Monthly Archives: February 2014

Git Stash

Posted on 2014-02-28 by jcs

Over at softwarecave there’s a nice post on using git stash. In git, the stash is basically a stack on which you can push your current changes while you so something else. Maybe you want to change branches without committing … Continue reading →

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Variable Pitch Mode

Posted on 2014-02-27 by jcs

Today I ran across a tweet that recommends the use of variable-pitch-mode when writing prose instead of code: #emacs tip: when writing prose instead of code toggle M-x variable-pitch-mode for proportional fonts. It's amazing how much it helps. — The … Continue reading →

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Open Space Offices (Again)

Posted on 2014-02-26 by jcs

Nathan, over at thoughts from the red planet, blogs about The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies. I’ve long been puzzled about this myself and have written about it before, most recently in my The Insanity of … Continue reading →

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1000

Posted on 2014-02-25 by jcs

Today is a milestone of sorts. This is the one thousandth post at (this inception of) Irreal. As I wrote after publishing a post everyday for a year, it’s one of those things that doesn’t seem like much until you … Continue reading →

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Breaking Up the NSA

Posted on 2014-02-24 by jcs

Bruce Schneier has a provocative article on CNN Opinion about breaking up the NSA. He begins by pointing out that the NSA has three types of surveillance programs: Targeted Surveillance as exemplified by the actions of the Targeted Access Operations … Continue reading →

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A Hopeful Take on the Surveillance State

Posted on 2014-02-23 by jcs

Over at Charlie’s Diary, guest blogger Ramez Naam has an interesting, and hopeful, take on avoiding a surveillance state dystopia. Naam makes the point that despite the doom and gloom we hear about the creeping encroachments on our freedom, we … Continue reading →

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Parker Higgins Captures the Anti-Snowden Campaign Perfectly

Posted on 2014-02-22 by jcs

New evidence suggests that Manning, Snowden, and Assange each used a powerful tool called monospace fonts. — Parker Higgins (@xor) February 10, 2014 It sounds just like the nonsense coming out of the FBI and Mike Rogers. It reminds me … Continue reading →

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The//Intercept Calls Out Obama and the DOJ

Posted on 2014-02-21 by jcs

In a coda to the TSA’s war against Rahinah Ibrahim that I’ve written about here, here, and here, The//Intercept is calling out President Obama and the Department of Justice for their abuse of the state-secrets privilege. Murtaza Hussain details how, … Continue reading →

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Changing the Tires

Posted on 2014-02-20 by jcs

I’m not a racing fan but like many people I’m aware of how proficient the pit crews are. In a normal Formula 1 pit stop, the car is gassed up and the four tires are changed. How long do you … Continue reading →

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The NSF Questions

Posted on 2014-02-19 by jcs

Last Saturday I wrote about the National Science Foundation poll that asked respondents 10 questions about the biological and physical sciences. The most astounding finding was that one in four Americans don’t know that the earth revolves around the sun. … Continue reading →

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