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”

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”