This was originally titled “I miss when computers were fun”. But in the course of writing it, I discovered that there is a reason computers became less fun, a dark thread woven through a number of events in recent history. Let … Read more
Back in 2017–2020, while I was on the Blaze team at Google, I took on a 20% project that turned into a bit of an obsession: sandboxfs. Born out of my work supporting iOS development, it was my attempt to … Read more
Way back in 2012, The Guardian reviewed an eInk reader which cost a mere £8. The txtr beagle was designed to be a stripped-down and simplified eReader. As far as I can tell, it never shipped. There were a few … Read more
One of the most common problems I encounter consulting on Rails projects is that developers have previously added lib/ to autoload paths and then twisted themselves into knots creating error-prone, project-specific conventions for subsequently un-autoloading a subset of files also … Read more
I’m trying to break into freelancing/consulting/contracting. Following best advice on the net/podcasts/etc I’m contacting my past companies plus some new ones and all of them tell me the same exact story. “No. We cannot hire freelancers directly. You must go … Read more
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[This is a transcript of the video embedded below. Some of the explanations may not make sense without the animations in the video.] [embedded content] 15 years ago, dying bees were all over the news. Scientists called it the “colony … Read more
Pic When space junk crashed into the Moon earlier this year, it made not one but two craters on the lunar surface, judging from images revealed by NASA on Friday. Astronomers predicted a mysterious object would hit the Moon on … Read more
Welcome to LWN.net The following subscription-only content has been made available to you by an LWN subscriber. Thousands of subscribers depend on LWN for the best news from the Linux and free software communities. If you enjoy this article, please … Read more
The sandwich example was brilliant! I never expected that to be possible (the example of packing smaller circles in a larger one in another comment is also brilliant but less useful for me today I think.) 1. It’s slow, even … Read more