2025-07-31
A dive into open chat protocols
wiki.alopex.li/ADiveIntoOpenChat2025-07-03
A Higgs-bugson in the Linux Kernel
blog.janestreet.com/a-higgs-bugson-in-the-linux-kernelWe recently ran across a strange higgs-bugson that manifested itself in a critical system that stores and distributes the firm’s trading activity data, called Gord. (A higgs-bugson is a bug that is reported in practice but difficult to reproduce, named for the Higgs boson, a particle which was theorized in the 1960s but only found in 2013.) In this post I’ll walk you through the process I took to debug it. I tried to write down relevant details as they came up, so see if you can guess what the bug is while reading along.
2025-06-26
The plan-execute pattern
mmapped.blog/posts/29-plan-execute.htmlI feel uneasy about design patterns.
On the one hand, my university class on design patterns revived my interest in programming.
On the other hand, I find most patterns in the Gang of Four book to be irrelevant to my daily work;
they solve problems that a choice of programming language or paradigm creates.My litmus test of a good design pattern is its cross-disciplinary applicability.
I’m more likely to accept an idea that pops up in fields beyond software engineering.
And the most convincing patterns are the ones that help me in everyday life.This article describes a universal pattern that billions of people rely on daily, but software engineers rarely discuss—the plan-execute pattern.
2025-06-18
You can use `fzf` to review git commits
jvns.ca/til/fzf-preview-git-commitsI just learned that
you can use it to review a git commit like this and I thought that was really
cool.
2025-06-12
Always do Extra
www.bennorthrop.com/Essays/2021/always-do-extra.phpExtra is different than More. Extra is finishing those two screens, but then researching a new library for form validation that might reduce the boilerplate code. Or it's learning ways to protect against common security vulnerabilities from data entry. These little off-ramps from the main highway of Normal Work could be dead-ends and not have any practical value to the project. But they might also be important contributions. And that's the thing with Extra. While the tangible value to the project is uncertain (it could be nothing this time or it could be something), the value to you is real.
2025-05-23
share_target - Web application manifest
developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps/Manifest/Reference/share_targetThe share_target manifest member allows installed Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) to be registered as a share target in the system's share dialog.
2025-05-15
Writing that changed how I think about PL
bernsteinbear.com/blog/pl-writingEvery so often I come across a paper, blog post, or (occasionally) video that completely changes how I think about a topic in programming languages and compilers. For some of these posts, I can’t even remember how I thought about the idea before reading it—it was that impactful.
2025-01-17
Earthstar
earthstar-project.orgStorage for private, distributed, offline-first applications. Earthstar is a specification and JavaScript library for building connected applications owned and run by their users.
2024-12-17
Advent of Code on the Nintendo DS
sailor.li/aocnds.htmlSolving AoC on the DS with Rust.
2024-11-22
New stuff in Emacs 30
www.mgmarlow.com/words/2024-07-28-emacs-30-newsReading through the Emacs 30 NEWS file and picking
out the stuff I think is the most interesting.
2024-09-19
Blogging in Djot instead of Markdown
www.jonashietala.se/blog/2024/02/02/blogging_in_djot_instead_of_markdown2024-08-08
More than 200 orphaned Debian packages moved to git, 216 to go
www.hungry.com/~pere/blog/More_than_200_orphaned_Debian_packages_moved_to_git__216_to_go.html2024-06-26
A (more) Modern CSS Reset
piccalil.li/blog/a-more-modern-css-resetYou probably wrote half a monad by accident
gieseanw.wordpress.com/2024/06/25/you-probably-wrote-half-a-monad-by-accident2024-06-19
Aurora - Python Static Site Generator
aurora.jamesg.blogAurora: An extensible, Python-based static site generator.
2024-06-17
OpenBSD, the computer appliance maker's secret weapon
hiandrewquinn.github.io/til-site/posts/openbsd-the-computer-appliance-maker-s-secret-weaponBetween our ESP32 prokaryotic organisms and our 24/7 Internet-enabled megafauna servers, there exists a vast and loosely-defined ecosystem of things the B2B world likes to call computer appliances. Picture a bespoke Pi 4 packaged up neatly with some Python scripts, a little fancy plastic embossing, and maybe a well-guarded id_ed25519.pub in case you end up in hot water during the (long - very long, stable cash flow for generations long) maintenance contract, and you’re in the ballpark.
2024-06-14
CAUSAL.AGENCY(7)
causal.agencyI make mostly IRC software in C. I like OpenBSD but also the GPL. I just want to read books and try to learn to be kinder. When I can I'd like to talk to strangers and experience more magic.