OS X 10.9.3 Is Toxic
OS X 10.9.3 Recurring Panics
How I Judge the Quality of Documentation
As a developer, you develop instincts for judging quality of code. One of my favorite interview questions is: When you look at a project’s code for the first time, what are the things you look for?...
How many Commodore 64 computers were really sold? (2011)
Nobody doubts that the C64 was the greatest selling single computer model of all time, it even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records, but nobody quite knows how many it really was: Most sources say 17 million, others say 22 or even 30 million. With a high degree of confidence, I can now…
I don't love the single responsibility principle
Did you ever happen to disagree with a colleague on the single responsibility principle and its application? Let's try to understand why that could be the case.
Attacked By Thugs (2004)
Warsaw has a river running down its middle, an unassuming and turpid ribbon of water with a stairstep concrete enbankment along both of its banks, where you can often find retirees fishing (only people on fixed incomes or those close to death would dare eat fish from the Vistula). In between the embankment and the…
Using GameStop as a bank
An anonymous user of 4chan has come up with a brilliantly harebrained scheme for their personal banking. They use video game retailer GameStop as a bank. Here’s
React, JSX, and CoffeeScript
Tips on using React without JSX.
Comparing Filesystem Performance in Virtual Machines
For years, the primary bottleneck for virtual machine based development environments with Vagrant has been filesystem performance. CPU differences are minimal and barely noticeable, and RAM only becomes an issue when many virtual machines are active.
Running GUI apps with Docker
I've been doing all of my real (paid) work on VMs / containers for a while now but when it comes to writing Java code...
The Internet Arcade
When work began on JSMESS a couple years ago, I knew that it was probably somewhat easy to do all this conversion work for MAME (the arcade side) as it was for MESS (the computer and console side).…
I Quit My Job To Teach People About Hardware
This topic was discussed in greater detail in Episode 184 of to The Amp Hour. This article is more about the personal feelings that have accompanied this (ongo
Cryptocontracts Will Turn Contract Law Into a Programming Language
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post with 10 things that amazed me about bitcoin (here). I just can’t stop thinking about the idea that I brought up in the final point of that post, specific…
Beware Keyloggers at Hotel Business Centers
The U.S. Secret Service is advising the hospitality industry to inspect computers made available to guests in hotel business centers, warning that crooks have been compromising hotel business center PCs with keystroke-logging malware in a bid to steal personal and financial data from guests.
Control-R, my favorite Unix shell command
Search your bash or zsh history incrementally with Control-R, step back with repeated presses, go forward with Control-S, and tune HISTFILE and HISTSIZE.
AAAS Blocking Access to the Scientific Literature When They Say It Is “Free”
A blog about microbiology, genomics and metagenomics, sequencing, evolution, ecology, and open science.
A Closer Look at Transit
Disclaimer: I am an employee of Cognitect and I worked on the transit-js implementation. The opinions found herein are my own and do not necessarily reflect the recommendations or views of Cognitect.
Last Minute Advice for YC Applicants
In 2009 I wrote a blog post here about advice for startups applying for YC. Little did I know years later I'd become a partner at Y Combinator and have the chance to shape hundreds of new startups...
The Flying Nimbus – A high-power, self-balancing transportation contraption
What does a recycled (heavily used) go kart tire, an action-packed three-phase servo drive and a gyro/accelerometer have in common?
My Thoughts on the Datomic License
I have a greenfield project where the choice of database is open. I have been very interested in Datomic for a couple of years now and figured that I'd try Datomic out for the project. Then I tried to actually download and install it and decided against it... mostly because the value of Datomic does not clearly…
Rat Park drug experiment cartoon
Comic about a classic experiment into drug addiction science: Rat Park. Would rats take drugs if given a stimulating environment and company?
Entitlement issues (2009)
I am home. My dog is happy to see me. The world is a good place and I am behind on work because American Airlines doesn't have proper power ...
Apple Watch: Initial Thoughts and Observations
I think Apple Watch prices are going to be shockingly high — gasp-inducingly, get-me-to-the-fainting-couch high — from the perspective of the tech industry. But at the same time, there is room for them to be disruptively *low* from the perspective of the traditional watch and jewelry world.