mccrmx

comes with absolutely no warranty

Public Key

npub1m2f3j22hf90mt8mw788pne6fg7c8j2mw4gd3xjsptspjdeqf05dqhr54wn

NIP-05 Address

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsd4yce99t5jha4nah0rnseuay50vre9dh25xcnfgq4cqexusyh6xspp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9unytnpdenk7u3wd9hszxrhwden5te0wfjkccte9ekkxcm0wfkkjcmt9e3hsqg5waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t0qyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnswf5k6ctv9ehx2aqscjmx7

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Author Public Key

npub1m2f3j22hf90mt8mw788pne6fg7c8j2mw4gd3xjsptspjdeqf05dqhr54wn

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Last Notes

2026-01-31 09:58:56 UTC

Platforms should publish search data.
https://mccormick.cx/news/entries/platforms-should-publish-search-data

2026-01-30 08:11:46 UTC

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Agentic coding tools take too much control from the human. Whenever I try them it feels wrong and the results are a mess. They discourage human oversight which degrades the quality of the code.
I'm still using aider because it is not agentic and it lets me stay in the loop. I'm maintaining a fork with some quality of life improvements (including a single-binary build) here if you're interested: https://github.com/chr15m/aider
Here's my .aider.config.yml:
```yaml
auto-commits: false # prevents aider from doing git commits
gitignore: false
notifications: true
show-model-warnings: false
watch-files: true
auto-lint: true
read: [/home/chrism/dev/ai-context/AGENTS.md, README.md, AGENTS.md, .context/*]
```

2026-01-30 01:43:25 UTC

Worklog:
- Building new features for https://exceltohtml.com
- Working on game prototype fortnight #2 of 26 - a procedural game music chords generator.

2026-01-28 13:15:28 UTC

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Agree, it's a tool. I am finding it useful when used in a disciplined way with a human in the loop at literally every step. I think the current tooling gives the LLM far too much leeway in general.

2026-01-27 23:45:44 UTC

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I did some research and testing with gpt-oss-20b and llama-4-maverick. They don't compare with Claude but could definitely handle some tasks like extracting structured information from articles, DevOps, routine coding tasks, smart OCR etc.
The Chinese open models suffer from censorship on certain topics, but there is a model where somebody trained Qwen on Deepseek outputs and it appears to be "abilterated" and will respond to those topics, and is pretty good overall. I'm going to run some of these models locally and will do a video/write-up about that.

2026-01-27 23:26:20 UTC

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That's a great point. LLMs are helping people overengineer stuff nobody wants, even harder.

2026-01-27 05:57:14 UTC

https://feed.mccormick.cx/system/media_attachments/files/115/965/521/421/613/739/original/c89897f39a9d244a.jpg

2026-01-26 14:17:08 UTC

Worklog: progress on getting notes/comments export working in https://exceltohtml.com add-in.

2026-01-24 08:51:34 UTC

Doodled Dungeons is prototype #1 of 26 this year. Here's a video about building it.
https://youtu.be/NwFZHbsNYd4

2026-01-23 09:29:28 UTC

Worklog: continued with the https://asterogue.com Steam release.

2026-01-19 12:04:31 UTC

Worklog: hacking on https://exceltohtml.com quality of life improvements.

2026-01-19 01:01:51 UTC

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lol 🤦 thank you, I thought he meant the calendar software.

2026-01-18 01:47:03 UTC

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I ran it from the Debian package for years and eventually switched to NextCloud. Not sure if this is useful information or not. 😅 I guess my question is do you need bleeding edge features or can you use the OS version?

2026-01-17 13:27:49 UTC

Worklog: continued hacking on the Doodled Dungeons prototype. Got a bunch more scenery and a monster in.
You can check it out here: https://mccormick.cx/games/2026/doodled-dungeons/
https://feed.mccormick.cx/system/media_attachments/files/115/910/665/629/012/771/original/f18b25607ff7fdcc.mp4

2026-01-17 11:52:05 UTC

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https://github.com/chr15m/ai-context/blob/main/AGENTS.md
> The user is a detail-oriented anal-retentive control freak. Only do things they specifically ask you to do.
This is the way.

