Since I deleted my social media accounts (and I’m not sorry), it may be that the one or two humans who look at this blog may not know that I’m updating a different blog with status updates on our rebuild process. If you are at all interested, or would ever consider asking me the question,Continue reading “Rebuild progress”
Author Archives: pirateguillermo
Offline VS Code – maybe?
I just went on a week-long vacation wherein I was programming, among other things, in locations with dodgy or nonexistent network connections. My offline Swift modifications worked great; so, local mirroring of packages is a total win! But here’s a thing: a dinner conversation got me working in Flutter again. And, a few days beforeContinue reading “Offline VS Code – maybe?”
Insidious Arrogance
There’s this problem that comes when one deals with a complicated system or process for a long time — one internalizes all the details and complexity, and starts to factor all the weird inner workings of the system into communication about the system. In human terms, this is where professional jargon comes from. There’s stuffContinue reading “Insidious Arrogance”
Data Representation
I’m currently working on a suite of programs (which sounds a hell of a lot fancier than, “a couple of apps and a database,” — word to the wise, &c.) that deals with people. A person record has, as an option, a birthdate. You never know, someone, somewhere, might like to commemorate great-great-great-uncle Ralph’s birthdayContinue reading “Data Representation”
Oh, Syntax
I’m working on a new application. I got the basics done, and because I’m an old crank, I made the data storage a file. So, you can do all kinds of cool things with the data you enter, and you can do it without having a network connection. It’s like a spreadsheet! But then, myContinue reading “Oh, Syntax”
Put a Computer In It, Part…A Jillion
Got an email just now, from the marketing department of a company that makes some server software that I occasionally use. The notification of new email popped up on my screen, with a snippet of the body saying that cyberattacks are increasing in sophistication and volume, so I should…presumably, the rest of the email wasContinue reading “Put a Computer In It, Part…A Jillion”
Bill Processing
It’s bill-pay day, so of course I’m confronted once more with several payment portals that have security theater. What do I mean by that? I mean, stuff that looks like it’s some kind of security (preventing theft of personal information, verifying that the actor is the right person, etc.) but which doesn’t actually provide anyContinue reading “Bill Processing”
Sketch of a Street Scene
Walking along the street this morning, I saw this: a bearded old man, bundled up in woolen hat and puffy jacket, covered in blankets, surrounded by shapeless lumps of textile – possibly tarps, or sacks – sitting in a wheelchair and parked at the edge of a convenience store parking lot. He had, somewhere, aContinue reading “Sketch of a Street Scene”
Haxor to the Maxor
Today’s entry in the “put a computer on it” dopeslap file comes from Ars Technica. Turns out that ancient IoT devices are actually a giant security risk. If only someone had pointed this out at some time… Okay, so, maybe sticking the Internet into everything isn’t such a great idea? Maybe? Imagine a world whereContinue reading “Haxor to the Maxor”
Capture *This*
You know what’s dumb? Putting a “Prove you aren’t a robot” widget on your invoice payment flow. Imagine for a moment that you’re a service provider and you’ve done some work for someone. You send them an invoice, and now they want to pay you some money. With me on this hypothetical journey? Good. Now.Continue reading “Capture *This*”