akkartik's recent activity

  1. Comment on Looking for a simple ebook or notetaking app where I can visually organize my bookmarks/tabs. Example attached. in ~tech

    akkartik
    Link Parent
    Congratulations! That's a huge, huge deal and nothing trumps that. Take your time, this program can and will wait.

    Congratulations! That's a huge, huge deal and nothing trumps that. Take your time, this program can and will wait.

  2. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    akkartik
    Link
    I made a chess clock. Basically this whole devlog is intended to show ways in which you can replace a bunch of different specialized, proprietary mobile apps of dubious provenance with a single...

    I made a chess clock. Basically this whole devlog is intended to show ways in which you can replace a bunch of different specialized, proprietary mobile apps of dubious provenance with a single general, reputable open source app (LÖVE running my carousel.love file, which is a cross-platform zip file containing all source code and live-editable on a computer).

    3 votes

  3. Comment on US Election Distractions Thread in ~talk

    akkartik
    Link Parent
    Interesting. I ended up playing with val.town for simple endpoints without any operational work that I can also share the code for in a way that anyone can trust is actually what is running on the...

    Interesting. I ended up playing with val.town for simple endpoints without any operational work that I can also share the code for in a way that anyone can trust is actually what is running on the server (since I'm not affiliated with val.town), and that anyone can easily spin up their own copies of.

    1 vote

  4. Comment on US Election Distractions Thread in ~talk

    akkartik
    (edited )
    Link
    I'm a programmer, and if work isn't enough I'm going to try to think about a little programming project. Current best candidate is a networked chess clock. Like one where two players play, but...

    I'm a programmer, and if work isn't enough I'm going to try to think about a little programming project. Current best candidate is a networked chess clock. Like one where two players play, but each of them is seeing their time on their own phone and tapping on their own phone, which stops their clock and starts their opponent's.

    All my apps of the past year have largely been offline and native. I've been trying to avoid web dev after many years of doing it. But this seems like it might be a place that needs a little bit of tasteful server programming.

    All my apps of the past year have been built on Lua and LÖVE without any additional frameworks and a jaundiced, skeptical eye towards every new library I'm tempted to depend on. And I've never built a server this way.

    I guess the first question is what should the URLs look like? And that leads to the zeroth question of how much do I care to protect against cheating? I think the answer is not very, I'd just like to be robust to small amounts of network lag. Initial sketch:

    • /new?time=...&increment=... (should return a game id)
    • /join?id=...
    • /press?id=...&color=...&time=... (stops one clock and starts the other, applying any increments as needed)
    • /time?id=... returns the current state of time

    This might suffice. And it'll leave open the option to try to estimate network lag (difference between time of receipt and current time on server) and adjust clocks based on it.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on Looking for a simple ebook or notetaking app where I can visually organize my bookmarks/tabs. Example attached. in ~tech

    akkartik
    Link Parent
    Took me a couple of hours with the kids barging in and interrupting me every so often with demands! I have a little bit of code lying around that I've been refining over the last couple of years,...

    Took me a couple of hours with the kids barging in and interrupting me every so often with demands!

    I have a little bit of code lying around that I've been refining over the last couple of years, mostly deleting stuff from it and making it simpler.

    6 votes

  6. Comment on Looking for a simple ebook or notetaking app where I can visually organize my bookmarks/tabs. Example attached. in ~tech

    akkartik
    Link Parent
    Check it out. Thanks for a neat idea! Right now it slurps any line starting with --- (3 dashes) into a tab on the right margin. If it seems promising, I'd be happy to improve it further to say...
    • Exemplary

    Check it out. Thanks for a neat idea!

    Right now it slurps any line starting with --- (3 dashes) into a tab on the right margin.

    If it seems promising, I'd be happy to improve it further to say change how headings look, configure little pixel art for each tab and so on.

