Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Brownman

@xavd.id

1.2K followers 250 following 200 posts

Software developer, tinkerer, enthusiast. Currently slinging bits at Stripe. For my media reviews, see: @david.reviews. Blog & more: https://xavd.id

xavd.id

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

David Brownman @xavd.id · Jan 26

Well folks, it's here! My massive Favorite Media of 2024 roundup is live! I've got #videogames, #movies, #tv, and #books, plus links to everything that was eligible from last calendar year.

As always, it's a big one, but I think it turned out well. Enjoy!

xavd.id/blog/post/fa...

My Favorite Media of 2024

David's 9th annual roundup of his favorite things he played, watched, and read this year.

xavd.id

1 8

David Brownman @xavd.id · 12h

Happy official #Pithon day to us all!

It's got template strings, new interpreter options, some better error messages, and more! Big congrats to @hugovk.dev and all the #Python contributors that made this possible!

mastodon.social/@xavdid/1111...

David Brownman (@[email protected])

I thought of a funny(?) joke that won't be relevant until the fall 2025 #Python release. I'm gonna post it now because I bet we'll see a lot of this joke then and i want to make sure I get it in first...

mastodon.social

1 2

David Brownman @xavd.id · 7d

They talked about my recent TypeScript blog post in this episode. It's a cool listen!

TypeScript.fm @typescript.fm · 7d

Today on the pod, TS 6.0 defaults, fresh ECMAScript proposals (no frozen privates, Array.pushAll, iterator chunking), Cap'n Web RPC, Python kwargs in TS, and running TS on DOS (and PlayStation?)!

share.transistor.fm/s/db6f3035

#typescript

New ECMAScript Proposals, Cap'n Web, and TS on DOS/PlayStation | News | Ep 37 | TypeScript.fm - The Friendly Show for TypeScript Developers | Episode 37

News of the week of September 22, 2025: new default option in TS 6.0, Jiti upgrade, and Cloudflare's on a tear. Plus, npm's security roadmap. From the community: Python-style kwargs, running TS on MS-DOS,...

share.transistor.fm

2 9

David Brownman @xavd.id · 9d

Real life @xkcd.com 1105 sighting!

xkcd.com/1105/

1 3

David Brownman @xavd.id · 15d

Wrote a little #blog post over the weekend about my favorite #TypeScript pattern: #Python kwargs! It's a great little pattern.

xavd.id/blog/post/py...

Python-style kwargs in TypeScript

A pain-free way to write expressive, readable typed option bags in TypeScript.

xavd.id

David Brownman @xavd.id · 21d

Wow, heck of a run. Congrats!

David Brownman @xavd.id · 21d

FWIW: the Stripe SDK import speed slowness is actively being worked on! We know what's up, it'll just take some time to fix. Fixes are slated for the Nov release.

(Not an official company communication, etc etc)

1 1

David Brownman @xavd.id · 22d

Fastmail makes this super easy!

App UI showing, among other things, "new masked email address"

App UI showing "new masked email address" and the address "blue.world5788@fastmail.com"

David Brownman @xavd.id · Sep 8

Have you seen it already???

David Brownman @xavd.id · Aug 30

#Python f-strings have a super powerful templating language built in! But I always forget the exact syntax. Well, no longer! h/t @the-compiler.org

fstring.help/cheat/

Python f-string cheat sheet

Get quick help with Python's f-string syntax

fstring.help

David Brownman @xavd.id · Aug 24

Not a video, but this fits the bill: old.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama...

And that's just part 1!

[bandom] the abridged history of Panic! at the Disco, emo's capsized Ship of Theseus (part 1)

If you've paid any attention to what's on the radio from 2005 onward, you've probably heard of[ Panic! at the Disco](https://imgur.com/husvQVY),...

old.reddit.com

Reposted by David Brownman

david.reviews @david.reviews · Aug 20

If you look closely, you might recognize the byline on that article... 👀

Thinky Games @thinkygames.com · Aug 20

Try to find your lost roommate in an ever-changing apartment in the Looking for Fael demo!

