Hacker News: CarlJW

New comment by CarlJW in "All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027"

CarlJW — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 01:53:28 +0000

What good is a replaceable battery if the device becomes obsoleted by changing communication standards first? How long before 4G and 5G are phased out? What if we could have forward compatibility in our mobile network protocols?

New comment by CarlJW in "Show HN: uBlock filter list to blur all Instagram Reels"

CarlJW — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:58:42 +0000

IGPlus worked much better for me on Instagram. https://weblxapplications.com/en/products/igplus

For facebook I love Facebook Purity. Only problem is it's desktop only. https://www.fbpurity.com/

Edit, some things I've been able to us ublock origin for. Like facebook reels. Not 100% clean but enough to stop them from working (no video, just still thumbnail when you open them). In some ways that provides some reinforcement learning to the brain.

New comment by CarlJW in "Show HN: uBlock filter list to blur all Instagram Reels"

CarlJW — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:52:56 +0000

I use timelimit.io for managing screen time. Nice granular controls and schedule based rules.

I apply the 80/20 rule. 8 minutes allowed, followed by 2 minutes blocked. Then at night I reverse it. 2 minutes allowed, 8 minutes blocked. Just enough time to make one search query and then get off my phone. Or if I do get trapped by something, it's only for a short time.

https://timelimit.io/en/

New comment by CarlJW in "Show HN: uBlock filter list to blur all Instagram Reels"

CarlJW — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:47:28 +0000

This works on Firefox Mobile. I use it on Android and my Desktop without any issue.

I'll add also, for the odd thing that this doesn't filter, then I use uBlock Origin to filter that particular element.

New comment by CarlJW in "Show HN: uBlock filter list to blur all Instagram Reels"

CarlJW — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:26:13 +0000

Great! The more solutions to filter unwanted content on the internet the better.

Sometimes we find ourselves stuck having to use a particular platform because that's where the group chat is.

I've had great success with Firefox and the Social Focus extension. Works on a number of different sites including YouTube, Reddit and Instagram.

https://socialfocus.app/

New comment by CarlJW in "I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard"

CarlJW — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 06:21:50 +0000

I'll just add this tip for those who struggle with this sort of thing.

I leave the empty basket in front of the machine, which for me happens to be somewhere where I'll pass by frequently until I need to take it out. That keeps it 'in sight, in mind'. Heck you could even put it in the kitchen to remind you.

I don't like the extra complexity that often comes with digital solutions, but I do like having a system. The simpler and less thought required, the better.

I do this for a number of different things. Rather than put it on a list I put it somewhere where it's in the way.

New comment by CarlJW in "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)"

CarlJW — Sun, 09 Nov 2025 21:47:50 +0000

Selfhosting via yunohost, especially loving Immich and Actual Budget. I'm not in IT but I use Linux and it has been easy enough for me to set up.

Also making personalised Christmas t-shirts in Inkscape. I love what you can do with open source tools!

New comment by CarlJW in "Ask HN: Abandoned/dead projects you think died before their time and why?"

CarlJW — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:56:11 +0000

Warnier Orr Diagrams. Too early for the internet and adoption into UML.

Think flowcharts crossed with pseudocode but following Structured Programming principles.

Very useful for mocking up, designing and testing code logic before you write it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warnier/Orr_diagram

New comment by CarlJW in "CADmium: A local-first CAD program built for the browser"

CarlJW — Mon, 27 May 2024 01:20:02 +0000

As a user of QCAD I am more than happy to pay the extra for the features in the commercial version and support the developer (Not vastly different but adds a few tools that make certain constructions easier). I used it free for a while and appreciated it enough to exchange some money. The extra features are a bonus but it's worth the money even for the free version.

I think it's a shame that LibreCAD has stagnated and diverted, particularly on usability. QCAD has one of the best 2D CAD UX I've used, akin to AutoCAD but more light and nimble. Exactly what is needed for most 2D CAD.

If you need a powerhouse, then you really need 3D anyway, and most likely you aren't a hobbiest if that's the case. For 2D, it's QCAD all the way. 3D is nice, but 2D gets the job done 9/10 times. 3D is overrated.

New comment by CarlJW in "Show HN: Exponentile – A match 3 game mixed with 2048"

CarlJW — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 23:51:08 +0000

Very addicting game. I love it.

One of the things that made 2048 great was that you could spam the keyboard to play it more quickly.

This game could benefit similarly with additon of keyboard controls via numpad. So you would enter coords and then the position to move it to. I.e. press 5,5 then 5,6. Alternatively enter coords then press an arrow key.

Could also just use arrow keys and space bar to move a cursor, but I think numpad would be faster.

Currently quite time consuming to play having to click and click, and the animation speed could be faster.

Gonna lose some sleep playing this haha.