Tools on Den's Hub: Technology Solutions, Guides and Best Practices

Top Obsidian Plugins

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0200

I’ve been using Obsidian for quite a while now. Started and dropped it about three times. But this time it’s here to stay, and it’s gradually becoming part of both my work and personal workflows. There’s still a long way to go before I use it truly efficiently. What draws me in is that everything is stored locally in plain Markdown files, it’s rock solid, syncs across devices easily and quickly (using Syncthing), and has a massive plugin ecosystem. If you haven’t tried it yet, I’d recommend starting with the official website.

Top Raycast Extensions

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0200

There’s this amazing app called Raycast that successfully helped me replace several paid utilities. I’ve been using it for a long time, and it’s become so integrated into my daily routine work on MacBook that it’s now just muscle memory. It’s strange that Apple couldn’t bring their Spotlight up to this level, but that’s another topic.

If you’re curious why specifically Raycast, then read the article Alfred vs Raycast vs Monarch. There are useful tips on using Raycast there.

Bookmark Management Tools

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +0100

In an age where we consume more digital content than ever before, the humble bookmark has transformed from a simple placeholder into a critical knowledge management tool. Since our best bookmark manager review in 2023, a revolution has occurred in how we capture, organize, and leverage online information.

The bookmark managers of 2025 have evolved into intelligent digital assistants that not only store links but actively help us make sense of our increasingly complex information landscape. They now analyze content, suggest connections, facilitate collaboration, and seamlessly integrate with our broader digital workflows.

Screen Studio for Mac Review

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0200

Ever tried recording your screen only to end up with blurry footage, messed-up audio, or files that take forever to load? Looking for the best screen recorder for creating professional tutorials and product demos? After testing dozens of screen recording software options and spending countless hours fighting with various tools, I’ve discovered why Screen Studio (check it out here) is becoming a popular Camtasia alternative for content creators and educators.

n8n: Workflow Automation

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0200

In today’s digital world, automation has become essential not just for businesses but for individual users looking to streamline their work. Let’s explore n8n (pronounced as “n-eight-n”) – a powerful workflow automation platform that significantly simplifies these tasks.

As they say, the best time to start learning automation was yesterday. The second best time to get started with n8n is right now.

What is n8n?

n8n is an open-source workflow automation platform that enables you to connect different applications and services to create automated processes with minimal programming. Think of it as a digital assistant that can perform repetitive tasks across your favorite apps and services, saving time and reducing errors.

Best Airtable Alternatives

Sun, 02 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0200

As a blogger and hobby developer who constantly switches between programming, blogging, and various automation projects, I decided to look for alternatives to Airtable for my work. While Airtable is an excellent tool, there are several other options that might work better depending on your needs. Here’s what I learned while researching and testing different solutions: from simple spreadsheets to complex process automation systems.

How I Evaluated

When exploring Airtable alternatives, I focused on what matters most for solo developers and small projects. Here’s the framework I used to evaluate each option:

Alfred vs Raycast vs Monarch

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 10:00:00 +0200

Finding the perfect Mac launcher app is a journey many macOS users undertake. We often need a tool that’s fast, efficient, and versatile enough to handle everything from launching applications and searching files to executing complex workflows.

With numerous options available, choosing the right quick launcher app can be challenging. This comprehensive guide will help you make an informed decision.

Introduction

As our Macs become increasingly loaded with tasks and applications, the need for efficient file search and launcher tools becomes more crucial. Modern Mac productivity utilities have evolved far beyond simple search tools into powerful systems for automating routine tasks on Mac.

MarkItDown: A Document Conversion Tool

Wed, 25 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0200

Document format management remains a persistent challenge in professional environments. Microsoft’s recent release of MarkItDown addresses this challenge by providing a robust Python library for converting various document formats to Markdown. For those new to Markdown syntax and its applications in content creation, our comprehensive guide provides essential context for understanding this tool’s significance.

Core Functionality

MarkItDown serves as a unified solution for document conversion, handling multiple input formats:

Synchronization of .dot files

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0200

In this article, let’s talk about how to use dotfiles to keep system settings unchanged across devices. By following simple steps with Git, you can easily manage everything from bash profiles to application settings. This approach ensures a seamless experience no matter what platform you’re using.

Make it quick

If you’re in a hurry, go straight to step-by-step guide to setting up dotfile synchronization. And if you want to understand what’s done there and what it’s for, read on.

