jb… a weblog by Jonathan Buys

Solar-powered system offers a route to inexpensive desalination - MIT News

Now, a team of researchers at MIT and in China has come up with a solution to the problem of salt accumulation — and in the process developed a desalination system that is both more efficient and less expensive than previous solar desalination methods. The process could also be used to treat contaminated wastewater or to generate steam for sterilizing medical instruments, all without requiring any power source other than sunlight itself.

August 3, 2022 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Use One Big Server - Speculative Branches

We have all gotten so familiar with virtualization and abstractions between our software and the servers that run it. These days, “serverless” computing is all the rage, and even “bare metal” is a class of virtual machine. However, every piece of software runs on a server. Since we now live in a world of virtualization, most of these servers are a lot bigger and a lot cheaper than we actually think.

August 2, 2022 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Future Trains Could Provide Carbon Capture on Wheels - IEEE Spectrum

Now, researchers propose a portable, practical solution that relies on retrofitted train cars that capture and store carbon dioxide as they shuttle around on their normal routes.

August 2, 2022 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Why Study Functional Programming?

Learning functional programming is an opportunity to discover a new way to represent programs, to approach problems, and to think about languages.

August 2, 2022 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Coding as a greybeard - Hacker News

“I’m 51 and I’ve been active in this industry since I was 14. I watched it grow from computers with 4k of memory to having a supercomputer in my pocket. I was learning in the age of Apple II and the Commodore PET. When I realized that I could create an explosion of data with just a few lines of code, I was hooked forever. It was such a magical thing. I found some other guys in my high school that were also into computers and we started meeting regularly on Fridays and Saturdays to… Well, to do some things that were, perhaps, not allowed. Since then, I’ve started three companies, and I don’t think I could have found the same satisfaction in any other industry. I am mindful, these days, that I’m 51 because I know ageism is a thing in tech. There’s a moment when you walk into a room and people think, ‘Oh, he’s a greybeard.’ I don’t have a beard, but you know what I mean. But when I start to talk about things and find solutions, that disappears. I can’t change my age but I am in full control over what I do and what I read and how much time I carve out to write code. I can still see myself doing this when I’m 60, 70 years old. Even older. Because I want to keep doing meaningful things.”

August 2, 2022 - 2 minute read - linkpost

Why I Hate Frameworks

So you don’t have any hammers? None at all?

July 27, 2022 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Non-Obvious Docker Uses

Many developers use Docker the old-fashioned way – a docker build and a docker run. Some non-obvious ways to use Docker.

July 25, 2022 - 1 minute read - linkpost

More shell, less egg - All this

Relating to the previous link, I can’t believe I’ve never posted a link to this Dr. Drang classic about Donald Knuth and Doug McIlroy’s differing approaches to the word counting problem.

July 25, 2022 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Performance comparison - counting words in Python, Go, C++, C, AWK, Forth, and Rust

A basic solution reads the file line-by-line, converts to lowercase, splits each line into words, and counts the frequencies in a hash table. When that’s done, it converts the hash table to a list of word-count pairs, sorts by count (largest first), and prints them out.

July 25, 2022 - 1 minute read - linkpost

What Would Happen If We Slowed Down?

If you worked deeply and regularly on a reasonable portfolio of initiatives that move the needle, and were sufficiently organized to keep administrative necessities from dropping through the cracks, your business probably wouldn’t implode, and your job roles would likely still be fulfilled. This shift from a state of slightly too much work to not quite enough, in other words, might be less consequential than we fear.

January 3, 2022 - 1 minute read - linkpost

1Password 8 for Mac is now in Early Access! 🎉

Our new 1Password apps are built in Rust, a secure systems programming language famous for its performance and safety. 🦀 You won’t see this change but you’ll feel it.

August 11, 2021 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Making a Tiny Mac From a Raspberry Pi Zero

Making a Tiny Mac From a Raspberry Pi Zero

August 9, 2021 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Habits, UI changes, and OS stagnation | Riccardo Mori

Riccardo Mori posting last month on how macOS has stagnated roughly since Lion.

August 9, 2021 - 1 minute read - linkpost

MKBHD's iPadOS 15 Review

Marques as always has a great overview of what’s coming next in iPadOS 15. I recommend you watch the entire thing, but I did take issue with what he said starting here.

