Sep 4, 2023
A silly app built for kids over the weekend using MiniIDE on a tablet.[1]

Currently breaks MiniIDE; there's no way to edit its code once you run it :joy: You can still use the console, though!

[1] Video not recorded on tablet.

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Aug 29, 2023
I just came up with a name for the versioning scheme I've been using recently:

Zettelkasten versioning

1, 2, 3, ... 14, 14a, 14b, ... 14z, 14aa, ... 14ak1, 14ak2, ...

Inspiration.

My versions are to communicate identity to users. That's it. Not value, not recency, not stability, not compatibility, not difference, not support status, just identity. Am I using the same version as you?

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Aug 26, 2023
It's now easier to build and run little LÖVE apps for yourself on Android

  1. Install LÖVE from the app store (see https://love2d.org)
  2. Download MiniIDE.love from https://love2d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=94852. I've been contributing to this app and vouch for it.

Video preview.

(MiniIDE has also been tested on iOS without limitations. But I gather LÖVE is quite tortuous to install on iOS, so you're on your own there..)

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Aug 22, 2023
You can now make any app end-user-programmable -- as long as it's built in LÖVE

Read more on the Malleable Systems Forum. Screenshot of a text editor showing a little LÖVE app, and a A blank screen with a single number in poor contrast -- which increments with every mouse click. Press any key and you're back in the text editor.

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Aug 14, 2023
"What can we do with what we have ready to hand?" -- Cristóbal Sciutto


"The Parisien corn cart affords a table and a secure storage area. It is mobile. Its metal mesh allows for ventilation, while minimizing weight. Combined with tensioned lumber, the mesh can secure a tin can. The can, with two large perforations, serves as a brazier. Its support and holster combine to form a buffer, avoiding burns. Elements can be positioned in transveral increments of an inch, as well as placed at three distinct vertical positions. Signage can be attached with ease.

"The corn cart is exemplar of post-industrial bricolage. It takes advantage of existing infrastructure (shopping cart, industrial lumber, and tin can production), distorting it to new unimagined uses. In recycling mass-produced industrial dejects, it takes advantage of economies of scales. Under conditions of duress, it is easy to acquire. It is a tactic that sustains economic life."

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Aug 11, 2023
Yesterday was a good day. I built a little app for someone to connect to their R server, plot a dataset based on different dimensions. Pretty trivial, but hopefully easier for them to modify than other similar apps out there.

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Aug 4, 2023
Finding Meaning in Christopher Alexander's "The Nature of Order"

by Stefan Lesser

This is the most insightful talk I've watched in recent memory.

Transcript

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Aug 1, 2023
Pulling out an old tool to read a long thread on Mastodon.

Screenshot of an app showing a tree view of a Mastodon thread.

Not pictured: keyboard shortcuts for structured navigation.

repo

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Jul 16, 2023
Fun puzzle:

$ echo "never worn" |sed 's/ /^M/g'
wornr

What is going on here?

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Jul 15, 2023
Personal digital infrastructure I've been performing some long overdue computer maintenance activities:

  • I've had a server with Linode forever and been very happy. But I recently noticed it would periodically go inaccessible, perhaps after some idleness. Perhaps it had something to do with their acquisition. So I decided to switch providers.
  • Back in 2009 when I created my website I built it in Rails (backed by files rather than a database) Last week I replaced all that with raw html, generated with a tiny Lua script. It's nice to be able to unsubscribe from some mailing lists of vulnerability notifications.
  • I've been backing up my local laptop to my server, but that was causing me to overflow my disk. Cloud servers are a relatively expensive way to get storage. So I decoupled those concerns and now back up my laptop to rsync.net.

All in all, I'm much happier with my server. It's leaner, runs less stuff, and it'll be easier to move next time. With the way we've been seeing services degrade lately, I think it's useful to be thoughtful about how we cobble together our personal digital infrastructure, architect it to be nimble and easy to move around. If you keep options open you'll be less likely to need to use them.

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