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I love the Dark+ Default Theme for vscode, but when programming in Python I always thought the class instance references (aka self) was too bright, which made the core in the class harder to read. Before: After: It’s pretty easy to customize any attribute in Visual Studio Code — you just need to know which token scope to use. With the cursor over the keyword, use Command Palette (CTRL-SHIFT-P) and select “Developer: Inspect Editor Tokens and Scopes” (official documentation). ...

I use a Logitech Performance MX wireless mouse, on Ubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish), with Gnome 3.30.2 Ubuntu 20.04, with Gnome 3.36.2. This mouse uses regular 1.2V AA NiMH rechargeable battery1, which usually lasts 3 months on a single charge The problem is that Ubuntu’s power system tries to detect how much voltage is left, and either the voltage sensors or the calculation algorithm is completely broken, so it starts to show notifications 6-8 weeks before it really runs out. ...

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is finally out, and with it you now have Gnome out of the box. I’ve been using Gnome for several years, and have enjoyed its minimalism. It took me some time to make it work like I wanted (keyboard, extensions, application menu, etc), but I’m quite happy with everything. Or almost everything. One thing I enjoyed over the years was the ability to customize my keyboard shortcuts. I have dozens of shotcuts - to center windows on my screen, to open programs, start and stop Spotify, to run macros, to log in to my remote servers, and so on. ...

5 years today, the world lost Aaron Swartz. A death motivated by the judicial extremism of our government, and indirectly caused by prosecutors who only cared about advancing their own careers, at any cost. Aaron was only 26, but already had an extensive list of contributions to society, internet, freedom of expression, and more. We can only imagine how much more he would have accomplished by now, particularly in the current political environment. ...

Exactly 14 years and 6 months ago to this day, I joined a small and weirdly named company called Impiric (formerly Wunderman Cato Johnson, later renamed back to Wunderman). The company was already part of WPP, but it was mostly seen as the direct marketing arm of Y&R. At the time we were doing 1:1 programs via direct mail and the then nascent email/web, plus building CRM/data/analytics platforms for clients. Over this period we went from a one-dimensional data/direct marketing agency to become the #1 digital network worldwide, with 7,000+ employees over 60 countries, and servicing some of the largest brands in the world. ...

Juraj Vaculik, from AeroMobil “Mark my word: A combination of an airplane and motorcar is coming. You may smile. But it will come…” [Henry Ford, 1940] Flying cars are not something new. The idea has been going around since the 19th century, even before the very first flight by Santos-Dumont (or Wright Brothers, depending on your bias). But it was The Jetsons who first brought the concept of flying cars to the masses. We grew up dreaming that one day we’d be able to get in our cars and fly straight to our destination - fast, safely, and traffic-free. ...

This is a prototype presented by a British startup, Novalia during the McDonald’s Startup Pitch session, as a way to re-engage consumers within their restaurants. We played with it for a few minutes, and the experience is pretty amazing. There’s no glass, buttons or anything to distract you. Just a set of small batteries on the back, and plain paper interface. ...

Jason “@textfile” Scott and Ernest Cline We’re incredibly lucky to be the very first generation to play videogames. The first generation to have a computer at home. To program computers. Heck, we’re the first generation to have access to the internet! And play multi-player games, and see the creation of virtual reality environments. But history moves fast, and every day content is lost when services are shut down, or bits start to rot in some old and incompatible device (floppy disks, anyone? VHS? Betamax? Jazz and Zip disks?). Sony just announced they’re shutting down PlayStation Mobile this July. Maybe the games will stored in a vault somewhere, but that’s the exception and not the rule. ...

With SXSW starting today, and with many friends attending for the first time this year, I thought it’d be interesting to compile my top 10 tips I learned the hard way over the years. Keep in mind I’m looking at this from the perspective of a hacker/maker/developer/digital marketing, so YMMV. Plan ahead, but not too much. With 800+ sessions this year, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But get over your FOMO, and enjoy the serendipity. You will miss many good sessions, and that’s OK. The best talk will be that one you didn’t plan, and just entered because your first option was full. ...

Sometimes you need to edit a file on a remote server, but using vim/emacs is not very practical, due to lag of screen refresh. TextMate users have the classic rmate, but it was implemented in Ruby, which may not be available on the remote server. A better option is to use this version of rmate, implemented in pure Bash. It’s a single file, self-contained, and with no external dependencies. Step by step: ...