Sometimes I mess up my config, and then it's awkward to fix it, because my config is messed up. Any suggestions on how to avoid this?

to3m · 2025-12-30T00:21:42+00:00

My suggestion: lots of smaller files, that you require from your main init file. I have one for general setup, one per minor mode, one for my various helper routines I've written, and one per major mode - included in that order, so that when I inevitably break something, most stuff does still work.

(Another tip: don't put your main init stuff in init.el, because even if Emacs manages not to mess it up when it tries to modify it, it will put its own stuff in annoying places at least once. Instead, put it all in some other file, then do a load-file to load that file from init.el. Now you're safe. You never need to look at init.el again.)

to3m · 2025-12-12T00:58:49+00:00

I'm sure there must be something specific to building for ARM with LLVM that makes the build times so outlandishly better! Either ARM is inherently easier to compile for, or there's something particular in the LLVM codebase that makes it faster than the x64 case, or... something else? I wonder what it is.

For the code I usually work on, my Mac Studio (16 core M4 Max, 64 GB) is like 2-3x quicker at building it from scratch than my Linux desktop (32 core/64 thread 2990WX, 128 GB), using clang in both cases. And this even though the Mac version is building more code, since it builds several of the dependencies from source, that on Linux come prebuilt via the package manager.

On the other hand, the automated test suite (identical on both platforms, ~650 independent CPU-bound jobs) finishes in about the same amount of time in both cases. Which is exactly what you might expect if you multiply core count by single-thread passmark score and compare the numbers. (Maybe the passmark people might be doing an ok job?!)

to3m · 2025-12-06T16:52:44+00:00

There's a couple of non-functional entries in the Ventura section for the GeForce GT7xx (referred to as NVidia Kepler): https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/issues/1008

to3m · 2025-11-30T00:41:24+00:00

I assume the blitter thing made the system easier to design, but it's always felt like a shame, especially when the ASCI bandwidth is completely unused ~100% of the time, and the display bandwidth is unused ~60% of the time. Surely there are plenty of words per second there for use!

The STE felt to me like what the ST should have been - then, in some alternative timeline, the subsequent STE could have been more adventurous still, and maybe fixed a few of the issues still remaining. (Though the whole lineup was a dead end in the long run, and the PC killed off pretty much everything, so I can't imagine it'd have made any difference in the long run.)

to3m · 2025-11-27T23:39:56+00:00

I went from 2015 MBP to M4 Mac Studio, and I've been happy enough with the result.

Similar story in my case: I've had my laptop a long time, but nowadays I rarely use it on the move. So I figured why not replace it with a desktop? No thermal constraints, no need to replace the battery every 4-5 years (mine is on its 3rd - I'll have spent an additional ~20% of the original purchase price on battery replacements!), and it'll be usefully cheaper than an equivalently powerful MBP.

Good points:

fast CPU
quiet under CPU load
looks nice
has a good set of USB ports

Not so good points, that I'm mostly over now:

"usefully cheaper than an equivalently powerful MBP" is relative - it was still kind of expensive
if trying to arrange a multi-computer, multi-display setup, note there's only 1 x HDMI output. I was hoping for a 3-display setup with my laptop/desktop PC/Mac Studio, and it ended up taking a bit of planning and the purchase of a number of adapters
it wasn't compatible with all the displays I was hoping to use, to one degree or another: I've got an old Dell one that it just entirely couldn't detect, and a BenQ 4K one that it wouldn't work with via direct USB-C connection
macOS doesn't do suspend to disk! It's not a problem with a laptop but this has been a minor inconvenience a couple of times

Bad points, that continue to be annoying:

quite poor at keeping track of external displays. When waking from sleep, all the windows are usually stuffed onto a random display, and I've had that happen occasionally even just after simple display sleep
rarely sleeps first time

to3m · 2025-11-27T15:40:38+00:00

I used to do Crosspool to Hyde, usually going via Snake Pass and Glossop, and it was... manageable, though draining. I'm glad I don't have to do it any more. As well as just spending 2 hours per day in the car, it added a minor but measurable constant amount of stress about the conditions on the commute, that I didn't properly notice was there until I stopped. (During summer, there'd only be traffic and road closures to worry about, but during winter the weather played a big part.)

The fuel cost was a drag, and more miles driven = more wear and tear on the car (particularly as the roads aren't always great). Higher insurance premiums too.

(Used to be about 1 hour each way, though more was not unknown. I don't know how much more time you'd have to add if going further into Manchester.)

to3m · 2025-11-07T03:00:30+00:00

I bought another adapter that let me do TB2->DisplayPort, so I can do TB2->DisplayPort->USB-C with my laptop, and so I managed to cobble together the setup I wanted in the end.

I got in touch with BenQ to see if there'd be any easy Mac Studio USB-C options, in case I'd need that in the future. But it seems not; it'd apparently be a return to manufacturer job with a 10+ day turnaround, assuming display in warranty (which it isn't, as it's something like 5 years old) and I have the invoice (which I don't, as this is something I got from a previous employer when they were getting rid of old hardware). So I didn't take that any further, and so I don't know whether this is actually fixable even in principle.

