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What Is a Tech Company?
The question of “What is a tech company” comes down to how much software and its unique characteristics affects the company’s core business.
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Adblock Plus filter lists may execute arbitrary code in web pages
A new version of Adblock Plus was released on July 17, 2018. Version 3.2 introduced a new filter option for rewriting requests. A day later AdBlock followed suit and released support for the new filter option. uBlock, being owned by AdBlock, also implemented the feature. Under certain conditions the $rewrite filter…
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Mistakes we made adopting event sourcing and how we recovered
Good judgement is the result of experience ... Experience is the result of bad judgement. — Fred Brooks
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Viewing Matrices and Probability as Graphs
Today I'd like to share an idea. It's a very simple idea. It's not fancy and it's certainly not new. In fact, I'm sure many of you have thought about it already. But if you haven't—and even if you have!—I hope you'll take a few minutes to enjoy it with me. Here's the idea: Every matrix corresponds to a graph. So…
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JavaScript Is C
JavaScript and C both make you maintain your invariants the most painful way possible. Happily, there are better alternatives these days.
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Companies may be losing millions due to emails buried in collapsed Gmail threads
Disclaimer: The events depicted in this story are purely factual and described to the best of my memory. Prelude Many years ago, in the City of London… The Expedia empire reigns. Having conqu…
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Reasons not to reveal your DNA
With over two decades of global impact, Mozilla Foundation continues to lead the movement for a better technology future—powered by people, open by design, and fueled by imagination.
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Chrome, the perfect antitrust villain?
Note: I wrote this post on Thursday, and then Friday night, news dropped that the US DOJ is preparing an antitrust investigation against Google. Wow-ee. So, this post may either look better and/or …
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A Look at PureDarwin – An OS Based on the Open Source Core of macOS
An overview of the PureDarwin project, which is a community effort to produce a more usable version of Darwin OS, the open source base behind modern Mac OS.
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Yogababble
Malcolm Gladwell writes about a fascinating episode in history. Neville Chamberlain’s first plane ride was a trip to meet Adolf Hitler. The British Prime Minister was taken by Hitler’s charisma. He believed the German leader when he promised not to invade Czechoslovakia. After his triumphant return from Germany…
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Faster Layouts with CSS Grid and Subgrid
CSS Grid has been available in most major browsers since early 2017, and it makes web layout more powerful than ever before. But complex-looking new syntax (line-names! grid-areas! minmax! fit-content! ...
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Open Hardware on Its Own Doesn’t Solve the Trust Problem
A few years ago, Sean ‘xobs’ Cross and I built an open-source laptop, Novena, from the circuit boards up, and shared our designs with the world. I’m a strong proponent of open hardware, because sharing knowledge is sharing power. One thing we didn’t anticipate was how much the press wanted to frame our open hardware…
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Getting Ahead by Being Inefficient
Inefficient does not mean ineffective, and it is certainly not the same as lazy. You get things done – just not in the most effective way possible. You’re a bit sloppy, and use more energy. But don’t feel bad about it. There is real value in not being the best.
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Walkability a key factor determining upward mobility of a city's residents
Bipartisan Alliance, a Society for the Study of the US Constitution, and of Human Nature, where Republicans and Democrats meet.
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Geometry, Algebra, and Intuition (2017)
I have a confession to make: I have always found symbolic algebra more intuitive than geometric pictures. I think you’re supposed to feel the opposite way, and I greatly admire people who think and communicate in pictures, but for me, it’s usually a struggle.
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Living skin can be 3D-printed, with blood vessels
TROY, N.Y. — Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a way to 3D print living skin, complete with blood vessels. The advancement, published online today in Tissue Engineering Part A, is a significant step toward creating grafts that are more like the skin our bodies produce naturally.
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Michael Atiyah has died
We are very sorry to hear of the death of Michael Atiyah. Michael was a giant of mathematics. He held many positions including Savilian Professor of Geometry here in Oxford, President of the Royal Society, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, the founding Directorship of the Isaac Newton Institute and Chancellor of…
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How I made a website with Svelte
Just like last year, I made a list of the best media I enjoyed over the year. This includes music, films, series and games.
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How I Learned to Love Algebraic Geometry
A more polished version of this article appeared on Nautilus on 2019 February 28. This version has some more material. How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Algebraic Geometry In my 50s, too old …
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Calculus for the Curious
Some weeks ago I got involved in a discussion on Twitter about, which books to recommend on the history of calculus. Somebody chimed in that Steven Strogatz’s new book would tell you all that you n…
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Discovering less-known Postgres v12 features
Get to know and learn how to use some less-known features of Version 12 of PostgreSQL. You'll surely discover something new for yourself.
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When TCP sockets refuse to die
While working on our Spectrum server , we noticed something weird: the TCP sockets which we thought should have been closed were lingering around. We realized we don't really understand when TCP sockets are supposed to time out!
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The SaaS Opportunity of Unbundling Excel
The unbundling of Excel is just as important as the unbundling of Craigslist. Here's what you need to know about the Excel Economy and how SaaS companies can take advantage of different verticals and use cases that Excel has dominated.