Jekyll2026-05-13T22:46:55+00:00https://jkl.dev/feed.xmljkl is typing…yet another blog on the internetgoogle.com/ncr - stop google geolocating automatically2026-05-13T02:53:53+00:002026-05-13T02:53:53+00:00https://jkl.dev/snippet/2026/05/13/google-ncrGeoIP databases - which map IP addresses to geographic locations around the world - occasionally get it wrong, since VPN exit nodes, CDN edges, and shared infrastructure can move around. When GeoIP databases get out of sync with reality, you might end up somewhere you don’t expect by typing google.com and getting google.ca, or somewhere else.

To inhibit the geolocation behavior, you can visit google.com/ncr - which stands for No Country Redirect. Loading it once sets a cookie (which persists until you clear cookies) that tells Google to stop geolocating and serve google.com no matter where you are.

(In my experience, Youtube in Canada is nicer. Nobody will blame you if you take a day or two to report incorrect GeoIP data to Google 😉)

]]>tinyfugue on an m-series mac2026-03-26T00:55:50+00:002026-03-26T00:55:50+00:00https://jkl.dev/snippet/2026/03/26/tinyfugue-on-m-series-macIf you want to get tinyfugue running on your M-series Mac, and don’t want to use tinyfugue - rebirth, you can get Ken Keys’ original-recipe tinyfugue to compile by doing the following:

  • install PCRE, e.g. for homebrew brew install pcre

  • Put this patch in src/main.c just below #include “process.h”:

#ifndef PCRE_INFO_OPTIONS
#define PCRE_INFO_OPTIONS 0
#endif

#include <pcre.h>
int pcre_info(const pcre *code, int *optptr, int *firstcharptr) {
    if (optptr)
        pcre_fullinfo(code, NULL, PCRE_INFO_OPTIONS, optptr);
    if (firstcharptr)
        *firstcharptr = -1;  // not directly supported anymore
    return 0;
}

  • At the top of src/malloc.c, add: #include <stdlib.h>

  • Build with the following steps:

export CFLAGS="-std=c89 -Wno-implicit-function-declaration -I/opt/homebrew/opt/pcre/include"

export LDFLAGS="-L/opt/homebrew/opt/pcre/lib"

./configure

make LIBS="/opt/homebrew/opt/pcre/lib/libpcre.dylib -lz -ltermcap"

Binary and library locations will be at the bottom of the output.

]]>new machine setup2026-03-10T09:55:50+00:002026-03-10T09:55:50+00:00https://jkl.dev/snippet/2026/03/10/new-machine-setupWhether it’s from regular lifecycling or a hardware issue, it is important to have a way to get yourself back up and running after a machine change. I used to use an Ansible playbook to do this, but I found the solution to be too clunky.

The method I settled on leverages GNU Stow along with a Git repository to hold my dotfiles and other ancillary files.

If I’m setting up a new Mac, I start with scripts/mac.sh; it:

  • sets a bunch of preferences via defaults write
  • checks for and installs xcode (if it doesn’t exist)
  • gets the setup repository (if it doesn’t exist)
  • installs Oh My ZSH
  • installs or updates Brew
  • configures vim to my liking
  • brew installs the fonts and software I use
  • runs stow . in the setup directory to symlink some of setup’s content
  • uses say to let me know the setup is done

Since I don’t want all of the content in setup/ to be symlinked, I use .stow-local-ignore to tell Stow what to skip when symlinking.

]]>some useful git aliases2025-08-06T00:05:55+00:002025-08-06T00:05:55+00:00https://jkl.dev/snippet/2025/08/06/some-useful-git-aliasesHere’s a handy set of aliases for .gitconfig that can make working with many repos with different trunk names easier.

[alias]
  tru = "!git checkout `git ftr`"
  ftr = "!git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD|sed 's@^refs/remotes/origin/@@'"

When git tru is used, ftr gets the name of the ref for HEAD and strips everything but that name off, before passing it to git checkout.

]]>using applescript to set a system voice2024-11-27T00:05:55+00:002024-11-27T00:05:55+00:00https://jkl.dev/snippet/2024/11/27/set-macos-voice-applescriptProvided you have granted Script Editor access under Accessibility, this snippet will let you set a system voice. Edit Moira (Enhanced) to your preference.

tell application "System Settings"
    activate
    -- set moira as the system voice
    delay 1
    reveal anchor "AX_SPOKEN_VOICE" of pane id "com.apple.Accessibility-Settings.extension"
    delay 1
    tell application "System Events"
        click pop up button 2 of group 1 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window "Spoken Content" of application process "System Settings"
        delay 0.75
        click menu item "Moira (Enhanced)" of menu 1 of pop up button 2 of group 1 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window "Spoken Content" of application process "System Settings"
    end tell
    close
end tell
]]>multipart zip on macos2024-05-10T00:14:00+00:002024-05-10T00:14:00+00:00https://jkl.dev/blog/2024/05/10/multipart-zip-on-macosI don’t often have to work with multi-part zips, but when I do, I always have to look up how to deal with them. By sticking this little pearl of wisdom on my blog, it’ll be easier to find!

# got a multipart zip?
# (.zip, .z01, .z02 etc.)
# unsplit them:
zip -s0 split-archive.zip -O whole-archive.zip
# now you can unzip like normal
unzip whole-archive.zip

# need to make a multipart zip?
zip -s50m  archive.zip -O split-archive.zip
]]>hello world!2024-05-09T15:00:00+00:002024-05-09T15:00:00+00:00https://jkl.dev/blog/2024/05/09/hello-worldThis is my blog. I’m not sure how often I’m going to be posting for a start, since I’m still learning jekyll and playing around with the look and feel.

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