Bartender for macOS Alternatives

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 14:10:00 +0200

I wanted to reflect on some recent news and updates about a popular Mac menu bar management utility that you might be familiar with – Bartender. This app has been a go-to for many Mac users, including myself, for managing and customizing the menu bar. However, there’s been a lot of buzz and some concerns surrounding the app recently. Let me break it down for you.

Bartender Story

Bartender is a popular macOS app designed to manage and customize your menu bar items.

Exploring Verba, the Golden RAGtriever

Sat, 25 May 2024 09:00:00 +0200

Verba is a new AI-powered tool that assists users in creating engaging and meaningful content. Designed to help with everything from brainstorming to drafting, it enables users to enhance their productivity and creativity. Whether you’re a writer or content creator, Verba brings fresh possibilities to streamline your creative process.

Introduction

Welcome to an exciting journey into the world of vector search with Verba!

Whether you’re a beginner eager to explore new tools or a seasoned developer looking to expand your toolkit, this blog post is crafted just for you. We’ll dive deep into what Verba is, its use cases, how to use it with Python, and compare it to a couple popular alternatives.

EZA - The Best Alternative to LS Command

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 09:00:00 +0200

The ls command is a commonly used in Unix-like operating systems to list files and directories within a directory. While ls is the standard command for this purpose, there are several alternatives and enhancements available that provide additional features and options. I’ve been using exa for a long time. It has been a favorite among many other users for its versatility and robust feature set.

Described by its author, Benjamin Sago (a.k.a. Ogham): “exa is an improved file lister with more features and better defaults. It uses colours to distinguish file types and metadata. It knows about symlinks, extended attributes, and Git. And it’s small, fast, and just one single binary.”

Comparing Vim and Neovim for Python Developer

Sat, 18 Mar 2023 10:00:00 +0100

Choosing the right text editor for a Python developer makes a big difference in productivity and workflow. Two of the most popular integrated environments today are VS Code and PyCharm. They are great tools that offer a lot of extras. We reviewed and compared them and many other solutions before.

Introduction

There are two powerful and popular command line based text editors with similar features and capabilities. However, they also have some differences in terms of functionality, usability and performance.

Best Bookmark Manager to Use in 2023

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 06:00:00 +0100

Bookmarking websites and pages is a common practice for many people who use the internet regularly. It allows us to easily access our favorite websites and pages without having to remember their exact URLs or search for them every time. However, as the number of websites and pages we bookmark grows, it can become difficult to keep track of them all. This is where a bookmark manager comes in handy.

Best Framework to Build an API in Python

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 12:00:00 +0200

In the previous article we figured out what an API is and how it works - a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other. Now, let’s explore how to choose the best framework for building APIs in Python.

Each article covers a different topic. If you’re just starting to understand how to write your own API, it’s useful to read everything in order. If you already know it and are interested in a particular topic, go straight to it.

What is an API? Short and simple explanation

Fri, 10 Jun 2022 12:00:00 +0200

The topic of API is very interesting and large, so I’ve divided the material into several parts, each of which is designed for a different audience. If you’re just starting to understand the subject, read everything in order. And if you know something already, choose the part that interests you.

Simple Explanation of API (this article 👇)
Best Framework for API
Build API with FastAPI (soon)
Build API with ChatGPT (soon)
Top Tools to Test API (soon)
Make Money on API (soon)

So, let’s go…

The Best Python IDEs and Editors for Mac

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 12:00:00 +0200

Introduction

Setting up a user-friendly development environment is extremely important for Python programmers working on macOS. The right tools can greatly increase your efficiency, reduce debugging time, and improve your overall programming experience. Whether you’re just starting your Python journey or you’re already an experienced developer, the right set of apps can make a big difference in your productivity.

In this article, we’ll look at the essential tools for Python developers on macOS, from terminal apps and text editors to full-featured IDEs and interactive notepads. We’ll highlight each tool’s strengths and features to help you find the perfect solution for your development needs.

How to create a table in Markdown

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 12:00:00 +0200

This guide walks you through creating tables in Markdown, a simple yet powerful way to organize data in your content. It provides clear instructions and examples, making it easy to add clean, well-formatted tables to your blog posts or documentation. Whether you’re new to Markdown or looking to enhance your skills, this tutorial covers all the basics you need.

Intro

Let’s start by figuring out why tables are needed in markdown documents and look at the most convenient ways to insert a table into a markdown document quickly and easily.

Choosing the Best Bookmark Manager

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 21:30:17 +0200

You need a tool that allows you to manage your collection of links - organize easy access, sort by category, remove duplicates and broken links, synchronize everything between devices. Read about the best solutions for 2022.

