freedom Google Analytics I have removed Google Analytics from this site. I have long felt that removing it would be the right thing to do, but inaction is always easier. Anyway, it's gone.
programming Insidious non-interception I wrote a fun bug the other day. You probably know that, when I say "fun," what I mean is more... Wtf? Here's the story.
guns Matchbox-caliber weapons Why are modern guns made like matchbox cars, and why do they keep breaking?
writing How to respond to a tornado Tips from the masters on how to survive nature's most violent storms.
programming You can write X in any language Yes, Virginia, you can write in any language. The more important question is whether or not you should.
internet Contact in digital spaces is a poor surrogate for social interaction Yeah, I know, that's pretty obvious. The insidious thing about it is how non-obvious the consequences can be. Let me tell you a story...
writing "BookTube" is not for me Been thinking of doing a series of videos "reviewing" the writing of real authors. Thing is, I've decided that "BookTube" is definitely NOT for me.
philosophy On societal decay and the incompatibility of established systems with new actors I watch Air Safety Institute videos online, and it's disturbing how many fatal case studies are caused by the tenor of interactions between air traffic controllers and pilots. Is this simply inevitable?
writing Progress Report: March 2019 Been a while since I wrote about the progress I've made on my novel. Here's the latest update: I'm at 42.5 thousand words.
writing Why code never works and you can't edit Wikipedia A long time ago, in a county far, far away, I had a gig that didn't pay well, and it was boring. As a result, I spent a lot of my time trying to unfuck Wikipedia...
writing Apple doesn't care about your work My endeavors fall into one of two categories: my hobbies and my work. When I engage in a hobby, it's fine if not everything goes to plan; my motorcycle breaks
Dragnet: A Time for Reflection Names have been changed (or just omitted) to protect the innocent, and the guilty have escaped into the wild. Beware, they are armed and dangerous!
gaming A real complaint about Shadow of the Tomb Raider When Shadow of the Tomb Raider came out, I didn't get what the big deal was. Having played it, I know what everyone was mad about...
freedom Another letter for my congressman I sent this today to my congressional representative. I encourage you to write your representative about the same subject. Feel free to copy mine.
writing What story do you tell? At the heart of every story is a single golden thread running from beginning to end, defining its essential elements. We take this thread, and we add characters, plots, and scenery. But which characters, plots, and scenery?
programming Rust modules and you The bad news is that the 2018 edition of Rust has pretty much settled on the worse of two module systems. The good news is that they have done so with the potential to unfuck this at some point in the future. In the meantime, what can you expect?
programming Programming Challenge: Nth Fibonacci Number Programming Challenge: Nth Fibonacci Number I did a quick Google search for "favorite whiteboard interview problems" and came up with a few interesting possibilities. The one I've chosen
programming On testing Warning! Testing, like politics, religion, and how to butter your toast, is one of those subjects that will get you thrown out of better dinner parties and churches throughout the South. What you read here may shock you! You have been warned.
programming Programming Challenge: Data Validation Your boss has asked you to import a bunch of someone else's data into your perfect, precious, pristine database. Catch is, their data is hot garbage. What do you do?
programming Programming Challenge: N Digits Today's challenge: given a number of digits, print the sum of all numbers that can be expressed using all such digits.
programming Ruminations on the efficiency of lookup tables in LINQ I can think of three ways to create a lookup table in LINQ. Strangely, they exhibit surprisingly variable performance characteristics.
programming Shelf and ladder programming Software engineering is a craft. A trade. Much of what we produce as software engineers is really quite simple. A web service might be the equivalent of an end table, or perhaps a bookshelf. Why, then, are so many of our shelves such harrowing endeavors?
