Hello 👋 I'm Dan.

I do Cloud DevOps and write PHP. I also care about web performance and security.

Finally, new 13” MacBook Pros with a decent keyboard and 32GB of RAM are available! Purchased my model and should be delivered this time next week.

Put together my own squat rack for the home gym over the last two nights. Always fun to have a little project which is also practical.

All together cost me around $80 AUD and took approximately 5-6 hours to put together.

Watchmen goes down as my TV show of the year. Faithful carryon to the graphic novel, moving storyline, and a phenomenal score.

The Tesla Cybertruck

While being a very divisive design I think it’s beautiful. That 80s cyberpunk styling really speaks to me.

It’s clear that the designers were inspired by Blade Runner and sci-fi shows like The Expanse (this would’ve made a great promotional cross-over as a vehicle driven on Ilus in the latest season).

I would consider pre-ordering the vehicle but it still remains to be seen whether it’ll even be legal in Australia. Hell, the thing doesn’t even have side mirrors!

iOS 13.2.2 is out now - (apparently) fixes the random cellular data not available bug which has been bothering me since iOS 13.2. I was having to reboot my phone multiple times a day to rectify it.

AirPods Pro

I got a pair of AirPods Pro today, I’ve only tested them for around an hour or so but so I’m impressed.

The active noise cancelling is very good, especially noticeable in loud environments like train stations. The difference between that and “Transparency” mode, where it does ambient sound pass-through, is incredible.

I left in the default “normal” size ear tips, they feel comfortable enough to me. The Ear Tips Fit Test confirmed they’re suitable for my ears. The normal EarPods and AirPods have fit my ears fine in the past so I figure the default ear tips will be fine for most people, myself included.

I decided to get a pair because the commuting part of my day is spent on noisey trains and bustling stations which meant I would have to turn the volume of my headphones up to possibly dangerous levels. My hope is that by getting noise cancelling headphones it’ll help my hearing by letting me turn down the volume but still enjoying the audio experience.

So far, so good. I’ll post back in a few weeks to see whether I still feel the same way.

Considering adding my current Good Reads book in the banner of this site – has anyone tried this before?

My main concern is the fact that this is a static site, I want to avoid JavaScript, and I’m not sure how much of an API they have (if any). I think I’d need to make a hook to trigger a rebuild whenever my Good Reads status is updated.

Hoping to see more iOS 13 fixes soon. This major release has been a complete disaster, and embarrassing for Apple. Even watchOS has been plagued with woeful battery life.

My understanding is that iOS 13.2 and watchOS 6.1 should fix a majority of the battery issues, but I’m hoping for more serious bug and stability fixes.

Holding off on installing iOS 13.1 until a bugfix release. The number of moderate to bad issues in 13.1 is just too high for my liking. iOS 13 has been a very disappointing release, stability wise.

I’m constantly amazed by the power of the brain.

Today I opened up Valve’s Hammer level editor (for making Half-Life et al maps) for the first time in at least 12 years and straight away remembered the common shortcuts and was able to get working without having to go through heaps of documentation.

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