llms.txt
# Tim Broddin
> I make things. Sometimes I write about them.
Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. Use `/llms-full.txt` for consolidated page and post context.
Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).
## Pages
_No public content available._
## Posts
- [Maaltafels, lijsjes en simulators](https://broddin.be/maaltafels-lijsjes-en-simulators.md) - Maaltafels 1, Maaltafels 2, Maaltafels 3, Maaltafels 4!
- [overprikkeld](https://broddin.be/overprikkeld.md) - Blijkbaar kan altijd aanstaan er ook voor zorgen dat ge op een bepaald moment gewoon niet meer uit kunt.
- [VRT simulator](https://broddin.be/vrt-simulator.md) - Ik stak Backrooms in de blender samen met acht jaar herinneringen en mijn fascinatie voor simulacra.
- [chaos](https://broddin.be/chaos.md) - Uit chaos komt 't mooiste voort
- [Introducing Pretparkje (Themeparkie)](https://broddin.be/introducing-pretparkje-themeparkie.md) - I love theme parks, but I hate queuing. Pretparkje combines live wait times, weather, holidays, and historical data to help you figure out when to visit and, eventually, what to ride next.
- [Bringing Microsoft Comic Chat to the Mac using Fable](https://broddin.be/bringing-microsoft-comic-chat-to-the-mac-using-fable.md) - I asked Claude Fable to port Microsoft Comic Chat to macOS. Two days later, it had revived a 28-year-old piece of my childhood.
- [Festivalletje Beta: een festivalapp voor vriendengroepen](https://broddin.be/festivalletje-beta.md) - Ik bouwde Festivalletje: een gedeelde festivalapp voor vriendengroepen, met timetable, notificaties, locatie, foto’s en widgets.
- [Creating a poll that doesn't crash under load](https://broddin.be/creating-a-poll-that-doesnt-crash-under-load.md) - Building a live audience poll for 3,500 people at Nerdland Festival. Why my default stack failed, how Durable Objects saved it, and the only thing I didn't think to protect against: a curious 9-year-old .
- [The next chapter](https://broddin.be/the-next-chapter.md) - After wrapping up a longer project, I'm doubling down on side projects.
- [Introducing HomeBar for Homey Pro](https://broddin.be/introducing-homebar-for-homey-pro.md) - Frustrated by digging for my phone to close office shades, I built HomeBar: a sleek macOS menubar app for Homey Pro. Control devices, run flows, and track energy, all in one click.
- [Free stuff I built the past few weeks](https://broddin.be/free-stuff-i-built-the-past-few-weeks.md) - A dev log of 6 "scratch-your-own-itch" tools: 4 macOS menu bar apps for pixel art, port tracking, and Git reminders, plus 2 CLI tools.
- [Creating a Minecraft clone in under a day](https://broddin.be/creating-a-minecraft-clone-in-under-a-day.md) - Last week, I built a multiplayer Minecraft-like game with my 8-year-old daughter. Not in months. Not in weeks. In under a day.
- [I built my own blogging software](https://broddin.be/i-built-my-own-blogging-software.md) - This blog now runs on an experimental CMS I built myself with the help of AI agents. After years of hopping between platforms like Ghost, I wondered how far I could get by building my own—purely for the love of making things.
- [Are we starving the tools we depend on?](https://broddin.be/are-we-starving-the-tools-we-depend-on.md) - I love AI's speed, but it’s hurting the open-source tools we rely on. Tailwind CSS is struggling because LLMs bypass their docs, killing the traffic they need to survive. If we don't support these creators, the giants we stand on will crumble. It's time to pay for what we use.
- [Table Champion v2.0: a much-needed glow up](https://broddin.be/table-champion-v2-0-a-much-needed-glow-up.md) - Table Champion 2.0 is here. A complete redesign, new game modes, smarter UX, background music, a new mascot, and lots of under-the-hood improvements.
- [Lijsje v2.0: bigger, better, and coming to town 🎅](https://broddin.be/lijsje-v2-0-bigger-better-and-coming-to-town.md) - Lijsje 2.0 is here. What started as a forgotten side project turned into a full rebuild with Bol.com search, multiplayer features and Secret Santa. A simple Sinterklaas request brought it back to life.
- [We are f*****, the presentation](https://broddin.be/we-are-f-the-presentation.md) - I gave a lecture at PXL. These are my slides.
- ["We are fucked" and some other half-assed thoughts on AI and coding](https://broddin.be/we-are-fucked-and-some-other-half-assed-thoughts-on-ai-and-coding.md) - I thought AI would take my job. Instead, it gave me a second brain and made me love programming all over again.
- [Playing around with the DeskHog](https://broddin.be/playing-around-with-the-deskhog.md) - Playing around with the first hardware product from PostHog.
