Category Archives: General

Emacs Rocks Does WebRebels

Posted on 2013-10-10 by jcs

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the posting of Magnar Sveen’s WebRebels video. It’s finally up but sadly the projection of his computer screen is unreadable even when blown up to full screen. That’s a great disappointment. Of course, Sveen knows a … Continue reading →

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More Password Advice

Posted on 2013-10-08 by jcs

Stavros Korokithakis has a nice post on choosing and securing passwords. Although his recommendations won’t come as news to Irreal readers, the post is still worthwhile because he explains the reasons behind his recommendations. Even more useful—especially for your Aunt … Continue reading →

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Emacs Work Flow

Posted on 2013-10-07 by jcs

Michael Wall has a nice post on his Emacs workflow. I found it interesting for two reasons. First, I always enjoy seeing how others solve the problems that we, as developers and Emacs users, all face. Most often, I learn … Continue reading →

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Password Contains Invalid Characters

Posted on 2013-10-06 by jcs

Nick Selby tweets a pro tip: what to do if your site delivers the error message “Password contains invalid characters”. It’s funny, of course, but like most things we find funny, it contains the germ of truth. Now, can we … Continue reading →

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The Reign of Morons

Posted on 2013-10-05 by jcs

Even if you don’t know who Jamie Zawinski (jwz) is, you’ve probably heard his famous quip about regular expressions. You may or may not agree but there’s no denying he has a sharp wit. Here, for your enjoyment, is his … Continue reading →

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Eavesdropping Versus Surveillance

Posted on 2013-10-04 by jcs

A common reaction to the NSA disclosures has been, “Meh, it’s just metadata.” Unfortunately, the issues are perceived as being overly technical and as a result it is difficult to explain to the man-in-the-street, let alone your Aunt Millie, how … Continue reading →

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Update to the Org Mode Broken Link Problem

Posted on 2013-10-03 by jcs

In my Org Mode and Broken Links post I wrote about a problem with the way that Org 8 handles HTML links. If you want to know how great the Emacs Org Mode community is, read the comments to that … Continue reading →

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Messing With The Wrong People

Posted on 2013-10-01 by jcs

Some people are delightfully grumpy and best not trifled with. Martha Stewart, it appears, is one of those people. For those who don’t know, Stewart runs a media empire loosely based around design, decorating, and cooking. She has her own … Continue reading →

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The Miracle of UTF-8

Posted on 2013-09-30 by jcs

I’ve written about UTF-8 before and recounted the story of its invention one night over dinner by Ken Thompson and Rob Pike. Now Tom Scott over at audible.com has a wonderful video on UTF-8, which he calls the world’s greatest … Continue reading →

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H.R. 2818–Surveillance State Repeal Act

Posted on 2013-09-29 by jcs

In my The New York Times on Encryption Backdoors post, I mentioned that Representative Russ Holt of New Jersey has introduced legislation that reins in the NSA and prohibits some of its more egregious activities. Although it doesn’t go far … Continue reading →

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