Microblog

I used to be ashamed of preferring GUIs to CLIs, thinking it a sign that I’m not a Real Developer™. But both of these are just facilitating interaction with a program. Memorizing (and typing) commands isn’t inherently better than clicking and dragging.

My understanding of what I'm doing—merging a branch in git, say, or searching a log—is what actually matters. I could definitely be better at git, but it doesn't mean I have to like the CLI!

(The counterpoint to this is that sometimes you *only* have CLI access. But my counterpoint to that counterpoint is I will look that stuff up when I need it.)

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Controversial opinion: the YouTube algorithm is good, actually.

*hides under desk*

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If you enjoy getting background or focus music from YouTube, here is a pro tip. If you add "before:2022" to your search, you can avoid a bunch of the AI generated music that is pervasive nowadays.

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I have MMMBop by Hanson stuck in my head. It’s the final boss of earworms.

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Where are people getting desktop backgrounds from? I'm in need of a new one for my studio display, but kind of tired of the usual suspects that appear in web search.

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Since I have trouble typing, I used to have a really hard time staying caught up in Slack or Discord chats.

I had tried dictation in the past, but it never understood me very well. But these whisper/parakeet speech-to-text apps have flipped the script entirely.

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Here’s how you make a D&D character with the 2024 rules. I made this video to demo Minimal Character Sheet, but it works as a general guide to character creation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnLxs_JpaPM

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I know someone who is interested in making apps. Right now, she only has experience with a service that essentially uses AI to build an app for you. She's planning on finishing college, but she's looking for resources right now to help her go beyond this vibe-apping.

She has an interest in UI, how apps work, and seems to have a good eye for when they are nice and smooth vs janky. She's not sure at the moment if she's interested more in code or design or project management. So I'm trying to think of resources I can send her to give her a taste of everything.

I think she has an admirable amount of hustle, but really just doesn't know where to start.

All of that said, does anyone have any recommendations of things I can send her? What I've got so far is Khan Academy's Hour of Code and FreeCodeCamp's responsive web design course.

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Wizards probably think they deserve their own saving throw, the self-important bastards.

Fonts used:

Dragönsteel and Clauthbound by @simplebits

@fontawesome Classic Solid

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Showing all opened windows on macOS will always be "Exposé" to me.

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Sometime within the last couple of years or so, I became totally burnt out (heh) on cool colors. I've started using color schemes and themes (in different apps that support them) that employ warm, earthy colors instead.

I recently found this one and one of the things I like about its theme for VS Codeht variant does as well, ensuring that all text meets WCAG AAA contrast standards.

It's rare to find a good light theme with solid contrast. Even more so to find a good one paired with a good dark one as well. I haven't been tempted to override any of the colors yet, which is saying something.

#linkblog

https://warmburnout.com/

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I switched over to Numbers Creator Studio. It wrecked the alignment of a bunch of my tables in a file I've been using for years. I tried to fix it, but I finally got frustrated and moved it over to a Google Sheet. SAD!

I would love to just manage it as a CSV file, but I have a few niceties baked in that require a real spreadsheet app.

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When I wrote HTML for People, I envisioned non-tech people learning it because knowing HTML is a generally useful skill in information work.

But AI kinda ruins that. Less non-tech people want to learn any HTML.

But it seems to have found a niche audience among people who still want to learn HTML despite having access to AI. That makes me feel better about it.

I’m glad I wrote it when I did because I’m not sure I could have stayed motivated to write it in 2026 with the proliferation of AI options—whether for writing HTML or for learning it.

https://htmlforpeople.com

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I am once again asking for your VS Code light theme recommendations.

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I did a little writeup of the new stuff in Minimal Character Sheet.

https://blakewatson.com/journal/dice-rolling-and-more-on-minimal-character-sheet/

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Does anyone else wish there was a setting in macOS that would give you a plain white or light gray menu bar (without reducing transparency everywhere)?

I always thought the menu bar was part of the iconic Mac look. Not really a fan of the current iteration that tries to blend itself away.

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If you are skilled with Python and Go and want to work on projects for NASA, we've got some openings at MRI.

https://mricompany.applicantpro.com/jobs/4055316

Check the full list of openings for security and cloud operations.

#FediHire #Jobs

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Minimal Character Sheet experienced an unfortunate security event yesterday. About a week or two ago, I inadvertently exposed my Postmark API key. Someone got a hold of it and sent a bunch of spam emails.

Fortunately, Postmark caught it really early and shut it down. I was able to cycle and secure the key. And we're back up and running again.

I feel really dumb for letting that happen.

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NEW FEATURE for Minimal Character Sheet 🎉

You can now roll dice directly from your character sheet! And this isn't just Math.random—you're getting true random numbers based on atmospheric noise, thanks to random.org.

https://minimalcharactersheet.com

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