Category Archives: General

“As discussion of a failure grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving my action at Waterloo approaches 1—​​that is, if such discourse should persist for a sufficient period, be assured that some self-styled wit will compare someone or something … Continue reading →

While I’m developing the new UI for OurAirports.com on my laptop, I want to be able to test on various mobile devices easily, including other people’s devices (where it’s rude to root and mess around with /etc/hosts). Here’s what I … Continue reading →

or … It’s always been a struggle for control Act I Time: 1980s Place: TV Network I want you to sit still and watch these commercials. Viewer When the commercials come on, I get up to go to the kitchen … Continue reading →

Update from Dustin DeWeese: “A working Emacs 25 package is available in Termux: https://termux.com $ apt install emacs” — this is probably a better solution than the outdated distro below. In February 2014, I posted instructions for installing Gnu Emacs … Continue reading →

I refer to these two comics constantly when I’m doing technology architecture and design work. Affordance (From The Far Side, 1980s IIRC.) Coverage (http://xkcd.com/773/)

Could #hashtags help us share data during a humanitarian crisis? Continue reading →

Update: these instructions no longer work for Android L (Lollipop). For a first pass at installing Gnu Emacs in Lollipop, see this update. Since I mentioned in a review that I’m using Emacs on my Android Nexus 7 tablet, I’ve … Continue reading →

I just noticed that the Evernote app updated itself on my phone, and that got me thinking about how I just don’t use it much. I made a serious effort a year or two ago, in the middle of my … Continue reading →

Today, the US government’s data.gov temporarily went dark, and along with it, what is likely the world’s most important collection of open data sets: You are welcome to use this as a chance to rail against the juvenile hijinks in … Continue reading →

I’m working on a large application architecture for an international organisation right now, and am including this disclaimer in the introduction: 1.1. Limitations Like all technology-related architectural designs, this is a vision of how XXX could work, not a blueprint … Continue reading →