Can we make Cmd+Z undo Cmd+V (only)?

Hey developers! If you're fortunate enough to be doing greenfield development on a new text editing app or component, I have a quick feature request for you!

In all existing text editors and text fields that I'm aware of, if you do the following:

1. Key in some text.
2. Append another piece of text via a press of Cmd+V (Ctrl+V on Windows) to paste from the clipboard.
3. Press Cmd+Z (Ctrl+Z on Windows) to undo.

What happens is that both the pasted text, and some or all of the keyed-in text, get removed.

What I'd like to have happen is for only the pasted text to be removed. The keyed-in text can be removed upon additional Cmd+Z press(es).

I bump into this problem quite frequently when I Cmd+V to append something to some text I'm in the middle of composing. I see that the wrong thing was on the clipboard and got added to the text, reflexively hit Cmd+Z to try and undo that mistake -- and now I have two problems, because some of the text that I had keyed in got removed along with the incorrect pasted-in value.

It would be super fun to have this no longer be an issue in the text editors of the future. Thanks in advance! 👍

Controversy corner: Wired earbuds vs Airpods

This is a "just for fun" post on the pros and cons of traditional wired earbuds vs Apple AirPods for everyday use. 

Hat tip to my brother Jeremy for inspiring me to finally put this post together. He was recently seen on Instagram rocking some sweet wired earbuds, even though he's retired, and has sufficient discretionary funds to buy himself AirPods, if he so chose!

	Wired Earbuds	Apple AirPods
Price tag 💸	✅ From around US $10-15 💰	US $159+ 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰
Ease of switching between multiple devices (e.g. iPhone 📱 and MacBook 💻)	✅ Plug them in	Fiddle with the Bluetooth settings menu
Troubleshooting pairing issues / charging issues / audio issues	✅ 100% reliable	Seldom, hopefully...?
Charging ⚡	✅ Never needs charging	Up to 5 hours listening per charge; requires charging case + Apple lightning cable or wireless charging mat (💰)
Anxiety when they get lost 😰	✅ Shrug and buy a new pair	High
Works with Nintendo Switch, the treadmill TV at the gym, the entertainment systems on airplanes	✅ Plug them in	No; can work around with Bluetooth adapter (💰)
Battery lifespan 🔋	✅ Unlimited	2-3 years
Audio quality 🎶	✅ Great	✅ Great
Can simultaneously charge device 🔌 and listen	✅ Yes (on devices with a 3.5mm jack, like my iPhone 6S)	✅ Yes
Risk of inadvertently getting yanked or knocked out of ears 👂	Wires can get caught when doing chores	✅ Minimal
Works with newer iPhones	Dongle needed 🙄	✅ Yes 🍎💰

Looks like AirPods win in a landslide! Let's all throw away our inexpensive, never-needs-charging, high-fidelity earbuds, and buy AirPods! 😜

For clarity, I am indeed perfectly aware that the ship has (for the most part) sailed on this debate. Apple, at least, doesn't seem likely to release a new phone ever again with 3.5mm headphone jack technology, when they could sell the folks buying that phone $160 AirPods instead. I stand by my entitlement to my (unpopular) opinion on this topic regardless. 😁

Configuring git to prevent commits of temporary/debug code

Developers, have you ever embarrassingly pushed a commit that inadvertently included temporary debug log/print statements, or other code that you intended to remove before committing? I have!

I wondered if it was possible to add some keyword to a code file -- for example, DONOTCOMMIT -- which, if present, would cause git to automatically reject the commit. This could be added as a comment alongside any temporary debug code, to make it impossible to forget to remove that code before committing.

It turns out that it is possible to do this -- and have it apply automatically to all of your local git repositories -- using a git pre-commit hook.

Quick instructions

(The specifics in these instructions apply to Unix-like filesystems, including Mac OS.)

1. If it doesn't already exist, create the directory: ~/.git_templates/hooks/

2. If it doesn't already exist, in that hooks directory, create a text file named: pre-commit (no extension).

3. Add the following content to the pre-commit file:

#!/bin/bash

FOUND=$(git diff-index --cached -U0 HEAD -- | grep DONOTCOMMIT | wc -l)

if [[ $FOUND -gt 0 ]]; then
    echo "pre-commit hook: DONOTCOMMIT detected, commit not allowed"
    echo "(enforced from: ~/.git_templates/hooks/pre-commit)"
    exit 1
fi

4. To apply that pre-commit hook to all git commit operations on your local machine, from the terminal, run:

git config --global core.hooksPath ~/.git_templates/hooks

References

Credit to https://github.com/mudrd8mz for the pre-commit hook code.

Credit to https://stackoverflow.com/users/6309/vonc for the core.hooksPath global git config command.