An Intro to Compilers
A compiler is just a program that translates other programs. Traditional compilers translate source code into executable machine code that your computer understands. (Some compilers translate source code into another programming language. These compilers are called source-to-source translators or transpilers.) LLVM is…
Options vs. Cash
I often talk to startups that claim that their compensation package has a higher expected value than the equivalent package at a place like Facebook, Google, Twitter, or Snapchat. One thing I don’t understand about this claim is, if the claim is true, why shouldn’t the startup go to an investor, sell their options for…
The world in which IPv6 was a good design
. It took a look longer to read the book than to play this little web game, but you get pretty much the same thing out of the game, so I hig...
The sound of the dialup, pictured (2012)
If you ever connected to the Internet before the 2000s, you probably remember how it sounded. But what do these sounds mean?
Show HN: Metaballs
Generating gooey metaballs as a single SVG path — locating the tangent points between two circles, spreading and curving the connector with polar coordinates, and handling overlap, after Hiroyuki Sato's Illustrator script.
I decided to disable AMP on my site
I have a long history with Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project, but yesterday I drew the final straw. I was on Twitter (in Safari on iPhone 6) and I noticed that somebody linked to my site…
Announcing Pipenv
I wrote a new tool this weekend, called Pipenv. Check it out on GitHub! Pipenv is an experimental project that aims to bring the best of all packaging...
How to Read Mathematics
Ranked a top 100 research university, VCU is a place where discovery and creativity go hand in hand. Located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, its more than 200 programs emphasize hands-on learning, creativity and engaging in the world around us.
Larry Ellison allegedly tried to have a professor fired for benchmarking Oracle
In 1983, at the University of Wisconsin, Dina Bitton, David DeWitt, and Carolyn Turbyfill created a database benchmarking framework . Some of their results included (lower is better):
Ideal OS: Rebooting the Desktop Operating System
Twitter user ekse has graciously translated this blog to Chinese. Thanks! TL;DR: By the end of this essay I hope to convince you of the following facts. First, that modern desktop operating systems are anything but. They are bloated, slow, and layered with legacy cruft that still functions only thanks to Moore's Law…
Little Things I Like to Do with Git
Handy Git tricks and aliases: leaderboards, praise, word-diff, branch history, daily recaps, changelog generation, and more in one quick guide.
How to Improve a Legacy Codebase
It happens at least once in the lifetime of every programmer, project manager or teamleader. You get handed a steaming pile of manure, if you’re lucky only a few million lines worth, the original programmers have long ago left for sunnier places and the documentation - if there is any to begin with - is hopelessly out…
“MP3 is dead” missed the real, much better story
If you read the news , you may think the MP3 file format was recently officially “killed” somehow, and any remaining MP3 holdouts should all move to AAC now. These are all simple rewrites of Fraunhofer IIS’ announcement that they’re terminating the MP3 patent-licensing program.
E Pur Si Muove
Earlier this year, I noticed something in China that really surprised me. I realized I felt more comfortable discussing controversial ideas in Beijing than in San Francisco. I didn’t feel...
Dangers of CSV Injection
I’ve been doing the local usergroup circuit with this lately and have been asked to write it up.
Economics of Minecraft
anecdotes from working over a minecraft economy
The Problem with AMP
Details about accelerated mobile pages and their numerous issues
Get your loved ones off Facebook
I originally wrote this for my friends and family in 2015, to explain why the latest Facebook privacy policy is really harmful. It’s since been read b
RSS: there's nothing better
“An RSS feed? That’s so 2007!” “Well then what do you suggest instead?”
How Bank of America Gave Away My Money
TLDR: Bank of America is a horrible business and it should be ashamed by how bad it is. Two weeks ago, I suddenly received emails informing me that my Bank of America…
HTTPS on Your Landing Page Is Important
Occasionally, I feel like I'm just handing an organisation more shovels - "here, keep digging, I'm sure this'll work out just fine..." The latest such event was with NatWest [http://personal.natwest.com] (a bank in the UK), and it culminated with this tweet from them: > I'm
How Stylo Brought Rust and Servo to Firefox
Two weeks ago, we released Firefox Quantum to the world. It’s been a big moment for Mozilla, shaping up to be a blockbuster release that’s changing how peopl...