Paulo Nunes A minimal blog template for tinyjam. To the moon and back /posts/to-the-moon-and-back.html /posts/to-the-moon-and-back.html Finaly it looks like we're back to exploring space again. Expanding science and technology hopefully for the good of all mankind.

Farewell Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Wiseman, see you in 10 days. Go forth and explore!

]]> Tiny notebook app /posts/tiny-notebook-app.html /posts/tiny-notebook-app.html Small, simple, static and local hosted wep app i built for my personal use. It works offline, no data is collected or transmitted anywhere.

Notebook is for raw text, quick note taking in the browser. It uses the browsers' localStorage to keep my notes always handy and persistant between sessions of copy/pasting text from websites, making to-do lists, drafting site copy, memos and emails.

No sync, Markdown or WYSIWYG features, but you can download a backup of all your notes and restore them if you change browser, do a clean install of your OS or the path to the app folder changes because you decided to move it somewhere else.

features:

  • Create/edit/delete notes
  • Focus mode (removes the sidebar)
  • Dark/light mode
  • Download backup of all notes (JSON file)
  • Restore all notes from backup file
  • Download a single note as .txt
  • Responsive layout

The first 20 chars of the first line you write will be the title of the note link on the sidebar list.

Download the zip archive, unpack it, put the folder somewhere on your disk, inside the folder open the file index.html in the browser and bookmark it.

]]> The joy of handwriting CSS /posts/the-joy-of-handwriting-css.html /posts/the-joy-of-handwriting-css.html AI coding skills have evolved to a point that anyone with no design or FE dev experience can build delightful user interfaces. I'm ok with that, if you dont want to be picky about the details, if what matters is shipping a working product fast.

Its satisfying to see how good the results are.

I love to write CSS, i need to tinker with it, i like to think about how to structure the HTML and CSS, it gives me joy to write it myself, CSS doesn't have to be a "means to an end". Knowing where and how all the parts work makes it much easier to adjust, adapt and be more creative.

Old habits never die, for me personaly, hand writing CSS is having ownership and control of what ever it is you are creating. I can even go wild and let AI do everything else, but the CSS is exclusively mine to handle.

]]> Suddenly its monday /posts/suddenly-its-monday.html /posts/suddenly-its-monday.html
Jellyfish doodle

Every week the only thing that keeps me going is the weekend. Every weekend i try to do something or everything, but i sometimes get stuck on what or how. Suddenly its monday, again.

]]> My chunky keyboard /posts/my-chunky-keyboard.html /posts/my-chunky-keyboard.html This is my workhorse keyboard, a quirky but comfortable mechanical keyboard i finally purchased last year.

Minilo75 Pro by Varmilo

I’m not into the keyboard modding thing, swapping keys or switches is the limit of my know-how on this subject.

I wanted a mechanical keyboard for a long time, but the problem is it’s hard to find a ready to use MacOS compatible pre-built keyboard with a PT(Portuguese) layout. Unless you custom build one yourself.

I finally found this Chinese brand that sells them with a set of PT and Mac keycaps, and swappable switches.

It’s about 90% plug and play, i had to swap a few keys around that were not in the right position for specific PT on Mac, but overall it works well.

]]> Lightweight web development on iPad /posts/lightweight-web-development-on-ipad.html /posts/lightweight-web-development-on-ipad.html This is how i setup a simple web dev environment to play around with HTML, CSS and JavaScript on an iPad. It is not how to setup a full working development environment using iPad. Hence the “Lightweight”.

There are other solutions to turn the iPad into a more legitimate development machine. VSCode server and Github Code Spaces are the most popular. Look them up.

In summary, using the above solutions you are not running things on the iPad, you are either using the browser to access a dev environment on GitHub, or you are using the iPad to access a dev environment on your primary dev machine, laptop/desktop.

Things to remember

  • Your browser options are Safari. The other options are just skins of Chrome, Chromium or Firefox, wrapped around Webkit.
  • No dev tools, web inspector apps/extensions that you may find on the App Store don’t work, are limited or unusable.
  • Safari will not open local files, period!
  • Your favorite IDE or IA coding thing does not have an iPad version.
  • Be patient, the workflow will need getting used to if you’re coming from a more feature rich dev environment.

