Practicalli plans for the rest of the year
Starting to plan work for the Practicalli content for the next 3 months.
On the Practicalli GitHub Org, action log retention time was minimised to a week (from 90 days) as I don't need to wade through that history and it will save a bit of storage in the Cloud. I am surprised GitHub have such a high default for their free plans.
Upgraded to a Dell 40 inch 5k2k monitor for work and it makes a huge difference. Its a beautiful monitor and it works really well with Linux and the tiling window of Regolith Desktop (i3).
I am continuing my search for a new place to live, even further into the countryside with easy access to hiking and cycling activities.
Although I am always thankful for an opportunity to work with a commercial company, I do feel the weight lifted from my shoulders now that relationship has concluded. Within hours I started to feel the return of much of the energy I have been lacking for the last few months.
They do say a change is as good as a rest, so investing time in Practicalli content is giving me an energy boost.
Practicalli Plansλ︎
Existing books
- review the main Practicalli books and make updates to examples, tools and libraries as required
Practicalli Neovim
- more examples of common vim-editing approaches
- additional information to crafting your own configuration based on Practicalli Astro
- expand on Clojure workflow (debugging, data browsers, reloading, etc)
- research constraint to renaming namespaces with LSP
Practicalli Clojure Service
- authentication (basic, api key, message signatures, etc)
- authorisation (permissions & roles)
- update examples to use Reitit & Reitit ring
Long term projects
- clojure stack - guide to common libraries and trade-offs within Clojure, helping new and experienced engineers know what libraries to use and how to compose them together effectively
Managing Content:
- Grafana dashboards for Megalinter across all Practicalli repositories
- Review design of Grafana dashboards and identify changes to enhance management of Practical.li content
Geeking out
- New monitor and review
Hyprland & Wayland on Debian Linux - advantages and constraints currently experienced. Wayland is fast but not all the apps I use are fully supported.- Evaluating the Hyprland experience using ArchLinux. Hyprland is moving fast and is not a desktop experience like Regolith, so am experimenting with nwg-shell and all its tools to create a full desktop experience.
Hyprland referencesλ︎
- Install hyprland on Linux - Its FOSS
- JaKooLit/Arch-Hyprland Hyprland & Archlinux install script
- gaurav210233/simple-hyprland
New Monitorλ︎
To help manage the Practicalli workflow more effective I have invested in a larger monitor with a 5120x2160 resolution, known as a 5k2k monitor.
Several 5k2k monitors were considered
- Dell U4025QW IPS Black panel, Thunderbolt, USB hub, Network KVM: YouTube Review, Text review
- Philips 40B1U6903CH W-LED panel, lots of ports, built-in webcam and hook for headphones
- LG 40wp95cp-w Nano IPS panel, limited number of ports
The Dell monitor was the only monitor using an "IPS Black" panel, providing the closest color experience to an OLED monitor (without the challenges of OLED).
The Dell monitor had lots of excellent reviews and a few extra touches that set it apart from the others.
Lots more USB ports (A and C) which are available via the Thunderbolt ports (Thunderbolt is a USB-C port that also provides power).
An Ethernet port connects the monitor the local network and will share that connection with any computer connected.
The Thunderbolt (USB-C) port connects the monitor to the laptop, sharing the ethernet connection and any USB devices connected (Video Camera, External Mic, Model 100 Keyboard). The Thunderbolt port provides plenty of power to charge up the laptop too.
Network KVM to control any computer on the local network (still have to try this).
Scan.co.uk had a very good 1 day deal with 200 GBP, compared to the price anywhere else, so I took the plunge and I have no regrets so far.
OLED not considered... yet
OLED panels are excellent for a gaming monitor or where ever the screen pixels are in constant change (or black).
There is a risk of burn-in when using an OLED panel for desktop productivity (coding, research, graphic design) as parts of the screen may not change all day (e.g. status bars, browser tabs, etc). OLED monitors should include software to mitigate the risk of burn-in, although these can be distracting.
Third generation Quantum Dot OLED (QD-OLED) panels have greatly improved the text sharpness, especially on monitors with Pixels Per Inch (PPI) of 140 usually found on 4k and 5k monitors. For general use this text quality should be fine. QD-OLED would not be as sharp as an IPS monitor though, especially with an IPS Black panel.
Arm Mounting Monitorsλ︎
The Dell monitor provides a very sturdy stand with some mobility. Mounting on a sturdy arm gives greater flexibility in movement and positions available
I already have Thingyclub mounting arms which can hold the weight of the Dell monitor, although the tension is close to the maximum. I also use arms to mount laptops, positioning the laptop screen relative to the monitor position. Mounting the laptops also makes more desk space. The Lenovo Thinkpad laptops fold out flat, so they take very little space
A mechanical keyboard is used to drive the laptops, rather than their own keyboard. Practicalli uses Keyboard.io Model 100 keyboards.
Secret Labs have excellent heavy duty monitor arms with optional handles to making it very easy to position the monitor (without touching the monitor itself). They also have some really high quality desks too. These are premium products with a price tag to match, so should be considered a long term investment.
UltraArm also provide heavy duty monitor arms at a more modest price, although I havent carried out a comparison between the two products.
Secret Labs Magnus Heavy Duty Monitor Arm
Practicalli Blog publishing issueλ︎
The GitHub action workflow use to publish the Practicalli blog websites started failing two days ago when mkdocs-material version 9.5.45 was release.
Posts with only a date value started to fail the MkDocs build due to an issue with the date: format. Practically blog posts use the yyyy-mm-dd format without a time or timezone. When Material for MkDocs is comparing the date of the post with the current time an error occurs.
I temporarily resolved the issue by explicitly configuring Python PIP to install mkdocs-material version 9.5.44 package in the GitHub Action workflow file.
Optimise GitHub Org Log retentionλ︎
The Practicalli Org settings default to a 90 day retention time for logs from actions. This is more time than required for Practicalli books and blogs contained in the Org. Its probably far too long for the Clojure projects too.
The logs from the scheduled version action may be checked several days later, otherwise I typically on look at action logs on the same day they were run.
The Org Actions settings for artifact and log retention are now set for a maxiumum of 7 days.
I plan to reduce the action logs retention time even further for specific repositories, e.g. blogs and journals that are more frequently updated. Once the books are updated then I should be able to reduce the retention time for them too.
Lower retention time for motivation
The lower the retention time for action logs, the more encouragement I have to update library versions sooner ;)
Thank you.