Vibe coding is boring

For apps that I want to ship to the world, for this website, for apps that are using an interesting tech stack, I will be driving development, because I like it, and I have enough experience to have opinions on how they should be built.

But for the apps where I just care about the final output, that’s what vibe coding is for, I suppose. I don’t ever want to rely on it so much that I lose my own skills, but it is nice getting those results faster if I truly don’t care how something works (which is rare, but I have a few projects in the pile that are finally built now, so yay). But yeah. It’s not fun. It’s just another tool in the tool belt. And it’s really boring.

This is the way we think about things that we ship. I care about the stuff that goes on the blog, so I will not use AI to write the words that go on the website.

The website though, is a different matter. I care about the technologies involved, the stack, but I don’t know enough that I can build it myself. I do care about the end product. So, AI tools are a good match here. Sure the repo may be a mess, but it works as it should. It looks as it should. And that odd enough for now.

Why RSS matters by Ben Werdmuller

RSS has always worked quietly in the background. In a moment when the web is being reshaped by enclosure, consolidation, and algorithmic mediation, its reliability is exactly what we need. It offers a simple, durable way for publishers to keep control of their distribution and for readers to keep control of their attention, without permission, platform lock-in, or hidden agendas. If we treat RSS not as a relic of an earlier web but as the strategic infrastructure it already is, it can continue to anchor a more open, more resilient, and more humane internet for decades to come.

I love RSS. I want a new way to read though. The current way of NetNewsWire is a little taxing. Maybe someone creates a new way to view the feed? Daily feed can also get bogged down if you have a fire hose feed.

Nothing’s community-designed Phone 3A adds some color and matching dice by Stevie Bonifield

The Nothing Phone 3A Community Edition revamps Nothing’s usual monochrome look with a 90s-inspired design infused by pops of color. It’s updating the basic 3A’s transparent backplate with a teal tint, plus yellow and magenta buttons.

Looks pretty!

How To Podcast by swyx

Podcasting is edutainment. If you try to have too highbrow a view of yourself, and only do education, you will lose. Don’t forget to have fun (rather than trying to get them to “drop alpha”), don’t forget to have a real human to human conversation (rather than blowing through your prepared question list point by point without regard to what the guest just said).

For someday, when I may make a podcast of my own.

Foreign students face financial ruin after agents sell false dream of 'world's happiest country'

The reform meant that students coming to Finland from outside the EU to study at third-level institutions were granted a continuous residence permit for the duration of their studies, instead of having to re-apply for the permit every year, as had previously been the case. They could also bring their families with them — with spouses now eligible to receive state support such as unemployment benefits and housing allowance, even though students themselves are not.

From personal anecdotes I’ve heard - some have received scholarships, some have borrowed money to come, some are working for Wolt, etc. What I did not know was the role of this change in law in this situation.