Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · 24d

I took me a while to find a working solution to run #kitty terminal via the "Terminal" feature of #macOS #alfred, so I published it on my #til site. The focus of the effort was actually #zoxide directory jumping from #Alfred, which you might also find helpful:

charlbotha.com/til/zoxide-a...

zoxide and kitty terminal in your Alfred for faster directory navigation on macOS

Today as I was preparing emails with different bunches of attachments for my 2025 financial statements, I looked into faster directory navigation via Finder, so that I could use Dropover more effectiv...

charlbotha.com

Reposted by Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans

Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · Sep 3

Thinking about what it must’ve been like to be a fan of Trent Reznor’s new wave bands and then suddenly he comes out with Head Like a Hole and it sounds nothing like this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWcc...

Trent Reznor in Slam Bamboo #1

YouTube video by Scott Hanson

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans

Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · Sep 2

Sea Level

xkcd.com/3135/

Comic. [Two people on shore looking at body of water] PERSON 1: Hey, where’s that big island we were looking at this morning? PERSON 2 with short hair: Oh, it’s underwater. The ocean’s depth here goes up and down by like ten feet every day. PERSON 1: What? PERSON 2: It’s because the planet has a big moon orbiting near the surface. It causes weird gravity effects. PERSON 1: *What???* [caption] People here are used to them, but tides are one of the weirdest and most sci-fi elements of life on Earth.

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 24

"bitchat location chat. chat with anyone in nearby regions (block/neighborhood/city/region/country). or teleport.

it works by using geohashes to map the world into chat channels, uses a new pseudonym per geohash for privacy, and decentralized relays to propagate (via nostr)."

x.com/jack/status/...

jack on X: "coming very soon to bitchat: location chat. chat with anyone in nearby regions (block/neighborhood/city/region/country). or teleport to anywhere in the world via a geohash. it works by using geohashes to map the world into chat channels, uses a new pseudonym per geohash for https://t.co/96k59tl7TV" / X

coming very soon to bitchat: location chat. chat with anyone in nearby regions (block/neighborhood/city/region/country). or teleport to anywhere in the world via a geohash. it works by using geohashes to map the world into chat channels, uses a new pseudonym per geohash for https://t.co/96k59tl7TV

x.com

Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 24

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.

Marcel Proust

(via Waking Up)

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 23

youtube.com/watch?v=-bYp... first few minutes are an entertaining yet informative summary of #Google 's pixel 10 updates

Oh, Snap!

YouTube video by TechLinked

youtube.com

Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 22

... where by exa I mean the maintained fork eza at github.com/eza-communit... :)

GitHub - eza-community/eza: A modern alternative to ls

A modern alternative to ls. Contribute to eza-community/eza development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 22

I'm using lsd [1] as drop-in replacement for #ls instead of exa [2], as lsd is closer and I can use the same invocations.

The screenshot below shows example output, plus the small config tweaks required to render readably in a light theme.

[1] github.com/lsd-rs/lsd
[2] github.com/ogham/exa

screenshot of kitty terminal using the solarized light theme, showing example lsd output, as well as the config file tweaks required to render readably in a light theme.

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 19

“It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed.” — Ram Dass (shared by Waking Up)

Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 13

#iPhone keeps on resetting bluetooth hardware #keyboard layout to #Qwerty, although I have only #Dvorak configured.

Work-around is to cycle through keyboards with ctrl-space on the hardware keyboard which usually gets it back to #dvorak.

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 12

A former colleague of mine managed to ship an epic looking and especially sounding heavy metal game on Steam. Releasing tomorrow, get it while it's HOT:

store.steampowered.com/app/2221780/...

