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Your phone is an entire computer
The new MacBook Neo announcement raises old questions around what rights we have (and don't have) to install software on devices we own.
Topics /
Tools & Productivity
The most popular blog posts about tools & productivity on Hacker News. 522 posts.
152
The Productivity Mirage
What I once thought about programming productivity was wrong
153
Even more batteries included with Emacs
Emacs features have a discoverability problem, and we’re chipping away at it one demo at a time. The years since I wrote the last one of these have yielded more surprising and useful finds, so it’s time again for a “batteries included” report. Note This is the third in a series of articles highlighting useful but…
154
Digital minimalism
For a long time I have been a fan of minimalism in my physical life: have few physical possessions, and try to do more with less. Four years ago, I wrote this blog post describing what I had in the 40-liter backpack that I travel around with.
155
Ensu – Ente’s Local LLM app
Introducing Ensu, our first step toward a private, personal LLM app that runs on your device and grows with you over time.
156
WebMCP is available for early preview
WebMCP aims to provide a standard way for exposing structured tools, ensuring AI agents can perform actions on your site with increased speed, reliability, and precision.
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Can Bundler be as fast as uv?
At RailsWorld earlier this year, I got nerd sniped by someone. They asked “why can’t Bundler be as fast as uv?” Immediately my inner voice said “YA, WHY CAN’T IT BE AS FAST AS UV????” My inner voice likes to shout at me, especially when someone asks a question so obvious I should have thought of it myself. Since then…
158
Backups Aren't Simple
Starting from a wiped family photo drive, a walk through everything a real backup needs: snapshots, rotation, deduplication, offsite copies and tested restores.
159
My two-part desk setup (2025)
How I turned a single long desk into a digital side for work and an analog side for reading, writing, and building LEGO with the kids.
160
Hacking IKEA Furniture
When something you want is not available for purchase, well, you can always build it yourself! I recently moved and have a dedicated office room now. I wanted …
161
Rack-mount hydroponics
how to grow plants in a server rack
162
Windows 11 Notepad to support Markdown
Hello Windows Insiders, today we are beginning to roll out updates for Notepad and Paint apps to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels on Windows 11. Notepad (version 11.2512.10.0) In this update, we’re introduci
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Ruff v0.16.0 – Significant new updates – 413 default rules up from 59
The next stable version of Ruff is out now.
164
ChatGPT Work
ChatGPT Work is an agent that can take action across your apps and files, stay with a project for hours if needed, and turn a goal into finished work.
165
AI coding at home without going broke
There are three ways to do AI coding at home without spending like a company, and which one fits depends mostly on how much you trust the next year of hardwa...
166
Making Firefox's right-click not suck with about:config
A practical about:config checklist to declutter Firefox right-click menus on macOS, disabling AI/chatbot prompts, link previews, OCR, visual search, and other low-value context menu items.
167
My Homelab Setup
How I repurposed my old gaming PC to set up a home server for data storage, backups, and self-hosted apps.
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Keyboard differences between Windows and Macs
A blog about software craft and quality
170
Reallocating $100/Month Claude Code Spend to Zed and OpenRouter
With Anthropic altering rate limits, we can find other places to spend our money. I have chosen Zed editor with OpenRouter for maximum flexibility.
171
RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland
Try the RustDesk Wayland preview for x86_64 Debian/Ubuntu-based systems: unattended access across multiple monitors and at the login screen after reboot.
172
What's new in Emacs 31.1
Emacs 31.1 adds a slew of quality-of-life features. It retires its quirky unexec dumper; there are general improvements to tree-sitter, including a much-wanted auto-installer for grammars; and much more.
173
Inside ZCode: Silently uploading your Git history to the cloud
ZCode silently uploads full Git history to the cloud; this post provides a block rule and source review — checkpoint claims fall apart against the code.
174
Using an engineering notebook
One of my core software engineering practices is writing, by hand, in a physical notebook [1] . It's one of the most important things I do to remain productive and effective. Maybe the single most important. And it's a practice that I see very few others using!
175
OpenClaw is changing my life
I want to share some thoughts on my recent experience with OpenClaw. Over the past year, I’ve been actively using Claude Code for development. Many people believed AI could already assist with programming—seemingly replacing programmers—but I never felt it brought any revolutionary change to the way I work. Sure…
176
How to disable or avoid intrusive AI
One of the biggest questions I get at Drop-In Time at the library (besides "what is taking up all my cloud storage?") is how to disable or avoid intrusive AI that shows up where people don't want it. This is a guide for people who would like less intrusive AI in their tech environment. Maybe you lik
177
FreeCAD v1.1
After an enormous amount of work and dedication from FreeCAD contributors we are delighted to announce that FreeCAD Version 1.1 is now released and available for download. There are significant amo…
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NetNewsWire Turns 23
NetNewsWire 1.0 for Mac shipped 23 years ago today! 🎸🎩🕶️ Here’s where things are on this particular February 11: we just shipped 7.0 for Mac and iOS, and now we’re working on NetNewsWire 7.0.1. After a big release, no matter how careful we are, there are often some regressions to fix and tweaks to make right away, so…
179
Oh My Zsh adds bloat
Why you might not need Oh My Zsh for your Zsh configuration.
180
Uv is fantastic, but its package management UX is a mess
uv's CLI feels surprisingly clunky compared to its peers like pnpm or Poetry.