matthewn
Re:Chuwi Minibook X: the netbook we deserve
on Monday June 01, 2026 @01:05AM (#48352819)
I got one of these a couple of years ago, put Linux on it, and was pleased as punch: https://www.mahnamahna.net/blog/linux-chuwi-minibook-x/
It's actually the keyboard that surprises me the most: I think it's really good (and I consider myself a bit of a keyboard snob). I've never had any issue like the author describes, of having to strike keys just-so.
Re:Ask HN: Could you share your personal website here?
on Wednesday January 14, 2026 @05:33PM (#46624796)
Re:Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears
on Thursday August 21, 2025 @05:44PM (#44978449)
For more on this -- and how Sears had everything it needed (and more) to be what Amazon became -- see this comment from a 2007 MetaFilter thread: https://www.metafilter.com/62394/The-Record-Industrys-Declin...
Re:Bill Atkinson has died
on Saturday June 07, 2025 @01:26PM (#44211086)
In an alternate timeline, HyperCard was not allowed to wither and die, but instead continued to mature, embraced the web, and inspired an entire genre of software-creating software. In this timeline, people shape their computing experiences as easily as one might sculpt a piece of clay, creating personal apps that make perfect sense to them and fit like a glove; computing devices actually become (for everyone, not just programmers) the "bicycle for the mind" that Steve Jobs spoke of. I think this is the timeline that Atkinson envisioned, and I wish I lived in it. We've lost a true visionary. Memory eternal!
Re:The story, as best I can remember, of the origin of Mosaic and Nets...
on Friday June 28, 2024 @06:33PM (#40826025)
Any link to there from here will only get you JWZ's take on HN.
Re:HyperCard Simulator
on Tuesday June 25, 2024 @08:12PM (#40795156)
I would say that HTML/Javascript is not a "tool" in the same sense that HyperCard was.
HyperCard's real strength was that it allowed mere users (not programmers) to create their own apps (or "stacks", in the HyperCard parlance) through pointing and clicking, plus an English-like scripting language (HyperTalk).
We have largely abandoned the idea that users should be able to create their own apps, so there is no popular, modern analogue to HyperCard, though some people keep trying. For instance, LiveCode is a commercial product that is directly inspired by HyperCard. And CardStock is an open source HyperCard clone that swaps out something English-like for Python as the underlying scripting language.
Re:A Road to Common Lisp
on Tuesday May 21, 2024 @11:30PM (#40437039)
If you install the django-extensions package and use runserver_plus instead of runserver, when you hit an exception you get a live REPL in your browser where you can poke around and inspect at will. It's not CL-level power, but it's mighty useful.
Re:We've Forgotten How to Use Computers
on Friday January 26, 2024 @01:58PM (#39146499)
Odd title for a piece that is mostly an elegy for the mouse.
Re:"About half of Bandcamp was laid off today"
on Monday October 16, 2023 @07:11PM (#37907953)
Bandcamp had 118 employees total. That doesn't smell bloated to me.
(Source: https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/bandcamp-layoffs-oakland...)
Re:So let’s talk about this Wayland thing
on Monday September 18, 2023 @12:20AM (#37552204)
I use Espanso for this; it has worked well on Wayland for some time.
Re:Bram Moolenaar Passed Away
on Saturday August 05, 2023 @12:34PM (#37013707)
Terribly sad news. Thank you, Bram, for the finest software tool I've ever wielded.
Re:Why Lisp Syntax Works
on Monday June 05, 2023 @05:48PM (#36204346)
Similar argument from this lengthy but enjoyable essay: https://stopa.io/post/265
Huge HyperCard fan here, this is a very happy discovery indeed! It captures the spirit of HyperCard -- stacks, images/sounds, etc. -- but the icing on the cake is that Python replaces HyperTalk and the entire Python ecosystem is at your disposal. That's incredible. I'm salivating.
The built-in Reference Guide is fantastic, too. Will definitely be keeping an eye on this project.
Re:Kottke.org Is 25 Years Old Today and I’m Going to Write About It
on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @12:47PM (#35171061)
Would LOVE to see memepool resurrected!
