Archive: 2012
Ignorance is bliss: better software through stupidity
I often say that I love deleting code, and it’s true, but it’s not often that I get a really good example like this, of finding a generic problem hiding behind some specific code, and ending up with something that’s simpler, better, and can do more.
Burning poppies
Arresting someone who posted a picture of a burning poppy to Facebook may please the mob, but I find it more than a little disturbing and authoritarian.
Tablet computing
I’m no Amish. I sit here surrounded by technology. However, I’m beginning to think about technology more in terms of whether it can improve my life—which is, as I understand it, the basis of the Amish engagement with technology. It’s difficult to strike a balance: technology can drive changes in lifestyle, and they’re not always benign. At the same time, technology can have a positive impact, and I’ve found the Nexus 7 fits that category for me.
A feudal life
It’s nearly time to move house. Again. Just like last time, I’m quite happy living where I do, but my landlord has decided to—oh, I don’t know, realise the capital sequestered in their asset, or some such bullshit—so they’re selling it, and I’m shortly to become homeless unless I find a new dwelling.
Destructuring assignment in Ruby
My post on underscores in Ruby attracted quite a lot of interest, particularly on the topic of destructuring assignment, so I thought I’d go into a bit more detail.
Ruby’s magic underscore
I discovered today that Ruby treats underscores a little bit differently when it comes to variable names.
The East Coast Delay Repay scam
One of the tiring things in life is the way that everyone is trying to pull a fast one. East Coast Main Line operates a Delay Repay scheme that promises to repay ‘100% of the cost of a return ticket’ if you’re delayed by more than two hours. As you can probably guess, this isn’t exactly the case.
A life less soundbitey
I’m not dead. I’m just not really using Twitter any more. That old reflex action—oh, I’ve got a picosecond idle, better catch up on Twitter—has gone. It’s not that hard to break a habit.
Chana dal
Mail Cleaner: a Chrome extension to mitigate the effects of accidental exposure to the Daily Mail
I came across a Safari extension by Andy Beaumont that mitigates the effects of accidentally following a link to a Daily Mail page by replacing the page with the same content filtered through Instapaper’s page cleaner. This eliminates comments, adverts, the awful misogyny of the Sidebar of Shame, and saves you from the self-hatred that comes from being lured into following links to other parts of the digital rag. I decided to make a similar extension for a browser I actually use: Chrome.
Ephemeral computing
How much does the physical object that is your computer actually matter?
A letter from IOC-occupied London
It was the best of times
Retrofitting furigana to browsers
I’ve written a small shim script that adds support for
<ruby>markup to browsers that don’t support it natively, viz. Firefox and Opera.Taking back control
I left the Government Digital Service last week, and, since a lot of people have been asking me why, I thought I should explain.
Testing CSS
I decided to take a look at automated testing of CSS, and I think it might be a useful thing to do. I’m not suggesting laboriously testing every last style, but checking some of the important properties seems to be both possible and potentially time-saving.
Pancake mix
It’s Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras. Or, as we usually call it round these parts, Pancake Day. So I made some pancakes. Hey, it’s as good a reason as any, right? What I don’t get, though, is the existence of a product called pancake mix.
Do I need a tinfoil wallet now?
I just had my first experience of contactless payments, and it didn’t really fill me with confidence.
