- Ukiah Smith

Hugo static asset cache busting

Hugo is a great static site generator. It is crazy fast and has tons of options, but one thing I had not been able to discover was how to use variable data in make, my build tool, and pass it to a Hugo template. I wanted a way to create unique CSS filenames, and use those filenames in my Hugo templates.

Go: Marshal and Unmarshal JSON with time and URL data

Go has a robust JSON library for consuming and outputting JSON. The standard json.Marshal() and json.Unmarshal() functions do a great job of aligning primitive types and converting them from Go into JSON, and vise versa. Beyond the basic types you will have to create custom marshaling methods on your types and write some logic to handle the conversion process. We will go over writing these custom methods for types that contain time and URL data.

Peak Design Everyday Messenger Review

The most frustrating part of the Everyday Messenger is that it is damn near perfect; not quite, but almost. The unique locking latch, a thoughtful strap, and quality construction make this bag a great everyday carry. The Everyday Messenger is intended to be a photographers bag; with the main compartment set to house a camera and extra lenses. The bag is intended for carrying camera gear, but remove the padded dividers and it works for a laptop and “office” stuff.

Quick and easy web server for local development

Sometimes I want a quick way to build some web pages. A way that does not require installing a lot of servers locally, but is still better than opening the file directly in my web browser. When I start a new web project I break it up into small steps. These steps form a natural set of milestones, and helps me to reason about the project as a whole. Focusing on each step helps me make progress on the entire project.

Initializing channels in Go

With most variables in Go we can declared them in a couple of different ways. Using the var keyword, initialize them as we declare them with the := operator; or using the new or make keywords. Most variables can be declared with var, which only reserves storage for a named variable. If no assignment accompanies the statement, the variable is set to it’s zero value. Using var to declare a channel crates a nil channel.

fmt.Scanf Introduction

From the fmt package; the Scanf function is used to read input from stdin. When you run this snippet of code the main() function will wait for user input a string, a number, and a second string. Which it puts into variables, and then uses to print some information. Scanf woul be used when you want to write a command line program that requires user input during the running process.

Firefox to integrate Pocket

I was shocked when I saw news of Mozilla’s Firefox native integration with Pocket; the popular read-it-later bookmarking service. This is the first time I can remember when Mozilla has integrated a commercial third-party service. It feels a little odd. I understand why they might have done this. My guess is that Pocket is another revenue stream for Mozilla. I can appreciate the need for money; it keeps the employees happy, and the Firefox updates rolling out in a timely fashion.

Sähköä ilmassa sunset behind power lines

Building Go projects with gb

gb is a new build tool for Go created by Dave Cheney. It address the problem of reproducible builds. Building the same functional binary anywhere at any time is a problem of dependency management. Of knowing exactly which library version to use, and having it at hand. gb is a radical tool compared to current dependency solutions, which work with the existing Go toolchain and idioms. gb takes a different approach, it replaces not only dependency management tools, but the Go build tools themselves.

Understanding Go Dependency Management

Right now there is a discussion thread on the golang-dev mailing list about formalizing how Go manages dependencies. The Go Team is putting forward that Go use vendoring to manage dependencies, and asked the community to formalize a configuration format that tools can use to manage vendored code.

For sometime the Go team has been very passive in directing how Go manages dependencies. When Go was first released to the public the only mechanism or best practice was to use go get which is not much more than a simple tool to fetch code.

Can you tell which one of these keyboards will input uppercase or lowercase letters?

The iOS keyboard is terrible

The iPhone, and iOS, brought about a revolution in mobile network connected pocket computers. It did a lot of things right, but it did one thing terribly wrong. When using the keyboard the letter on the key does not show the true character that will be input. The letters on the keyboard are always capitalized, even when pressing the key will input a lowercase letter.

It has been a very long time since I’ve used an iPhone day to day, but this still annoys me. Simply put the lack of accurately displaying the key to be input, capital or lowercase, is a disgrace. In part because of the years that iOS devices have been around, and the years that this features has been available on many Android phone. Though most importantly because it was Steve Jobs himself who cajoled his competitors and their fixed, never changing, keyboards.

Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 Review

Reading on mobile devices is something I have done for a long time. I have read novels on some low quality screens; such as the Palm III, with it’s spinach green tint. Recently I’ve been looking at trading up from my Kindle Keyboard to a device with a better reading experience. I wanted something that was comfortable while reading for long periods of time, had a better screen, and access to more books and articles than the Kindle.

In the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 I have found a great device that give me joy to use. It is comfortable to hold, has a super sharp screen, and access to everything I’d want to read.

Garny leather notebook cover

Field Notes makes a quality notebook, but it’s still paper and card stock. Given enough use it will become ragged, making it frail and eventually unusable. The solution is to write more often so that I use up a notebook before it starts to fall apart. While appealing, I do not want to be rushed with my words. So I found another solution, use a leather notebook cover.

Go frameworks and libraries

Go makes it easy to not use frameworks. Instead, small tool libraries used together achieve the same utility. The resulting applications are less complex, easier to reason about, and nimble in their modularity.

Frameworks are themselves collections of libraries. How do they differ from discrete libraries that have only one functional use, and how does using one or the other affect application development?

T-Mobile Note 4 unboxing

Programming is terrible so learn to enjoy it

I ran across an anonymous opinion piece on how programming is terrible. It was posted a while ago, but it resonated with my own journey through programming. From when I was young and nothing was impossible and everything was magical, through disenchantment once in the real world, and through finding joy and solace in my craft. But what I learned through my journey has helped me find the joy again.

Staying focused

Staying focused on a project is one of the best ways to complete a project. Regardless of other factors, you need time to complete a project. If you don’t put in the time then the project has already failed. Projects need time to grow, time to be worked on. A project not being worked on is a daydream. Without being worked on it will never be built. Staying focused on your project is the surest way to give it the time it needs.

Vote with your dollars

The free Internet isn’t free. And the rise of ad blockers is slowly choking off what little revenue online publishers do earn while visitors bemoan privacy concerns and boring content.

Talking about using the web as a book publishing platform; Matthew Butterick touches on the economic realities of supply and demand related to online publishing.

How to Read 12 Books in a Year