TIL
TIL about lazamar.co.uk/nix-versi… — an excellent tool for installing specific versions of nix packages. It comes complete with multiple varieties of install syntax, which is so helpful
TIL more about Expo Fingerprints for EAS updates.
The ability to compare a fingerprint in the web UI is a critical tool for debugging, and we were able to use it to identify that we were using EAS Environments wrong.
I had set up some of our automatic update workflows to publish on a preview channel, thinking it would inherit our preview configuration, but that’s not how it works. The right way to do it is to set our ENV variables in Expo, and then depend on the environment for builds and publishing updates so that our update matched our build.
Once we get that sorted, we should be back on the golden path. This will help as we keep moving our OTA update strategy forward.
TIL that my favorite Miike Snow song, I Feel the Weight, is built around a sample of In Too Deep by Genesis.
It surprised me when I heard it on the radio. Particularly because it’s such a side element in the overall scenery of the song.
But I guess that’s often the magic of a good sample.
TIL about the Lemon Meringue Pothos during a visit to Anderson’s La Costa Nursery. It’s a new variety of colors with the same care needs as a regular Pothos
TIL that in the NFL, a fumble recovery cannot advance the ball on 4th down.
I learned this because I joined my brother to watch the Packers v Bears playoff game (further explanation at the link)
TIL that I should be using Kalita Wave 185 filters with my Origami Dripper, due to the ridges and flat bottom.
I’ve never gotten great brews with that dripper, but I look forward to trying again soon
Thanks to the fine folks at Necessity Coffee for the recommendation
TIL that there isn’t a good way in Ruby to reach up in a stack trace and interact with the calling context
I had assumed this was possible, and I could do something with instance_eval after, but it turns out the way is binding_of_caller, which is only for debugging
TIL about nix-community, specifically awesome-nix and nix-direnv. The latter is a huge QoL improvement when switching between projects.
TIL there are new pre-built binaries of the Emacs variant I use (emacs-plus). This is a great improvement for my dev setup. It installed almost instantly and fixed some pesky path bugs I’d been stuck on.
TIL that NPM’s --ignore-scripts option breaks all pre-and post scripts, even ones defined in the local package.json. We’ve turned it on for our work repos as a security mitigation, and some of our daily-driver scripts stopped working.
It’s on my list to look into switching to bun, and this is another bump in that direction
TIL a little bit about Geodes, when we cracked open a couple from a National Geographic set we got for Christmas
Bonus fact from this video about extremely large geodes: amethyst (and other crystal) values rocketed during COVID due to their “metaphysical healing properties”
TIL my first crochet stitch thanks to a Woobles kit I got for Christmas.
Even though I’ve just started, my fingers already hurt and I’m filled with pride
TIL that there’s a coffee micro-roaster within biking distance. Got a bag roasted this morning by Color Magic Coffee along with some other roast samples, and my first cup was delicious.
I love becoming more aware of the local artisan community, and Siri was absolutely lovely
TIL that motocross daredevil Travis Pastrana is an accomplished rally and stunt driver. I guess if you’re completely fearless, and like to go fast with big engines, it makes sense you’d wind up there
TIL about Irving J. Gill, the architect behind the Oceanside CA Civic Center. He was known for stripping buildings down to their essence, which explains the distinctive vision of the buildings in that block.
This was during my first visit to the Oceanside Museum of Art. Great rainy day activity, and a perfectly sized museum for the kids and I. We saw everything in about 45 minutes.
TIL About Blitzball: a small-scale baseball game that aims to be a modern alternative to Wiffle Ball. Credit to my son for showing me this recent Dude Perfect video
TIL: Cy Young did not win the Cy Young award, but he still counts in an Immaculate Grid