This post is dedicated to Michał. Maybe it was growing up with a lot of Japanese friends and an interest in their consumer tech, or maybe its a family thing I got used to, but is a word with three letters. I (ab)use emoji everywhere. Text messages, instant messages, other kinds of messages. Friends and family will know something is wrong when I reply to a message without at least one gracing my text. Here comes the proverbial posterior prognostication: but… I also appreciate emoji aren’t...| Rubenerd
Renew Economy: David Dixon, from Rystag Energy, says renewables produced 8.48 terrawatt hours in September, the second highest ever, to claim a record share of generation of 48.8 per cent. That eclipsed coal for the first time, which accounted for 47.6 per cent over the month. Awesomesauce! Australian homes have installed solar at record-breaking rates, but this otherwise wonderful news is still too rare down here. Our beautiful continent bakes under the harshest sun in the world, we should b...| Rubenerd
We’re well and truly into spring down here now, and the weather is beautiful. I’m sitting outside at this coffee shop today while I do my work, and it’s doing wonders for my mood and productivity. I hope you’re going well, wherever you are. Thanks as always for taking time out of your own day to read my ramblings. ☀ By Ruben Schade in Sydney, 2025-10-03.| Rubenerd
Joe, Jim, and Allan answered a listener question about hard drive longevity on the 2.5 Admins podcast recently, and my experience tracks with their points as well. The episode also made me wonder what my typical drive life span is, and when I consider swapping them out. Hard drives have long been famous for their bathtub curve of reliability, in which they’re: Initially perceived as unstable or unreliable, resulting in warranty claims and replacements. It makes sense; if a drive is marginal...| Rubenerd
Yesterday’s entry about to do lists seemingly posted twice, I think because I changed the permalink and Git didn’t like it. That’s alright by me; I don’t like Git. But I also appreciate you are not me, which is probably best for both of us. In short: If you only saw one, accept my apologies for spamming your RSS reader with this redundant apology. If you saw two, pretend you only saw one, though accept my apologies for spamming your RSS reader. If you saw three, I… that’s impressi...| Rubenerd
Last month marked the two-year anniversary of the Artsakh war, in which hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians were cleansed of their homes, livelihoods, and history. As with Latvia, Armenia has had an oversized influence on my life (worth it’s own post at some point), so I’ve decided to do more of a serious post today and finally tackle something I believe warrants far more attention than it’s received, at least in the famously myopic Anglosphere. Armenia sits in the Caucusus region...| Rubenerd
I have struggled, struggled with to do lists. I cannot overstate just how much I’ve struggled. You could say there are these things called to do lists, and I’ve struggled with them. Struggled. I’ve struggled to choose one. Every to do list system comes with its own set of helpful features that I appreciate, and limitations or quirks I find frustrating enough to quit. Yes, I’ve tried the one you use, or are about to recommend. Web, mobile, console, desktop, text, LISP, paper, I’ve tr...| Rubenerd
On Monday I quoted a great news report by John Walker, but it only clicked today he was writing for Kotaku. I didn’t read them back in the day, in part because they were published by the same Gawker Media outfit behind Gizmodo. If the name rings a bell here, Sam Biddle ran a story in 2012 asking if his readers were willing to look as stupid as I did for the unannounced Apple Watch, and included a photo of me with an iPod Nano. (My sister worked at the Fruit Company at the time, and told me ...| Rubenerd
It’s the last #SciArtSeptember post, that series of prompts for data visualisation scientists and artists that I used for writing instead, on account of the topics being fun. I wanted to thank @kristinHenry again for the ideas, even if I perhaps used them in other ways. Accrete and accretion are two terms I remember from those childhood space magazines my dad used to buy me; most likely Quest. The cover of one of my favourite issues had an artist’s rendition of newly-formed star, in what ...| Rubenerd
Checking out and buying a scattering of stars from a local community college art exhibition.| Rubenerd
None of these companies are profitable, and their capital expenditures are only growing.| Rubenerd
A primer on what they are, how we deal with them, and how they pertain to so much modern tech.| Rubenerd
I also had an experience recently where I had to ask them to turn it off.| Rubenerd
You don’t need to generate stuff, you can make it yourself.| Rubenerd
Riffing off a post Julien Voisin wrote about sounds| Rubenerd
Entering Microsoft Bob on my 486 to take a look at some classic software I love.| Rubenerd
This was a bit of a ramble, but I had to get it off my chest.| Rubenerd
Finding and buying modern replacements for old| Rubenerd
A library from the late 2000s is missing the first track on a bunch of albums.| Rubenerd
I can’t believe the difference this made.| Rubenerd
By Ruben Schade in Sydney, Australia. 🌻| Rubenerd
Songs from Icehouse, Yothu Yindi, The Avalanches, Natalie Imbruglia, Crowded House, Bernard Fanning, Silverchair, Men at Work, Savage Garden, and Pendulum.| Rubenerd
By Ruben Schade in Sydney, Australia. 🌻| rubenerd.com
By Ruben Schade in Sydney, Australia. 🌻| rubenerd.com
Not detailing how to do it, but justifying why you'd want to.| rubenerd.com