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So the 𝕏 logo above is taken from the X Brand toolkit and it looks ok and is a .png graphic. They also provide a .svg so you can create whatever size you need. But thats extra work managing images and who needs that?
The 𝕏 just above here isn't an image, its just a big single text character. <span style="font-size: 128pt;">𝕏</span>. This is much easier to deal with and the differences are imperceptible unless you line them up side by side.
Wait, whats this, the 𝕏 is just a font character!
Instead of using an image you can just use a Unicode symbol which has been around since 2001. Its called the Mathematical Double-Struck Capital X. Not exactly catchy but its helpful nonetheless. Because it has been around so long, it has widespread adoption in typefaces you might use. It also has what is known as an html entity, which makes it easy to type. Try 𝕏 on any web page editor and you'll see.
TL:DR — Mathematical Double-Struck Capital X was added to Unicode 3.1 in March 2001. Any difference from the X Corp design is imperceptible to me and it is trivial to add to any html page using and html entity 𝕏 which renders as 𝕏. Perfect!
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Read more: Quick and easy 𝕏 Logo for Twitter for documents and websites
Introduction – The X / Twitter landscape has changed
You know when you think a baby has finally exhausted their ability to tantrum by throwing their rattle our of their pram. And at that point they become more even more destructive including of themselves and end up uncontrollably screaming. Well, thats where we are with X, the site formerly known as Twitter and I've had it. I'm out.
There is no tinge of sadness really because the site I've known since 2009 and the development community there that I loved and helped to nurture has been eviscerated. Theres nobody left there of the old place. The new place is a strange new land where I don't want to participate anymore.
So with that, I'm deleting all my X / Twitter accounts except for my original one, which is going to be left to auto tweet this blog and that's it. No more DM's, no more interaction. Just pushing content out for clicks. Their loss.
TL:DR – "I believe X / Twitter is finished. Its MySpace, Bebo, Friends Reunited, Geocities, msn, Aim, and Icq moment has come. I've had it. I'm out."
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Read more: How to download tweets & delete your twitter account
Chromebooks have evolved. Their initial limitations have been overcome. Some models have emerged as contenders for development machines and theres probably no better place to look than at the sadly discontinued Google branded Chromebooks. All current new Chromebooks can run Android Studio for Linux, and Android simultaneously alongside the usual ChromeOS experience.
Once relegated to lightweight note-taking, these devices now have prowess, thanks to Google Play compatibility and the ability to run Android apps. The discerning developer audience, particularly those creating and testing Android apps, might just find a sweet spot here. Chromebooks enable app development without the sluggishness of emulators—offering the real deal with an authentic Android experience.
I still recommend the original Google Pixelbook i7, with its beautiful display, metal quality build and 16GB Ram and a 512GB SSD (at Computer Exchange for £290 in Spring 2024 - Google Pixelbook/i7-7Y75/16GB Ram/512GB SSD/13"/ChromeOS/B) or the newer widescreen Google Pixelbook Go i7, with 16GB Ram and a 256GB SSD (at Computer Exchange for £370 in Spring 2024 - Google Pixelbook Go/i7-8500Y/16GB Ram/256GB SSD/13"/ChromeOS/Just Black/B). These are still the best development chromebooks. Cheap chromebooks are awful. These are not! They make almost perfect development machines, excepting that you cannot build for iOS or macOS on a Chromebook, you will need a Mac for that!
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Kali Linux – The most advanced penetration distribution. Ever. On Windows 11, via Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
WSL enables you to run Linux on your Windows computer in a container. Kali provide this configuration via the Microsoft Store and its an easy way to get started if you already have Windows 11 and permission to install WSL and Kali Linux in your environment.
TL:DR – On Windows 11 with WSL 2.0 it "just works".
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Limited time deal – 48% for prime day - starts at £129.99, down from £249.99
The new Amazon Fire Max 11 (May 2023) is a formidable contender for the best budget tablet available. It represents the 13th generation of innovation from Amazon with Fire OS which underneath the Amazon launcher is based on Android 11 with API level 30. Fire Max 11 promises to redefine your digital media consumption experience and it delivers. You can also turn it into a pro level editing and communication tablet if you want to add android apps to make it better at everything but there's a catch, and that is that you must take some time to learn just enough about Android tools, side loading and the free and open source app stores and their apps to make it into your perfect tablet. This is not difficult, does not require any firmware hacks or rooting the device and it is well worth the effort.
