delphi's recent activity

  1. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    delphi
    Link Parent
    I actually built a tool to make eight-page-zine layouts, check it out at https://delphi.tools/tools/zine-imposer

    I actually built a tool to make eight-page-zine layouts, check it out at https://delphi.tools/tools/zine-imposer

    2 votes

  2. Comment on Cassini, a spiritual successor to Microsoft Paint for the iPad in ~creative

    delphi
    Link Parent
    App Review told me I had to implement finger drawing, so it's there now. Build should be on the TestFlight in an hour or so. Thought I should let you know

    App Review told me I had to implement finger drawing, so it's there now. Build should be on the TestFlight in an hour or so. Thought I should let you know

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Cassini, a spiritual successor to Microsoft Paint for the iPad in ~creative

    delphi
    Link Parent
    Well, App Review slapped my fingers with a ruler and told me to implement finger drawing. It'll be on the Testflight in an hour or so.

    Well, App Review slapped my fingers with a ruler and told me to implement finger drawing. It'll be on the Testflight in an hour or so.

  4. Comment on Looking for vibe-coding guides (best practices, etc.) in ~tech

    delphi
    Link
    In the underwater survival video game Subnautica, you can eventually get access to the PRAWN Suit, a mecha that lets you go far deeper into the ocean than you could before. When you first...

    In the underwater survival video game Subnautica, you can eventually get access to the PRAWN Suit, a mecha that lets you go far deeper into the ocean than you could before. When you first construct it, the in-game computer tells you that it's normal to feel a sense of limitless power when first putting the suit on, and that the months of training suit operators usually get is not to learn how to pilot the thing, but to understand that you're not invincible in it. Claude Code works the same way.

    Boris Cherny, the creator of Claude Code, was on a podcast the other day and said that Claude Code had "largely solved coding". He's not wrong. It has. The code Claude writes is better than the code I could write, in a fraction of the time. But that doesn't mean it's good, or better than me, at software engineering. It isn't just telling the computer what to do, it encompasses design, figuring out what needs to be done or what you'd like to do, thinking about problems abstractly, laying out possible ways to solve those problems, learning why some solve attempts don't work, and taking all that knowledge with you to the next problem. This is largely conceptual, and it's what STEM education tries to impart.

    If you sit down with Claude and tell it to make an app, you probably won't have a great time. Like every tool, you need to know how to use it properly, and in the case of an agentic tool that writes code for you, you need to know (in broad terms) how to solve the problems you present to the agent.

    Specifics here: Plan, plan, plan. I mean this literally. I have great success in taking paper and sketching out my app, figuring out what should go where, what features it should have and most notably why it should have them. Claude is best when it thinks like you do, and you have to get it to that place of understanding. If possible and you know enough about the platform to do this yourself, write the plan, pitch and claude.md files yourself, in as much detail as you can, including your reasoning, and of course you have to (name drop) show your work.

    Claude won't do a good job at graphic design most of the time since that can't really be done with just text, so use images to your advantage. Wireframe and mock up the app you want, feed it screenshots, inspiration. Remember: To work correctly, your thought processes must be in sync with the "thought processes" of the LLM.

    If you encounter nasty bugs, I've had great success with asking Claude to tell me how I can help. It'll then put in debug logging, which might mean little to you but gives it proper context, especially because it can't access things like a browser console or a debugger in most cases.

    Documentation is of course your friend. Ideally, write the docs yourself, but if that's not practical, ask Claude to use its Memory system to save insights about quirks in the code base or sturdy bugs.

    On a new platform this might be difficult, but it's generally best practice to at least understand the code it generates. Not line by line, necessarily, but roughly have an idea of what parts are where and what they do. Again, being in sync with your agent works both ways.

    If you don't have much experience in software engineering as a whole, I suggest reading about it. You don't need to have a CS degree, but reading the basics and maybe playing games that gamify programming (like Shenzhen I/O, EXAPUNKS and TIS-100 by Zachtronics) will help you sharpen those logic skills. Yes, no programming language will work like those games do exactly, but they will help in the conceptualisation of a problem, how to split it up, and how to (generally) solve it.

    And please, don't jump into a large project. Make a wordle clone first or something, just to dip your toes in. Start slow. PRAWN Suit Claude Code operators receive weeks of training to counteract the feeling of invincibility that comes with the tool. You will have to make do with self-discipline.

