DaveJarvis's recent activity

  1. Comment on Why Gen Z is quietly giving up in ~life

  2. Comment on KeenWrite 3.4.7 in ~comp

    DaveJarvis
    Link Parent
    Thanks! Windows Explorer? I use Linux, a terminal, and locate or find. Also, I tend to work on one project at a time, and each project has its own directory. Click the command prompt. Press...

    Thanks!

    Is there a way to search for files? I'm not seeing anything looking in all of the menus.

    Windows Explorer? I use Linux, a terminal, and locate or find. Also, I tend to work on one project at a time, and each project has its own directory.

    Is there a way to hide the command prompt window in Windows?

    1. Click the command prompt.
    2. Press Alt+Space to bring up the menu.
    3. Press n to select minimize.

    If you'd like to submit a PR, there appear to be ways to start the command prompt minimized. You'd need to change the install script around line 198.

    You could also try launching java in the background using start /b.

    Another possibility is to update the batch file with:

    if not "%minimized%"=="" goto :minimized
set minimized=true
start /min cmd /C "%~dpnx0"
goto :EOF
:minimized
rem Run minimized:
"%SCRIPT_DIR%\\${ARG_JAVA_DIR}\\bin\\java" ...

    I haven't tried any of these methods, so you'd have to do some legwork to figure it out.

  3. Comment on Has anyone else noticed a difference in their winters? in ~enviro

    DaveJarvis
    Link
    A while back I made a web application to let people query Environment Canada's climate data (1900 to 2010) themselves. The graph that left me worried the most was this one:...

    A while back I made a web application to let people query Environment Canada's climate data (1900 to 2010) themselves. The graph that left me worried the most was this one:

    You can see the tool in action in these other videos:

    4 votes

  6. Comment on Why do so many developers provide only 64-bit or x64 builds of their software these days? in ~comp

    DaveJarvis
    (edited )
    Link
    My free, cross-platform desktop text editor, KeenWrite, only supports 64-bit architectures because it's more effort to support 32-bit: The installer script would have to support 32-bit JVMs. The...

    My free, cross-platform desktop text editor, KeenWrite, only supports 64-bit architectures because it's more effort to support 32-bit:

    • The installer script would have to support 32-bit JVMs.
    • The publish script would have to post 32-bit binaries.
    • The release script would have to build the combination of 32-bit binaries for the supported operating systems.
    • The container would need to be 32-bit, which means grabbing a suitable ConTeXt installer.
    • Does Podman even offer 32-bit binaries? Although this is begging the question, it'd take effort to find and integrate them.
    • The website would need to provide download more links, or a drop-down.
    • Plus it doubles the amount of platform testing, and I'm the only person working on the project.
    • Do most users know the difference between 32- and 64-bit architectures? Or care? Or care to know?

    On the one hand, this is a DRY violation. On the other, it's a lot less work.

    13 votes

  7. Comment on State of EVs in Fall 2023? in ~transport

    DaveJarvis
    Link Parent
    In either approach, they basically are saying "tap a card to pay us". You can use a credit card to top up their card, which is circuitous, and seems more complex. They've already made machines...

    I understand it adds cost and complexity.

    In either approach, they basically are saying "tap a card to pay us". You can use a credit card to top up their card, which is circuitous, and seems more complex. They've already made machines that can read a payment card (their own). Whether they use a credit card reader or a generic card reader seems like a hardware module difference---and maybe the credit card module is a bit more expensive than some no-name brand. Both cards need a network connection to track the transaction. I can't imagine the implementation costs being drastically different.

    a public charger than someone should be able to use it without having to download ANOTHER app and then make ANOTHER account.

    Preach. Consider writing your representative to complain. The more people who complain, the greater the odds of change.

    7 votes

  8. Comment on Toyota inks deal to mass produce solid state EV batteries with 932-mile range in ~transport

    DaveJarvis
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I have been to multiple public charging stations around Vancouver and could not charge my EV: "Free" Flo Level 2 charger at a high school (requires sign up). BC Hydro Level 3 charger near a Real...

    I have been to multiple public charging stations around Vancouver and could not charge my EV:

    • "Free" Flo Level 2 charger at a high school (requires sign up).
    • BC Hydro Level 3 charger near a Real Canadian Superstore (requires sign up).
    • AddEnergie Level 2 charger at Tsawwassen Mills (requires sign up).
    • Honk Level 2 charger at a University of British Columbia parkade (requires sign up).
    • Bonus: Most Tesla stations (no adapters available, probably requires sign up).

    There are other reasons that, in practice, can result in range anxiety:

    • Are the chargers in good working order (you won't know until you arrive)?
    • Are they available, or will there be a line up (you won't know until you arrive)?
    • Will there be a compatible charger, or an available adapter?
    • Is it a safe location?

    The Kona EV can list charging stations on its OSD based on the car's GPS location. Unfortunately, the list lacks the ability to sort or filter by charging level and connector type, making the list fairly useless in practice.

