Last time, I complained about a problem I was having that meant I was going to have to learn enough Ruby to debug someone else’s code effectively. Fortunately for me, it turns out that I was being wildly pessimistic. In the end, I was able to get Middlemac working with Ruby 3.3.5 with only someContinue reading “Just Enough Ruby”
Category Archives: programming
Okay, I Guess I’m Learning Ruby
Right, so a macOS application has a ‘Help’ menu by default, but unless the developer does some complicated and poorly documented stuff, there isn’t any help. Now, I’ve found a swell tool, Middlemac, that helps make the process much simpler. However, it doesn’t work with Ruby 3, because stuff in the past. Nowadays, middleman doesContinue reading “Okay, I Guess I’m Learning Ruby”
Maybe Don’t Do That?
Right, so I am working on a service that replaces a single part in an existing workflow. The workflow itself has been in existence for, like, 30 years and really, I’m not prepared to go down the path of explaining why the whole thing isn’t being replaced with a shiny new integrated and up-to-date system.Continue reading “Maybe Don’t Do That?”
Webassembly: Do I Want That?
From a first glance at the Webassembly (abbreviated as WASM) site, it’s hard to tell what it’s for. A little bit of digging, though, gives me the idea that it’s a way to write an application that gets delivered to users from a web server and which runs in the browser. This is sort ofContinue reading “Webassembly: Do I Want That?”
Music Software: Ensemble
Ensemble is billed by its creators as music score software specifically intended to make piping and drum scores for pipe bands. It claims to be able to play the scores so you can hear what the arrangement sounds like. It even claims to be able to import scores from other music software packages. It andContinue reading “Music Software: Ensemble”
Tapestry and the Limitations of RSS
Okay, first thing: big ups to @IconFactory@iconfactory.world for releasing the first beta of Tapestry. This promises to improve my quality of life and I’m thrilled to be a supporter. As requested, I shall not be posting screenshots.
Cloud Development Environment (CDE)
This morning I had to restart Docker Desktop and the marketplace tab had a notification. There was a new extension available, “OpenVS Code for the Web.” So then I had to go find out what that even means and why I ought to want to install it. The answer is that I don’t. It seems thatContinue reading “Cloud Development Environment (CDE)”
nix, lix, and Reproducibility
I’ve just spent the morning reading through some documentation and tutorials for nix, trying to figure out what it is, whether it’s cool, and whether I should be using it. Also, trying to figure out what this lix thing is. And of course, this is a dependency chain — I started out at the lastContinue reading “nix, lix, and Reproducibility”
Just Say No to AR
I’m seeing a lot of people being excited, today, about putting in their orders for the first visionOS devices. Although it would be easy to dismiss this as simple Apple fan dribbling, their excitement is sort of hyperbolic. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” says one person, talking about how now is theContinue reading “Just Say No to AR”
Let’s Not Argue About Tools
I just ran across a thread in which a person asserts that GitHub Copilot is a bad tool precisely because it makes it easy to write lots of repetitive code. Their argument amounts to the claim that repetitive, boilerplate code is bad, and if you find yourself writing enough of it that Copilot seems likeContinue reading “Let’s Not Argue About Tools”