    19 votes

  5. Comment on Cassini, a spiritual successor to Microsoft Paint for the iPad in ~creative

    delphi
    Link Parent
    Using a bunch of exclusive SwiftUI methods that require 26, but I could conceivably port it to macOS. No promises though

    Using a bunch of exclusive SwiftUI methods that require 26, but I could conceivably port it to macOS. No promises though

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Cassini, a spiritual successor to Microsoft Paint for the iPad in ~creative

    delphi
    Link Parent
    I might add a toggle to the setup menu, but it's really a pencil first app. I'll let you know when/if I do

    I might add a toggle to the setup menu, but it's really a pencil first app. I'll let you know when/if I do

  7. Comment on Cassini, a spiritual successor to Microsoft Paint for the iPad in ~creative

    delphi
    Link Parent
    Even then there's sometimes very odd edge cases, like apps that don't scale properly or act weird on larger displays. Not that the iPad way of forcing an iPhone simulation for unsupported apps is...

    Even then there's sometimes very odd edge cases, like apps that don't scale properly or act weird on larger displays. Not that the iPad way of forcing an iPhone simulation for unsupported apps is necessarily a better idea, but it's definitely not as janky as some screens i've seen on android (Instagram on folding displays, anyone?)

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Cassini, a spiritual successor to Microsoft Paint for the iPad in ~creative

    delphi
    Link Parent
    High praise! Thank you, it means a lot. I gotta be honest - the indie app scene is the main reason I switched to the iPhone in the first place. Android tablets are just hateful, the app situation...

    High praise! Thank you, it means a lot. I gotta be honest - the indie app scene is the main reason I switched to the iPhone in the first place. Android tablets are just hateful, the app situation is awful and I can't fault developers for not wanting to support such a badly fragmented platform with unique and beautiful apps when every skin of android can break that easily.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on Cassini, a spiritual successor to Microsoft Paint for the iPad in ~creative

    delphi
    Link Parent
    It was, even apps like DPaint on the Amiga had variable canvas sizes, but the fixed canvas in Cassini is 1. I think a fun limitation to work around and 2. makes the design of the virtual "device"...

    It was, even apps like DPaint on the Amiga had variable canvas sizes, but the fixed canvas in Cassini is 1. I think a fun limitation to work around and 2. makes the design of the virtual "device" more consistent

    7 votes

  10. Comment on Cassini, a spiritual successor to Microsoft Paint for the iPad in ~creative

    delphi
    Link Parent
    Thank you very much! Yeah, Pencil support is mandatory, mainly because I want to encourage precise pixel placement - I feel like the pixel tool and the brushes at 1x or 2x would be unusable with...

    Thank you very much! Yeah, Pencil support is mandatory, mainly because I want to encourage precise pixel placement - I feel like the pixel tool and the brushes at 1x or 2x would be unusable with the finger.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Cassini, a spiritual successor to Microsoft Paint for the iPad in ~creative

    delphi
    Link
    Hi! Hope this form of promotion is acceptable here, but if not, I'll gladly remove the post. I've been working on a new drawing app for a while now - the initial sketches I made back in 2023, and...

    Hi! Hope this form of promotion is acceptable here, but if not, I'll gladly remove the post.

    I've been working on a new drawing app for a while now - the initial sketches I made back in 2023, and I've been teaching myself Swift and SwiftUI until I recently dusted off the project, polished it a bit and registered to be published on the App Store, so here it is!

    Cassini is an intentionally limited drawing app with a skeuomorphic design inspired by the Teenage Engineering OP-1 (readers familiar with my work will be aware I'm a little obsessed with it). It's an intentionally limited app, and it encourages you to see these constraints not as limitations, but as opportunities to make something you wouldn't make otherwise.

    For example, every Cassini canvas is 1000x500. That's it. No other resolutions exist, no other aspect ratios. If you want to make a portrait piece, you will have to physically rotate your device. Cassini offers a 12-colour palette, and comes with 16 palettes preloaded. There's no layers, only your drawings and a background, you can not import images, and there is a single undo state.

    Likewise, you can save files, but you can't name them. They will get a randomly assigned nonsense name, which you can reroll. You can add real time filters to your artwork, but the parameters are cryptic and require experimentation. You can add patterns, if you like one of the 15 procedural ones.

    Cassini is free to download and currently on TestFlight as I want to collect some feedback before I actually submit it to the app store. As such, some bugs are to be expected. Please email me if you find any, or use the built in feedback tool.

    6 votes

  13. Comment on Moltbot personal assistant goes viral – and so do your secrets in ~tech

    delphi
    Link Parent
    It's not that different from what these AI companies wanted to do in the first place. Talk to the agent through a channel you already use. Messages, Telegram, whatever. Have the agent interact...

