Tag Archives: Tech

A Linux User Moves to Windows

Posted on 2022-04-09 by jcs

I used to be a (fiery) Windows hater. I’d tell anyone who’d listen what a terrible OS it was and how using it was the sure sign of a luser. I’m no longer that way. It’s not that I’ve become … Continue reading →

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The ACM Backfile

Posted on 2022-04-07 by jcs

Here’s some good news: the ACM has opened the first 50 years of its backfile. That’s all the articles between 1951 and 2000. That may be even better than it seems because recent papers are more apt to be available … Continue reading →

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Another Paean to RSS

Posted on 2022-03-30 by jcs

Radosław Miernik has a post that’s another paean to RSS. He explains what RSS is, how it works, and its advantages to the reader. It’s mostly used to track blog entries but its application is actually broader. Basically any site … Continue reading →

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REPLs and Interactive Programming

Posted on 2022-03-28 by jcs

Mikel Evins has a post from back in December of 2020 that recently popped up in my feed for some reason or another. It’s an interesting post about one of my favorite programming topics: interactive programming. In it, Evins examines … Continue reading →

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LibreWolf

Posted on 2022-03-19 by jcs

I just saw a reference to the new LibreWolf project. It’s a fork of the Firefox browser that focuses on privacy and security. Among other things, they’ve eliminated all telemetry and data gathering and the annoyances that go with it. … Continue reading →

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Good and Bad Tags

Posted on 2022-03-13 by jcs

In response to my post How To Use Tags describing Karl Voit’s perspective on the use of tags, Christian Tietze pointed me to a post by Sascha Fast on The Difference Between Good and Bad Tags. Fast makes a good … Continue reading →

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Duck Duck Go Becomes Google

Posted on 2022-03-11 by jcs

Most Irreal readers know I’m not—more precisely, no longer—a fan of Google. The usual reason that I give for that is the fact that Google gobbles up as much of our private information as it can. But there’s another reason … Continue reading →

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Derek Sivers on Plain Text

Posted on 2022-03-03 by jcs

A recurring theme at Irreal is the virtue of using plain text wherever you can. To my mind, using a proprietary format makes you complicit in the data loss that will inevitably occur sooner or later. Derek Sivers agrees and … Continue reading →

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An Example of RSS Use

Posted on 2022-02-21 by jcs

Chris Hardie is, like me, a believer in RSS and considers it an important protocol that can be used for more than just following blogs. He considers the example of a municipal website that posts information of concern to its … Continue reading →

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The Year 2038 Problem

Posted on 2022-02-20 by jcs

All of you Unix heads know about the coming Unix apocalypse. On January 19, 2038, the 32-bit Unix time variable will overflow and Unix will suddenly think it’s December 13, 1901. Except, of course, virtually all extant Unix systems now … Continue reading →

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