188 TILs and counting...

Quickly react to recent message in Slack

Today I learned that you can react to the most recent message just by adding +. So you can type +:thumbsup: as the message it add it as a reaction to the most recent message instead of an individual message. You can also type ⌘⇧\ or ctrl⇧\ to open the emoji picker on the message.

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Move a line with :m

Today I learned that you can move the current line up or down with :m. :m +1 - moves down 1 line :m -2 - move up 2 lines I’m used to using dd followed by a movement and then p but I may try this alternate method.

Install SQL Server from the command line

I recently had to setup a new windows dev machine with a local instance of SQL Server and it turns out you can run it completely from the command line although it’s not very obvious how. Once you download the installer it will extract everything to a folder which contains the SETUP.exe executable which you can run from the terminal and pass all the options you want instead of clicking through the UI. ...

Use winget to install Git for Windows with Unix tools

For years I’ve been using Chocolately for quickly installing git on new Windows and it’s pretty handy. Recently though I looked into doing the same with winget since it comes built into Windows now which makes it easier to just give to the command to a co-worker. One thing I always do though is enable the option to add the common linux tools to the path. With Chocolately you could just add the /GitAndUnixToolsOnPath param like this: ...

Auto add pull request reviewers

Today I learned that Azure DevOps lets you automatically include reviewers for a pull request if modifies certain files. This is very similar to Github’s code owners file with the key difference being that you configure it through the repo setting in Azure DevOps instead of committing a file. I find this very useful for example if you’re a Front End Architect who wants to be aware of any changes to the UI or if you’re a DBA who wants to review any database migrations.

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Link directly to a VS code setting

Today I learned that you can link directly to specific VS Code settings using the vscode: URL scheme. They follow this format: vscode://settings/editor.formatOnSave, where you put the setting ID at the end of the URL. So if you click this link, VS Code should open straight to that setting. This is probably most useful for folks who like to write about VS Code features (like me), but it’s also handy if you’re helping like a teammate you can just send them a link to a setting to make it easier for them. ...

Fixing a bunny led night light

This effectively amounted to replacing a battery but I still learned some things along the way. It was thankfully easy to take the rubber case off which I expected to be glued or something but I just had to pull it off. This revealed the main board with the LEDs and the battery tucked underneath. It turned out to be a 18650 lithium battery. ...

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JST connectors

Today I learned that the following white connector you commonly see in electronic devices, is called a “JST connector”.

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Semantic line breaks (one sentence per line)

I just discovered Semantic Line Breaks. I could never decide on exactly how to do line breaks in markdown so I love that someone came up with a convention that’s been thought through. This led me to discover this post by Derek Sivers: Writing one sentence per line What’s interesting is that while he’s recommending the same approach, he suggests that it will improve your writing itself. Nicer git diffs is just a side benefit. 🙂 ...

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The “Inverted Pyramid” in journalism

Continue with the writing, Today I learned about the inverted pyramid in journalism: It’s a way to structure content so that it “begins with the details that readers care about most. As the article progresses, the focus shifts toward details that are relevant only to the most interested readers.” I came across it in this great post about How to Write Useful Commit Messages but is just as applicable to blog posts/reports/docs/emails. ...