2026-01-15 13:59:23 UTC

Worklog: doodled dungeon aesthetic prototype.Procedurally generated and rendered.
https://feed.mccormick.cx/system/media_attachments/files/115/899/464/398/543/068/original/b8a86f7bb10bd978.mp4

2026-01-14 08:53:55 UTC

🧑‍🚀 I'm excited to announce Asterogue is on Steam!
🕹️ A sci-fi roguelike that's had 1000s of plays on the web, with 17 levels, permadeath, pixel gfx, fast runs, and a classical chiptune soundtrack.
🙏 You can wishlist it now if that's your bag. Thanks!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4152940/Asterogue/

2026-01-14 08:01:23 UTC

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Should be possible!

2026-01-13 00:22:48 UTC

elf doodle & css idle animation.
https://feed.mccormick.cx/system/media_attachments/files/115/884/933/598/915/867/original/9df1f7ce68968e4b.mp4

2026-01-12 10:05:39 UTC

Worklog: hacking on https://exceltohtml.com - HTML table generating Excel add-in.
- Show HTML kb size
- Remove style/class tags if empty
https://feed.mccormick.cx/system/media_attachments/files/115/881/106/601/412/458/original/638d05dfcd1e9eb6.png

2026-01-11 07:38:10 UTC

local inference beastie
https://feed.mccormick.cx/system/media_attachments/files/115/875/317/595/414/140/original/9c0eab6a248488a3.jpg

2026-01-10 08:04:05 UTC

Test.

2026-01-08 14:59:43 UTC

Worklog: doodled dungeon generation prototype.
https://feed.mccormick.cx/system/media_attachments/files/115/860/067/756/936/908/original/83670e5387f6ff91.mp4

2026-01-05 12:51:29 UTC

I made one YouTube video every week for a year. Here's what happened.
https://youtu.be/wQhP8eXE-Zo

2025-12-28 12:27:11 UTC

runprompt lets you run LLM .prompt files from your shell with a single-file Python script. It turns prompts from ephemeral into concrete artifacts you can re-use in your shell.
https://youtu.be/TVuxZv2ezHM

2025-12-24 02:43:49 UTC

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Thank you for your feedback.

2025-12-19 13:35:45 UTC

Worklog: 🧑‍🚀 putting together a Windows build of https://asterogue.com for publishing on Steam.

2025-12-17 09:04:27 UTC

I analyze some of the problems with agentic coding, and look at other options for using LLMs in software development.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_bTza2wHiE

2025-12-09 10:32:00 UTC

I released a new version of Jsfxr Pro. 🎉
It's a retro sfx generator for game devs & musicians.
- New export formats:
- OGG files
- MP3 files
- Sfxr files
- JSON sound parameter editor
- Export all account data and sound packs
- Added tooltips
- UI tweaks and fixes
Check it out at https://pro.sfxr.me/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7nGlvEeL24
Blog: https://mccormick.cx/news/entries/new-jsfxr-pro-features
Feedback most welcome! 🙏

2025-12-02 08:28:24 UTC

I tested out two free open weights models with Ollama on an old Macbook air from 2015 to see how it performed.
https://youtu.be/VpxJDlbZcNM

2025-11-28 06:55:23 UTC

A quick review of the exciting new ClojureScript features in the 1.12.116 release!
https://youtu.be/iovrImbfNVE

2025-11-28 06:53:43 UTC

A quick review of the exciting new ClojureScript features in the 1.12.116 release!
https://youtu.be/iovrImbfNVE

