Non Sequiturs is the personal blog of Michael Argentini.
I'm a software developer and Managing Partner for Fynydd and Blue Sequoyah Technologies, the project lead for Coursabi, and Āthepedia founder. I also have several nerdy open source projects on Github.
I'd describe myself as an Oxford comma advocate, autodidact, aspiring polymath, and boffin, with a mechanical keyboard addiction. You can also find me on Mastodon.
Elon Musk's decision to add daily reading limits to prevent data scraping also has the following impact:
StackOverflow has introduced Labs, an enhanced developer experience that uses AI to streamline the process of insulting and demeaning people looking for help.
stackoverflow.co
I liked the Internet better when it wasn't a handful of proprietary social media platforms run by narcissists.
The #Reddit CEO saying that the API transition time and pricing changes are “a business decision they won’t undo”, in addition to threats of replacing moderators who don't reopen subreddits, is a short-sighted dick move. I've gone from thinking Reddit will die a slow death to wishing for it.
This is that one time that life should imitate art. No, seriously.
www.theonion.com
The recent change to Google Chrome that removes the option to accept a self-signed certificate is another reason developers need a system-wide “Developer Mode” that removes these barriers erected for the normies. It's hard to code with Google, Microsoft, Apple, et al. holding one of my hands all day.
Web developers rejoice! There's an easy way to animate the height of an HTML element even if the height is dynamic, determined by its content, with only CSS. This is typically used for navigation menus and the like, and now it's much easier to code and maintain.
The strategy is to actually animate the grid-template-rows not the height. For example, take the following HTML markup:
<div class="menu">
<div class="inner-wrapper">
<p>Here is some content.</p>
<p>Here is some content.</p>
<p>Here is some content.</p>
</div>
</div>
The CSS for this markup would be:
.menu {
display: grid;
grid-template-rows: 0fr;
transition: grid-template-rows 100ms;
}
.menu.active {
grid-template-rows: 1fr;
}
.menu .inner-wrapper {
overflow: hidden;
}
Initially the outer div will be hidden since it has no overflow and the grid template rows are zero. When you add active to the outer div element's class list, the browser will animate the transition from zero row height to 1fr, which essentially means the height it needs for its content to render.
On macOS it's pretty easy to automate the installation of all your apps, including Mac App Store apps, for those times when you get a new Mac or wipe your current one. As a software developer I find this capability indispensable, as would any professional or power user.
All you need to do is install Homebrew and then use it to install mas (which is an acronym for Mac App Store). Once they are installed, you can install all your software using a convenient Bash script. Homebrew will be used to install non-store apps, and mas will handle installing the Mac App Store apps.
Note: only Mac App Store apps you have already installed previously can be installed with mas. You cannot install new apps you have never installed from the store.
The most obvious reason to script out your software installations is that it greatly reduces the time to set up a new Mac, as well as ensure that you don't forget to install one or more apps. It also provides a way to update all the apps at once via the brew upgrade command. And it also provides a way to update apps that don't have their own update feature.
Apps installed with mas will be updated normally by the Mac App Store.
In order to use this process you need to know the names of the Homebrew formulae/casks for each application, and you also need to know the IDs of the Mac App Store apps for mas. Fortunately this is super easy.
First, Homebrew has a tool for finding software available in their service at https://formulae.brew.sh/. Simply use this to find your apps and make sure you're installing the right ones. Those listed as “casks” are GUI Mac apps (normal apps you don't run from the Terminal). Ones listed as “formulae” are typically command line tools run from the Terminal or services without an interface.
Second, for Mac App Store apps you simply use mas to list what's currently on your computer from the Mac App Store.
mas list
This will give you a list of currently installed apps from the Mac App Store, with their IDs:
1569813296 1Password for Safari (2.10.0)
975937182 Fantastical (3.7.12)
409183694 Keynote (13.0)
etc.
You can also search for Mac App Store apps by name using the mas search command:
mas search Xcode
This will show a similar result for matches. You can even install all search results with a single “lucky” command. See the mas help for these and other options.
Here's an example of a Bash script to get you started. I keep a similar script updated as I use new apps or stop using others. Then I'm ready to go when I have to set up a new or wiped Mac.
# Install Homebrew
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
# App Store Automation
brew install mas
# Install App Store Apps
mas install 409183694 # Keynote
mas install 409201541 # Pages
mas install 409203825 # Numbers
# Install Non-Store Apps
brew install --cask firefox
brew install --cask knockknock
# etc.
You can name the Bash script something like install-software.sh and execute it in a Terminal like this:
zsh install-software.sh
The first time you use the script will absolutely justify the time spent writing it. The second time you run it you will thank your past self for being so smart 😉
#apple #macos #mac #tech #code #recommendation #YOUREWELCOME
I just posted a new open source console application named SqlPkg. It's a wrapper for Microsoft's SqlPackage (a SQL Server backup and deployment tool) that adds missing features. Currently it provides a way to exclude data from specific tables, automatically wipes target databases, and automatically creates non-existent target databases.
#tech #code #csharp #sqlserver #backup
github.com
A lot of people are really disappointed that the Mac Pro with Apple Silicon has been delayed for so long, given the announced two-year transition. Apple may be struggling to find a good reason for the Mac Pro to exist given the existing lineup and new CPU architecture.