- [Table Champion: creating and submitting an app in less than 20 hours](https://broddin.be/table-champion-creating-and-submitting-an-app-in-less-than-20-hours.md) - App speed build, but make it real: Expo + Redux + Gluestack UI + careful AI usage = 20 hours from 'dad these flashcards suck' to 'it's live in both stores' 😺
- [Launching Titans of Industry](https://broddin.be/launching-titans-of-industry.md) - After several unfinished attempts, I finally launched my professional site - a modern take on DOS aesthetics.
- [Life at/after Automattic](https://broddin.be/life-at-after-automattic.md) - The final part of my post-Automattic series, where I look back at my final months there.
- [Life after Automattic: week 10 & 11](https://broddin.be/life-after-automattic-week-10-11.md) - Missed last week's update since I've been busy polishing my projects. Added PostHog analytics and dark mode to Lijsje, made light-up tiaras for the neighborhood parade, and caught an amazing Vampire Weekend show. Taking it slow for the holidays!
- [Life after Automattic: Week 9](https://broddin.be/life-after-automattic-week-9.md) - A weekly sabbatical update covering Lijsje's new sublist feature, Endgame's quiet Product Hunt launch, and a fun pixel art side-project for displaying album covers.
- [Life after Automattic: Week 8](https://broddin.be/life-after-automattic-week-8.md) - Released Endgame 1.1 with home screen widgets, saw Lijsje growing to 60+ lists daily, took a break to explore Antwerp's sewers, and remembered what sabbaticals are about.
- [Life after Automattic: Week 7](https://broddin.be/life-after-automattic-week-7.md) - I finally regained access to my Apple Developer account after weeks of bureaucracy - Endgame is ready to launch. Meanwhile, Lijsje's product browser is seeing little usage.
- [Life after Automattic: Week 6](https://broddin.be/life-after-automattic-week-6-2.md) - Embracing chaos. This week: building a product finder for Lijsje, battling Apple's bureaucracy, and exploring AI code editors.
- [Life after Automattic: Week 5](https://broddin.be/life-after-automattic-week-5.md) - Life after severance: wrestling with Apple support, growing my apps, and letting AI help build new ones - plus a vinyl shelf rescue.
- [My 2024 programming stack](https://broddin.be/my-2024-programming-stack.md) - Last year, I chronicled my tech stack journey - from languages to frameworks to tools, diving deep into what made my developer life tick. Now, a year wiser (and maybe a bit more cynical about free tiers), it's time for my 2024 update.
- [Life After Automattic: Week 4](https://broddin.be/life-after-automattic-week-4.md) - A lighter update during Autumn break as I juggle family time, a cold, and some progress on Lijsje and Endgame—though Apple's developer account system is testing my patience.
- [Freedom Week 3](https://broddin.be/freedom-week-3.md) - Three weeks into my post-Automattic journey, life has settled into an engaging rhythm of family time and personal projects. Between visiting illusion museums with the kids and putting the finishing touches on my app Endgame I'm finding a new balance
- [Freedom Week #2](https://broddin.be/freedom-week-2.md) - This week saw progress on two side projects - the Endgame iOS app, and Lijsje built with Laravel - alongside personal activities like enjoying new music, family time, and anticipating family game night.
- [Freedom Week #1](https://broddin.be/freedom-week-1.md) - Week 1 of me not having a job has almost finished, and it was great 🎇
- [👋 Farewell Automattic](https://broddin.be/farewell-automattic.md) - After 2 years, I've left my job to seek new challenges. Grateful for the experience, and excited for what's next. Time to recharge and explore new opportunities.
- [Jane's Addiction ****](https://broddin.be/janes-addiction.md) - After 22 years, I finally got to see Jane's Addiction again. Wow.
- [The Eras Tour *****](https://broddin.be/the-eras-tour.md) - There's this thing about perfection. It can look obvious, almost effortless, because it's too easy to overlook that perfection didn't happen overnight. Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour is a shining example of this.
- [Upgrading Home Assistant Yellow's Zigbee2MQTT from EZSP to Ember](https://broddin.be/upgrading-home-assistant-yellows-zigbee2mqtt-from-ezsp-to-ember.md) - A step by step guide on how to upgrade EZSP to Ember in Zigbee2MQTT.
- [Leo games (Dutch)](https://broddin.be/leo-games-dutch.md) - Eindelijk! De Milka Leo games in de browser!