2025-11-27 14:35:23 UTC

uncompressible is a good way to be

2025-11-27 14:30:43 UTC

runprompt
Single-file Python script that runs Google's .prompt format (markdown template + front matter) from the command line. Zero deps, works with any LLM provider, supports structured JSON output & Unix-style chaining.
Perfect for quick AI automation without frameworks.
https://github.com/chr15m/runprompt

2025-11-25 12:58:43 UTC

Worklog: hacking on new download formats for https://pro.sfxr.me - coming soon!
https://npub1m2f3j22hf90mt8mw788pne6fg7c8j2mw4gd3xjsptspjdeqf05dqhr54wn.blossom.band/192e58c0f93bcc315259bc321eb5db8ce92ea053d8c0f3e2edfa4c6c09a18a48.mp4

2025-11-20 05:03:11 UTC

Getting my web game on Steam. A quick look at the process of listing in the Steam store.
https://youtu.be/cYy97f0m1Rw

2025-11-18 12:03:57 UTC

❌ Cloudflare is down, so basically the whole internet is down.
✅ Except for https://rogule.com
the 🧝 rejects cloudflare centralization
#rogule

2025-11-16 11:48:09 UTC

What is an LLM agent? A description and a technical look at how to implement one using curl requests.
https://youtu.be/lsiCRApXOtI

2025-11-16 11:46:07 UTC

What is an LLM agent? An description and a technical look at how to implement on using curl requests.
https://youtu.be/lsiCRApXOtI

2025-11-07 07:33:06 UTC

Build a ClojureScript native desktop app in 5 minutes with NeutralinoJS.
https://youtu.be/uEVo8rqJgyw

2025-10-30 13:07:56 UTC

Control the SIDBlaster USB (SID chip controller) with Python via the ftdi_sio module.
https://gist.github.com/chr15m/922391517223cb3b9166547a70e09baa

2025-10-29 06:30:50 UTC

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Found a bug in subscribeMap EOSE handling. Issued a fix: https://github.com/nbd-wtf/nostr-tools/pull/515 @nprofile…vvze enjoy!

2025-10-29 05:48:35 UTC

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Oh we use this now?
subscribeMap(requests: { url: string; filter: Filter }[], params: SubscribeManyParams)

2025-10-29 05:47:29 UTC

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This just bit me too. I'm confused about how we subscribe to many filters now.

2025-10-28 13:14:08 UTC

Worklog: hacking on new https://pro.sfxr.me features.

2025-10-26 09:33:55 UTC

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You can burn far less credits using something like openrouter to switch between models. Claude is great at reasoning about code, and Gemini is good at actually writing the code, and cheaper.

2025-10-26 09:32:31 UTC

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Yep 100% context is everything. I keep a folder in each project called .context and symlink readmes and code examples and other documentation in there. I get aider to automatically load every file in that folder into context every request. Works a charm.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oHuRC8-6smA

2025-10-24 07:26:15 UTC

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imagine writing a nip not software

2025-10-23 03:14:31 UTC

us-east-1 outage:
❌ netflix
❌ reddit
❌ playstation
❌ roblox
❌ fortnite
❌ robinhood
❌ coinbase
❌ venmo
❌ snapchat
❌ disney
✅ https://rogule.com
the 🧝 rejects amzn centralization
#rogule

2025-10-22 10:14:56 UTC

a music video i made
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBg8Y50a-ac

2025-10-19 02:13:43 UTC

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Punk AF. 💯

2025-10-19 02:10:54 UTC

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It's a feature.

2025-10-19 02:06:10 UTC

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This is the way.

2025-10-17 05:52:56 UTC

https://npub1m2f3j22hf90mt8mw788pne6fg7c8j2mw4gd3xjsptspjdeqf05dqhr54wn.blossom.band/f21daccf75988ef134df12f17abac09d5df7e4598a1d0d370904c6717e0c45a6.png

2025-10-16 08:29:44 UTC

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Not sure if this is true generally but most of my searches are for things I found previously. This can be satisfied 100% client side by building a compact search index over every event I read, and keeping it in indexeddb.

