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dombili

2,011 karma · joined January 21, 2013

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dombili··on Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
Agreed and it's frustrating that people don't admit this.

I recently started dual booting Linux again and tried both Arch and CachyOS. Former with Hyprland, the latter with Gnome just to see how well the games run. I knew going in that tiling window managers don't behave well with games and that was indeed the case. With Gnome, even some native games made by Valve had terrible performance issues where I have none on Windows. There are also cases, and I wouldn't even describe them as edge cases, that you have to tinker to get things to work properly.

I have a very basic dual monitor setup, but yesterday I spent an hour trying to fix a problem where my cursor would escape the game's window into the second monitor. The obvious solutions (gamescope) didn't work for some reason. Did I end up fixing it? Yes. But that's only because I know my way around Linux. That's an hour I'm never getting back.

I'm not making an argument for Windows, I very much dislike using it but Linux folks need to accept reality. A reality which isn't fair, but reality nonetheless. That's when you start to make progress. (Which, to be fair, they have. Tremendously so. But there's still a long road ahead!)

dombili··on Apple Intelligence for iPhone, iPad, and Mac
None of these features seem to be coming to Vision Pro, which I think is quite baffling. Arguably it's the device that can use them the most.
dombili··on Netlify just sent me a $104k bill for a simple static site
Github works well for me.
dombili··on Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself?
This is awesome! I'll definitely use it.

It'd be a one time stop for me if it supported definitions (similar to Collins Dictionary) but beggars can't be choosers.

dombili··on Why I built a dictionary app
That's too bad. I wish there was an alternative App Store version that used another dictionary because I really like its design choices. At least I did, when I tried it on my iPhone, but I don't imagine they had drastic changes since then. I didn't stick with it because of weird limitations Apple has with sideloading apps. (IIRC, that 7 day limit was the deal breaker.)
dombili··on Why I built a dictionary app
Exactly and I don't know why dictionary apps don't take advantage of it. I wonder if it's against App Store guidelines to make a dictionary app based on the built-in dictionary.

There are a lot of dictionary apps out there but I think most developers miss the forest for the trees. I don't know why there's still not a single dictionary app that is blazing fast, use the built-in dictionary and have some common sense design choices (literally not came across a single dictionary app that doesn't enable keyboard as soon as you open it -- it's a dictionary app, why do they think I open the app?!).

Kotoba (https://github.com/willhains/Kotoba) is almost perfect but there's no way to download it from the App Store and I don't want to deal with the hassle of sideloading on iOS as a non-developer.

dombili··on Why I built a dictionary app
I tried to give this a shot as the blog post resonated with me but I simply couldn't get the app to work on my iPhone (13, iOS 15.6). When I first launched it I waited the database to setup ("Loading language database...") for more than two minutes. Knowing for sure it couldn't take that long, I restarted the app but it was the same issue. I then re-installed the app but then the app just gave me a blank white screen.

It's a new app, shit happens, and if there's a way I can do to help you diagnose the issue on my end, I'd be happy to.

dombili··on Show HN: Let's Block It – Custom uBlock Origin Filters Made Easy
You can't¹. There is a new browser called Orion² currently in private beta that uses the same engine as Safari, which you can use Firefox and Chrome extensions on. It works both on Mac, and surprisingly on iOS. I believe it's the only browser on iOS that allows you to use -some- desktop extensions. I use uBlock Origin with it on iOS and it works good enough.

¹ https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158

² https://browser.kagi.com/

dombili··on Show HN: Obsidian for Mobile – Plain-text knowledge base on the go
I'll echo this as well. Not only the development pace is ridiculous for such a small team, they're very responsive to support requests via mail and Discord as well.

I had a small problem with the app once. I contacted them via email and it was resolved in a couple of hours and they were kind enough to offer different solutions -- solutions that didn't fill their pockets. (Needless to say, I'm sticking with their services.)

The fact that they can manage all that is almost a testament to how useful the app they're creating must be for them.

I too am just a happy user/customer and wish them nothing but success.

dombili··on Download the FCC Speed Test App
Looks like the app was outsourced to a company named SamKnows. They have another speed test app on their iOS developer page that looks eerily similar to this app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/samknows-test-your-internet/id...
dombili··on I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it
I used to scroll through the streaming services and my Plex library to pick something to watch, but I ended up creating a Shortcut on iOS in an attempt to take myself out of the decision process. The manual process was not only not random, but there was still a lot of indecisiveness on my part that would make me waste time. So now I have a plaintext file filled with movie titles available to me, and whenever I want to watch something, I tell Siri to recommend me a movie, and the Shortcut app just picks a random title.
dombili··on Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code
I can attest to the usefulness of this. I have a similar thing set up on my iPhone via the Shortcuts app and it's been quite nice to share my long password without worrying about the hassle of spelling it out. Here's the Shortcut, in case anyone wants to try it out: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/681b4f7b030543b79ab7de6afa3...
dombili··on My Letter to the Editor of New York Times Magazine
I'm glad Mr. Sullenberger spoke up about this. As some people have pointed out in this thread, Langewiesche is indeed a terrific writer, but the tone of the piece in question was off-putting.