It all boils down to what apps are available on iPad to edit files and preview them in the browser. A basic text editor and a quick and easy localhost setup to view my projects.

Basic text editor:

There are about three text/code editor apps i could find, i didn’t try them all. Some seem to have more features than others, but remember that you will never get the features you are used to with whatever editor you use on desktop/laptop.

I chose Runestone, the minimalist look and feel got me, plus it has all the basics and themes. It doesn’t have a tabbed UI, if you need more than one file open it translates to one app window for each file.

Its free, but you are limited to a few customisation options, pay a small one-time fee of €9.99 to unlock all customisation options.

A quick and easy localhost setup to view my projects

I’m pretty sure WorldWideWeb is the only app available to serve your local HTML documents on iPad. A plug-and-play mini web server with a built in browser to preview your files (again a Safari wrapper), you can also open the URL directly in Safari.

The app is free to use and remains fully functional. Upgrade to PRO for a one-time fee of €9.99 to keep using automatic refresh and other features.

Final thoughts

If i really want to work on something smoothly and efficiently i prefer to use my Mac mini or Macbook. Using the iPad for dev work is fun to experiment with, but not the real deal.

]]> Entropy and incompetence /posts/entropy-and-incompetence.html /posts/entropy-and-incompetence.html There seems to be a serious problem in Portugal within the upper and middle managment profession, from government institutions to private companies.

In my experience, specific to software development, project management roles are given to people with no tech background or experience.

Their main objective is to just have something to sell at the next management meeting, a quick win to feed the FOMO, to get financed or get a pat on the back. It is not to build something really useful with quality in mind.

In most cases you have triple the managers than you have developers or the people that do the actual work and sustain the product.

The amount of burocracy and entropy created by non-stop bursts of random irrelevant information that turn into tasks with no planning or meaningful insight, project an image that work is being done. But its just an ilusion created to hide the general incompetence going around.

]]> Current favorite typefaces /posts/current-favorite-typefaces.html /posts/current-favorite-typefaces.html I'm a typography enthusiast, i've collected hundreds of fonts, both paid and free. One of my favorite things to do is looking up new typefaces, reading about the history behind the design, comparing letter forms and hoarding font files.

I go through fases of favorites, from low x-height grotesk sans-serifs, to modern serifs and quirky monospaced gems.

Current favorites are:

Sans-serif

  • BDO Grotesk
  • Neue Haas Grotesk
  • PP Neue Montreal
  • Raveo

Serif

  • Literata
  • Paragon
  • DM serif
  • Brygada 1918

Monospace

  • Fragment mono
  • Ioskeley mono (you're looking at it)
  • Realtime Text
  • Necto mono
]]> CSS3 attr() function for all properties /posts/css3-attr-function-for-all-properties.html /posts/css3-attr-function-for-all-properties.html I'm looking forward to using attr() CSS function on any property value, and use it for non-string values (e.g. numbers, colors). Waiting on global adoption by all main browser engines, we're nearly there - caniuse.

]]> Browser diet /posts/browser-diet.html /posts/browser-diet.html I used to have half a dozen browsers installed at a given time, for work related purposes or because i got bored.

My browsing habits are simple, i don’t use extensions just a good ad blocker. My bookmarks are organised in 4 categories or folders:

  • work
  • tools
  • docs
  • reading

I don’t organize my daily life around the browser, or use specific web apps that only work on browser XYZ.

I don’t need extra features, bells and whistles or AI.

What i need is a browser that has the latest stable web technology features implemented, is fast, private and has a simple UI to navigate.

My Currently installed and favorite browsers

My daily driver for work and casual browsing is Helium, a de-googled chromium fork. You get the latest and greatest stable features without the telemetry and data mining. If i do want to switch now and then, i use Zen, the best Firefox fork out there in my opinion.

On mobile devices i stick to the default Safari, yes i’m on the Apple ecosystem. It works just fine for my needs.

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