Tag Archives: Tech

In an apparent attempt to prove that stupidity is a bipartisan trait, the current administration has decided to force Taiwan to acquire a 49% interest in Intel. The U.S. government thinks that the survival of Intel is essential to the … Continue reading →

Over at Perfect Days, Padraig has a post that really resonated with me. He begins by quoting Steve Jobs on cabinet making. Jobs says that a real craftsman wouldn’t use a piece of plywood on the back of a beautiful … Continue reading →

As you probably know, we here at Irreal take a dim view of Management meddling in the inner workings of Engineering. That is not at all the same as taking a dim view of Management: they are an important and … Continue reading →

I recently reported the sad news that Bill Atkinson—considered by everyone who knew him one of the best programmers of all time—had died. One of my favorite stories about him was recounted by Andy Hertzfeld at his Folklore website. Someone … Continue reading →

It’s hard to find anything on the Web that doesn’t somehow involve AI. We here at the Irreal bunker are a bit skeptical. We view LLM AI as little more than a magic trick not all that different from Eliza … Continue reading →

We often see claims that such and such an application has \(99.\cdots\) reliability. That seems pretty definitive but what does it really mean? Here’s the answer. The difference between 99.9% and 99.99% is significant. By the time we get to … Continue reading →

I don’t know what to make of this. The TL;DR is that after many years, Sweden is returning to more traditional methods in education, including an emphasis on physical books and handwriting. On the one hand, there is some actual … Continue reading →

If you’re like me, you love those weird stories about seemingly impossible things happening with computers and the Internet. My favorite is A Story About Magic. Even if you know the story, follow the link to see a picture of … Continue reading →