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Writing well
Learn how to write well. Topics include figuring out what to write about, how to write an introduction, the writing process, writing style, and copyediting.
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The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 3,290 posts.
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Use `nproc` and not grep /proc/cpuinfo
There’s something really quite subtle about how the nproc utility from GNU coreutils works. If you look at the man page, it’s even the very first sentence: Print the number of processin…
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Tips for Founders Doing Sales (From a Founder)
The most important things I learned since I started doing sales (I had 0 experience)
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A Worsening Culture War
When leaders run out of unifying myths, division is the last currency. Why this Thanksgiving, America is a "death cult" versus "radical socialists"
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macOS has checked app signatures online for over 2 years
Why does it take 2 years to realise that macOS has been checking signing certificate validity online?
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I asked GPT-3 for the question to “42”
Can GPT-3 compute the ultimate question about life, the Universe and everything?
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An API is a user interface
An API is a user interface for programmers, and is no different from a graphical user interface, command-line user interface, or any other interface a human is expected to work with. Turns out programmers are people – who would have thought?
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The AMA is a tax-exempt hedge fund and licensing corporation
The American Medical Association is not a charitable organization. The American Medical Association is not an educational organization. The American Medical Association is a tax-exempt hedge fund and licensing corporation, designed from the ground up to enrich its executives and serve its own bureaucratic interests…
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Learn difficult concepts with the ADEPT method (2014)
After a decade of writing explanations, I've simplified the strategy I use to get new concepts to click. Here's how to teach yourself a difficult idea, or…
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How Rainbow Tables Work
I found the creator of Rainbow Table's paper, aimed at cryptanalysts, was pretty inaccessible considering the simplicity and elegance of Rainbow Tables, so this is an overview of it for a layman.
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Android | Madaidan's Insecurities
By default, Android has a strong security model and incorporates full system SELinux policies , strong app sandboxing , full verified boot , modern exploit mitigations like fine-grained, forward-edge Control Flow Integrity and ShadowCallStack , widespread use of memory-safe languages (Java / Kotlin) and more. As such…
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Spectre.Console lets you make beautiful console apps with .NET Core
I've long said, as a fan of the console and text mode, that the command line is ...
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You might not need machine learning
Machine learning is a trendy topic, so naturally it’s often used for inappropriate purposes where a simpler, more efficient, and more reliable solution suffices. The other day I saw an illustrative and fun example of this: Neural Network Cars and Genetic Algorithms . The video demonstrates 2D cars driven by a neural…
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That’s not why I did it
It has been a very long time since I’ve dealt with a major loom screw up. A really long time. Like I don’t remember the last time? And it isn’t because I’m so very good at this whole weaving thing, but it sort of is. I’ve been weaving since the mid 70’s. If there is a mistake, or screw up, I can assure you I made it…
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TCP Performance problems related to Nagle’s Algorithm and Delayed ACK (2005)
This page describes a TCP performance problem resulting from a little-known interaction between Nagle’s Algorithm and Delayed ACK. At least, I believe it’s not well known: I haven’t seen it documented elsewhere, yet in the course of my career at Apple I have run into the performance problem it causes over and over…
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Convolution Is Fancy Multiplication
Like making engineering students squirm? Have them explain convolution and (if you're barbarous) the convolution theorem. They'll mutter something about…
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Another free CA as an alternative to Let's Encrypt
Let's Encrypt is an amazing organisation doing an amazing thing by providing certificates at scale, for free. The problem though was that they were the only such organisation for a long time, but I'm glad to say that the ecosystem is changing. It's always a good idea
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Ad block and you don't stop
Who will win, a multibillion dollar industry or a couple of txt files?
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On the bonkers color palette of Garfield comics
He’s too young to really follow the narratives — after every strip he pauses, asks what happened, and then says, slowly and calmly, “Why” — but he’s already very fond of the drawings and characters.
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Upgrade Raspberry Pi 4 with a NVMe boot drive
You can upgrade the storage in your Raspberry Pi 4 with an NVMe drive using USB3 to get more reliable storage and faster I/O than an SD…
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IoT Unravelled Part 1: It's a Mess but Then There's Home Assistant
With the benefit of hindsight, this was a naïve question: > Alright clever IoT folks, I've got two of these garage door openers, what do you reckon the best way of connecting them with Apple HomeKit is? https://t.co/i0RmjSMkkD — Troy Hunt (@troyhunt) April 25, 2020 [https://twitter.com/