July 15, 2021 - 2 minute read - linkpost

Your Wild and Precious Life

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May 25, 2021 - 1 minute read - linkpost

We Know What You Did During Lockdown

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May 25, 2021 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Multiple Macs, one location for screenshots – Tech Reflect

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March 24, 2020 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Delete Previous Word or Path Item in Terminal

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March 24, 2020 - 1 minute read - linkpost unix mac

Digital pollution | Derek Sivers

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October 16, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

(MacOS) Catalina Crisis – On my Om

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October 15, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Maccy - clipboard manager for macOS

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October 15, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Arcane Office – Blockchain-based private online office suite.

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October 15, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Mudita Pure Kickstarter

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October 15, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Apple and why

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October 7, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

You can heal the internet

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September 12, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Hypercritical - Top Gun

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August 9, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Outside Magazine - We've Reached Peak Wellness. Most of It Is Nonsense.

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August 8, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Moments – 512 Pixels

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May 9, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Explore the Flathead Valley

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May 8, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Daring Fireball - Tim Cook and Luca Maestri on Intel

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May 2, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

The Girl on the Train

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April 8, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

The ultimate guide to DuckDuckGo - BrettTerpstra.com

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March 8, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Pat Gallant-Charette Won't Stop Breaking Records | Outside Online

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March 4, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

There Are Still Reasons to Limit Your Kids' Screen Time | Outside Online

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January 22, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Foldimate’s laundry-folding machine actually works now - The Verge

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January 7, 2019 - 1 minute read - linkpost

NetNewsWire Comes Home

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September 1, 2018 - 1 minute read - linkpost

One Computing Device

I like to think about the future. I’m an optimist, so in my mind, the future looks pretty great, more “Meet the Robinsons” and less “Bladerunner”.

August 20, 2018 - 1 minute read - linkpost

How to manage your windows like a pro in macOS | iMore

Mikah Sargent:

March 29, 2018 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Why Apple’s education strategy is not based on reality

Bradley Chambers:

March 28, 2018 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Bringing Back Skeuomorphic Design

March 28, 2018 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Erasing Complexity – MacStories

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March 27, 2018 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Scrivener 3 arrives with new interface, export options - Six Colors

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November 22, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

My Mac and iPhone setup on The Sweet Setup

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October 9, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Dyson developing battery-electric vehicle for 2020

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September 27, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Shirt Pocket Watch - Cheat Sheet

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September 25, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Overcast for iOS 11 coming soon

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September 25, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Apple responds to ad group’s criticism of Safari cookie blocking

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September 15, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

I'm Done With Facebook

From Daring Fireball: Facebook Enabled Advertisers to Target ‘Jew Haters’

September 15, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

xkcd - What to Bring

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September 15, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Elon Musk sets date for all-electric Tesla Semi reveal

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September 15, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

The company isn’t a family – Signal v. Noise

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July 20, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

The Case of the Stolen Source Code

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May 17, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

JSON Feed

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May 17, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Amazon officially unveils touchscreen Echo Show - The Verge

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May 11, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Free is Never Free — MacSparky

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April 25, 2017 - 2 minute read - linkpost

Rolling your own VPN server - Six Colors

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April 7, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Could this be the future of the Mac?

Spoiler: yes.

March 30, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Spend the Night in the Sky

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March 30, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

The Arrival of Artificial Intelligence

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March 29, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Creating custom Perspectives in OmniFocus – The Sweet Setup

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March 29, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

This is the Samsung Galaxy S8, coming April 21st - The Verge

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March 29, 2017 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Instapaper Premium is now free for everyone

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November 2, 2016 - 2 minute read - linkpost

Images of New MacBook Pro With Magic Toolbar Leaked in macOS Sierra 10.12.1 - Mac Rumors

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October 25, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

IBM confirms that Macs are less expensive than PCs

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October 24, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

‘hello again’ – 512 Pixels

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October 20, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

David Ogilvy 10 Tips on Writing

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October 17, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Paralyzed man feels touch through mind-controlled robot hand

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October 13, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Steve Jobs on Apple’s Courage

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September 9, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Vesper Sync Shutdown Tonight, Open Source Plans

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August 30, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Daring Fireball - Mylan's EpiPen Price Gouging

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August 23, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Strava - Strive

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August 11, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

OmniFocus Video Field Guide Update Coming Sunday — MacSparky

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July 29, 2016 - 2 minute read - linkpost

Henry Ford and the Actual Value of Education

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July 26, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

James Gowans

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July 21, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

The Motivation Toolkit

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July 21, 2016 - 2 minute read - linkpost

Master Plan, Part Deux - Tesla Motors

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July 20, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

CHANGER paperbacks are now available! - Matt Gemmell

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July 13, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Top Four

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July 13, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost

Worlds apart - All this

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July 13, 2016 - 1 minute read - linkpost