You can pre-order the new #NuPhy #Field75 mechanical gaming keyboard now. It uses a 2.4Ghz high polling rate receiver for fast #gaming response.
#tech #product #recommendation
nuphy.com
Generative #AI platforms like #OpenAI #ChatGPT and DALL-E have both excited and terrified information workers. But #Amazon #Bedrock might be the one service that truly revolutionizes Internet platforms by offering a more broad AI solution that does it all, integrated with #AWS.
aws.amazon.com
Amazon CodeWhisperer looks like a solid alternative to #Github #Copilot in the #AI coding companion space. Surprising that #Amazon beat #Google to this market. Even #Apple should be here at this point given that they own #Xcode.
aws.amazon.com
General Motors has announced that it will be removing #CarPlay and #AndroidAuto compatibility from their new EVs in favor of a paid subscription to its own in-dash services platform.
I see two outcomes:
#GM will lose new EV sales as many potential buyers will choose vehicles that embrace the most important device they own.
GM #EV owners will largely decide to mount their phones to the dash or windshield, circa 2013, as GM's subscription isn't free and provides a terrible experience.
This is a customer-hostile cash grab.
www.caranddriver.com
All it will take for #Mastodon to overtake #Twitter is for organizations like the White House, news organizations, and others, to spin up their own Mastodon instances for their own official communications and continue posting as usual. And the dedicated instance addresses will be a better method of validation than a blue check.
Paying $20 per month for #ChatGPT Plus gets you priority access to a dedicated “system unavailable” page. Not sure this is worth the cost.
Wouldn't it be cool if Apple Music for iOS allowed you to sort the tracks in a smart playlist like 10 years ago?
Apple's decision to make #macOS look and feel more like #iOS is aspirational, certainly. If users could seamlessly switch between operating systems and retain muscle memory it would be a big win. It's no wonder that #Apple decided to do this with macOS 13 #Ventura.
But in practice, Apple's zeal for consolidation has created some real problems for users. In many cases it feels like one step forward and two steps back. I can see how iOS power users may welcome most of the changes to macOS, but that position smacks of Stockholm Syndrome to me.
One of the best examples of this is the redesigned System Settings, which is a mess. I've given it months to “grow on me” and it has… like a fungal infection. The settings are (dis)organized into a single column of top-level categories in a seemingly random order. Devices running macOS have wide screens, so restricting the top-level categories to a single narrow column is an artificial limitation. And it can’t be remedied by resizing the System Settings window because only its height can be changed.
And the organization? macOS has a much deeper and more broad collection of settings than iOS. So as difficult as specific iOS settings can be to find on an iPhone, it’s near impossible on a Mac. And making it worse is the fact that some settings have been organized out of existence, spread out into disparate, counterintuitive categories. Want to tune all your power and sleep settings? You may have to explore a dozen settings categories to find them when they could have been put into an “Energy” category or something similar. Luckily there is a search feature. Without it I’m sure users would be surrounding the Apple Campus with pitchforks and torches.
Also part of this convergence initiative is the Apple decision to make physical keyboards work more like the iOS virtual keyboard, which changes contextually. The difference is that the iOS keyboard changes in appearance so you can infer what's expected. This means that, for example, sometimes you can use the delete key to remove characters to the right of your cursor, and sometimes you can't. It's like an infuriating game. And now when you press and hold an alphanumeric key it no longer repeats, in favor of a popup with extended characters (e.g. foreign characters with accents and ligatures). I suppose that’s handy for people who write in a foreign language. But you would assume that it would be an option, not a change to the original default key behavior. Your keyboard isn’t broken. Apple made it better #YOUREWELCOME.
How will narrow AI technologies like #ChatGPT, #StableDiffusion, and others, affect jobs in the next decade and beyond? Will it replace human workers? No. It's more likely that humans using narrow #AI tools will replace other humans who do not.
My teenager loves to tell me how she works around the parental controls I’ve set up on our home network and mobile devices. I should be pissed but I’m weirdly proud.
Microsoft now officially supports running Arm versions of Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise on macOS with Parallels Desktop version 18. So it appears that any contractual obligation for running these Arm versions of #Windows only on specific hardware using #Qualcomm chips has officially expired.
support.microsoft.com
Every tech company is trying to come up with an AI strategy for 2023. We already know the answer: tack “AI powered” next to every existing product feature or service offering name.
Twitter's revocation of third party app access to its APIs, without notice or explanation, is another nail in the coffin for #ElonMusk's favorite toy. On a brighter note, the makers of my favorite #Twitter app, #Tweetbot, are already working on a new Mastodon iOS app named #Ivory.
tapbots.com
StackOverflow is toxic. Their posting policies are like EULAs and most of the time their moderation policies only bar future participation or reward negative engagements. The result is a community of trolls who appear to be looking to either insult people or to find any policy loophole to justify a refusal to help.
Go to https://stackoverflow.com and ask a reasonable question to see for yourself.
Non Sequiturs is the personal blog of Michael Argentini.
I'm a software developer and Managing Partner for Fynydd and Blue Sequoyah Technologies, the project lead for Coursabi, and Āthepedia founder. I also have several nerdy open source projects on Github.
I'd describe myself as an Oxford comma advocate, autodidact, aspiring polymath, and boffin, with a mechanical keyboard addiction. You can also find me on Mastodon.
