I’m back up to speed after a great vacation with the family. I’m looking forward to a few live streams on Twitch this week and a special video drop later this week. Honestly, it’s one of the most fun projects I’ve worked on in a long time and has really got my creative juices flowing.
But the whole process had me thinking “this is totally how my mind works. I was made for this.” Have you ever felt that way about something? I wonder how many people work to fund the things they’re really passionate about versus those who get to do what they’re passionate about for a living. Where would you say you fall on that spectrum? DM me on X @michaeljolley and let me know. Also, tell me what really gets you excited, even if it’s not tech related. I love hearing people talk about the things that excite them.
Heck, I spent an hour explaining the rotation of the Earth around the sun and its axis to my 7-year-old son yesterday. Then somehow, that led to a discussion about Einstein’s theory of relativity. I’m not sure how much he retained, but I love science and was having so much fun talking about various physics theories.
See you online! Michael
permalinkInteresting Finds
- StreamDeck clone built with Framework laptop parts: I’ve been so interested in the Framework laptops because they’re so modular. I love the ability to really mod and upgrade your laptop as it ages. In this video, the components of a Framework laptop are used to build a StreamDeck clone that can run Windows.
- Ampt has officially launched: Like other platforms (Netlify/Vercel), Ampt is built on top of AWS, and makes it easier to build Node.js applications that run in the cloud. It really seems like building a Node.js app in a container and running it there, without the containerization part.
- The Code that Makes Mario Move: Chris in our Discord shared this video last week and it was so cool to watch. I love the old Mario, Zelda & Tetris games, so seeing the code behind it is always awesome.
- DarkMatter: If you have contributors to your Astro site that aren’t experienced with Git or IDE’s, DarkMatter might be the answer. It’s a Mac-only app that allows users to edit Astro content collections in a WYSIWYG editor.
- publint: When it comes to publishing new packages, publint is my new best friend. It downloads a packages tarball into a web worker and runs publint against it to let you know if the package is published correctly. It also provides suggested changes to make the package better.
- TLDR Newsletter: TLDR is a daily email sent to over a million subscribers daily. I really appreciate that it isn’t massive so I can get a taste of what’s going on in tech each morning with very little lift on my part.
- Are The Types Wrong!?: If you’re building with TypeScript the last thing you want to do is install a package to find out it doesn’t include types. In fact, the only thing worse is when the included types are wrong. Are The Types Wrong lets you review any npm package to test whether types exist and if they’re correct.
- TypeScript Documentary: I got to watch the premiere of this last week and it is a fantastic look at how TypeScript came to be and how it grew in the JavaScript community.
- JavaScript is getting array grouping methods: Having been a .NET developer for so many years, it’s always weird to read articles like this. I can’t imagine not having things like LINQ that have existed in .NET for years. That said, these are much overdue additions.
- CSS Variables 101: When I rebuilt the baldbeardedbuilder.com website, I decided to leave TailwindCSS and Sass behind. I’ve used them together for years, but with CSS variables I felt like I could probably build a smaller CSS bundle myself, and I was right. If you’re not familiar with CSS variables, this is a great getting started guide.
- Computer Engineering for BIG Babies: This Kickstarter project is for an interactive book that teaches electronic circuits. The original was an amazing book, and this revision definitely takes it to the next level.
- Windows 11, now with Copilot AI: I’m pretty sure everyone saw this coming, and I’m here for it! I can’t wait to upgrade all my Windows devices and start playing with Copilot to help me work faster.
permalinkBuild with Me Weekly
This week in the Build with Me Community:
permalinkCommunity Content
- Michael released Visual Studio Outlining, a VS Code extension that adds the outlining (or folding) functionality that has existed in Visual Studio for years.
permalinkThankful Thursday Highlights
Thankful that its TOKYO GAME SHOW this weekend I last went in 2008.
— Ted
I’m thankful for this new mattress. Who knew our old one was so bad after 20 years?
— Michael