For those who're interested, Patrick Smith (aka Ask the Pilot) also wrote a critical piece about the article last month: https://www.askthepilot.com/plane-and-pilot/

dombili··on A new look, logo, and website for Fastmail
I was quite happy with the service itself, but I'm not using email enough to justify its monthly price. They're a great company, and I hope they're around by the time I need their services again!
dombili··on A new look, logo, and website for Fastmail
If the screenshots on the landing page are any indication, the overall design, both on the desktop and mobile, looks to be the same but with a new logo.

I can't check it myself because I closed my account with them a couple of weeks ago, so maybe a current user can confirm.

dombili··on iPadOS
It looks like that's not true.

> Mouse support in iPad is real. In accessibility. Also full keyboard control for the entire UI (opposite of Voice Control.)

https://twitter.com/reneritchie/status/1135643633690992640

Update: Here it is in action: https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/11356536361455902...

dombili··on WireGuard for MacOS
Oh, I didn't know that. ZIP import solves the issue for me, but I'm glad you've got the multi-select feature on your to-do list.
dombili··on WireGuard for MacOS
It works great. As a user, I love that it's being distributed via the Mac App Store. The one and only nitpick I have is the lack of bulk import support of the config files, but that's something I can live without.

I'm looking forward to the Windows version. Thank you for taking the long and careful route with it.

dombili··on Apple blocks Google from running its internal iOS apps
I don't want to pass judgment on whether Google (or in the previous case, Facebook) was in the wrong, but it doesn't sit well with me that Apple wields so much power on what software their phones can run after it sells them. You may very well think that they're using their power sparingly and benevolently, but who is to say that will be the case next time around?
dombili··on The sad state of RSS on the Mac
I use Reeder syncing with Feedbin. I couldn't be happier. Yes, Reeder rarely gets an update but it works well and I believe it gets updated whenever is necessary — which is enough for me.

Feedbin, however, is just fantastic. Easily the best service I've been using for years, along with Pinboard.

dombili··on Game Theory: Open Access textbook
Thinking Strategically by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff is a fantastic way to start. You can pick it up without any prior knowledge of game theory.

I'd also recommend Ken Binmore's Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

dombili··on Building a fast, secured and free static site in less than three hours
You can try Scotty.js [1].

[1] https://github.com/stojanovic/scottyjs

dombili··on Laverna – A Markdown note-taking app focused on privacy
I couldn't agree more. I am using a different note taking app beside Evernote because I just can't stand the interface and usability of their Mac and iOS apps. But their OCR feature is by far the best on the market so I have to keep using it. As far as I can tell, Evernote is in a league of its own when it comes to OCR. They make it really easy to read physical books with that feature. (I like to keep notes of the books I'm reading and I hate to sully actual pages.)

I really want them to succeed, but I also recognize they will never make an app that I consider to be perfect or even good. They'd have to get rid of like 50 features, which is a hard thing to do by itself but also not in their MO.

dombili··on MPC-HC v1.7.13 is released and farewell
mpv is barebones so it doesn't, but you can integrate Subliminal (https://github.com/Diaoul/subliminal) to it.
dombili··on Ask HN: Excluding WordPress, what is your favorite for blogs or small stores?
I have a private blog that I write for my own to better my writing skills.

I use Ulysses (the app) with a custom style (CSS) and extract my posts to an HTML file. I then upload the HTML file and the CSS file, which Ulysses also extracts, to S3, so then I can view it and read it from time to time. I realize this isn't the most elegant solution, but it works for me because I have very specific requirements from a CMS and I haven't been able to find them in any of the CMSes out there. (Most of them don't even have a clue as to what "minimalism" means.)

dombili··on How to Read a Book [pdf]
http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001229
dombili··on NSA data will soon routinely be used for domestic policing
This sounds awfully familiar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MINARET

dombili··on The Leica Q: A six month field test
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good
dombili··on Mozilla to stop Sponsored Tiles in Firefox
Huh, I must have missed that article. I stand corrected. Thanks for sharing.
dombili··on Mozilla to stop Sponsored Tiles in Firefox
Mozilla reportedly doesn't make money from Pocket [1]. So the money is not the issue. Your guess is as good as mine as to what is.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/38aorv/psa_mozilla...

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