KrokiKroki is a wonderful tool I discovered during the time I worked as DevRel: it’s a small open source containerized application (compatible with OpenShift off-the-box) written in JavaScript, that encapsulates as many textual diagram formats as possible under a single unified API, offering a convenient way for users to generate diagrams, without needing to install separate libraries everywhere.
Vibe Coding with CursorI work at a company that is truly invested into AI and LLMs, to the point that we can internally use (following some guidelines) quite a few tools in our day-to-day work: in particular, we have Gemini, Google NotebookLM, and Cursor available to all employees.
The New Clock and the Evolution of JavaScriptThe attentive readers among you might have noticed that the artsy clock that appears on every page of this blog (except on mobile devices) behaves slightly different now. In fact, I’ve removed its dependency to the old and unsupported Raphael.js library, and migrated it to new and modern JavaScript features.
Containers for Non-Technical Readers With Podman DesktopA decade ago, when containers were the hot new thing in town, learning about them required lots of command typing on the terminal. These days, thanks to tools like Podman Desktop, the task is oh so much simpler than ever. In this article we’re going to learn some common container technology concepts, using the visual user interface of Podman Desktop to help us during the process.
How to Install FreeBSD 14 on a 6th Generation ThinkpadLast weekend I installed FreeBSD on a 6th generation ThinkPad (released in 2018) and I was surprised to learn 2 things: first, how easy it is to install it on this machine, and second, how enjoyable and stable FreeBSD is as a computing environment.
LanguageToolAround two years ago I switched my writing AI helper of choice, going from Grammarly to LanguageTool, for many reasons.1
Notepad Log Files on Visual Studio CodeDid you know that you can use Windows Notepad to create log files? It’s a feature that has been available on Windows since at least version 3.1… and I know it because, well, I’m old enough to have used such a feature to keep my own journal around 1992.
Conway in Rexx, Cobol, and FortranHere’s more dabbling in programming languages to re-create my venerable interpretation of Conway’s Game of Life, this time using three stereotypical languages of the IBM galaxy: the Rexx scripting language, good old COBOL, and Fortran 95.
Crystal is a SurpriseI blogged about Dart a few weeks ago, and I said it was refreshingly boring. I am probably late to the party, but I discovered Crystal recently, and it is not only boring but also surprising in many delicious ways.
Text Editors for WorkThere has been a particular text editor that defined each period of my career as a software developer. This article is a summary of that history, so far.
Lots of VSCode ExtensionsThe recent release by Microsoft of vscode.dev, the online version of Visual Studio Code, made me think of all the different things I do with VSCode, including this blog. And of course, being productive in VSCode means, to a large extent, finding gems across a seemingly infinite number of extensions.
Starting a Typescript CLI Project from ScratchThe JavaScript ecosystem has grown dramatically in the past decade. It has become so complex, that I’ve seen many new developers interested in the subject struggle to find out where to start.