3121
Topics /
Tools & Productivity
The most popular blog posts about tools & productivity on Hacker News. 4,417 posts.
3122
3123
3124
Migrating from GNU Stow to Chezmoi
Why I swapped GNU stow's symlink farm for chezmoi: one command to bootstrap a Mac with Homebrew packages and macOS settings, a small daily sync loop, and agent skills shared between Claude Code and Codex.
3125
Problems with DSLs for non-programmers
DSLs are suggested to be an aid for the users that want to extend the programs they work with easily, but do they work?
3126
I chose the ThinkPad Z13 Gen1 as my Linux laptop
Blog, Podcasts, Live Streams and Videos about Linux and Open Source with a focus on Ubuntu, Debian and NixOS.
3127
A reasonable configuration language
I was fed up with the poor opportunities for abstraction in configuration formats. The many configuration languages that exist already were not invented here, so I wrote my own, at first just for fun. But then it became useful.
3128
Typing with pleasure, and low latency
In this article I examine human- and machine aspects of typing latency (“typing lag”) and present experimental data on latency of popular text / code editors. The article is inspired by my work on implementing “zero-latency typing” in IntelliJ IDEA.
3129
How cheap digital verniers work (2017)
Ever wondered how cheap digital verniers are able to produce good precision at very low prices? I did, so I took one apart.
3130
Redshift – A better flux program for Linux (2014)
F.lux is a wonderful tool for helping eye strain. People who stare at computer screens all day (like myself) can experience quite a bit of eye strain due to the harsh lights screens emit. One solution is to wear yellow tinted gamer goggles. I chose the cheaper route, installing software to adjust the color temperature…
3131
3132
Things I set on new servers
There are a number of things you can do to make a server more secure whilst protecting your hosted entities and their users. Here are just three of the many things I do on every new server I commission. I hasten to add that these are not necessarily the most effective or at the top of my list - they are just that: 3…
3133
Getting sweet patron money on the modern internet (2020)
Once, to survive in the arts, you needed someone like this : The profoundly rich product of centuries of inbreeding. This is a blog pos...
3134
3135
Hands-Free Coding (2020)
Earlier this year, I lost the ability to use a keyboard and mouse for extended periods. Fortunately, this wasn't as catastrophic as it sounds! This article chronicles my experience using adaptive tools like dictation and eye-tracking as my primary mechanisms for writing code.
3136
ESP32 and Termux
Documenting my journey in trying to use my ESP32 on my phone through Termux
3137
Language models on the command line
I gave a talk about accessing Large Language Models from the command-line last week as part of the Mastering LLMs: A Conference For Developers & Data Scientists six week long …
3138
Spawn your shell like it's the 90s again
This article is a quick walk-through to gaining root privileges in the NetBSD, since it's so 90s you can play Captain Jack [3] , or [4] [5] if you prefer polish disco, just to feel the atmosphere while reading. Really, do it! ;)
3139
3140
Experimenting with LLMs to Research, Reflect, and Plan
Also, shortcomings in document retrieval and how to overcome them with search & recsys techniques.
3141
3142
3143
Why Kakoune
Recently I’ve stumbled upon a video about Kakoune, a code editor: Idiot user tries to use Kakoune (for notes? Also Helix?). Funnily enough, I was mentioned in this video, which was a surprise, and made me laugh for quite a while: Let’s go back to the official plugins page.
3144
Building a Treasury Bond Ladder
A US treasury bond ladder is a great alternative to a high-yield savings account or CDs to invest short-term funds that you don't want to put at risk. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds (treasuries) are US government debt securities that may pay interest and return the principal at a specific time. While not FDIC…
3145
The declining profitability of Google Adwords
Google Adwords used to be a great way to get targeted traffic cheaply (if you knew what you were doing). I think those days are well and truly over. I have been using Google Adwords to advertise my…
3146
State of HTML 2023 now open
While the survey will be open for 3 weeks, responses entered within the first 9 days (until October 1st) will have a much higher impact on the Web, as preliminary data will be used to inform Interop 2024 proposals.
3147
Going immutable on macOS, using Nix-Darwin
From imperative chaos to nix-darwin
3148
Nix journey part 0: Learning and reference materials
In this series I'll be documenting my journey learning Nix and this first installment is more of a prequel. A common complaint when learning Nix is that the documentation "is not good", and I think what people mean by that is that the documentation is spread across several sources which may or may not be easy to find…
3149
Notes on gotchas while migrating 35kb preprompts from Opus to self-hosted Ollama
Maybe you’re a Claude code/codex user diligently avoiding uploading personal data to LLM providers. Is it possible that the most valuable information isn’t your data- but the metadata about your sessions? The intuitions you apply in coming up with ways to coax the ai into solving problems might actually be special…
3150
How to Be Jason Bourne: Multiple Passports, Swiss Banking, and Crossing Borders
Is it possible to become invisible without breaking the law? (Photo: gravitywave) LOS ANGELES, MID-JUNE 2008 Sitting on a plush couch in the neon-infused nightclub, I asked again: “What’s it about?” Neil Strauss glanced around and looked nervous, which I found strange. After all, we’d known each other for close to two…