It's not just react query, you can make a quick useFetch and useMutation hooks (or claude can), it's not that complex. If you don't need more advanced features (eg caching), you can easily cut down on 3rd party dependencies.

    import { useState, useEffect } from "react";

    function useFetch(url) {
      const [data, setData] = useState(null);
      const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
      const [error, setError] = useState(null);

      useEffect(() => {
        const controller = new AbortController();

        fetch(url, { signal: controller.signal })
          .then((res) => res.json())
          .then((json) => {
            console.log("Data:", json);
            setData(json);
          })
          .catch((err) => {
            if (err.name !== "AbortError") {
              console.error("Fetch error:", err);
              setError(err);
            }
          })
          .finally(() => setLoading(false));

        return () => controller.abort();
      }, [url]);

      return { data, loading, error };
    }







    function App() {
      const { data, loading, error } = useFetch("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1");

      if (loading) return <p>Loading...</p>;
      if (error) return <p>Error</p>;
      return <pre>{JSON.stringify(data, null, 2)}</pre>;
    }

Sorry for being pedantic, but the first example could be rewritten to extract the pattern into a higher level hook, eg useNotifications. One way to simplify components before reaching for store libraries. The reusable hook now contains all the state and effects and logic, and the component is more tidy.

    function Dashboard() {
      const { user } = useAuth();
      const {loading, error, notifications, undreadCount, markAsRead} = useNotifications(user);

      if (loading) return <Skeleton />;
      if (error) return <p>Failed to load: {error}</p>;

      return (
        <div>
          <h1>Dashboard ({unreadCount} unread)</h1>
          <StatsCards stats={stats} />
          <NotificationList items={notifications} onRead={markAsRead} />
        </div>
      );
    }

Far cleaner, how is testability though?

Very easy - mock the useNotifications and you can easily see all the behaviour by changing three properties.

I found this out when I tried running an old app I compiled on MacOS several years ago, it still has the old title bar gradient and traffic light.

It's not just that you need to get used to gestures, it's that they are not discoverable at all, and that they can be awkward to perform with mobility issues, old hands, short fingers, etc. It's easy to make the wrong gesture, eg. the phone detects a swipe down instead of left to right, more so if you are holding it in one hand, so it's finicky and frustrating to have to rely on it as the only way of doing a common action. Why is it so wrong to have a simple navigation bar, it doesn't take up any more space than the hideous notch at the top?

> Surely our camera gear is exponentially better now

They are better, but not exponentially. You can't beat physics, film cameras can still compete in terms of dynamic range and resolution, the optical elements haven't changed that much. The 1972 photo was taken on medium format film, which is twice the size of the sensor area in the modern one, which means more photons and less noise. The recent image was take at a really high ISO, which adds to the noisiness.

I use a Peterson strobe tuner on my smartphone, it's really good. I've also coded my own strobe tuner to learn more, unfortunately no mobile version yet.

https://github.com/dsego/strobe-tuner

Sometimes I want to strike up a conversation but get no reaction or even a dismissive glance and get ignored. It feels like the universe has a script and I went off track.

yes, but is it a good foundation for relationships, after the spell is broken you maybe end up with someone who is not really compatible and the limerant starts resenting their former limerant object.

First, there should be maps and plans for all mine fields to know the exact position. But this war was insidious, and mines were planted without any method.

For me in the 90s it was the satellite dish and VHS that opened up the world in terms of content, music channels, movies, etc, channels like Cartoon Network, MTV, Viva & Viva Zwei, and so on. And then the internet for me came in '97 or '98.