2025-10-16 08:25:47 UTC

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_monoliths#Moved_monoliths
People have moved some big stones. Egyptian stone moving was astonishing. The largest was the Thunder Stone in 1770 Russia, and the Romans moved some big stones too.

2025-10-16 07:49:24 UTC

I made a 3d printed media station.
https://youtu.be/T4gf7WN6plE

2025-10-10 23:01:49 UTC

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nak

2025-10-09 01:03:13 UTC

office
https://npub1m2f3j22hf90mt8mw788pne6fg7c8j2mw4gd3xjsptspjdeqf05dqhr54wn.blossom.band/c9d64c694bc78436ed33ce4930781aca4bebd242c62d52b8a2b769c611ffd999.jpg

2025-10-08 06:52:34 UTC

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Yes

2025-10-05 09:08:35 UTC

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Advertisers actually do pay us. They pay us with "free" software and services that come with the ad.

2025-10-04 00:50:01 UTC

Tinkering with aesthetics for a new https://dopeloop.ai app.
https://npub1m2f3j22hf90mt8mw788pne6fg7c8j2mw4gd3xjsptspjdeqf05dqhr54wn.blossom.band/a386144cc1693245b38c3c2a78cce5a1e8e03040fc73711fee47271ec8fdba77.png

2025-10-03 23:10:20 UTC

#nevent1q…62tt

2025-10-02 22:47:58 UTC

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To think it once had RSS feeds and ended up here. The way of "free" big corp platforms that get popular.

2025-10-02 22:45:33 UTC

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Oh no why? Asking for a friend.

2025-10-02 22:38:19 UTC

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Not every artist is available but these sites let you download MP3s if the artist is on there:
bandcamp.com
junodownload.com

2025-10-02 22:25:00 UTC

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😂😭

2025-10-02 22:24:41 UTC

https://mccormick.cx/news/entries/i-replaced-react-reagent-with-720-lines-of-slop-coded-squint-cljs

2025-10-02 22:23:29 UTC

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I had this issue too with nostrapps. You need to install ngit. It's some kind of magical even-more-decentralized git for the galaxy brained. It's beautiful but don't stare too long or your retinas will be burned. Ignore the errors and infinite spinners on git workshop dot dev and your PR will make it into the interface somehow. I think fiatjaf will see your pr when he returns from the mountains. This is the way.

2025-10-01 22:50:04 UTC

https://npub1m2f3j22hf90mt8mw788pne6fg7c8j2mw4gd3xjsptspjdeqf05dqhr54wn.blossom.band/6de76a18642e8ec3619b03020fcfd02913dd3950658625d91e521b9aabc04697.jpg

2025-10-01 22:43:44 UTC

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Imagine allowing some stupid server to be your king.

2025-10-01 11:36:04 UTC

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I did but there didn't seem to be much signal. Not sure who is actually using NIP-66 in a useful way.
I was wondering if there's some REQ filter you could run to find very old events an thereby get a sort of implied uptime for a relay. Need to research this.

2025-10-01 11:31:02 UTC

test

2025-10-01 08:52:00 UTC

You can make an installable PWA in a single HTML file.
https://youtu.be/isKXmzni0Oc

