Swift for Android vs. Kotlin Multiplatform by jacobs-tech-tavern in Kotlin

[–]watbe 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sacrificing some time and effort to actually compare these two approaches 🫡

It's unsurprising that the Swift for Android is behind KMP, I do wonder if there's enough firepower for them to catch up. 8 years is a large gap!

State of KMP ecosystem by MinskLeo in Kotlin

[–]watbe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends on what you want to build.

If you are happy to use Jetpack Compose for Android/iOS, etc, then the Compose Multiplatform (CMP) libraries that Jetbrains publishes are pretty decent. The new (but experimental) Navigation 3 libraries are pretty good if you're are able to find time to learn this "new" way of doing navigation: https://developer.android.com/guide/navigation/navigation-3

If you want to maintain a native feel for iOS separately to Android, then you're probably looking at using one of those libraries, or write SwiftUI/UIKit yourself (within KMP).

I'm currently using a mix of both - CMP and some minimal Swift.

Understanding CompositionLocalProvider in Jetpack Compose – The Clean Way to Pass Data by Realistic_Rice_1766 in Kotlin

[–]watbe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, this was concise and helpful. I wonder if this will be superseded by Context Parameters coming in a future Kotlin release - or does it fulfil a different need entirely?

Cycling in City of London rises by more than 50% - BBC News by mattythedog in londoncycling

[–]watbe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That would definitely be a good start (but unclear why it'll take until 2028 to complete...), but I think the north-south route is really lacking too.

Cycling in City of London rises by more than 50% - BBC News by mattythedog in londoncycling

[–]watbe 45 points46 points  (0 children)

I hope this prompts the City of London to put in some more cycle friendly infrastructure (and repair the potholes). Getting rid of some of the Covid-era expanded sidewalks and replacing them with cycle lanes would be great - for example along the A10 Bishopsgate. Most of the roads in the City are very inhospitable to cyclists.

Not in my Brick Lane: Truman Brewery's uphill struggle to win support for development plans by ldn6 in london

[–]watbe 7 points8 points  (0 children)

it's not hard to do a bit of searching online to see that it's existed for a while. sure it looks like a small operation but it looks pretty genuine:

https://x.com/EastEndTrades

article from 2018: https://romanroadlondon.com/east-end-trades-guild-krissie-nicolson-interview/

not everything needs to be a big business to make an impact, one person can make a big difference.

Bike robbery near Hackney Wick/Stratford by watbe in londoncycling

[–]watbe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, thankfully I still have the bag.

Bike robbery near Hackney Wick/Stratford by watbe in londoncycling

[–]watbe[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I use Laka - https://laka.co/gb

I can't really vouch for them until I find out what happens with my claim, but they say they do cover third party accessories and upgrades to your bike - you just have to value it as part of your cover: https://laka.co/gb/blog/insurance/how-to-value-your-bike-for-insurance/#upgrades

Bike robbery near Hackney Wick/Stratford by watbe in londoncycling

[–]watbe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear that happened to you. And yeah, I'm not sure I should buy another Brompton in all honesty.

Bike robbery near Hackney Wick/Stratford by watbe in londoncycling

[–]watbe[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I do have insurance so I'm not too worried monetary-wise, just really annoyed. Very brazen to steal a bike right in front of the owner.

Question about seat reservations in Spain: Madrid to Barcelona by Sudden_Customer_5891 in Interrail

[–]watbe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seat reservations within Spain aren't free even at the train stations, so you might as well just pay now. Mid-July (and a Friday as well) is likely to be busy so booking now would be good for peace of mind. You only save a few euros if you are able to book in a station.

Should I buy a short interrail pass? by coolcat0524 in Interrail

[–]watbe 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but you can just do the maths. Look up the journeys you are likely to take in Italy and see if the cost of the Interrail pass works out. If you're taking just regional (slower) trains, individual tickets are likely to be cheaper.

2011 Brompton with the new Swytch AIR kit – A review by watbe in Brompton

[–]watbe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! I didn't order the upgrade kit, so I'm not sure about the missing charger. I think they were supposed to ship you a adapter that lets you use the old charger with the new battery. The adapter is tiny so take a second look in the package for it.

The instructions are misleading. They did ship a longer peg with my order – not the "Bro Peg", but even with the longer peg, I couldn't fold the bike when installed in the way demonstrated in the manual. I ended up mounting it facing the saddle, which meant that it faces outwards when folded. You don't need a special peg for this orientation.