- [Secret Life](https://broddin.be/secret-life.md) - Sometimes a record clicks right from the first time you hear it. And sometimes it doesn't, and you lose track of it, never to listen to it ever again. One such record that almost vanished from my Recently Added screen is Secret Life by Brian Eno and Fred Again... I listened to it once while working…
- [Studio.Fuckhedz #14](https://broddin.be/studio-fuckhedz-14.md) - It's already been over a year since I last created a playlist, but as I was walking back from bringing the kids to school this morning listening to Phosphorescent's excellent new single "Revelator", I felt the urge to create a new one again. I've just gotten back from a wild work trip to Brazil. Wh…
- [Always Open With in Finder](https://broddin.be/macos-always-open-with-in-finder.md) - I've been using a Mac for almost twenty years now, and one thing that has always annoyed me is changing the default applications that open certain file types. Changing a default application is a multi-step task: * Right-click the file * Select Open With * Select Other (even when the application you…
- [Eighteen months at Automattic — farewell team Apex](https://broddin.be/goodbye-team-apex.md) - It's been 18 months now since I joined Automattic, and I've been planning to write about how it is to work at a fully remote company for a while now. But I never got past the first draft. The reason is that it's very tough to condense it into a blog post. So much has happened these past 18 months t…
- [The Bambu Lab X1C](https://broddin.be/bambu-lab-x1c-review.md) - Ever since the Bambu Lab X1C landed on my workbench, its blistering speed and razor-sharp precision have turbocharged my projects.
- [Our home network, 2024 edition](https://broddin.be/our-home-network-2024.md) - In our recent home renovation, we seized the opportunity to overhaul our network, waving goodbye to Telenet and welcoming Proximus's fiber optic solution, boasting speeds up to 8.5 Gbps.
- [ Vision Pro](https://broddin.be/vision-pro.md) - Some thoughts on Vision Pro.
- [Adding a network share to Finder's favourites](https://broddin.be/adding-a-network-share-to-finders-favourites.md) - I use a Synology to store all my files. One thing that’s bothered me a lot is that macOS doesn’t allow you to drag and drop a network share (or Sharepoint as Apple likes to call) them to your Finder’s favourites. It seems like Apple really doesn’t want you to do that. Luckily, there’s a workaround.…
- [Fancy in-wall panels using NSPanel, ESPHome and HomeAssistant](https://broddin.be/fancy-in-wall-panels-using-nspanel-esphome-and-homeassistant.md) - / In the past, I’ve written about turning your house into a smart home using Home Assistant. Since we are currently in the midst of a home renovation, I’ve been doing lots of research on how to make it even smarter. One of the products I came across while digging into this is the NSPanel, a relativ…
- [sudo with Touch ID](https://broddin.be/sudo-with-touch-id-mac-fingerprint.md) - As a programmer, you might have come across the sudo command while working on the terminal. sudo, short for “superuser do”, is a widely used command in Unix-based operating systems such as Linux and macOS. It allows a user with administrative privileges to execute commands that are restricted to th…
- [WordPress turns 20](https://broddin.be/wordpress-turns-20.md) - This weekend marked the 20th birthday of WordPress, the blogging tool CMS I’m writing this post in, and the thing I also work on/with mostly during my working hours. Let’s go back in time a little bit. I’m an old-timer in the blogosphere, I started blogging back in 2000 on my very first website whi…
- [My 2023 Mac apps & utilities](https://broddin.be/my-2023-mac-apps-utilities.md) - A little while back, I wrote a post about my 2023 programming stack. This post goes deeper on what Mac apps & utilities I use to get the job done. Don’t worry, there won’t be any programming related things in this post. This post is for everyone. Launcher: Raycast One thing that does suck in macOS…
- [My 2023 programming stack](https://broddin.be/my-2023-programming-stack.md) - Last year, I penned a piece about the tech I was using most. From languages to frameworks to tools, I gave a rundown of everything I love working with. It’s a new year. Time to update that list! Overview Framework: Next.js with App Router 2022: Next.js Next.js is still my go-to framework for all Re…
- [This band photo doesn't exist](https://broddin.be/this-band-photo-doesnt-exist.md) - I’m a big fan of AI. It’s changing our world at an unprecedented pace, and I’m pretty sure it has the chance to propel humanity into a bright future. But that will be the topic of another blog post, in which I explain why I’m an AI optimist. Last week, Midjourney released version 5 of their image g…
- [On virtual reality & the PlayStation VR2](https://broddin.be/on-virtual-reality-and-the-playstation-vr2.md) - In 1997, my parents and I paid a visit to London, where we visited SEGA World at the Trocadero center, a very futuristic arcade / theme park. There’s only one attraction I still remember until today: a virtual reality ride. The graphics were terrible, I was nauseous as hell when it was over, but bo…
