Monthly Archives: September 2013

Build Your Own Dropbox

Posted on 2013-09-10 by jcs

As I’ve written many many many times before, if you’re using Dropbox to store sensitive data you absolutely must encrypt it before committing it to Dropbox. I use Dropbox solely to sync my 1Password keychain between devices so the file … Continue reading →

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The War Between NSA and the Tech Industry Begins

Posted on 2013-09-09 by jcs

Patrick Gray over at Wired wrote an interesting article in which he posits that Tech Companies and Government May Soon Go to War Over Surveillance. His notion is that while tech companies may have been willing to accommodate the NSA … Continue reading →

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Learning Emacs Keyboard Shortcuts

Posted on 2013-09-08 by jcs

Sacha Chua has been doing a lot of sketch notes lately. One of her most recent contributions are two guides for learning Emacs keyboard shortcuts. These are, of course, aimed at n00bs but they are well done and worth passing … Continue reading →

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Using Org Mode for Custom Workflows

Posted on 2013-09-07 by jcs

jr0cket, aka John Stevenson, is working on a series of posts that discuss how to design a custom workflow with Org Mode. So far, he has a set of three posts but be sure to check his home page for … Continue reading →

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Schneier on Trusting the NSA

Posted on 2013-09-06 by jcs

Bruce Schneier has a powerful article in The Atlantic on The Only Way to Restore Trust in the NSA. His prescription is to appoint an independent special council to clean up the mess. My first reaction when reading that was … Continue reading →

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The Nikodemus Common Lisp FAQ

Posted on 2013-09-05 by jcs

I’m sure I’ve mentioned Nikodemus’ Common Lisp FAQ before but it’s been a while so it’s worth reminding everyone. The FAQ is meant for Lisp n00bs as a way of getting over some of the initial hurdles a beginner faces. … Continue reading →

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Interactive SICP

Posted on 2013-09-04 by jcs

Longtime Irreal readers know that I consider Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) arguably the best computer science book ever written. Therefore, I was delighted when I discovered an online version of SICP with an embedded Scheme interpreter so … Continue reading →

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Sacha Does Org

Posted on 2013-09-03 by jcs

The ever-energetic Sacha Chua uses Org mode to organize her life. If you follow her at all you know that She has an extremely busy schedule. She documents everything. If Chua can run her life with Org Mode, just about … Continue reading →

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SBCL 1.1.11 Is Out

Posted on 2013-09-02 by jcs

The latest version of my favorite Common Lisp environment, SBCL, is out and available at the usual place. If you’re running Linux there’s a binary available, otherwise just grab the source and compile it yourself. Compiling is very easy—just follow … Continue reading →

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Lisp and Slime on Windows

Posted on 2013-09-01 by jcs

I haven’t used a Windows machine in decades but my general sense is that using Emacs on Windows can be—er—challenging. Even more so, apparently, is using Slime with Emacs on Windows. It’s nice, then, that Jisang Yoo has come to … Continue reading →

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