#kde has got gnome-disease and started removing file menu from things like kwrite, meaning keyboard shortcuts like alt-f-a that have worked for 30 years no longer work.
Edit: never been more happy to be wrong
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Benji Weber
@benjiweber
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Tech Leader & Software Engineer • Cofounder/CTO • Formerly Snyk, Unruly • Writes things at http://benjiweber.com/
Niki TonskySomeone needed to coin the term: Gaslight-driven development https://tonsky.me/blog/gaslight-driven-development/
Blog: The pace of change for development teams feels higher than ever. XP's tactics for helping teams embrace change are more relevant than ever
• Help people; help the genies
• Do more with less… money, not resilience
• Discontinuous learning sustains the pace
https://benjiweber.co.uk/blog/2025/07/14/teamwork-xp-in-the-era-of-genies/
Dan GillmorBrilliant essay -- "The Copilot Delusion" -- on how "AI" is ruining so much, programming in this case.
https://deplet.ing/the-copilot-delusion/
"We’re building a world where that curiosity gets lobotomized at the door."
Kevin BeaumontI'm trying to map out time to go back and deep dive on Microsoft Recall and security implications and changes since last year.
Are there any current writeups on it? I'm trying to figure out what needs concentrating on - when I'm googling, I'm just finding my own blog.
Christine Lemmer-WebberThe Nokia n900 was SO ahead of its time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2LL6nVzTp8
Linux based smartphone! That felt great! Fold out keyboard! With GTK! Based on Debian!
I've still NEVER used a phone that felt as good as the n900 did
Nokia N900 Commercial
NoratriebBlack holes swallow all information you feed into them. But information can't be destroyed, instead the information is slowly emitted as hawking radiation, impossible to reconstruct in practice but technically there.
This makes them just like Atlassian Confluence
Nelson da CostaOvercoming Resistance to Extreme Programming https://benjiweber.co.uk/blog/2025/01/01/overcoming-resistance-to-extreme-programming/ by @benjiweber
Overcoming Resistance to Extreme Programming - Benji's Blog
Developers discount XP based on misconceptions. Managers say they support collaborative working while simultaneously reinforcing incentives that demonstrate the opposite. Let's explore sources of resistance to XP from developers, management, systems, and tools, along with how to help…if appropriate.
Ricki Yasha TarrWe are pretty lucky that most fires burn within our visible light spectrum, but there was this one time at NASA. Apparently, hydrogen is very pale when it burns and can't be seen by most people, not only that, but it burns very cleanly and with little ambient heat. The scientists had to walk around with brooms in front of them, and if the broom caught fire they'd know where the fire was, they called this The Broom Method.
The Broom Method
A NASA worker demonstrating the broom method of detecting a hydrogen flame, which are invisible during the day. (Source: NASA) In order to fuel its rockets, NASA scientists must take two of the most basic elements, hydrogen and oxygen, and cool them down hundreds of degrees into their liquid states. In this more efficient form, a rocket’s tank volume can be maximized, providing the needed fuel to achieve lift. This process is a potentially dangerous one, as hydrogen is highly combustible. If at any point during storage, fueling, or flight the liquid form evaporates back into gas, a leak could mean a massive explosion. NASA has had a long history of contending with this issue. Hydrogen leaks were a persistent thorn in the side of the Space Shuttle program, grounding the entire fleet for six months while engineers searched for an elusive leak during the “Summer of Hydrogen”. Because of its efficiency as a fuel source, hydrogen continues to be used by many space agencies, as opposed to other alternatives. The Endeavour orbiter returning from space after STS-118. This mission was the first to deploy hydrogen tape, which luckily caught a leak before takeoff. (Source: NASA) In spite of the dangers of hydrogen, NASA lacked a comprehensive system for detecting a leak for much of its career. Part of hydrogen's danger is that it gives off low radiant heat, meaning its flame is invisible in daylight. NASA came up with a rather creative solution for the issue. During the Apollo missions, scientists and engineers would simply walk through the facilities with a long broom held out in front of them. When the broom touched the invisible burning hydrogen, the end would suddenly combust and they could mark another area which had dangerous gas within it. It was low-tech — but it worked. During the Space Shuttle years, NASA made use of more complex sensors to detect leaks and ultraviolet cameras to spot flames already burning. These measures, while more effective than just waving a broom around, still did not provide an immediate visual indicator of a leak to those on the ground. The agency needed a new technology to spot leaks, one that could be precise and immediate. Commercial hydrogen tape being used to detect a leak, one of many technologies developed by NASA and now available to the public. (Source: ASI Magazine) Working in conjunction with the Florida Solar Energy Center, and making use of a preexisting Japanese patent, scientists at NASA developed a chemochromic tape that changes color in the presence of hydrogen. Hydrogen reacts with the compounds suspended in the outer layer of the tape, indicating a leak. It was first used in 2007 during an Endeavour shuttle flight and has since found a variety of industrial uses in the private sector. Hydrogen leaks continue to be a concern. The second attempted launch of the recent Artemis 1 mission was aborted when a persistent leak could not be shut off. Although systems for detection and management have advanced, NASA faces the same dilemma it did during the Apollo days: the most efficient fuel is also the most dangerous and the easiest to leak. As NASA and the other space agencies ready more missions in the coming years, special attention will have to be paid to this old problem. In this case, it really is rocket science. Want to learn more about NASA's space shuttles? Head over to the shop where you can purchase specimens from the program. Read More! Klebanoff L. Hydrogen Storage Technology: Materials and Applications. CRC Press; 2012. doi:10.1201/b13685