Leon Mika
@lmika.org
Software Developer and occasional writer of music. Based in Melbourne, Australia.
I think half the value of using coding agents is just having something to rubberduck with. You pose it a problem, it suggests something which doesn’t work, then while you’re trying to come up with a reply with why it’s wrong, you find the solution yourself (this happened to me today).
January 31, 2026 at 3:20 AM
I think half the value of using coding agents is just having something to rubberduck with. You pose it a problem, it suggests something which doesn’t work, then while you’re trying to come up with a reply with why it’s wrong, you find the solution yourself (this happened to me today).
More work on assets for my niece’s game. This time I tried something organic: a tree. Not the most difficult organic thing, I agree. Need to build up to the hard things.
January 30, 2026 at 11:39 PM
More work on assets for my niece’s game. This time I tried something organic: a tree. Not the most difficult organic thing, I agree. Need to build up to the hard things.
Amazing win by Alcaraz in the mens semifinals of the Australian Open. What a match: 5 sets, 3 tie-breakers, 5 hours and 27 minutes. That was not an easy win.
January 30, 2026 at 9:24 AM
Amazing win by Alcaraz in the mens semifinals of the Australian Open. What a match: 5 sets, 3 tie-breakers, 5 hours and 27 minutes. That was not an easy win.
🛠️ exe.dev: Persistent VMs via SSH
Managed VMs via SSH. Signed up for this, although I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to use it for.
Managed VMs via SSH. Signed up for this, although I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to use it for.
January 30, 2026 at 7:21 AM
🛠️ exe.dev: Persistent VMs via SSH
Managed VMs via SSH. Signed up for this, although I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to use it for.
Managed VMs via SSH. Signed up for this, although I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to use it for.
Finished reading: Open by Andre Agassi 📚
Heard a few people recommend this, for good reason. This was a pretty good read. You don’t need to be a tennis enthusiast to enjoy it.
Heard a few people recommend this, for good reason. This was a pretty good read. You don’t need to be a tennis enthusiast to enjoy it.
January 29, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Finished reading: Open by Andre Agassi 📚
Heard a few people recommend this, for good reason. This was a pretty good read. You don’t need to be a tennis enthusiast to enjoy it.
Heard a few people recommend this, for good reason. This was a pretty good read. You don’t need to be a tennis enthusiast to enjoy it.
It’s a bit of a shame that I start browsing social media (or posting on Micro.blog) when I start listening to music on the way home. No longer “present” and actually listening to the music. Maybe I need to add a feature to Alto Player that’ll pause the music when I switch apps. 😀
January 28, 2026 at 5:57 AM
It’s a bit of a shame that I start browsing social media (or posting on Micro.blog) when I start listening to music on the way home. No longer “present” and actually listening to the music. Maybe I need to add a feature to Alto Player that’ll pause the music when I switch apps. 😀
TIL you can Option drag things that have a MacOS URL scheme into Obsidian to create a link to them. Managed to do this for both a file and an email.
January 28, 2026 at 2:23 AM
TIL you can Option drag things that have a MacOS URL scheme into Obsidian to create a link to them. Managed to do this for both a file and an email.
Is there no bigger admission that a unit test is unreliable than attempting to fix it with a sleep? Ugh!
January 27, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Is there no bigger admission that a unit test is unreliable than attempting to fix it with a sleep? Ugh!
Reason Go should add enums number 5,132: you’re not left up to runtime checks to verify that an enum value is invalid. You can rely on the type system to do that. It’s all well and good to implement marshallers and unmarshallers that ve... https://lmika.org/2026/01/27/reason-go-should-add-enums.html
January 26, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Reason Go should add enums number 5,132: you’re not left up to runtime checks to verify that an enum value is invalid. You can rely on the type system to do that. It’s all well and good to implement marshallers and unmarshallers that ve... https://lmika.org/2026/01/27/reason-go-should-add-enums.html
Thinking more about TextEdit, there seems to be a tension between the expectation of the user and platform owner. I can see TextEdit being a great testbed for any new feature the platform owner wants to add: iCloud Sync, AI writ... https://lmika.org/2026/01/27/thinking-more-about-textedit-there.html
January 26, 2026 at 9:38 PM
Thinking more about TextEdit, there seems to be a tension between the expectation of the user and platform owner. I can see TextEdit being a great testbed for any new feature the platform owner wants to add: iCloud Sync, AI writ... https://lmika.org/2026/01/27/thinking-more-about-textedit-there.html
Chalk me up as someone who hates that TextEdit persists Untitled files. I use such windows as in-memory scratchpads that sometimes contain pretty sensitive information I do not want saved. It’s especially problematic when iCloud synchronises them to computers you’re not expecting them to appear on.
January 26, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Chalk me up as someone who hates that TextEdit persists Untitled files. I use such windows as in-memory scratchpads that sometimes contain pretty sensitive information I do not want saved. It’s especially problematic when iCloud synchronises them to computers you’re not expecting them to appear on.