- [Studio.Fuckhedz #13](https://broddin.be/studio-fuckhedz-13-2.md) - It took a while, but I finally got around to creating a new playlist. It’s an extra long one. It contains music I enjoyed the past year, old & new. Enjoy! 1. Black Country, New Road – Concorde 2. Taylor Swift – Maroon 3. Christian Lee Hutson – Strawberry Lemonade 4. Phoebe Bridgers – Killer 5. The…
- [The light parade](https://broddin.be/the-light-parade.md) - Before COVID hit the world, the school of our kids organized a parade each year. All the kids carry small candles and walk across the neighborhood, accompanied by a big fanfare. Because small candles are kind of boring, I decided I was going to go big the next edition, and make super cool LED light…
- [On Twitter](https://broddin.be/on-twitter.md) - When I was in high school, we had this little rich twat in our class. Everyone went to school by bike, but this guy had his daddy pick him up from school every day. When passing the other kids, he would spit out of the window. His daddy would laugh because why wouldn’t he. Nothing more fun than the…
- [Tech time: Doom & Next.js 13](https://broddin.be/tech-time-doom-next-js-13.md) - Hi there ???? A few days later than usual because I forgot to push the publish button. If you like this content, feel free to subscribe using the form down below. The early days of id Software I’m currently reading Masters of Doom, a book about how John Carmack and John Romero founded one of the mo…
- [Tech Time: 👋 Notion, hello Obsidian](https://broddin.be/tech-time--f0-9f-91-8b-notion-hello-obsidian.md) - Hi folks, Another week, another update. I feel exhausted today because last night was the first night ever my girlfriend wasn’t home, so I had to take care of our three children. I was so stressed about having a bad night (because of children who couldn’t sleep) that I ended up having a terrible ni…
- [The iPhone 14 Pro camera is out of this world](https://broddin.be/__trashed-5.md) - When Apple introduced the iPhone 14 Pro, my mind was blown by the dynamic island. Together with the always-on display, it justified upgrading for me. Now, about a month later, I can say that the feature that stands out the most is the new 48MP camera. Especially with RAW. To begin with, the dynamic…
- [Link dump: softporn, the secret of life & much more](https://broddin.be/link-dump-softporn-the-secret-of-life-much-more.md) - Hey there, Hope you’re all having a nice week. I asked the GPT-3 A.I. to write this brief introduction, but it was not only boring as hell, it was lying too. I’m not going to teach you how to make a cup of coffee. Here’s your weekly dose of internet goodness! This week, we’ve got articles on everyt…
- [What we owe the future](https://broddin.be/what-we-owe-the-future.md) - I just finished reading What we owe the future by philosopher William MacAskill. And it blew my mind. This book is all about longtermism, or how we today can affect the positive outlook for mankind for thousands of years to come. Even though times are very grim today, this book showed me that it’s…
- [Link dump - week 40](https://broddin.be/link-dump-week-40.md) - Good day to you all! Another edition of what’s now seemingly turning into my own personal newsletter. If you’d like to receive this in your mailbox every week, you can find a form at the end of this. The Leeds 13 Way back in 1998 a group of British art students pulled a great prank on the press (an…
- [Link dump - week 39](https://broddin.be/link-dump-week-39.md) - Howdy! A few weeks ago I linked to DiffusionBee, an app that makes it easy to run Stable Diffusion, which is an algorithm similar to DALL-E 2 on your M1/M2 Mac. Sadly, Intel Mac users couldn’t use it. But since version 0.2 they can also join the fun (albeit slowly). The latest version also adds som…
- [Link dump - week 38](https://broddin.be/link-dump-week-38.md) - Here I am again with my weekly collection of links. But I forgot to bookmark the most interesting video I saw this week. Do you know how petrol pumps know how to turn themselves off? Turns out it’s caused by an engineering marvel. Coding Roadroller: Flattens Your JavaScript Demo Theatre.js v0.5 is…
- [Fixing "The chromium binary is not available for arm64"](https://broddin.be/fixing-the-chromium-binary-is-not-available-for-arm64.md) - When installing Puppeteer on your new shiny M1/M2 powered Mac, you might come across this error message, when trying to install the Puppeteer NPM package: The chromium binary is not available for arm64: If you are on Ubuntu, you can install with: apt-get install chromium-browser Fear not, there is…
- [Link dump - week 37](https://broddin.be/link-dump-week-37.md) - Welcome to the weekly dump of even more links. Goodbye DALL-E, it’s now possible to run the stable diffusion algorithm on your M1/M2 Mac, using the DiffusionBee UI. No more spending all your money on DALL-E credits. And you can ask for NSFW prompts, that’s why the thumbnail image of this post is a…
- [Link dump - week 36](https://broddin.be/link-dump-week-36.md) - Let’s write a brief introductory paragraph this week. This is a summary of all the interesting links I’ve saved to my bookmark manager, Raindrop.io, in the past week. Every week, a small script starts on an Amazon server, and automatically creates a draft blog post on my website, which I then edit…
- [Weekly linkdump (week 35)](https://broddin.be/weekly-linkdump-week-35.md) - Coding GitHub – jbranchaud/til: Today I Learned :memo: Today I Learned. Contri