2025-09-30 04:33:02 UTC

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Yes that's a potential problem for sure.
I was thinking about refining the DHT approach by:
- Checking the NIP-11 for policies etc.
- Sending one event and checking it can be read back in reasonable time.
That would whittle the original list down to higher quality relays.
It's also not either-or. You can throw some DHT relays into the mix to get extra decentralization and also connect to well-known ones.
If you're connecting several you'd hope some of them are higher quality. The algorithm is robust to lists that vary, so it doesn't matter too much if there are some bad quality relays in the list.
When I did a rough census previously a majority of relays were running standard software. I wonder how many people are modifying the default settings?
https://github.com/chr15m/nostr-relay-research/blob/main/README.md?plain=1#L20-L27
I guess what I'm thinking is there are probably a lot of great relays, at least as good as e.g. relay.damus.io and nos.lol but people continue to default to the latter. That seems like a waste of good public resources.
What would be cool is if there was some NIP-11 flag for "This relay is happy to be part of the global grid and accept your events" (though maybe this is implied just by running an open relay). Also an uptime report. Or some other metrics clients and users could use to evaluate relays.
I will continue to test this approach some more in my own apps. Thanks for your feedback!

2025-09-30 01:18:24 UTC

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Also this page shows me infinite spinners: https://gitworkshop.dev/npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6/nostrapps.com

2025-09-30 01:17:12 UTC

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Here's the full error:
```
✘ wss://git.fiatjaf.com connection timeout nostr updates: 1 announcement update, 3 proposals, 1 commit
fetching git.fiatjaf.com/nostrapps.com ref list over https (unauthenticated)...
list: https://git.fiatjaf.com/nostrapps.com failed over https (unauthenticated): failed to connect to git.fiatjaf.com: Connection refused; class=Os (2)
fetching git.fiatjaf.com/nostrapps.com ref list over ssh...
list: [email protected]:nostrapps.com failed over ssh: invalid or unknown remote ssh hostkey; class=Ssh (23); code=Certificate (-17)
fetching git.fiatjaf.com/nostrapps.com ref list over https...
list: https://git.fiatjaf.com/nostrapps.com failed over https: failed to connect to git.fiatjaf.com: Connection refused; class=Os (2)
list: git.fiatjaf.com/nostrapps.com failed over https (unauthenticated), ssh and https
Error: failed to get refs from git server
```

2025-09-30 01:15:54 UTC

tf is this ngit magic 🧙‍♂️ 🤯
$ git pull
nostr: fetching...
✔ wss://relay.nostr.band new events: 1 announcement update, 3 proposals, 1 commit
✔ wss://relay.damus.io new events: 1 announcement update
✔ wss://nos.lol new events: 3 proposals
✘ wss://git.fiatjaf.com connection timeout nostr updates: 1 announcement update, 3 proposals, 1 commit
@nprofile…9h9m I'm having issues connecting to git.fiatjaf.com - I would like to resubmit a PR for nostrapps (I previously submitted via some other decentralized git method that was on the site). Probably my fault but any hints most welcome!

2025-09-30 01:03:07 UTC

@nprofile…mm4w I ran into a Coracle bug. After logging out on Firefox Android the app is now a blank page: https://github.com/coracle-social/coracle/issues/648

2025-09-30 00:44:26 UTC

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I've been experimenting with relay selection and came up with this method for deterministically selecting an initial relay list for a given npub:
- Connect to some "bootstrap" popular relays.
- Query for random `kind=10002` and `kind=3` events.
- Build a big list of relays from the results (about 900 right now, takes 1 second).
- Hash every relay URL and the target/user's npub.
- Use Kademlia style XOR-distance to find the "closest" relays.
- Select the top 5 and use them.
This has the effect of distributing users over a large set of Nostr relays and reduces centralization pressure. Savvy users can always set their own relays, run their own relays etc. but I think this is better than hard coding "big" relays into apps. This algorithm has the additional benefit of being able to get a relay set for a participating user just by knowing their npub.
PoC: https://github.com/chr15m/nostr-dht

2025-09-29 08:01:03 UTC

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You can make this deterministic and completely client side:
1. Query bootstrap relays for kind 10002 and 3 events. Extract a list of 100s of relays from these. Takes a second or two when I tested it.
2. Hash every relay URL.
3. Hash the user's npub.
4. Use Kademlia XOR-distance to find the 5 relays "closest" to the npub.
5. Use those relays as inboxes for the npub.
6. (Can update this periodically as the global relay set changes.)
An advantage of the deterministic relay set is you can find the inbox relays with just the npub. Solves one of the issues you appear to have with geo-relays.
PoC: https://github.com/chr15m/nostr-dht
Enjoy! 🧐
@nprofile…zj6n

