Category: Nerd Fun
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Code Markup in Xcode
I’m working on a fairly large Swift project. Actually no, that’s not quite true. I’m working on a Swift project with a ViewController file that is getting disorganized and out of control. If this keeps up I might have a large project on my hands but right now it’s just a single file that is…
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The Quiet Car
I ride a commuter train to and from work everyday and occasionally I accidentally, regrettably, end up sitting in the quiet car. If you’re not a commuter you might be unacquainted with the idea of a quiet car. It is what it says it is: a train car where you are supposed to be quiet.…
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C Plus Minus
While consuming Handmade Hero and coding furiously to keep up with Casy Muratori I discovered the joy of programming in a language that I deeply understand. This is not one of those new trendy programming languages that tries to be type-safe without explicit types or functional without being confusing. And yet all the new hot/cool…
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Binge Watching Handmade Hero
For the last several weeks I’ve been obsessed with one TV show. It’s changed my viewing habits, my buying habits, and my computing habits. Technically it’s not even a “TV show” (if your definition of that term doesn’t include content created by non-professionals that is only available for free over the Internet). But for me,…
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Most Improved Award for Windows 10
If there was an award for most improved in the world of tech I would award it to Windows 10. While I am a daily Mac user, I am no stranger to Windows. Actually, let me correct myself. I live inside iOS, work in Mac OS, play around on Windows, and occationally find need of…
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Endangered Random Numbers
Like infinity, randomness is as easy to misunderstand as it is useful. As an added bonus infinity and randomness are interconnected. I don’t think you can have one without the other. I’m not a mathematician but I like to think about numbers. Take a look at this series of integers: 31415926535 It might look pretty…
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((((DO SOMETHING!) SMALL) USEFUL) NOW!)
This LISP-like phrase is the personal motto of the “father of ASCII” Bob Bemer.
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In Defense of Bubble Sort
Bubble sort is an algorithm with a very bad reputation. Robert Sedgwick, in Algorithms in C, notes that bubble sort is “an elementary sorting method” and “it does much more work” than it needs to. Donald Knuth is much more harsh when he states “the bubble sort seems to have nothing to recommend it, except…
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First Day of the Year
Welcome to 2016 day one. Imagine if on today we could accurately predict what will happen in 2016? We could write a blog post with predictions and then gloat when they all come true! Here are some of the outcomes I would like to be able to predict: Which movie will win best picture? Which…
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Last Day of the Year
It’s December 31st 2015 and the so-called last day of the year. It sounds so final. 2015 is over and done with. If I had anything that had to be done in 2015 and didn’t get done, well, It’s game over. But really it’s not the last day of anything important. Sure, it’s the last…