tjansen

Didn't have much time to try it this morning, but so far the Herdr app looks fantastic. I am already using herdr on the console to control Claude on my Mac Mini, but having to log in again after closing my Macbook was always annoying. And I missed seeing the code diffs and being able to commit changes in VSCode, which is still my preferred development environment today (with the Claude VSCode extension).

But Herdr app addresses both issues. I don't need to reconnect, and it has a diff tool that allows me to review and commit. Looking forward to work with it!

I would recommend Downread.com, but that’s because I am the author. Fully on the web, no self-hosting, forever free for everyone who signs up as long as the current servers can handle it. Works well as PWA (apps coming soon).

The most common browser-based readers are Inoreader and Feedly. Inoreader has more features, but I prefer Feedly’s UI.

I don't read Phrack, but I tested your feed.xml feed. I think there are some challenges: - posting lots of posts all with the same pubDate can confuse readers. Not sure all will handle that.

- wrapping the text in <pre> is probably the only way to handle that fixed-width-font magazine, but I am having trouble reading it with my default feed settings. I need to scroll horizontally to read it.

- Please add a square feed icon to the feed. Makes it look nicer and easier to recognize in a long list of feeds.

> is it really me that is producing?

You can ask the same question when you lead a team of developers. To me, it doesn't really matter what or who is producing. Using whatever tools, I create something that did not exist before.

> you will be at the exact same spot you are right now

I don't think so. I am getting more efficient at delegating things.

> may be easily outraced by someone else who just as well prompts an ai

True. But there is no way to prevent that.

> what is your metric for "productivity" exactly?

Releasing a major project in about a year (downread.com) while having several ones in the pipeline. Far more than I was able to do in previous years with similar time commitment.

> that vaguely understands the problem

This is not my experience at all (mostly with Opus). It can understand and explain to me even complex programs. And then edit them. Usually it solves tasks on the first attempt, if the instructions were precise enough (and with every new release, Opus needs less and less handholding / context).

> do you get your llm to bring a novel solution to a problem > that hasnt been explored before?

No. But if I explain a novel solution to the LLM, it can create a complete implementation far faster than I ever could.

> do you even learn anything new

Usually not, unless I work in an area I have no experience in (like setting up an iOS app). But that's not even the point. I don't do it to learn; I do it to build products that either don't exist yet, or are better than the existing ones. These projects are no rocket science, but they are very labour-intensive.

Interesting idea (on a web site that is hard to use).

AI taught me that I don't really like programming per se. I was very good at it, I believe, but it's never been what I really wanted. I want to build stuff. AI let's me do it faster than ever before. But more important: it takes care of the boring, tedious stuff that caused me to abandon far more projects than I completed.

So far, 2026 has been my most productive year, by great margin. Things that I wouldn't have even dreamed of starting became possible. And the pace keeps accelerating.

Oh, wow, the Falcon was so cool when it came out, especially the 56k DSP. Back then computer magazines were quite technical, and there were articles about the 56k and how to program it. I remember seeing the Falcon at some local Atari trade fair and desperately wanted to have it. Unfortunately it was way way too expensive for me as a teenager. And even then, Atari fans dreamed that the Falcon would take off, and the announced MultiTOS would bring people back. But deep down everybody knew that it didn’t have a chance against PCs.

There are services that do this, like OpenRSS, but I don't think they are intended for websites offering a RSS feed. You should do that with whatever software you use to create the HTML.

Typically only with whitelisted URLs/hosts.

Well, it's downread.com, still in beta, but very usable and nearly feature-complete. Not sure what else to say. I strive to make it better than the competition :) HTML/Styles is one aspect. I am not aware of any other RSS reader that supports styles in articles as well. Downread even supports CSS, CMS-specific CSS classes, Tailwind, and custom styling for difficult, popular feeds.

Regarding the habit... I don't know, doing it forever. Whenever I have a moment to read, I open it. Before Downread, it was Feedly, and before Feedly, Google Reader, and before Google Reader, I don't know, some desktop app. It's pretty much the only way I read, and I read a lot.

I don't get it. You don't declare any RSS feed on your site. Do you mean you consume RSS feeds to create the HTML?

I had a similar experience with my landing page for downread.com. I don't know whether the design looks vibe-coded, but I don't think anyone would put that much effort into a hand-coded homepage: the landing page (as well as the feature page) uses interactive, partially animated 'screenshots' that simulate aspects of the app. All buttons either do something or open a pop-up explaining what the button does.