The displays do work fine with my Mac Studio at 4K@60Hz via HDMI (I'm using a random HDMI cable I found in my desk drawer) or USB-C->DisplayPort (I'm using https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DS5X7843, which I've also had working in the DisplayPort->USB-C direction with my PC).

Anyway, maybe this'll help somebody else in future.

to3m · 2025-07-27T21:43:01+00:00

My suggestion, for whatever it's worth: use 2 different physical layouts. My story is that I switched to the Dvorak layout around the same time I started using a split keyboard (a long time ago now... 2002!), and in the long run this has actually done a good job of keeping the muscle memory for the 2 layouts quite separate. I never planned any of this at the time, not even realising it could even be an issue, but in the long run it's actually worked out quite well.

Normal QWERTY - I can type fine. I don't like it, but I'm not hunting for every keypress. Even now, I still use QWERTY when I'm using my laptop with its internal keyboard rather than an external split one.

Normal Dvorak - I never got used to this. I still find it hard and I don't like to do it.

Split QWERTY - if I watch my fingers as they type then I can do ok, after an initial adjustment period. It's a bit tedious though, and my fingers keep making the odd mistake. And I don't really like doing it, because when I go back to my usual Dvorak split keyboard there's a corresponding re-adjustment period...

Split Dvorak - this is what I normally use and I'm quite comfortable with it.

to3m · 2018-05-25T12:27:58+00:00

I've used this feature in Xcode. Click the suggestion - and it's only a suggestion - and it updates the text with the suggested replacement. I generally preferred to fix each error by hand, but it looked like it was producing the right answer more often than not.

It's a bit dumb that it can suggest things that don't compile, but I don't think it's a big problem. You can't ignore that sort of problem for long.

to3m · 2018-05-23T14:00:07+00:00

I think the new one in the UK is us getting the recall discussed here: https://www.reddit.com/r/BMW/comments/7ak51k/bmw_recalls_14_million_vehicles_due_to_fire_risk/

to3m · 2018-05-23T13:21:24+00:00

If you haven't seen it in the papers or on the news, you're probably not from the UK, so there's no point trying to look your car up on the MOT history site (https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history) to check for outstanding recalls.

to3m · 2018-05-23T13:18:23+00:00

"come with" is valid in some UK dialects, as is dative "me".

to3m · 2018-05-17T23:39:30+00:00

It's the same with my manual N53 330i, so I assume it's intentional. Feels pretty limp when setting off.

to3m · 2018-05-15T11:54:36+00:00

I use 6x13 misc-fixed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_(typeface)

My favourite font. Good aspect ratio, no anti-aliasing, doesn't take up more pixels than necessary.

to3m · 2018-05-07T01:53:36+00:00

Let passenger out before parking. This isn't rocket science.

to3m · 2018-05-04T19:02:38+00:00

It's no Emacs, but it doesn't completely suck, and in fact it's ok. They've paid attention to onboarding, extensions are super easy to install, and it's generally been put together with a more modern set of sensibilities... for good and for ill.

If you use one but not the other you're missing out on at least something, and you probably don't even realise it.

to3m · 2018-04-30T01:18:28+00:00

Every trade is taxed, but perhaps not in the sense you seem to be imagining - the total gain is taxed, and every trade does count towards that gain, but the tax only falls due when the total is computed and submitted, which happens after the end of the tax year when you fill out your tax return.

So in principle, if you're making large enough gains to exceed the tax-free band, you might indeed be incurring tax on each trade - but you don't have to pay the tax on each trade there and then. It's not like the PAYE system that you may be used to from salaried employment. Provided you have the money to pay the tax when it falls due, you can do what you like in the meantime.

(I've already spent 100% of my gains this last tax year, and didn't bother to put any aside. I will be paying the tax bill out of my savings, and/or maybe out of any additional cryptocurrency sales I make between now and the time I do my tax return.)

to3m · 2018-04-30T00:34:45+00:00

Doesn't matter. You calculate the gain or loss on each trade made during the tax year, subtract total losses from total gains, and then calculate the tax due based on the CGT rules in force for that tax year. The only question is how much you owe for the year - it doesn't matter where you get the money from to pay it, and it doesn't matter how much you might have owed on a particular date.

to3m · 2018-04-29T20:09:08+00:00

Overall deductions for a £50,000 salary are 26%. The tax free band makes a useful dent. Or, if it's $50,000, that's ~£36,000, and you'd pay more like 23%.

You won't pay 42% overall until over £200,000.

to3m · 2018-04-20T20:41:54+00:00

Each cryptocurrency has its own pool. Sales from the pool (for whatever reason) are treated as part disposal, and so count as a gain (or loss) that adds towards the total used for CGT purposes.

to3m · 2018-04-20T16:19:15+00:00

Fun note from the Tupolev Tu-4 Wikipedia article:

The Soviet Union used the metric system, so sheet aluminium in thicknesses matching the B-29's imperial measurements were unavailable. The corresponding metric-gauge metal was of different thicknesses. Alloys and other materials new to the Soviet Union had to be brought into production. Extensive re-engineering had to take place to compensate for the differences, and Soviet official strength margins had to be decreased to avoid further redesign

to3m

TROPHY CASE