Sunday, January 11, 2026

VS Code Markdown Mermaid extension

markdown + mermaid is becoming a de-facto documentation + visualization for open source and other code solutions, both in IDEs and on the web

Markdown Preview Mermaid Support - Visual Studio Marketplace

Markdown Preview Mermaid Support

Matt Bierner | 3,811,890 installs

TypeScript

async function sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> {
    return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
}

async function countdown(): Promise<void> {
    for (let i: number = 3; i > 0; i--) {
        console.log(i + "... ");
        await sleep(1000);
    }
    console.log("liftoff");
}

countdown();




Countdown Program Structure

flowchart TD
    main([main]) --> countdown[[countdown]]
    countdown --> loop[/"for i = 3 to 1"\]
    loop --> body["print i
sleep(1000)"] body --> loop loop --> liftoff["print 'liftoff'"] liftoff --> done([end])

Countdown Program Flow

flowchart TD
    main([main]) --> countdown[[countdown]]
    countdown --> init
    subgraph loop ["for (i=3; i>0; i--)"]
        init[i = 3] --> check{i > 0?}
        check -->|yes| print["print i + '...'"]
        print --> sleep[[sleep 1000ms]]
        sleep --> dec[i--]
        dec --> check
    end
    check -->|no| liftoff["print 'liftoff'"]
    liftoff --> done([end])
        

Wood powered vehicles

While much of the world is moving to EVs, 
100 years back in time, the world was using wood to power trucks.
Even now, it is used in some places.

North Korea’s Trucks Run on Wood - YouTube

The way this works is unusual.

It is not like a "steam engine", instead it is based on generating a flammable gas by burning wood badly, and using that gas, like natural gas, in a standard engine. 
Suboptimal, but it works, apparently.

Category:Wood-gas-powered vehicles - Wikimedia Commons

Gasification - Wikipedia

Energy has been produced at industrial scale via gasification since the early 19th century. Initially coal and peat were gasified to produce town gas for lighting and cooking

During both world wars, especially the World War II, the need for fuel produced by gasification reemerged due to the shortage of petroleum.[9] Wood gas generators, called Gasogene or Gazogène, were used to power motor vehicles in Europe

Wood gas generator - Wikipedia