Katz - Time Series Analysis Framework

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 10:00:00 +0200

Time series analysis is a fundamental domain in data science and machine learning, with massive applications in various sectors such as e-commerce, finance, capacity planning, supply chain management, medicine, weather, energy, astronomy, and many others.

Time Series Analysis

Time series analysis as a statistical technique is used to examine and model time-dependent data. Some common features of time series analysis tools include:

Time series decomposition: the ability to break down a time series into its component parts, such as trend, seasonality, and residuals
Forecasting: the ability to predict future values of a time series based on past data
Anomaly detection: the ability to identify unusual or unexpected behavior in a time series
Multivariate analysis: the ability to analyze multiple time series simultaneously, taking into account the relationships between them
Feature extraction/embedding: the ability to extract meaningful features from time series data or to represent time series data in a lower-dimensional space for further analysis.

These are just a few examples of the types of functionality that may be included in a time series analysis tool. Let’s see what Kats can provide us with.

Best VPN Services in 2021

Mon, 31 May 2021 18:12:01 +0200

A VPN - or Virtual Private Network - is a piece of software that you can download to your computer, phone and other devices to help you stay more private online. By encrypting all the data that you send and receive on the internet, VPN services are the ideal tool to ensure that no prying eyes can track what you’re doing on the web.

It adds an extra layer of security to whichever network you are trying to connect to, be it your home broadband, public Wi-Fi, or your mobile connection. It allows you to send and receive data privately while connecting to that network.

VSCodium - Open Source Version of VS Code

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 14:33:21 +0100

Listen article as podcast episode

Every time you launch VS Code, Microsoft collects telemetry unless you’ve manually disabled it. Even then, you’re trusting a proprietary binary that differs from the open-source code it’s built from. VSCodium eliminates this uncertainty. Built from the same MIT-licensed source without Microsoft’s tracking infrastructure, it’s VS Code as the source code intended, not as Microsoft packaged it. The trade-off is losing access to a handful of proprietary extensions. For many developers, that’s worth it.

New NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX Super Module

Sat, 16 May 2020 12:32:39 +0200

NVIDIA® Jetson Xavier™ NX brings supercomputer performance to the edge in a small form factor system-on-module (SOM). Up to 21 TOPS of accelerated computing delivers the horsepower to run modern neural networks in parallel and process data from multiple high-resolution sensors — a requirement for full AI systems.

Cloud Native

Jetson Xavier NX now features cloud-native support that lets developers build and deploy high-quality, software-defined features on embedded and edge devices. Pre-trained AI models from NVIDIA NGC and the NVIDIA Transfer Learning Toolkit give you a faster path to trained and optimized AI networks, while containerized deployment to Jetson devices allows flexible and seamless updates. Jetson Xavier NX accelerates the NVIDIA software stack with more than 10X the performance of its widely adopted predecessor, Jetson TX2.

Megvii Open Sources Deep Learning Framework

Sat, 28 Mar 2020 00:15:00 +0100

Chinese Artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up Megvii Technology Limited announced that it makes its deep learning framework open-source, as China steps up the development of home-grown AI and makes the technologies more accessible to reduce reliance on US platforms.

Free Resources to Learn the ZSH Language

Sun, 02 Feb 2020 12:02:39 +0100

📌 Updated Guide Available! This article was originally published in 2020. For current installation methods, modern frameworks like Starship, and 2025 plugin recommendations, see our updated guide: The Modern ZSH Guide: Everything You Need to Get Started.

Zsh is a powerful shell that enhances your command-line experience, and there are plenty of free resources available to help you master it. This article highlights some of the best tutorials, guides, and tools for learning Zsh, whether you’re a beginner or looking to expand your skills. From configuring plugins to customizing your shell environment, these resources provide a solid foundation for anyone wanting to dive deeper into Zsh.

Best Courses on TensorFlow and PyTorch

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 10:32:47 +0100

This article reviews some of the best online courses for learning TensorFlow and PyTorch, two leading frameworks in the field of deep learning. It highlights key features, course content, and the skills you can expect to gain from each program. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to deepen your expertise, these courses provide valuable resources to help you excel in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Intro

TensorFlow and PyTorch are both popular deep learning frameworks, and both have their own strengths and weaknesses. TensorFlow is widely adopted and has a large community, while PyTorch has been growing in popularity and is known for its ease of use and flexibility.