

It’s sometimes hard knowing that people you know are aware that you blog. Harder still knowing that they could read it (as they have in the past). I’m grateful, but that does mean there are certain topics I can’t really talk about.

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:51:17 +1000

Spent the evening upgrading my Forgejo instance to the latest LTS release (I know, riveting). It’s good of Forgejo to prepare a Debian repository for their packages now. Going from APKs that were downloaded and installed manually to ones managed by the repository worked seamlessly.

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:00:28 +1000

Found this gem of a remark in the documentation of Go’s time formatting string:

It is a regrettable historic error that the date uses the American convention of putting the numerical month before the day.

Yeah, kind of wish we learnt from history on this one. 😼

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 08:02:27 +1000

Quick update on my attempt at reading saved posts on my commute home, in place of scrolling social media. So far, it’s a failure. After work, I’m just too tired to focus on anything substantial, and just need something mindless to experience. I’ll have to have a think about what to do here.

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 07:43:00 +1000

Watched a video about the Suburban Rail Loop. Construction is underway, but it won’t be finished anytime soon. The section most useful to me is scheduled to be finished in 2043, and the whole thing is to be done around 2085. So, likely to be something that my niece’s grandchildren can enjoy.

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:54:38 +1000

If anyone asked, I probably would dissuade them, but I could understand why someone would want to start something on Substack. What I don’t understand are those with established paying audiences migrating their platform to Substack. Why? What can they offer that is worth your online independence?

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:43:20 +1000

It may seem difficult to spot those that are a tad too enthusiastic about AI replacing jobs, but the signs are there. For one, they tend to be the type of people that don’t spend the 0.5 seconds it takes to realise that connecting your account reset login to your chatbots is not a good idea.

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:45:54 +1000

Really enjoyed Ben Thompson’s Daily Update today, about the success of Backrooms and Obsession, and how it compares to the recent Star Wars film. Really drives home the idea that in a world without gatekeepers, success involves coming up with something that’s actually compelling.

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 22:17:04 +1000

Done! The backdrops for my Godot game have been made. Finished the desert one last week, and the coast one this evening. I also redid the mountain one, which is a little less interesting than the one I had, but it better matches the others artistically. Now time for the meta elements. 😓

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:19:49 +1000

Oof! First day of winter, and winter is definitely making itself known: cold, and wet. ❄️

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:14:54 +1000

Compared profile websites at work today. I really need to get mine cleaned up. I still have a link to GitHub, despite not using that account for much nowadays.

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 09:13:20 +1000

They say that “success is in the agency of others.” I think that’s true in more way than one. Certainly having contacts help, but I think also being around people that are willing to do things you wish you could helps too. It’s enabling, in the good sense of the word.

Sun, 31 May 2026 16:00:01 +1000

Now that I have Inkwell on all my devices, it’s time to close my Feedbin account. It’s been a great 9 years, and Feedbin has been an amazing service. I’m trying something different for the moment, but if it doesn’t work out, I may return. Until then, all the best. And thank you. 🥲

Sun, 31 May 2026 12:22:19 +1000

Must say that I’m looking forwarded to generic methods coming in Go 1.27. Generic functions work, but they feel out of place when the rest of your type uses methods in it’s API. This change will make for a great quality of life improvement, even if interface methods are excluded for now.

Sun, 31 May 2026 10:46:29 +1000

Trying to develop the habit of using the Micro.blog app for MacOS, so the backup feature will run. I expect the backups of this blog to be large. But 2.59 GB compressed? Wasn’t expecting it to be that large.

Sun, 31 May 2026 08:59:36 +1000

Backrooms is a certified blockbuster with a $38 million opening day

That also means that Backrooms is an incredibly profitable movie, with an estimated $10 million budget. By comparison, the latest Star Wars disappointment cost $165 million and was considered affordable compared to other entries in the series.

It may seem like having all the money in the world will grant you the ability to do anything, but I think it’s clear that there’s no way Disney could’ve made a film like Backrooms. Not because they don’t have the resources. Rather, their investors wouldn’t let them. It wouldn’t be too “mainstream” enough to justify the “risk”, and they have to justify the money they spent for the rights to Star Wars. So they’re stuck making mediocre things based on these tired franchises. Money entraps us all, both high and low.

Sat, 30 May 2026 16:41:38 +1000

Ah, blessed oak tree. Being the shelter of this fool who decided to go for a walk without a jacket or umbrella.

Sat, 30 May 2026 08:27:47 +1000

At the cafe. The guy on the table I’m facing is reading the paper with a dog on his lap. The dog puts her front paws on the table, so the man starts placing pages on top of them. Then the dog places her head on the table. The guy then takes out his phone. I found this incredibly funny to witness.

Sat, 30 May 2026 07:59:25 +1000

All the recent liminal horror films that are coming out, like Backrooms and Exit 8, look interesting. Only issue is I generally hate horror, mainly because I can’t deal with things like jump scares. Here’s hoping the producers of these lean into the liminal aspect, and leave the cheap tricks out.

Fri, 29 May 2026 12:48:28 +1000

I had to smile after reading Manuel Moreale post about the Enhanced Games, namely because I had the same thought. I’ll only spend a few words on this, but the idea I had was for the event to be like the Formula One of althletics. Instead of individuals, different teams compete to engineer the best performing athlete tech can produce. This could include things like sportswear, diet, training regime, and yes, even developing performance enhancing drugs. An individual will still compete in the event but the team will get the glory.

Fri, 29 May 2026 12:34:18 +1000

The spreadsheet really is the “jack of all trades, master of none” app when it comes to structured data. It needs to be a calculator, database, structured table manipulator, and analysis tool; and it needs to be approachable to novices and usable by advanced users alike. And it does it. Not well, but it does it.

Fri, 29 May 2026 07:26:31 +1000

How does anyone find anything on the iOS App Store? Made several fruitless attempts at finding Inkwell, and ended up just using the link in the help guide. It’s there if you search for “Ink•well”. Just scroll past the unusually large number of AI tattoo generator apps, which is a thing apparently.

Thu, 28 May 2026 12:17:20 +1000

Given that this is the last day of free public transport I’ll personally experience, I’d probably won’t be going through Anzac station in the morning for a while. So took a quick detour and saw one of the service pigeons that have been honored with a statue and plaque.

Thu, 28 May 2026 07:51:07 +1000

Huh, apparently those crossings are called pedestrian scrambles, which is a great name. And I remember them being everywhere in Auckland’s CBD when I visited during the late 2000s. You know how many there are in Melbourne’s CBD? One. Making up 25% of the total scrambles in the entire metro area.