Monthly Archives: May 2013

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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Lexical Binding in Emacs Video

Posted on 2013-05-07 by jcs

If you’re still confused about the difference between dynamic and lexical scoping in Emacs, Nic Ferrier has an excellent video that explains it with a couple of simple examples. You may find it useful to review the meaning of closure … 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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Complexity Cheat Sheet

Posted on 2013-05-05 by jcs

Eric Rowell and Nick Dizazzo have posted a great Big-O cheat sheet. The sheet gives time and space complexity for several popular algorithms such as searching, sorting, and manipulation of data structures and graphs. One feature that I like is … 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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A Summary of New Libraries in April’s Quicklisp

Posted on 2013-05-03 by jcs

Ben Hyde has produced a summary of the new libraries in April’s Quicklisp distribution. Each item has a link to the library’s README so it’s easy to get a more detailed look at libraries that interest you. A very nice … Continue reading →

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