Context privateering: debugging custom instructions like a pirate
I occasionally add context instructions to an AI tool, but then am not sure whether those changes were picked up by the tool. The fun way to debug this is to add “Always speak like a pirate” to the instructions. This works in all tools. Context engineering!
Context
I use LLM tools like Claude Code. These come with the ability to customise the context fed to the model with files like ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md or /CLAUDE.md, which can be used for personal and/or project-specific guidelines and tips.
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November 25, 2025
Television is the Worst
It’s gotten to the point where I almost pathologically avoid television shows. Name a popular tv show from the last 20 years and there’s a good chance I haven’t seen it. Game of Thrones? Nope. Succession? Nope. Mr Robot? Nope. Breaking Bad? I saw the first two seasons and gave up. Strangers Things? Also gave up after two seasons.
It’s been difficult for me to articulate exactly why I don’t find television that captivating. After all, I grew up on television. Name a popular tv show from the 80s...
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November 24, 2025
Machine knitting: neckli(n)e / show-and-tell!
This post is part of a series, as I play catch-up on KnitFactoryImpl's knitalong of a set in sleeve crew neck sweater for channel members.
After completing the front panel, only one major on-the-machine task remains for this sweater, and that's the neckline.
This is easy to explain conceptually: connect the front and the back by seaming them together at one shoulder, rehang all the stitches on the knitting machine, knit some rows for the collar, then cast off on waste yarn.
Still, I was dreading...
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November 24, 2025
Why does XAML break down when I have an element that is half a billion pixels tall?
You've far exceeded the design goals and have even exceeded the expressive ability of a float.
The post Why does XAML break down when I have an element that is half a billion pixels tall? appeared first on The Old New Thing....
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November 24, 2025
Building a Different Kind of Agency: Inside 14islands’ People-First Creative Vision
A look inside 14islands, a creative agency shaping digital products through creative storytelling and a strong, people-centered culture....
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November 24, 2025
Format Swift with a Git Commit Hook
How do you automatically format your Swift code every time you commit it to your Git repository?
Swift Format
There are several Swift formatting tools. Xcode 16 shipped with swift-format included in the toolchain:
$ xcrun --find swift-format
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/
XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/swift-format
To run the formatter:
$ swift format MyFile.swift
Note: This runs the swift-format bundled with the active Xcode development directory (beta or release).
Con...
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November 24, 2025
Book Review – Just Use Postgres!
Introduction My friend, Denis Magda, wrote a wonderful book called Just Use Postgres!, and I’m glad that I got the chance to read it. Audience This book is useful for any software developer who’s either using PostgreSQL or plans on using it because it covers a lot of features that are very useful for modern applications. No matter your level of seniority, you are definitely going to learn from Denis’ book. Content Just Use Postgres! has 402 pages, 3 parts, and 11 chapters. The first part is an i...
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November 24, 2025
CodeSOD: Copied Homework
Part of the "fun" of JavaScript is dealing with code which comes from before sensible features existed. For example, if you wanted to clone an object in JavaScript, circa 2013, that was a wheel you needed to invent for yourself, as this StackOverflow thread highlights.
There are now better options, and you'd think that people would use them. However, the only thing more "fun" than dealing with code that hasn't caught up with the times is dealing with developers who haven't, and still insist on w...
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November 24, 2025
Notes from "The Story of the Typewriter"
Project Gutenberg, the free ebook library, has a page that shows you 20 books at random. After refreshing a couple of times, one title caught my eye: The Story of the Typewriter. The book was published in 1923 and covers the preceding 50 years of typewriter history, all the way back to 1873.
Though I’m inclined to trust the authority of anyone who maintains a very “Web 1.0” site, I wasn’t interested in an accurate history. Instead, I was keen to see how a 1920s author would write about the techn...
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November 24, 2025
Prompt Injection Isn’t a Vulnerability
OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. It can be a vulnerability. But it’s almost never the root cause....
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November 24, 2025