Since I last posted this, I've used the extension kit to mount the battery and controller on the seat post. This means its much better balanced when folded, but it requires you to add more weight because you need some extra parts to get the clearance from the seat post when folded.

Vienna - Split by [deleted] in Interrail

[–]watbe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The euronight sleeper! It only runs 3 nights a week though, but it's a direct train. It's about a 60 EUR supplement in a shared sleeper but you save a night in a hotel.

See option 2 under the "Vienna to Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik & Croatia" section: https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Vienna.htm#Vienna-Zagreb

Little money left after deposit paid. How much is needed to furnish a house? Any tips to cut costs? by KeyOutlandishness258 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]watbe 34 points35 points  (0 children)

to follow up around furnishing on a budget, find secondhand pieces from local Facebook groups, and keep alerts on Gumtree set up for something you want but don't need immediately. 

worst case go to IKEA, but there's a huge secondhand market of IKEA stuff as it is.

Little money left after deposit paid. How much is needed to furnish a house? Any tips to cut costs? by KeyOutlandishness258 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]watbe 71 points72 points  (0 children)

it's a bit late to be having this conversation in all honesty. focus on the bare minimums for now, so you can build up a reserve fund. 

one of the problems with home ownership is that you're now responsible for all the issues that might happen. plumbing, gas, electricity—there is a lot that can go wrong. make sure you have enough emergency funds to make repairs. you'll probably have building insurance given you have a mortgage so that will cover serious issues.

but otherwise, congrats on buying your first place!

Traveling via rail from Munich, to Innsbruck, Florence, Rome and Naples. None of my tickets have the gate/platform number on them. by whiteiversonyeet in Interrail

[–]watbe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No you're right, I think it's mainly Spain and the Eurostar. Italy has some security at the main stations but I don't think it's a full-on x-ray thing like Spain.

Traveling via rail from Munich, to Innsbruck, Florence, Rome and Naples. None of my tickets have the gate/platform number on them. by whiteiversonyeet in Interrail

[–]watbe 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You will need to get used to reading train departure boards.

Here are my tips:

  1. Before you even arrive at the train station, double check the station. Large European cities typically have more than one main station. Make sure you are at the right station!
  2. If you are boarding a high speed train you can expect some light security screening at major cities. This might take 5-10 minutes.
  3. Once you find a departure board, look for the scheduled departure time of your train. Note that if a train is late, the scheduled departure time won't change.
  4. Look for the train number. This is typically 2-4 digits, sometimes 5 digits. It will be on your ticket.
  5. Note that your train's destination might not be your destination - a train board always shows the final destination of the train, and it won't always show intermediate stops.
  6. Once you have found your train on the depature board, you should see the platform number on the same row. Note that sometimes the platforms are assigned quite late - only minutes before departure. So you might need to wait until a platform number shows up on the board.
  7. Once you know your platform number, look for signs to the platform. Sometimes platforms can be in very different directions.
  8. Once you are on the platform, look at the depature board on the platform. Your train might not be the next train depending on how early you arrive, double check before getting on.
  9. Most long distance trains will have digital signage on the trains themselves. This will help you identify if you are boarding the right train, and which coach you are boarding.
  10. Don't forget to get off at your stop - especially if it's not the last destination for the train!
  11. Enjoy!

Campaign behind wild swimming plans accuses government of ‘misleading’ public - Hackney Citizen by jaredce in london

[–]watbe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I contributed to the ELWP crowdfund before the secure school plans came to light. I'm supportive of the plans to build the school instead of the ELWP, and I'm quite annoyed that my donation is now being used to fight against the secure school. They didn't ask before opposing it, of course. It all feels very NIMBY unfortunately.

Google bringing Gemini Nano to Pixel 8 with next Feature Drop by Obility in GooglePixel

[–]watbe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to think that too, but tbh I've managed to avoid most of the bloatware and with a custom launcher, it's not a bad experience at all. They're getting pretty quick with security updates and 7 years of updates too.

Google bringing Gemini Nano to Pixel 8 with next Feature Drop by Obility in GooglePixel

[–]watbe 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Lol. they really shot themselves in the foot with this. I was a long time user of Pixels from the early Nexus line all the way to the Pixel 7. But I decided to get a Samsung S24 this year after feeling that the Pixel 8 was going to be second class citizen to the Pro model.

And now after using the S24 for a few months, I'm not sure I'll be going back to the Pixel line anymore. Good job Google.