Try to solve a series of interconnected puzzle rooms in the demo for Looking for Fael · Thinky Games

Try and find your lost roommate in an apartment with ever-changing rooms.

thinkygames.com

David Brownman @xavd.id · Aug 15

We liked that all the characters from TOS ended up on his ship. Definitely didn't feel accidental

David Brownman @xavd.id · Aug 13

I wrote a bit about my experience doing a bunch of Rust last year! As expected, there were good parts and less good ones. Neat language though.

xavd.id/blog/post/my...

My Year of Rust

david.reviews: Rust! It's neat, but not without its warts.

xavd.id

David Brownman @xavd.id · Aug 12

Also, clean clones of your GitHub repos! So easy, so portable.

github.com/xavdid/dotfi...

dotfiles/bin/backup-github at 03a852d7f9e1bf0b287b736f1a4a06ceedcccff2 · xavdid/dotfiles

The programmatic source of my macOS developer environment - xavdid/dotfiles

github.com

David Brownman @xavd.id · Aug 12

Feels like it's a good day to mention that it's pretty easy to archive your Reddit data for safekeeping

GitHub - xavdid/reddit-user-to-sqlite: Pull Reddit user data into a SQLite database

Pull Reddit user data into a SQLite database. Contribute to xavdid/reddit-user-to-sqlite development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

David Brownman @xavd.id · Aug 4

A new #AdventOfCode solution? In #python? It's more likely than you think.

Here's 2024 day 16! I'll finish these yet.

advent-of-code.xavd.id/writeups/202...

Advent of Code 2024 Day 16: Reindeer Maze

A step-by-step Python walkthrough for solving Advent of Code 2024 Day 16.

advent-of-code.xavd.id

David Brownman @xavd.id · Aug 2

PSA: It's both Bandcamp Friday AND there's a new 8-Bit Big Band album out!!

album.link/i/1813061416

It's available on streaming, but some stuff is fun to own. Plus you can support them financially!

Orchestrator Emulator by The 8-Bit Big Band

Listen now on your favorite streaming service. Powered by Songlink/Odesli, an on-demand, customizable smart link service to help you share songs, albums, podcasts and more.

album.link

1 1

David Brownman @xavd.id · Jul 17

... I won't mention who in the house would have left an ereader abandoned for nearly a year, but I love her very much.

1 2

David Brownman @xavd.id · Jul 17

I'm a software guy by trade, so it's always exciting to fix a household item by taking it apart.

Pictured is my venerated #Kobo, who reset itself and refused to connect to WiFi or a computer after being left unattended for a year. Popped it open, got the SD card in my computer, and restored it!

The inside of an e-reader, showing a circuit board and battery.

1 2

David Brownman @xavd.id · Jul 16

It's so good except for one part that my wife still hasn't fully forgiven me for 🙈

1 2

David Brownman @xavd.id · Jul 16

Did you play It Takes 2? How did it compare?

David Brownman @xavd.id · Jul 14

reminds me of this all-time classic: stackoverflow.com/questions/12...

JQuery: detect change in input field

I want to detect when a user's keyboard actions alter the value of a text field. It should work consistently across modern browsers. The JQuery page for the .keypress event says it's not consistent?

stackoverflow.com

David Brownman @xavd.id · Jul 14

Latest review is up! It's from one of my favorite studios, so no real surprise- it was a slam dunk!

david.reviews @david.reviews · Jul 14

🎮🕹️ There's a new (almost) #Zachtronics game out! It's "Kaizen: A Factory Story", the latest from @coincidence.games.

It's the puzzle gameplay you know and love tied up in a great 1980s Japan setting. I had a blast with it!

Check out my full review:

david.reviews/articles/kai...

"Kaizen: A Factory Story" is a excellent Zach-like from the devs who know the genre best

Familiar Zachtronics-style gameplay feels great in 1980s Japan.

david.reviews

David Brownman @xavd.id · Jul 9

Happy #Vantage launch day to all who celebrate #boardgames

Vantage

Vantage is an open-world, cooperative adventure game for 1-6 players designed by Jamey Stegmaier. Vantage features an entire planet to explore, with players communicating while scattered across the…

stonemaiergames.com

David Brownman @xavd.id · Jul 3

Fun fact:

As of today, we are now closer to 2050 than we are to 2000.

A screenshot showing that it's 8,950 days from Dec 31, 2000 to today, July 3, 2025

A screenshot showing that it's 8,948 days from today, July 3, 2025, to Jan 1, 2050