Re:Ask HN: How to Learn Django in 2023?
on Thursday January 05, 2023 @12:26PM (#34263241)
As others have said, Will Vincent's books are excellent. I also like Mastering Django a great deal; it is extremely comprehensive: https://masteringdjango.com/
Re:AutoHotKey V2 (Breaking Upgrade)
on Wednesday January 04, 2023 @07:30PM (#34254112)
Re:Thunderbird 102
on Tuesday June 28, 2022 @07:56PM (#31914668)
Thunderbird has been more than "an email client" for so long that people made the exact same kind of complaint when RSS support was added.
Thunderbird is a messaging/communications client, and way more people will benefit from Matrix support than would ever benefit from Maildir support.
Further, my understanding from the Thunderbird team's comms is that they are very much in control of their own destiny. I don't get the sense that Mozilla has much say in Thunderbird's roadmap (or even cares) at this point.
Re:Thunderbird 102
on Tuesday June 28, 2022 @07:44PM (#31914572)
There is a new global font size setting in this release:
https://twitter.com/mozthunderbird/status/153930732204379750...
If you want to target the message list specifically, I'm pretty certain that can be done with a userChrome.css tweak.
I have very fond memories of Music for Hackers ("soundscapes for compromising a remote host"). Have never found anything that fills that particular niche the same way.
Re:Ask HN: Share your personal site
on Wednesday April 06, 2022 @09:56PM (#30939805)
Love the design!
Re:Ask HN: Share your personal site
on Wednesday April 06, 2022 @06:56PM (#30938494)
https://www.mahnamahna.net/
Originally built as a blosxom-powered blog in 2003, the site grew with a motley collection of perl and php scripts, as sites did back then. Then as social media came to prominence, I drifted away from my own site, as so many others did.
I spent much of the early pandemic rebuilding from the ground up with Django and Wagtail. Migrated the old content without breaking old links. Added some front-end niceties without breaking anything for non-JS visitors. Recently reached feature parity with the original site. Now I just need to figure out what I want to blog about. :)
Re:The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used
on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @03:56PM (#28609189)
> I actually had to order some 3D printed one from some Japanese guy
Thank you for mentioning this alternative! Just found him on Etsy. I have always preferred the old-style concave nibs for TrackPoints over the new convex ones. This will be a serious improvement for my Thinkpad.
Re:The Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel (2007)
on Sunday May 02, 2021 @10:47PM (#27021113)
Hello, kindred spirit. I grew up in San Diego but have lived in the Bay for almost 30 years. I still can't enjoy a Mission-style burrito. You've articulated the key reasons why.
The answer to your question is, you can't get what you're looking for in SF, but if you're willing to drive for nearly an hour, you will find the burrito of your dreams at Adalberto's in Fairfield.
Re:I’m now in charge of Audacity [video]
on Friday April 30, 2021 @03:50PM (#26998413)
In the Gnome 2.x days, you could (in GTK apps) assign a custom keystroke to any item in any pull-down menu by hovering over the item and then pressing the keystroke you wanted to assign. It was the most simple, intuitive way to customize app keyboard shortcuts I've ever seen, and I still miss it.
Re:Local-First Software:You Own Your Data, in Spite of the Cloud (2019...
on Thursday February 25, 2021 @06:06PM (#26269508)
Glad to hear someone say this! I'm itching to make a selfhosted Workflowy clone and have pretty much zeroed in on PouchDB/CouchDB to make the syncing easy. Would love to know if you found any pitfalls while working with the pair.
Firefox just walked away from a key piece of the open web
Re:What’s New in Thunderbird 78
on Friday July 17, 2020 @12:48PM (#23872523)
I was stuck on Thunderbird 60 for a long while for the exact same reason. I'm now using tbkeys on Thunderbird 68; it works great. https://github.com/willsALMANJ/tbkeys
Re:Running decade-old games in containers
on Tuesday April 21, 2020 @01:46PM (#22937353)
I'm glad someone else remembers this forgotten gem. Every couple of years or so, I try to get Obsidian running again. No luck so far. :(
Re:Ask HN: What is the best way to learn Lisp in 2020?
on Sunday April 19, 2020 @02:00PM (#22917547)
If you'd like to start with a light, fun introduction, "Lists and Lists" is an old interactive fiction game from the illustrious Andrew Plotkin, in which a genie gives you puzzles to solve using Scheme.
It's a delightful introduction to Lisp-y thinking. You can play online, or download and play offline: https://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=zj3ie12ewi1mrj1t