rauschma

rauschma, 3 days ago to random

Worried about tech products getting worse?

Upside—it’s never been easier to compete with big tech companies: Create simple, usable products.

Many small companies are doing just that—e.g.:
– Repairable phones, earbuds, headphones: https://www.fairphone.com
– Repairable laptops: https://frame.work

Obstacles:
– Mechanisms that prevent competition—e.g., patents.
– People have to change their focus: from low prices & new features to sustainability & repairability.

rauschma, 3 days ago to javascript

Upcoming #JavaScript iterator methods:

// Without iterator methods:
const arr = Array.from(myMap.keys())
.filter(k => isPublic(k));

// With iterator methods:
const arr = myMap.keys()
.filter(k => isPublic(k))
.toArray();

(I prefer not to do .filter(isPublic) because isPublic() may gain more parameters in the future.)

https://2ality.com/2022/12/iterator-helpers.html

rauschma, 6 days ago to random

Downsides of open source software (OSS):

– Many factions—e.g. many Linux distributions & desktops. Because OSS attracts people that want to write their own software so that it exactly matches their needs(?)

– UIs seem often less polished. Because OSS has more programmers than UI designers(?)

Other than that: It’s ironic how much open source helps companies—especially small ones. IIRC, the first internet boom would not have been possible without open source projects such as Apache.

leaverou, 7 days ago to random

We’ve always told devs that browsers prioritize what to implement based on dev demand.

There is one exception: #SVG.

SVG is used on >65% of websites. Yet, browsers have been refusing to work on SVG, ignoring pressure and pain points from web devs.

#StateOfHTML showed SVG as the top content pain point: https://2023.stateofhtml.com/en-US/features/content/#content_pain_points

Tons of work (SVG 2, fill & stroke, and more) has sat unimplemented for years. At this point, in standards circles, we know not to touch SVG with a barge pole.

[1/2]

rauschma, 7 days ago to mastodon

You can use #Mastodon on an #AppleII (6502 processor, max. 48 KB of RAM): https://www.colino.net/wordpress/en/mastodon-for-apple-ii/

What people say about it:
– “I will never use this and yet I love that it exists.”
– “Absolutely pointless, beautiful work here”
– “All the good features are included, such as unfollow and block, and none of the bad features such as account creation and polls.”
– “I set this up as a lark, but I’m kind of falling in love with it. It’s a different and surprisingly lovely way to use Mastodon.”

rauschma, 9 days ago to random

@nic for Babel: “Our source files are mostly written in TypeScript, with the exception of most of the runtime helpers that we inject in the compiled code.”

They are working on changing that and you can help: https://github.com/babel/babel/issues/16500

rauschma, 9 days ago to random

I’ve made my decision:
– I’m getting rid of my old iPad and won’t buy a new one.
– I’ve grown to dislike its closed OS and unrepairability. Alas, MS & Android also have downsides.
– I won’t get another tablet, but a Framework laptop to see how Linux works for me for daily use.
– I’ll keep iPhone & MacBook Pro (for now).

I’m investigating how to replace Apple’s syncing services (calendar, contacts, photos, notes, etc.). Proton looks interesting: https://proton.me

rauschma, 10 days ago to random

For static site generation, I’d love to use CSS modules (*):
– Required: support for Node.js + TypeScript + browsers
– I bundle with esbuild, so browsers are OK.

Current approach (no CSS modules, not type safe):
– Import CSS & bundle via esbuild.
– Ignore non-code imports in Node.js via a loader.

Future?
– Compile CSS to JSON with names
– Import & use JSON for SSR in Node.js. Also works in TS.
– Esbuild bundles CSS, not JSON. Via custom plugin?

Suggestions?

(*) https://github.com/css-modules/css-modules

rauschma, 10 days ago to macos

#macOS: VMware Fusion Pro 13 is now free for personal use

“Fusion […] is designed to allow Mac users to operate virtual machines to run non-macOS operating systems like Windows 11.”

https://www.macrumors.com/2024/05/15/vmware-fusion-pro-13-free-personal-use/

rauschma, 10 days ago to random

Interesting ideas:

• Reduce motion sickness via animated dots on the edges of the screen that visualize the motion of (e.g.) a car.
  https://www.macrumors.com/2024/05/15/apple-reduce-motion-sickness-feature/

• Control iPad or iPhone via eyes (enabled by eye tracking).

• Use the iPhone’s Taptic Engine to “play taps, textures, and refined vibrations to the audio of the music, allowing users who are deaf or hard of hearing to experience music”.
  https://www.macrumors.com/2024/05/15/ios-18-accessibility-features/

rauschma, 13 days ago to react

“The React 19 Beta features full support for Custom Elements.“
https://custom-elements-everywhere.com/#react-beta

rauschma, 14 days ago to javascript

If you were to write flash cards for #JavaScript (as standardized via ECMAScript)—what would you put on them?

Ideas:
– Standard library API—e.g.: What does Array.prototype.splice() do?
– Functionality: How to destructively add a value at the end of an Array?

rauschma, 14 days ago to random

“The pain and anguish of using IndexedDB: problems, bugs and oddities” by Paulus Esterhazy
https://gist.github.com/pesterhazy/4de96193af89a6dd5ce682ce2adff49a

😬 “After 7 days of inactivity, Safari deletes all browser storage, including cookies, localstorage, websql and indexeddb. Other browsers don't do this.”

rauschma, 15 days ago to random

Me: The Batman ears in the latest cartoon are a bit over the top.
Caracals: …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracal

rauschma, 15 days ago to random

Have you written a book about web development (recently or some time ago)?
Reply to let us know!

:mastodon: Boosts appreciated (to support book authors on Mastodon).

rauschma, 17 days ago to random

Browsers/JavaScript: Handling gestures in a cross-platform way (cross-browser and cross-operating system) is surprisingly tricky.

I only need swipe detection for touch devices (one finger) and desktop trackpads (two fingers), but I have not yet found any good libraries (let alone web APIs).

rauschma, 17 days ago to random

I’m hearing a lot of complaints about iPadOS. Some people would even like to run macOS on iPads.

My take: Not much is really missing from iPadOS—except openness. If it were as open as macOS (without being macOS), I could use (without tricks):
– Homebrew + Terminal
– Visual Studio Code

Support for multiple users would be nice, too.

rauschma, 18 days ago to random

MacOS Safari: I’m unable to switch off “Settings > Privacy > Require password to view locked tabs”: If, e.g., I go to another settings “tab” and come back, the checkmark is always there again.

Does anyone else have this issue?

rauschma, 18 days ago to random

What’s your favorite library for simple horizontal bar charts that uses CSS (many libraries use Canvas)?

Charts.css looks nice: https://chartscss.org/