Tag Archives: Tech

Unix Pipes

Posted on 2020-11-01 by jcs

This post is a blast from the past \(\times 2\). One reason it’s a blast from the past is that it discusses the Unix V6 code. The other reason is that it discusses some of the code that first helped … Continue reading →

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The Map

Posted on 2020-10-31 by jcs

Although I’ve never lived in New York City, I love being there, have family who are lifetime New Yorkers, and visit regularly. One of the things I love about the city is that I can walk to most places I … Continue reading →

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Algol 68, Pascal, C, and All That

Posted on 2020-10-27 by jcs

Apropos of nothing, here’s a really nice short video by Professor David Brailsford of The University of Nottingham about the days when Algol 68 and Pascal were in contention for the language to be taught in various computer courses. Some … Continue reading →

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You Are Not Expected to Understand This Redux

Posted on 2020-10-23 by jcs

Three and a half years ago, I wrote about what is arguably the most famous comment in computer history. That, of course, is the celebrated “You are not expected to understand this” comment in the V6 Unix source code. The … Continue reading →

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A New Organ?

Posted on 2020-10-22 by jcs

If you’re like me, you probably think that medical science has long since identified all the organs in the human body. Indeed, no new human organs have been identified for about 300 years. Until now. The New York Times is … Continue reading →

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Hardware vs. Software

Posted on 2020-10-21 by jcs

Everyone who’s been around for a while recognizes that computing has gotten more powerful. Problems that were once intractable now seem almost trivial. It’s not really surprising; it’s progress. It’s what we expect. But it does suggest the question: is … Continue reading →

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Useful Tools

Posted on 2020-10-12 by jcs

Nikhil Marathe has an interesting post on what he calls “Mystery Knowledge.” By Mystery Knowledge he means knowledge that you aren’t apt to discover on your own but that is easy to learn once it’s been pointed out and, when … Continue reading →

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Blocking Melpa

Posted on 2020-09-25 by jcs

Here’s a mystery to entertain you as you segue into the weekend. Jerror was complaining on the Emacs subredit that their university had blocked MELPA. What?!? Why in the world would anyone block MELPA? It doesn’t appear to be one … Continue reading →

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Taking Notes By Hand

Posted on 2020-09-22 by jcs

Longtime readers know that Irreal is, um, skeptical of most studies put out by the psychology community. They are, largely, not reproducible and often just silly. One finding that is popular among psychologists that that note-taking is more effective when … Continue reading →

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Happy Programmers Day

Posted on 2020-09-12 by jcs

This being a leap year means that Programmers Day comes a day early. As a cal -j will tell you, today is, in fact, the 256th day of the year. So happy Programmers Day to all you Irreal readers who … Continue reading →

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