Iain McLaren
@imclaren.bsky.social
Technology, IP, and privacy and data protection lawyer, director, and manager. Golang, iOS, and macOS developer. calmdocs.com. calmtasks.com. calmshows.com. iainmclaren.com.
Introducing calmjo, an app to play Jo on your iPhone.
Jo is the greatest card game ever invented | Iain McLaren
iainmclaren.com
Thank you @ for running infosec.exchange. I just renewed my annual donation. If you have the means, please support your maintainers.
List of mysteries #43: Why is #sqlite now simpler to backup and restore using write ahead logging (WAL) than #postgresql ?
Counter example and anti-flex: I did not see Aladdin (1992) in the cinema because why would an animated movie be good?
It's here! The first in my Indie Apps Showcase series features a handful of faves from the comment section of my callout post last week. Thanks to everyone who submitted an app – those I missed this time might turn up in the next one.
Indie Apps Showcase: 6 hidden App Store gems for July 2026
Apple gets more than 1,000 app submissions every hour, meaning it’s tougher than ever to find something that’s worth your time.
tapsmart.com
Well, at least I am using up my claude max subscription tokens again by using fable. It seems markedly faster/smarter but also seems to still have the same broad limitations.
I have 4 reasonably vanilla apps on the Apple app store. Maybe I am an outlier but I don't have app review complaints. Review times have ebbed and flowed a bit over the years but are generally within 12 to 24 hours. Rejections were always logical and quickly approved once I fixed the problems.
A service where if your kid wants to get inked we send a Millennial with a Hufflepuff tattoo to your house.
Had a great discussion over coffee about intended and unintended consequences today. If I send a query via email or chat and receive an AI response then I am unlikely to ever contact that person or organisation again. Sometimes that is their intended outcome, and if so, congratulations! :)
Every night, thousands of Australians experience homelessness. But it doesn't have to be that way. This year I'm taking part in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout to raise money for the St Vincent de Paul Society to support Australians in need. For one night, I'll be sleeping outside as part of an eye-opening
Iain McLaren
This June, I’m taking part in the 2026 Vinnies CEO Sleepout to help people facing homelessness – and I’d love your support. For one night, I’ll give up my bed and sleep out on cardboard to gain a small insight into what too many people experience every day. Will you donate to help me reach my goal? [insert fundraising page link] Your support will help provide accommodation, meals, emergency assistance and long-term solutions that transform lives. Please dig deep to help me reach my goal.
ceosleepout.org.au
Why do my off the cuff 2 minute takes often get far more traction than my carefully thought out posts?
“The first time someone comes to you with an idea, listen closely, because how you handle it will dictate how they choose to contribute in the future.” — Will Guidara
@gruber.foo re your post on tobacco taxes, beware the laffer curve!: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
Australia's illicit tobacco problem could get worse due to perfect storm
Internal tobacco industry data estimates the illicit tobacco market now makes up 64 per cent of all tobacco consumed in Australia and 82 per cent of the total nicotine consumed.
abc.net.au
TIL that #postgresql indexes can silently corrupt. Queries will still run happily but really really slowly.
Huh. A week ago, if you searched for calmshows in the app store (the exact name for one of my apps), the app did not appear. Now it's the first result again. #thanksapple #fixed
calmshows is a fun app that I built to track when your favourite tv shows and movies are available. No ads, no distractions, just joy. One minor complaint. If you search for 'calmshows' on the appstore it does not appear. It used to be the first or second hit! apps.apple.com/au/app/calmsho...
calmshows App - App Store
Download calmshows by Elaine Bevington on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips and more apps like calmshows.
apps.apple.com
"How is everyone enjoying their singularity?" geohot.github.io/blog/jekyll/...
I Told You So
My quote from 2019
geohot.github.io
Is there an awesome micromodels site that shows models of different types that can run on a 2 cpu host with 4gb of ram?
New most common prompt: You compacted halfway through. Please do a git diff, check the changes, and compare with our following original instructions: ...
Wow. I submitted an app to the Apple App Store and it was accepted for distribution without a single rejection. One and done. That has never happened before. It's like a magical unicorn.
The future is already here — it's just not evenly distributed. – William Gibson
The Real Future of AI Is Ordering Mid Chicken at Bojangles
This month I ordered a meal at the Bojangles drive-thru in South Carolina, which is now using AI. This is how AI becomes the background noise of the world.
404media.co
Waiting for Godot is waiting for the claude usage limit to reset
Current status. Using two claude instances to update two projects using two programming languages at the same time while listening to an audiobook and posting to social media. What could possibly go wrong?
"Quitting programming as a career right now because of LLMs would be like quitting carpentry as a career thanks to the invention of the table saw."
Table saws
Quitting programming as a career right now because of LLMs would be like quitting carpentry as a career thanks to the invention of the table saw.
simonwillison.net