Was not expecting to spend yesterday morning working on Dequoter, my Boop clone. Opened it up to do some light work and when I looked up, a couple of hours have passed. Added a few more processors to deal with lines, such as splitting a... https://lmika.org/2026/01/26/was-not-expecting-to-spend.html
January 25, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Was not expecting to spend yesterday morning working on Dequoter, my Boop clone. Opened it up to do some light work and when I looked up, a couple of hours have passed. Added a few more processors to deal with lines, such as splitting a... https://lmika.org/2026/01/26/was-not-expecting-to-spend.html
I’ve been playing taxi driver for these Honeybrown Beetles a fair bit recently. This is my third pickup in a fortnight.
January 24, 2026 at 9:09 PM
I’ve been playing taxi driver for these Honeybrown Beetles a fair bit recently. This is my third pickup in a fortnight.
Hot day today. Perfect snake weather.
January 24, 2026 at 7:54 AM
Hot day today. Perfect snake weather.
Have finished a working version of my game for my niece. It’s only the free typing mode for now, which is essentially a basic text editor, with some colour options mapped to keys F1 through to F8. I’ve deployed a browser-based version of it if you’re curious.
January 24, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Have finished a working version of my game for my niece. It’s only the free typing mode for now, which is essentially a basic text editor, with some colour options mapped to keys F1 through to F8. I’ve deployed a browser-based version of it if you’re curious.
Added my 👍 to the other 192 on this Go proposal to add generics to methods. Great idea! I’ve been wishing for this for a while.
January 23, 2026 at 8:43 PM
Added my 👍 to the other 192 on this Go proposal to add generics to methods. Great idea! I’ve been wishing for this for a while.
HV #old Submission: https://lmika.org/2026/01/23/hv-old-submission.html
My submission for Hemispheric View’s request for fun and interesting computer peripherals.
My submission for Hemispheric View’s request for fun and interesting computer peripherals.
January 23, 2026 at 12:56 AM
HV #old Submission: https://lmika.org/2026/01/23/hv-old-submission.html
My submission for Hemispheric View’s request for fun and interesting computer peripherals.
My submission for Hemispheric View’s request for fun and interesting computer peripherals.
One part of me wonders whether this would’ve been caught earlier if I spent some more time analising the possible approaches for this refactor. Honestly, I don’t think I would. It’s not like I rushed into the schma changes without any thoug... https://lmika.org/2026/01/22/one-part-of-me-wonders.html
January 22, 2026 at 4:31 AM
One part of me wonders whether this would’ve been caught earlier if I spent some more time analising the possible approaches for this refactor. Honestly, I don’t think I would. It’s not like I rushed into the schma changes without any thoug... https://lmika.org/2026/01/22/one-part-of-me-wonders.html
Argh! Was almost at the end of a major refactor when I ran into an issue, involving a database index, which completely invalidated my approach. Just blew up a days worth of work. I could potentially remove the database index — I don’t think it’s being used — but it could come in handy later.
January 22, 2026 at 4:09 AM
Argh! Was almost at the end of a major refactor when I ran into an issue, involving a database index, which completely invalidated my approach. Just blew up a days worth of work. I could potentially remove the database index — I don’t think it’s being used — but it could come in handy later.
Went to boardgames tonight. I’ll be honest: I didn’t feel like it. But I’m glad I did. Ending the night feeling quite better.
January 21, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Went to boardgames tonight. I’ll be honest: I didn’t feel like it. But I’m glad I did. Ending the night feeling quite better.
🔗 TawakiCam Live
Live penguin camera stream set-up on Antipodes Island (for now). For anyone who likes penguins, which I think is everyone.
Via: @georgepenney.bsky.social on Bluesky
Live penguin camera stream set-up on Antipodes Island (for now). For anyone who likes penguins, which I think is everyone.
Via: @georgepenney.bsky.social on Bluesky
January 21, 2026 at 1:48 AM
🔗 TawakiCam Live
Live penguin camera stream set-up on Antipodes Island (for now). For anyone who likes penguins, which I think is everyone.
Via: @georgepenney.bsky.social on Bluesky
Live penguin camera stream set-up on Antipodes Island (for now). For anyone who likes penguins, which I think is everyone.
Via: @georgepenney.bsky.social on Bluesky
Reposted by Leon Mika
Also, because this is so wonderful. Crested penguins/tawaki. Live! I love this sooo much.
tawaki.cam
tawaki.cam
TawakiCam Live
Live penguin camera stream. This is a temporary Antipodes Island setup until TawakiCam is relocated to a Fiordland tawaki/Fiordland penguin nest site.
tawaki.cam
January 21, 2026 at 1:34 AM
Also, because this is so wonderful. Crested penguins/tawaki. Live! I love this sooo much.
tawaki.cam
tawaki.cam
Finding myself drawing a circle with my finger on my laptop’s trackpad whenever I want to lock it. The reason is that I need to bring up the Touch Bar to press the lock key. Maybe one day I’ll learn the shortcut.
January 20, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Finding myself drawing a circle with my finger on my laptop’s trackpad whenever I want to lock it. The reason is that I need to bring up the Touch Bar to press the lock key. Maybe one day I’ll learn the shortcut.
The view under Kings Way.
January 20, 2026 at 8:12 PM
The view under Kings Way.