Signals from the workbench.

NorthPane 1.3 brings local AI to files, code and binaries

Select files or a folder and ask a question: NorthPane answers from that scope alone, cites the passages it used and opens each citation on its original lines. The same local AI explains a selected function or a captured stretch of disassembly with linked evidence, on device through Apple Intelligence, through a runtime already running on the Mac, or through a GGUF model imported into the built-in llama.cpp runtime. Nothing leaves the machine, and the assistant never changes a file by itself.

• Ask over selected files with checked citations, a cited outline saved as Markdown only on request, and a sample project under Help › What's New to try it on.
• Explain Selected Code in the editor and Binary AI in the Binary Lab, with a guided walkthrough on a built-in ARM64 sample.
• Find Files searches by words and, with a local embedding model, by meaning; a Symbols view maps a folder's code with callers, callees and references.
• Markdown gains Map and Links views, renaming or moving a note offers to rewrite the links it broke, and JSON Canvas files open and edit in place.
• 7z, RAR and ARJ browse like ZIP; packing offers ZIP, 7z, TAR and TAR.GZ with a password for ZIP and 7z. Tabs, folders and cursors come back after a relaunch, New File offers templates, and Enter browses an .app.

Life with Arc Pro B70 + B60, part 1

Local AI on Intel Arc Pro B70 and B60. The build, model speeds and lessons from the first day on Windows 11.

NorthPane 1.2 reads executables, and opens Windows installers

F3 on a Mach-O, ELF, PE or DOS executable now lays out a Binary Lab: a navigator of functions, imports, sections and strings, a typed inspector, a disassembler with a control-flow graph, and an entropy map of the whole file that shows where the packed parts are. And an Inno Setup installer — the kind a DOS-era re-release ships in — opens in a pane like any other archive, so the files copy straight out to the Mac without booting Windows.

• Binary Lab on F3: navigator (⌘0), Go to Anything (⌘P), typed inspector (⌘B), the parsed header (⌘I), cross-references, basic blocks, and a control-flow graph.
• Bytes patch into a saved copy and never in place; the names, comments and marks you add are kept across sessions, and two executables in the two panes compare function by function.
• ⌘E unpacks the compressed stream under the cursor and keeps following the chain down. Tar joins zip as an archive the panes walk into.
• Enter on an Inno Setup .exe lists what is inside, and every file that comes out is checked against the digest the installer carries for it.
• Since 1.1: dropped SFTP and FTP sessions sign themselves back in after sleep, the editor highlights 43 languages, and the app and its listing now speak 16.

How to Extract a GOG Installer on macOS

Opening a Windows Inno Setup EXE as a folder with NorthPane

NorthPane is on the Mac App Store

My dual-pane file manager for the Mac is out. Two panels side by side, the classic function keys, and the same commands whether the pane shows your disk or a server halfway around the world. Built for programmers and game developers, and for anyone who would rather let the keyboard do the work.

• For macOS 14 and later, universal for Apple silicon and Intel, in English, Czech, German, and Spanish.
• SFTP and FTP/FTPS in either pane, with host keys checked against your own ~/.ssh/known_hosts.
• Zip archives browse like folders, on a ZIP reader and writer written by hand.
• F3 goes deep: syntax highlighting, hex with an ARM64 and x86 disassembler, Markdown, PDF, and FBX models on a turntable.
• Sandboxed, with no accounts, no analytics, and no backend of mine.

Tivna is on the App Store

My private wallet for loyalty cards is out. Photograph a loyalty, club, or discount card once and Tivna files it into a clean, searchable library; at the checkout, a full-screen barcode mode gets it scanned on the first try.

• Free for iPhone (iOS 18+), in English, Czech, German, and Spanish.
• Guided camera capture with automatic straightening, Photos import, or manual entry.
• Regenerates crisp QR, EAN, Code 128, Code 39, ITF, PDF417, and Aztec codes.
• No account: cards sync through your own private iCloud. One banner ad, removable with a one-time purchase.

A private wallet for loyalty cards is next

My second iOS app is code-complete and heading to the App Store. Tivna keeps loyalty, club, and discount cards in a private, searchable library: photograph a card once, scan its barcode at any checkout.

• Card capture with automatic straightening and cropping is done.
• Full-screen barcode mode regenerates crisp QR, Code 128, PDF417, and Aztec codes.
• Everything syncs through your own private iCloud: no account, no first-party tracking.
• Remaining before release: final icon, store screenshots, and App Store review.

One news feed for everything

The site now has a single news page and RSS feed covering every project: apps, game engines, and experiments. The Zeta devlog keeps its own feed; everything it publishes appears here too.

The original demo is running

Zeta now starts from the original menu and loads the demo map into a working single-player game.

• Original terrain, buildings, units, interface, music, and sound effects load from the demo data.
• Movement, combat, production, territories, selection, minimap, and audio are working.
• Pathfinding is being tuned to follow the original game's routing more closely.
• WASD and arrow-key camera movement make it easier to navigate the map.