Category Archives: General

An Interview With Ray Kurzweil

Posted on 2013-05-11 by jcs

I’ve been a big fan of Ray Kurzweil ever since I read The Singularity is Near. Kurzweil is controversial and some scientists dispute his conclusions but he is by no means some crackpot spouting nonsense. He has a proven track … Continue reading →

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What’s in a Logo?

Posted on 2013-05-10 by jcs

Troy Hunt is the world’s greatest lover and he’s got the t-shirt to prove it. That’s his way of making a serious point about those badges you see on many sites certifying that the site is safe and not infected … Continue reading →

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The Greatest Car Commercial Ever

Posted on 2013-05-09 by jcs

As a young nerd I wanted to be Spock. Every nerd wanted to be Spock. So of course this commercial really resonates with me. It’s hilarious and I’m sure all Irreal readers will love it even if your boyhood heroes … Continue reading →

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A Solution to EmacsGolf 4

Posted on 2013-05-08 by jcs

EmacsGolf 4 didn’t generate a lot of interest, apparently. What little discussion there was centered on why you would want to perform the given transformations rather than how to do so. Nevertheless, the honor of Emacs users everywhere is at … Continue reading →

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Org Mode Summary

Posted on 2013-05-06 by jcs

I recently saw this Org-mode summary from the Linux Journal mentioned in a tweet. It’s pretty old—from 2007—but still serves as a useful introduction to some of Org-mode’s power. If you’ve never used Org-mode, this article will give you a … Continue reading →

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linedit

Posted on 2013-05-04 by jcs

Pavel Penev has updated and republished his excellent post Learning Lisp The Bump Free Way. It’s a nice introduction to the problems that Lisp n00bs face and how to overcome them. If you know anyone struggling with learning Lisp, this … Continue reading →

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DRM-Free Day

Posted on 2013-05-03 by jcs

Today is DRM-free day. To celebrate O’Reilly is offering 50% off on their entire ebook inventory1. I used the occasion to pick up a copy of Writing GNU Emacs Extensions. If you have any O’Reilly books on your “to purchase” … Continue reading →

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EmacsMovies Looks at Gnus

Posted on 2013-05-02 by jcs

Noufal Ibrahim has resumed his EmacsMovies series. This time it’s part 1 of a series on Gnus. Gnus is famously complex so Ibrahim’s taking the subject in smaller bites makes sense. As it is, the video is over 21 minutes … Continue reading →

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Why Sites Have Bad Password Policies

Posted on 2013-04-30 by jcs

Ars Technica has an excellent article on why many sites have security limiting password policies. I’ve written about this before on my old blog, but the Ars Technica article is particularly infuriating. So much so that this is my second … Continue reading →

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Tips on Securing a WordPress Site

Posted on 2013-04-28 by jcs

After the recent WordPress Administration Page attack, my hosting provider sent its customers a link to the WordPress page on securing WordPress sites. It’s an excellent resource if you’re running WordPress and some of the ideas are general enough that … Continue reading →

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