2025-09-26 02:10:55 UTC

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Interesting read! I've been tinkering with web client stuff.
You can roll up a web app into a single HTML file. A person can download the HTML file and open it directly on their device, or upload it to a server to self-host. Then the hash of index.html is for the whole app.
Browsers thankfully let file:/// loaded HTML files open WebSockets, so Nostr is fully accessible from a static HTML file opened locally on device. I tested this on GNU/Linux & Android in Firefox and Chrome using this HTML page:
https://gist.github.com/chr15m/265f37a2bbd544de9e89083923474a04
vite-plugin-singlefile makes it really simple to roll up an app into one HTML file (if you're using vite).
Imagine installing an app lol.

2025-09-23 13:56:06 UTC

Three.js pixel renderer progress
https://youtu.be/1NTK_YZMhvk

2025-09-23 13:32:58 UTC

Three.js pixel renderer progress
youtu.be/1NTK_YZMhvk

2025-09-17 09:58:02 UTC

A pipeline for generating 3d mesh slop using Replicate models, rendered in my three.js pixel engine.
https://youtu.be/70OioB0VyfU

2025-09-12 01:00:56 UTC

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Excellent, thank you!

2025-09-10 13:47:09 UTC

https://image.nostr.build/4cb281ccb2db00d4d4f3053dbccd5ff105917a7fcc7af10c2cd3ef3d9e8b61ae.jpg

2025-09-05 03:29:25 UTC

How I'm using LLMs for software development.
https://youtu.be/oHuRC8-6smA

2025-08-27 13:26:10 UTC

My Vim & ClojureScript dev setup.
https://youtu.be/MpAhCvpM79Q

2025-08-20 10:33:03 UTC

No build step ClojureScript with an nREPL, using Scittle and cljs-josh.
https://youtu.be/b1C3rD-ZUaA

2025-08-13 07:39:19 UTC

A Scittle ClojureScript game menu starter template for 2d games using Reagent.
https://youtu.be/JUd11PQCkIU

2025-08-11 23:23:04 UTC

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Same here.

2025-08-09 00:30:52 UTC

https://npub1m2f3j22hf90mt8mw788pne6fg7c8j2mw4gd3xjsptspjdeqf05dqhr54wn.blossom.band/9c4e8154a3c4ae6e5ba2429ec8bc4f8d3cdb0a92d833aa6cf2d9f83ae5837343.jpg

2025-08-07 05:57:21 UTC

A Raspberry Pi Gameboy formfactor tracker music live performance device called Modbay.
https://youtu.be/jK6QsnZ73sQ

2025-08-05 07:54:27 UTC

https://mccormick.cx/news/entries/everything-i-hacked-on-in-2024

2025-07-30 09:35:29 UTC

How to pipe Linux logfile entries to a thermal receipts printer using the Nostr protocol.
https://youtu.be/QoPsgrsgsWk

2025-07-29 03:10:15 UTC

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A DHT could decentralize the key servers.

2025-07-25 02:29:25 UTC

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No worries. Best of luck with your protocol.

2025-07-25 02:28:52 UTC

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Ah ok, then I agree. Trying to use regulation to bring low prices is a recipe for disaster.

2025-07-24 01:48:02 UTC

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Prices are capped on the downside by costs, but not on the upside. E.g. Veblen goods.
I don't think your argument that prices are high in Europe for the reason of regulation is supported by evidence. There are larger factors at play. To take one small example, the cost of erecting a tower in Paraguay is lower because wages are lower because living costs are lower because the GDP is lower. Because operating costs are lower you can offer lower prices. Regulation may be a factor but I don't think it's the main or only one in this case.