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Using a list to manage executive function
I use a fairly well-developed todo list system to manage my workload during the day. Some of the details are unusual, so I thought it would be worth sharing.
New
The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 3,433 posts.
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The new PostgreSQL 17 make dist
When the PostgreSQL project makes a release, the primary artifact of that is the publication of a source code tarball. That represents the output of all the work that went into the creation of the PostgreSQL software up to the point of the release. The source tarball is then used downstream by packagers to make binary…
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Hacking the largest airline and hotel rewards platform (2023)
Between March 2023 and May 2023, we identified multiple security vulnerabilities within points.com, the backend provider for a significant portion of airline and hotel rewards programs. These vulnerabilities would have enabled an attacker to access sensitive customer account information, including names, billing…
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0xCAFEBABE & 0xFEEDFACE (2003)
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 0xCAFEBABE & 0xFEEDFACE Recently, the origin of the magic numbers of 0xCAFEBABE and 0xFEEDFACE came up in an email conversation between a number of ex-NeXT folks. Specifically, someone asked what the origin of the two magic numbers were in the context of mach-o file formats and why had Java…
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SQL Injection Isn't Dead: Smuggling Queries at the Protocol Level
PDF slides from a presentation by Paul Gerste at DEF CON 32. It turns out some databases have vulnerabilities in their binary protocols that can be exploited by carefully crafted …
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Quote-unquote "macros"
You’ve probably seen this Python 101 thing before: @memoized def fib(n): if n <= 1: return n return fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2) Leaving aside the absurdity of computing Fibonacci numbers recursively, it’s a common first introduction to Python decorators and higher-order functions. fib is just a function, and memoized…
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There Is No Antimemetics Division (2018)
An important announcement There Is No Antimemetics Division has been picked up for publication by Penguin Random House! Find out more here. Everything below is for the original self-published version of the story only. An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring p...
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Approximating sum types in Python with Pydantic
TL;DR: You can use Pydantic’s support for tagged unions to approximate sum types in Python; go right to Sum types in Python (and onwards) to see how it’s done.
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Okay, I Like WezTerm
A guide to configuring WezTerm using its Lua API. Focuses on appearance, keybindings, multiplexing, workspace navigation, and status bar (powerline) setup.
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Go is my hammer, and everything is a nail
Always choose the right tool for the job? Nah. I use Go basically everywhere, which either makes me insightful or stupid. Decide for yourself! :D
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How good can you be at Codenames without knowing any words?
About eight years ago, I was playing a game of Codenames where the game state was such that our team would almost certainly lose if we didn't correctly guess all of our remaining words on our turn. From the given clue, we were unable to do this. Although the game is meant to be a word guessing game based on word…
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How to avoid losing items? Holding pens
When we are interrupted or need to hastily respond to a new demand, we often make quick decisions about where to place physical items. We always place them in locations which make sense given our current state of mind, but often that state of mind is fleeting, and so we forget where we put our things.
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Generating Simpson's Paradox with Z3
I’ve been reading Pearl’s Causal Inference in Statistics , and one of the exercises poses this problem:
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Introduction to Golang Preemption Mechanisms
A short explanation of what is preemption and how it works
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Building data infrastructure that will last
As a consultant, I have been called in to review and, in many cases, replace dozens of half-finished, abandoned, and sometimes forgotten data infrastructure projects.
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OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20
OpenStreetMap at 20
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I Created 175 Fonts Using Rust
How I used my own Rust tool to ship 175 quality pixel fonts.
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The Shameful Defenestration of Tim
On Tim Peters' recent suspension as a Python core developer
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Stapler: I remade a 32 year old classic Macintosh app
The latest version of this app is now available as a free download on the Mac App Store.More info on my apps website at: gingerbeardman.com/apps/stapler/
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How the SNES Graphics System Works
Last week's article discussed how the Super Nintendo's Video system feeds the TV's CRT. Today I'll summarize what I understand of the hardware generating these graphics.
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Hal Hickel on Creating Tarkin
Back in 2020, Hal Hickel answered a Quora question with great detail about how we created Grand Moff Tarkin for "Rogue One" (2016), and in t...
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Is running a more efficient way to travel than walking?
Is running a more efficient way to travel than walking? Does running burn less calories per distance traveled than wa...
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Sonic Pi: Ruby as a Composition Tool
Like the blip of an intro on the front page says, my degree was originally in music. My running joke as a web dev is that neither has meaningfully required me to count past 32. And while my main concentration was vocals, I've since realized I should probably stop strictly calling this a nontechnical field, because my…
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Robert Elder's Guide to GNU Coreutils
Over the last 18 months, I've taken the time to create 108 short YouTube videos that summarize all of the commands that are found in the Coreutils Package . These videos focus mostly on Coreutils v8.3, but also included are a few commands from v9.0 as well. For each of the blog posts, I've adapted and modified the…