    It's not that different from what these AI companies wanted to do in the first place.

    1. Talk to the agent through a channel you already use. Messages, Telegram, whatever.
    2. Have the agent interact with you and learn your preferences, the services you use, and what you do.
    3. Use those insights to make yourself useful.

    Like, the idea of Siri or Alexa or whatever was always "Read my email for the invitation from Janice, and put it in my calendar along with how to get there, and if you have some gift ideas based on the correspondence me and Janice had, please do tell me" is probably the most useful non-specific application for this tech (excluding writing code, translation, sentiment analysis and so on). This can do that. I know that because it's done it for me. I've run it to see if it's cool, and lo and behold, if you go through the asinine and backwards setup process, like, four times, it does work like that.

    Is it a cool project? Sure.

    Is it a cool product? Absolutely not.

    5 votes

  14. Comment on Moltbot personal assistant goes viral – and so do your secrets in ~tech

    delphi
    (edited )
    Link
    I personally can't really sympathise with "all of my keys gone" when the first thing you see on installing OpenClaw is that you should treat this with caution and explicitly tells you that you're...

    I personally can't really sympathise with "all of my keys gone" when the first thing you see on installing Clawdbot MoltBot OpenClaw is that you should treat this with caution and explicitly tells you that you're giving it full system access.

    For what it's worth, it's a neat project. Reminds me of Auto-GPT back some two odd years ago. But if you give it full system and INTERNET ACCESS, you only have yourself to blame.

    17 votes

  15. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech

    delphi
    Link
    I've always thought private trackers weren't really worth it, as they're just another thing to actively maintain. I do pay for Usenet access, and there's a lot of [ FREE Linux ISOs ! ] to be found...

    I've always thought private trackers weren't really worth it, as they're just another thing to actively maintain. I do pay for Usenet access, and there's a lot of [ FREE Linux ISOs ! ] to be found there. Much simpler to just pay the in my opinion very reasonable, like, 3 bucks a month than to collate three or four streaming services, or futz around with applying and maintaining access to private trackers.

    6 votes

  16. Comment on What's something you've moved on from? in ~talk

    delphi
    Link Parent
    I got a few! First gen Ergodox, an Alice, and I tried an AM Hatsu at some point. I think they're neat, but i'm not faster on them, at least not measurably, and the only reason I liked them was...

    I got a few! First gen Ergodox, an Alice, and I tried an AM Hatsu at some point. I think they're neat, but i'm not faster on them, at least not measurably, and the only reason I liked them was because I could put a bowl or plate between them. Good conversation starters though.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on What's something you've moved on from? in ~talk

    delphi
    Link Parent
    And they should! They're a community of dedicated artisans with tons of creativity and love, and they see a jabroni like me get the lowest common denominator least sophisticated mass produced...

    And they should! They're a community of dedicated artisans with tons of creativity and love, and they see a jabroni like me get the lowest common denominator least sophisticated mass produced garbo-board? I'd be mad too.

    6 votes

  18. Comment on What's something you've moved on from? in ~talk

    delphi
    Link
    I used to be really into mechanical keyboards. I built them for years, and even now I have a collection of around 15, with different shapes, layouts, materials, switches, even some vintage ones...

    I used to be really into mechanical keyboards. I built them for years, and even now I have a collection of around 15, with different shapes, layouts, materials, switches, even some vintage ones that I enjoy greatly, but... the moment has passed. I don't know why, the business is as thriving as ever, and good keyboards are getting cheap while cheap keyboards are getting good.

    But it turns out, the keyboard I like most? The Apple Magic Keyboard.

    23 votes

  19. Comment on Nova Launcher: An update in ~tech

    delphi
    Link Parent
    iPhone for now, but I'd love to live the dumb phone life. I already carry a camera and an iPod, wouldn't take much more.

    iPhone for now, but I'd love to live the dumb phone life. I already carry a camera and an iPod, wouldn't take much more.

    1 vote

  20. Comment on Nova Launcher: An update in ~tech

    delphi
    Link
    No longer in that camp, but when I was, Nova was the gold standard for customisation. I suppose all things must be enshittified. Sucks to see, but if I recall correctly, there are better...

    No longer in that camp, but when I was, Nova was the gold standard for customisation. I suppose all things must end be enshittified. Sucks to see, but if I recall correctly, there are better alternatives available now. Don't ask me for details, though. I left the android side long ago.

    Also, Instabridge being described as a "company that builds products to help people get online used by millions of users" must be the most nonsense vertically integrated paperclip maximised shareholder garbage I've ever had to lay my two good European eyes upon.

    14 votes