P.S. HEAVY METAL

Metavoidal on Steam

Heavy metal might be immortal, but you're not. In Metavoidal, you play as a drummer as they attempt to escape the clutches of a threatening metal band by using off-beat techniques to defeat each band ...

store.steampowered.com

Reposted by Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans

Xor @xordev.com · Aug 12

vec3 p;for(float i,z,d,b;i++<6e1;o+=vec4(1,5,2,0)/b-(dFdx(z)*r.y-z)/exp(d/.1))p=z*(FC.rgb*2.-r.xyy)/r.y-1.,p.z+=8.,z+=min(b=length(abs(p*=.1*mat3(9,0,3,0,9,2,-7,-2,8)).xy+min(.4*p.z-2.6,0.))/(cos(d/.1-t)+2.),d=max(d=length(p)-5.,d-length(p.xy)+1.-cos(d/.1)*.1))*.5;o=tanh(o/4e3);

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 9

Setting up #Huawei Band 10 for the 9yo. Great little smart watch BUT: 1. Huawei app on iOS disallows pasting into password fields (Argh) and 2. Child account can't pair with watch (so why support a child account in the first place?!)

Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 9

Misleading packaging (partner bought because at a glance looks like extra virgin olive oil) by Checkers here in South Africa, normally quite good.

"Vegetable oils (canola seed and/or maize and/or sunflower seed andor soybean" and olive fruit (10 %))."

Vegetable oil blend with 10% olives that misleadingly looks like olive oil

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 6

Usually I let my experiencing self drive during #running but this scene was so epic that narrative self briefly took the wheel to take a photo before I could stuff him back in his box

Blue sky beautiful clouds reflecting on water layer on beach

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Reposted by Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans

scha·den·freu·de @blisterpearl.bsky.social · Aug 1

Please enjoy this Klimt Eastwood

The image is a piece of fan art titled "Klimt Eastwood," created by Carl Tétreault in 2016.

It depicts actor and director Clint Eastwood in a style inspired by the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt, specifically referencing Klimt's "The Kiss".

190 1.2K 7.7K

Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Aug 1

Remember to double check... I have been receiving a bunch of phishing emails in German that were not really sent by netcup!

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Reposted by Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · Jul 31

'Prepone' dates back to the early 1500s and originally meant “to place in front of, to set before.”

Now, it is primarily used in Indian English to mean the opposite of 'postpone.'

Official Superman poster highlighting new digital release date set for mid-August 2025, ahead of schedule by using the word 'preponed'

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Jul 31

Dear @aptshadow.bsky.social - thank you for Alien Clay. I can't remember another book which made me feel this much. 50 million stars from an extremely grateful fan who is in awe. #booksky

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Jul 29

My 2018 paperwhite #kindle (my fourth kindle) is driving me up the walls, because it crashes hard at least once per week (see my linked review).

Can anyone recommend a third-party android e-ink device that can run the kindle app? Boox Poke4 / 5, Go 6? #ereaders

www.amazon.com/review/RRA4L...

Check out this Amazon review of International Version – Kindle Paperwhite – (previous generation - 2018 release) Now Waterproof with 2x the Storage - 8 GB

Fourth and worst Kindle: Crashes often, battery problems

www.amazon.com

Reposted by Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans

Marc van Oostendorp @fonolog.bsky.social · Jul 29

Een boek om als neerlandicus jaloers op te zijn.

neerlandistiek.nl/2025/07/een-...

Taal uit de pressure cooker

Een boek om als neerlandicus jaloers op te zijn.

neerlandistiek.nl

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Jul 28

I don't know the answer either, but I do have a nice KaTeX rendering of the equation!

cpbotha.net/2018/09/11/w...

Weekly Head Voices #153: pH < 7 dreams.

Looking back at the week from Monday September 3 to Sunday September 9, I present to you the following memories and after-effects. Aphex Twin never left us I serendipitously ran into T69 Collapse, the...

cpbotha.net

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Jul 27

... literally last but not least, the OP! @www.stephendiehl.com

Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Jul 27

... somehow did not find their bluesky account just now, but they are here as @alper.nl !

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Charl P. Botha ♡ code, data-*, Emacs, running, humans @charlbotha.com · Jul 27

Fascinating idea and demo: Interfacing MCP with Combinatorial, Convex, and SMT Solvers by Stephen Diehl

www.stephendiehl.com/posts/smt_an...

via alper.nl on LinkedIn

Interfacing MCP with Combinatorial, Convex, and SMT Solvers

Personal Blog

www.stephendiehl.com

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