Author: Ross Wintle

Related to All The Other Thoughts I’m having, I’m loving having unconnected devices again.

I have an Analogue Pocket and an Anbernic retro game handheld. I can play complete games with no monetisation, leaderboards or upgrades.

I’m listening to MY music on an iPod. Just mine. Anywhere I like. No interruptions.

My Kobo IS connected, but I just read books on it. That’s all!

I’m longing to get a BluRay player (we’re still on DVD!) and buy some actual movies.

I’ll be buying a road atlas next! 😃

I can't stop thinking about this… I want… I NEED… a simple, succinct version of some of it to send to people to TELL THEM that this is what's happening.
https://fosstodon.org/@ross/113736031375268562

🤔 I struggle to get started sometimes. I don't think it's perfectionism. Bit I've realised it may be what I've decided to call "craftsmanship". Here's my thinking…

https://rosswintle.uk/2024/12/craftsmanship-vs-perfectionism/

Plugging this indie iOS browser because it’s the business in terms of privacy and customising the UI. And because it’s astonishing that only 100 people are paying $2/month for it.

Try it. And if you like it, support it!

(It became my default browser after about 24 hours of use. And that’s not something I change easily)
https://mastodon.social/@quicheindustries/113742767489954653

I had not come across https://iotools.cloud/ before.

Loads of online tools, generators, encoders/decoders.

Nice!

On the plus side: I absolutely bossed my kid’s Christmas gifts this year:

– The Undertale Art Book has already inspired some “concept art” for a new game and just lots of joy and knowledge about game dev process.
– A stupid, 90cm long cat plushie which was either going to be a huge hit or a huge flop, was absolutely the former!!
– A fold-up compact mechanical keyboard for the boy who loves to take his computing gear with him. 🙌

Nailed it!!! 😃

Ugh. I feel like such a bad human. Amazing how quickly my values get thrown away in challenging circumstances.

Nothing serious: driving short distances; bad-for-you take-away food; giving in to kids’ demands.

But hungry, tired, overstimulated, and in-some-cases autistic kids is a potent combo.

I’ll get back to doing my best soon!!

Thinking today about perfectionism vs craftsmanship.

To be honest, the space of the holiday time means I’m having lots of thoughts about lots of things!!

But today is craftsmanship.

This is an excellent long read on enshittification and makes me feel like quite the rebel being the person that actively avoids crappy free/cheap stuff. (And yes, I acknowledge my privilege)
https://www.wheresyoured.at/never-forgive-them/

I swear I’ve spent about 75% of my “spare time” this holiday season just making sure that all my families devices are charging!!

Well I worked right up til Christmas Eve.

I only just realised I have NINE DAYS OFF!!!

That’s a gift right there!!

After earlier questions, I did a little weekend AI research project.

I tested whether AI can accurately refactor code. Spoiler: It can't! But I had some fun and did some neat meta-programming along the way.

https://rosswintle.uk/2024/12/ai-copilot-and-deterministic-code-refactoring/

After earlier questions, I did a little weekend AI research project.

I tested whether AI can accurately refactor code. Spoiler: It can't! But I had some fun and did some neat meta-programming along the way.

https://rosswintle.test/2024/12/ai-copilot-and-deterministic-code-refactoring/

Thinking about yesterday when I asked Copilot to refactor a loop through an array into a series of discrete steps.

It did it but I checked Every! Single! Change!

Because I know it’s non-deterministic. But I don’t know how non-deterministic it is.

I DO NOT TRUST IT!!

It did the job perfectly. But how was I to know that it would do that?

@mattgrayyes Hello! I’ve had you fireworks video queued up to watch for ages. I just found it and watched it. It’s a great little piece of film and you and the team clearly put a lot of effort into it. Great job. Thanks for entertaining and educating us!! 😃

For ages I’ve thought I’m someone who’s really very bad at making long term predictions. For example, I thought putting cameras in phones was a stupid idea.

But recent experience suggests that I may be quite the visionary sometimes!

– WordPress command palettes
– My social media choices
– Opinions about JavaScript
– Thoughts on the WordPress block editor

Experience has taught me things. There is wisdom in the years.