Tl; Dr: Section 1: Some examples 1. Why is there more than one unix/linux package manager? Do we really need a different package manager with the same commands but renamed for each programming language? Why do we need a distinct package manager for each distro? 2. Nobody seems to admit it, but Php, Ruby, Python, and Javascript are…

A quine is something simple to describe yet surprisingly challenging to implement– a program which outputs exactly its own source-code. It is something of a rite-of-passage for an engineering afficianado. For those that consider ourselves one level beyond afficianado we always are looking to up the ante. I took two years exploratory years off after high…

Earlier today HN reviewed a proposed github redesign and largely didn’t favor it. I figured I’d take a stab at it Before: After: See the proposed before-and-after pictures above.Here are some principles that seem intuitive to me, and maybe designers might consider them too. In practice here are the things I changed in my mockup,…

tl; dr: I find some web 2.0 content so draining it undermines the experience of entire platforms I think we can all relate to those moments in life when you feel overwhelmed — beset on all sides by obligations or problems. In such times I try to turn to humor, distractions, and escape. For over…

I’d call myself a down-to-earth scala engineer. By that I mean that I never say words like “covariant” unless I absolutely have to. I see programming languages as a tool to make my life as easy as possible – I chose scala because it lets me get the most output for the least input. I…

tl; dr – I hypothesize the physical and emotional distance of ticketing systems reduces job satisfaction and propose solutions. Bear with me. I remember when I was a kid I knew how to code. I didn’t get as good grades as I could have, I didn’t shine in a few other ways, but despite this…