Souls Like Strings

Everything sounds cooler en français

Why

• Creative and sometimes challenging puzzles
• Distinctive art-style and beautiful soundtrack
• Creepy vibes and story
• Easy to pick up & put down for quick sessions

Why Not

• Essentially a puzzle game, so if you dislike those it might not be for you

Impressions

It's crazy to me that this only has ~650 reviews at the time of writing, it's an absolute gem. The art style and music really drew me into the vague story, which is slowly revealed by conversations between a little girl, her shadow and a mysterious...

• I probably should have set up Playwright e2e tests for both projects we're responsible for consecutively
  • Now it's been long enough since the first I forgot the details but feel like it should be easier
  • Doesn't help that this time the React app is embedded in Rails
• Setting Playwright's baseUrl to host.docker.internal:port lets me make the initial request for the index page
  • But then the script/style tags still go to localhost:port since rails server/webpack doesn't know about the docker container
  • Rewriting the host to host.docker.internal fixes the tags, but breaks regular local dev
  • So either...

Atonement by Ian McEwan.

Home & Away style drama but compelling characters

When I look back on the plot it seems simple to the point of ridiculousness, but the emotional highs and lows carried me through so well while reading that I didn't notice. I wasn't expecting to get so attached to a bunch of aristocrats and their ward, but Briony, Cecilia and Robbie are all deeply flawed, deeply interesting people trying to do the best they can in the world as they see it.

Unfortunately for Cecilia & Robbie, Briony sees the world as a creative...

• It's entirely possible to write a Tanstack Query replacement that works
  • You probably shouldn't though, there are a lot of edge-cases/nice QoL features
  • Maybe makes more sense to roll your own for a work project, especially if you can re-use it?
  • Or for a personal project you're doing with the express purpose of learning

Links

The Programmer Identity Crisis - Simon Højberg

Another eloquent AI takedown which expresses my own distaste for the technology better than I ever could. I became a software engineer because I enjoyed writing code, making things and solving problems;...

What if INSIDE was a noir movie?

Why

• Very atmospheric & cinematic
• <2 hours to finish

Why Not

• You're playing on Steam Deck & don't like slideshows
• <2 hours to finish
• Missing the tension/sense of danger from INSIDE

Impressions

This is my first INSIDE-like after enjoying that game and its predecessor LIMBO quite a lot earlier this year. You're a helpless little raven girl in a big scary noir-style world which hates birds, only able to walk, jump and climb ladders.

While INSIDE puts the pressure on right out of the gate by having...