    13 votes

  7. Comment on Looking for a simple ebook or notetaking app where I can visually organize my bookmarks/tabs. Example attached. in ~tech

    akkartik
    Link
    I haven't seen this before, but hmm it might be easy to make. Would you use it if so? Free, open source, etc. Just plaintext, no epub. What platform are you on? (Don't say iOS.) (This is what I do.)

    I haven't seen this before, but hmm it might be easy to make. Would you use it if so? Free, open source, etc. Just plaintext, no epub. What platform are you on? (Don't say iOS.)

    (This is what I do.)

    12 votes

  8. Comment on I wet the bed late into my teens and I have no idea why in ~health

    akkartik
    (edited )
    Link
    I wet the bed for the last time probably at age 18. It happened fairly regularly fairly late in spite of me having a whole arsenal of preparation (peeing right before bed; making sure I slept flat...

    I wet the bed for the last time probably at age 18. It happened fairly regularly fairly late in spite of me having a whole arsenal of preparation (peeing right before bed; making sure I slept flat and didn't "tilt" my bladder), but I got good at hiding it. One embarrassing time though I was visiting relatives with my father in a different city because I had some college interviews :eyes-covering-face:

    I still remember the last time it happened. I was living in a private dormitory after leaving home for college, and in despair because it hadn't happened in over a year since I left home, and I'd thought I was past it. Luckily though, that was the final time.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

  10. Comment on Viral lost song ‘Ulterior Motives’ found in obscure ‘80s porn flick in ~music

    akkartik
    Link
    I love this internet. We've still got it. Some days.

    I love this internet. We've still got it. Some days.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    akkartik
    (edited )
    Link
    I've been idly looking at the space of possible rules for 1-D cellular automata. Basically you have a line of cells that can be on one of two states ('alive' or 'dead') and rules that decide how a...

    I've been idly looking at the space of possible rules for 1-D cellular automata. Basically you have a line of cells that can be on one of two states ('alive' or 'dead') and rules that decide how a cell's state evolves based on the state of its neighbors. I think it's fun! You get some nice pretty pictures with time advancing from top to bottom.

    5 votes

  14. Comment on Does anyone else have really strange FedEx driver stories? in ~talk

    akkartik
    Link
    Yes, to clarify: the transaction did not take place. The first time a couple of years ago he was supposed to pick up a package. This time.. :shrug: I have no idea what was supposed to happen...

    Yes, to clarify: the transaction did not take place. The first time a couple of years ago he was supposed to pick up a package. This time.. :shrug: I have no idea what was supposed to happen because nothing happened.

    5 votes

  15. Does anyone else have really strange FedEx driver stories?

    ~talk Ask (survey)
    A couple of years ago I heard a knock, went to the door, saw the FedEx guy walking away, called out to him, then again and again, louder and louder. He just walked into his truck and drove off....

    A couple of years ago I heard a knock, went to the door, saw the FedEx guy walking away, called out to him, then again and again, louder and louder. He just walked into his truck and drove off. And my front door was right on the street, so there's no way he didn't hear me.

    Today my mother opens the door after a knock, and the driver's driving off. And he waves at her as he goes.

    I have lots of other complaints about FedEx, and I wonder if these stories are symptoms of a dysfunctional company, mistreating workers, etc. Or maybe we're just on the beat of a dude with a 'tude.

    21 votes

  16. Comment on What is your "can't miss" movie that you will not pass up if showing in theaters? in ~movies

    akkartik
    Link Parent
    I watched Lawrence of Arabia on 70mm back in 2001 :) Definitely worth your bucket list.

    I watched Lawrence of Arabia on 70mm back in 2001 :) Definitely worth your bucket list.

    4 votes

  17. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

  18. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    akkartik
    Link
    I implemented a little paper computer on my computer. Seemingly counter-productive, but hopefully the motivation makes sense. I came up with a way to draw a bunch of different kinds of chart right...

    Both using a parsimonious and trustworthy (not just open source, but easy to build) software stack. The part I've added is a tiny molehill compared to Lua and LÖVE.

    1 vote