Recently, I got the calculator app PCalc on my Mac, and its customisability is great, but by far the best feature is RPN. RPN (short for “Reverse Polish Notation”) is a different way of expressing calculations, where instead of the operator going between the operands (like in “6 × 7”), it goes after them both (like in “6 7 ×”). While I definitely do not advocate that you write your math like this on paper, it's an amazing way to enter your math for a calculator.

With RPN, as you start entering a number, it will go into the x register. Then, you can press return, and it will [Push] the values in all registiers up one level. In this case, the value you typed into the x register will move into the y register. If you [Push] again, the value in the y register moves into the 1 register, and another would would move it to the 2 register, and so on. Physical RPN calculators would have a finite number of registers (perhaps four) and call them by different names (like x, y, z and t), but PCalc has no problem magically creating new reigisters as you [Push] more and more numbers into it, though rarely are very many used.

After pushing the value you entered from x to y, you can start typing again, filling up the x register with a new value. Then press + to add the values in x and y together. That's it! As you would imagine, pressing different operators will perform different operations, but that is not too difficult to master.

Once you get used to RPN, one powerful property you'll appreciate is that parentheses are never needed. Because you execute your operations one at a time, you can pick the order they happen in, without needing to use curvy lines to communicate with the computer. Even though I execute a quite complex calculation in the video: ⌊15 × 1.5⌋ + ⌊9 × 1.5⌋ + 10, the order of operations can be expressed simply by my choice to leave certain values “on the stack” in higher registers, so that when I perform operations on the x and y registers, they are left alone. See how from 0:05 to 0:09 in the video I'm able to calculate ⌊9 × 1.5⌋, and the multiplication only affects the 9, and not the 22 left in the 1 register from previous operations.

When entering numbers on a keyboard or touchscreen with RPN, I feel a similar sense of speed and control as I do when using Vim motions to edit code. I am very new to RPN, having only used it (at time of writing) yesterday evening and a little this morning, so I am excited to grow my proficiency with it over time.

Also, if you write words or code on a computer, and when I said “Vim motions” you didn't know what I meant, take a look at this video and give Vim motions a try. You're really missing out.

This time, I've got some new things to share.

Donkey Kong Bananza

In Bananza, you play as DK, whose strength is now so great that he can smash right through any ground in his way – and boy is it fun to do. The most critical thing about this game is the juice in every single punch, pressed fresh from the sound effects, visuals, and rumble which ooze out from every hit.

I think one of the things in this game which isn't talked about enough is the menu, which is almost as satisfying to navigate through as the ground is to punch. Each button press is accompanied by a firm sound and the button you pressed cracks like DK just punched it, in an immensely satisfying fashion.

One thing to criticise is the way that the objectives feel a bit… mindless. My interaction with the game's story essentially comes down to pressing the left trigger every now and again, and then walking towards the yellow marker which appears. To add insult to injury, the progression is pretty much as linear as progression can be, since the main objective of the game is literally to decend futher along a line.

Still, the game is a bunch of fun, and I look forward to playing more over the coming days.

Blogging

Even though I've just started, it's really nice putting your thoughts into text, and I feel I have more motivation to do so than if I was say, journaling, when I know that what I write will go onto the internet for all to see.

If you haven't already got a place to put your thoughts where others can see, I can't recommend it enough. The internet really is the perfect place for this kind of thing, so if you have the time and technical knowledge, I would definitely recommend self-hosting a blog, and if not you should definitely get one from a hosting provider. I've heard good things on Daring Fireball about Ghost.

RSS

Since starting one of my own, I've been searching around and adding a few blogs into NetNewsWire, the RSS reader app I use, and it's been great!

If you're not familiar with RSS, it's essentially podcasts, but for reading – in fact podcasts actually use RSS! To get started, in the RSS app you use (typically called an RSS “reader”), you add a new feed to your subscriptions by going to some publication you enjoy and finding the URL for its RSS feed (typically linked with either the word RSS, or an icon similar to that of WiFi, except the waves emanate from the bottom-left corner). Next, you copy that URL into your reader of choice and – voilá! – you can now view their recent posts, and any new ones will automatically appear in the app.

It's really nice to have something silent to do on your phone, but which isn't as endless as social media. I guess gaming also fits that bill, but often games require some level of time commmitment, even if it's very short. It feels bad to start a Balatro run, and get off your train 30 seconds later, before you even beat the first boss – but with something like this, you can start reading an article (or even finish it if it's a short one) and return the magic rectangle to your pocket, satisfied.

Citymapper

Citymapper is a mapping app only for getting public transit directions. It's not great at everything else, but at that one thing, it excels.

Firstly, Citymapper has a great way of showing you the steps of your journey. Instead of having one long scrolling list like Apple or Google Maps, it splits your journey into segments, which each get their own small-sheet-sized page in a horizontal list. This lets you more easily see each part of your journey and simultaneously get a visualization of that part on the map. This is definitely a feature optimized for transit.

One of my favourite features of the app is its “Best Section” suggestion. When getting on a subway train, it tells you whether it's best to get on at the front, middle, or back. This suggestion isn't based on how busy the train is, but based on the layout of the train station, to help you optimise your exit or transfer. This feature is honestly awesome. It's so satisfying to leave the train and be standing right in front of the very staircase you need. Again, optimized for transit.

Easily the best feature though is that you can make the dot for your current location be a potato. Once again, optimized for tr– okay fine, maybe this one wasn't optimized for transit.

The app really isn't good to explore the map and work out where you want to go - a normal mapping app lives on my home screen for that - but if you've got a destination, Citymapper will take you there lightning fast, and that's what I love it for.

Subways

Where I live we don't have any underground trains, but recently I went on a trip to a city which does, and I am continually shocked at how fast they go.

They be zoomin'!

Here are some of my favourite things I've encountered recently.

iOS 26 Home and Lock Screen Customisation

Despite its many flaws, iOS 26 does introduce some actually quite good features when it comes to customisation. I've been super enjoying the new clear look for the home screen (it does a surprisingly good job at interpreting even un-updated app icons and widgets) and the long clock on the lock screen.

When I saw it at WWDC, I thought that the clear look was almost completely unreadable and ugly, but as soon as I actually got it in my hand, I found it to be really nice.

By the way, I'm on Beta 3 at time of posting, and I didn't grab Beta 1 or 2.

Mario Kart World

I've actually been having a lot of fun playing Mario Kart. I didn't really expect to get very into this game, and I'm not like super into it, but I've learned a shortcut or two, and even joined a Discord server to be able to play the “3-lap tracks”. ¹

The game is really nice, and even though the open-world is fairly empty, I still like that the tracks have some physical presence in a world, even if I rarely visit that world. It's just nice to have them not be trapped in a menu.

I made the PC I couldn't buy

I got this video from Christian Selig in my YouTube recommended a few times before clicking on it, and as I was watching, it just struck me that this was a just straight up a really good video, in all the ways.

Self-Hosting

This website is running off of my old gaming laptop, and it's the best experience I've had trying to put stuff on the internet, ever.

With a domain, ethernet cable, DHCP configuration, some port forwarding and an ssh daemon set up, you can really do anything (with some help from GPT).

Give it a shot!

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^{1. In World, you sometimes do a race by spending two of the “laps” on the highway driving to your next track, and then only doing one lap of the track you picked. This isn't as fun as normal, and Nintendo has no designated mode to avoid them, but in a private lobby you can still pick to do 3 laps of a specific track, so in the Discord server people share room codes. ↩}