    Then there's the notion that you need to go on a date before you can actually charge at most public stations. And you don't necessarily know until you arrive. In other words, why do some charging stations need my phone number and contact information before letting me charge while others don't?

    https://tildes.net/~transport/1blp/state_of_evs_in_fall_2023#comment-b0l8

    8 votes

  9. Comment on State of EVs in Fall 2023? in ~transport

    DaveJarvis
    Link
    Here's an email I wrote to Natural Resources Canada: Charging at a public charging station should be no different, IMO, than filling up at a gas station.
    • Exemplary

    Here's an email I wrote to Natural Resources Canada:

    How many apps must people put on their phones, or payment cards people must carry, to pay to charge their vehicles with the convenience of a petrol station?

    1. https://parking.ubc.ca/are-there-electric-vehicle-ev-charging-stations-ubc
      Charging fees can be paid through the Honk Mobile App or using a web browser with internet access.

    2. https://electricvehicles.bchydro.com/bc-hydro-ev-mobile-app
      You can use the BC Hydro EV app to activate stations on other networks across North America.

    3. https://www.flo.com/en-ca/products/software/flo-mobile-app/
      Download the FLO app for free. Access thousands of chargers on-the-go in our network and start your session with a tap.

    4. https://www.chargepoint.com/en-ca/drivers/mobile
      Get the ChargePoint App. The easiest way to find available stations, start charging and get updates when your EV is fully charged.

    5. https://ecocharge.ca/
      Download the AmpUp our mobile app from the Apple or Google Play store to.

    6. https://www.electrify-canada.ca/mobile-app/
      Use the Electrify Canada mobile app to schedule your home charging and find a public charging station. Sign up for an account to enjoy exclusive, members-only public charging features and pricing.

    7. https://swtchenergy.com/
      iPhone & Android app. No download required via SWTCH’s in-browser app. Tap-and-go charging with our complimentary RFID card.

    Is there a way to curtail this rampant proliferation of walled gardens?

    Can the government of Canada mandate that all public EV charging stations accept VISA and MasterCard (and others) to tap and pay without (a) signing up for the service; (b) installing a charging app; (c) mandating Internet (web) access; or (d) ordering a physical card?

    Charging at a public charging station should be no different, IMO, than filling up at a gas station.

    28 votes

  10. Comment on KeenWrite 3.4.7 in ~comp

    DaveJarvis
    Link Parent
    That's incredible feedback, thank you. I've updated the description and added screenshots. Depends on the filename extension. You can edit either plain Markdown (.md) files or R Markdown (.Rmd)...

    I just figured hearing the experience of a “possible” user’s first time coming across KeenWrite might help gain a perspective you hadn’t thought of or expected.

    That's incredible feedback, thank you. I've updated the description and added screenshots.

    it’s a text editor for R?

    Depends on the filename extension. You can edit either plain Markdown (.md) files or R Markdown (.Rmd) files.

    Mostly, I developed the editor to use interpolated variables inside of documents so that I wouldn't have to remember character attributes when writing a novel. The attributes include things like full names, locations, expressions, synesthetic maps, parental honorifics, birth date, event timelines, etc.

    10 votes

  11. Comment on KeenWrite 3.4.7 in ~comp

    DaveJarvis
    Link
    Thanks for all the comments and support these last three years. Over the last five months, there have been some significant changes, including: Published https://keenwrite.com/ Produced MacOS...

    Thanks for all the comments and support these last three years. Over the last five months, there have been some significant changes, including:

    • Published https://keenwrite.com/
    • Produced MacOS version
    • Migrated to Java 21
    • Moved repository to GitLab
    • Streamlined typesetter installation on Windows

    I haven't tested the MacOS version because I don't have MacOS, and setting up VirtualBox to run MacOS on Linux is not trivial. If anyone is running MacOS on x86 hardware, I'd greatly appreciate knowing whether the application runs.

    Also, if you have any feedback on the website, I'd be glad to read your thoughts.

    11 votes

  13. Comment on GitHub slated to mandate 2FA in ~comp

    DaveJarvis
    Link Parent
    I use ssh-keygen to generate public/private keys for authenticating against GitHub. I don't see any reason to give them my phone number or install yet another piece of software on my computer. Why...

    I use ssh-keygen to generate public/private keys for authenticating against GitHub. I don't see any reason to give them my phone number or install yet another piece of software on my computer. Why isn't using ssh-keygen sufficient security?

    17 votes

  15. Comment on NSFW/profanity adult filter? in ~tildes

    DaveJarvis
    Link
    𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕒 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟' 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕞 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖 🐯🎉 𝔹𝔢ς𝓐𝐔𝓈乇 όｆ υŇ丨ⓒ𝕠ᵈє. 💔👽 And would likely end up in an arms race. You could always shadow censor the text, but eventually people would catch on.

    𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕒 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟' 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕞 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖 🐯🎉 𝔹𝔢ς𝓐𝐔𝓈乇 όｆ υŇ丨ⓒ𝕠ᵈє. 💔👽 And would likely end up in an arms race. You could always shadow censor the text, but eventually people would catch on.

    11 votes

  16. Volunteer software developers for open source projects

    ~comp Ask
    Where do you find volunteers to help with open source projects? Such as: https://www.codeshelter.co https://hacktoberfest.com https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com For example, with KeenWrite, I'm...

    Where do you find volunteers to help with open source projects? Such as:

    For example, with KeenWrite, I'm looking for help help with a specific feature that could be applicable to a wide audience (i.e., academia and technical writers). The lion's share of the effort for cross-references would be an extension or change to the flexmark-java library: parsing a de facto standard cross-reference syntax, rather than direct changes to my text editor.

    7 votes

  17. Comment on Show ~/project: A thread to share your finished projects in ~comp

    DaveJarvis
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    That's quite kind of you. There's a lot going for it: great data binding model, extensive libraries for basic app functionality (TiwulFX Dock, PreferencesFX, and RichTextFX), and many more...

    Wow, it is very very impressive!

    That's quite kind of you.

    Could you share a bit about your experience/opinion of it?

    There's a lot going for it: great data binding model, extensive libraries for basic app functionality (TiwulFX Dock, PreferencesFX, and RichTextFX), and many more libraries. When I started the project, JavaFX was bundled with the JDK.

    There are many drawbacks that, had I a crystal ball, would have sent me down a different road: WebView (JavaFX) bundles JavaScript and has no API to access the scrollbar, which means no synchronized scrolling, leading me to integrate FlyingSaucer (Swing) as a SwingNode instead---that wasn't fun because JavaFX and Swing need to execute on separate threads. Oracle ripped JavaFX out of the JDK and added modular apps around the same time, which took countless hours to resolve. JavaFX uses GTK2/3 under the hood and had/has app switching problems when using Alt+Tab on Windows, especially with respect to accelerator hot-keys; plus, the library writes a useless warning to standard error for no good reason, meaning I have to close stderr to prevent users from seeing it. Not all FX libraries honour CSS skinning. I wouldn't choose JavaFX again for such a project for these reasons and others.

    even though many people are constantly looking for a cross-platform GUI.

    There isn't a lot of choice. Maybe dear imgui would have been a better developer experience. Rust may have some cross-platform GUIs that could be suitable.

    Also, what do you use for creating the .bin file

    A fork of warp-packer, which can overwrite a previous version. The parent repo has a crippling bug on Windows where users first have to delete the old directory before running a new version.

    The binary is a self-extracting executable that runs a shell script (or batch file) post-extraction to launch the application. In theory it can also pack a .dmg file, but I don't have any way to test the build.

    To create a new release, I push a new tag, run ./release.sh, then upload the resulting .bin, .jar, and .exe files to the repo. The .exe is signed and has an associated icon, but doing so requires running a Windows app under Wine, which isn't the greatest.

    NixOS does go against many assumptions about default file locations

    If you'd care to open an issue in the issue tracker, I may be able to fix that.

    The biggest feature KeenWrite could use is cross-references and citations. See issue 145 and the CommonMark thread. This would make it possible to create references for tables, figures, and citations when exporting to PDF. If you'd like to lend a hand, I'd be happy to guide you through what I think needs to be done to flexmark-java to make cross-references work.

    4 votes

  18. Comment on Show ~/project: A thread to share your finished projects in ~comp

    DaveJarvis
    Link
    My free, open-source, cross-platform, desktop Markdown editor known as KeenWrite is usable. I've been dogfooding it to write a sci-fi novel. Along the way I added a few themes that can be applied,...

    My free, open-source, cross-platform, desktop Markdown editor known as KeenWrite is usable. I've been dogfooding it to write a sci-fi novel. Along the way I added a few themes that can be applied, because I made sure that the content is kept separate from presentation. There are numerous video tutorials showing its usage.

    Mainly, I wrote it because no other plain text editor allows me to quickly and easily use variables while editing. Users define variables in an external YAML file that can be edited using a hierarchical tree-like node editor. Variables can be interpolated, embedded in diagrams, used in R statements, and placed inside of plain TeX math expressions. Changing the variable value automatically updates the prose and diagrams.

    The release pages provide a history of features.

    18 votes

  19. Comment on What animal or insect going extinct would have the greatest impact on the ecosystem? in ~science

    DaveJarvis
    Link Parent
    "Baleen whales primarily feed on krill, which themselves primarily eat phytoplankton. Each depends on the other — whales eat the iron-rich krill and redeposit that iron in the upper levels of the...

    "Baleen whales primarily feed on krill, which themselves primarily eat phytoplankton. Each depends on the other — whales eat the iron-rich krill and redeposit that iron in the upper levels of the ocean through their feces where it can fuel the phytoplankton blooms that krill depend on."

    Save the whales, save the phytoplankton. Kill the whales, well, you see where that goes.

    11 votes