I bought an Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet (newest gen), our most powerful tablet yet, vivid 11" display, octa-core processor, 4 GB RAM, 14-hr battery life, 128 GB, Grey, without Ads on Prime day (for £189.99 - it went back to regular pricing of £299 after. As of May 2026 it has a regular price starting at £249 with ads but is often on offer at Amazon UK. I have been using it for almost three years now, so this article is based on my real world lived experience of this device not a freebie for a reviewer. I have used it far more than my iPad Pro 11 (4th Gen) which was around 5-6 times the price and far too heavy. I have now sold the iPad and kept the Fire Max.
I didn't buy the Amazon case, keyboard or stylus. Instead i opted for an SanDisk 1TB Ultra micro SD card + SD adapter (For Android Smartphones and Tablets (£73 from Amazon), a Shockproof Soft Silicone Scratch-Resistant Flex TPU Bumper Tablet Case Transparent Protective Case (Clear) (£10 from Amazon) and a Matte anti glare screen protector (£7.95 for two from Amazon). The total cost of the tablet and all these accessories was £271.91. At under £20 to protect your tablet from scratches, I'll never understand why people don't bother with cases and screen protectors!
Anyway, lets transform this tablet from being for Amazon media consumption only to wow it can do everything I need. Read on.
TL:DR — It's a keeper. I've had it since July 2023 now and experienced no issues. It is light, far lighter than an iPad, which matters when you're holding it to watch a movie or sports and this plus the vivid display and excellent construction makes it an excellent content consumption device and more!
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Read more: Amazon Fire Max 11 - best value for the money tablet
mdls – lists the metadata attributes for the specified file
This command has been around for twenty years and Im slightly surprised I haven't come across it before. Every day is a learning point.
Using mdls to find lat long data in an image file
- Metadata List –
% mdls filenameand look at the man pages% man mdlsto find out more.
Seems like it would be very handy in a script. I cant find any more information about it or its origins. Drop me a note if you know more about where this command originated.
Leakage of your personal information via metadata
The trouble with images, is that they can contain a lot of personally identifiable data. You shoud be very careful indeed about where you share images without sanitising or removing the metatada.
Image file can contain the precise location of the picture, and the name and even the email address of the recipient, as well as the date and time and direction that the picture was taken in. These are potentially very personal items of data that you might not wish to share. Most social media photo uploads strip meta data but you cannot be absolutely sure and should be very careful about exposing this data randomly on the Internet!
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This article is about Getting started with the Power Platform / PowerApps command line interface (CLI). You might be wondering why no code or low code tools need a CLI but worry not because theres a completely clear explanation: "The Power Platform CLI (PowerApps CLI) works for both inner loop development and outer loop development. The inner loop is for when a developer wants to work on a project and build a new feature for instance. The outer loop is to make sure that what has been built, also can be deployed to other environments." I prefer to think of this as software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) and application lifecycle management (ALM). To me theres no separation of loop. I guess it might make sense for citizen developers / makers to be considered inner loop and pro developers to be outer loop but it seems a bit artificial.
Wait, what is the Power Platform CLI (PowerApps CLI)?
Seriously though, the Power Platform CLI is a vital set of utilities designed for developers with an emphasis on both single use and scriptability.
- Power Platform CLI is a single low level integration point for VSCodium (or VS Code), for GitHub Actions and for any other services that might benefit from scripting.
- Power Platform CLI provides a proper GitHub first developer experience for the wider power platform including pages, components, connectors, solutions, packages, installers and more
- Power Platform CLI uses the command line tool PAC with a wealth of administrative capabilities previously only accessible from the Power Apps Admin web console.
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Read more: Getting started with Power Platform PowerApps CLI
- Use an Apple Magic Mouse on Windows 11 PC
- Use GitHub to deploy your Power Platform app (part 4)
- Publish Power Apps securely via GitHub (part 3)
- Publish Power Apps securely via GitHub (part 2)
- Publish Power Apps securely via GitHub (Part 1)
- Intel based Mac Ventura update needed EFI firmware
- Multiple VMware virtual machines on a Mac Studio
- Is there an equivalent to Quick Look for macOS on Windows?
- Project setup in Jira
- Sprint setup in Jira
- Flutter on Intel Mac, and first app, in about 15 mins
- Kali Linux on EC2 in AWS for Pen Testing (Part 1)