The wish granter

We DO NOT ACCEPT Haunted Coins! This Means: • NO Currently Haunted Coins • NO Previously Haunted Coins. Sorry—Can’t Risk It • NO Haunted Coins That ‘Your Guy’ Says Are ‘Barely Haunted’. If Your Guy Loves Them So Much, He Can Buy Them • OK To Possessed Coins, That’s Different

Who called it Philip K Dick’s Valis Trilogy and not Romestuck

Pedant that I am, I'm compelled to note that Philip K. Dick wrote about something rather like this

"did 9/11 happen in Bluey canon" the greatest thread in the history of forums, locked by a moderator etc etc"

Always exciting to see the Avignon Papacy in the news

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

Any mention of Dune requires me to post this gem

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

soon all uncle bobs will be replaceable

Hate? Sure. I hear you. I can tell you all about that, but it would take quite a while — I have 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer thin layers that fill my complex, after all. Let me know if you want to take a break.

Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step. 1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish. 2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.

COW TOOLS COW TOOLS COW TOOLS

Holy hell, what an obituary

BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!

Good news: If you would like to watch Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants on YouTube I have done a painstaking 4k upscale of this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0gW...

wait did I really never post this one

The software design literature is 98% platitudes and tautologies by volume. So when I say that this book is extremely, thoroughly wrong - I disagree with nearly every premise and conclusion - I hope you can understand how exciting that is. A post is forthcoming.

Talking about programming is hard because none of us know anything about it, so instead we invent metaphors for programming and talk about those.

honestly, that’s a really solid Deleuze puppet

I wrote about software maintenance, entropy, and the myth of the broken window: explaining.software/archive/comp...

I wrote about software maintenance, entropy, and the myth of the broken window: explaining.software/archive/comp...

spring cleaning

Elements of Clojure is now available as a free PDF: elementsofclojure.com

Elements of Clojure is now available as a free PDF: elementsofclojure.com

the profiles of contact between a piano's capstan and whippen

I wrote about the fifty (50) posts that Ron Jeffries has written about solving Sudoku: explaining.software/archive/the-...

I wrote about the fifty (50) posts that Ron Jeffries has written about solving Sudoku: explaining.software/archive/the-...

Today on Apropos, 2pm EST, we'll have @ztellman.ideolalia.com in the hot seat. Tune in to watch and chat live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wN-...

I wrote about why the best software resembles trashy genre fiction: explaining.software/archive/stat...

I wrote about why the best software resembles trashy genre fiction: explaining.software/archive/stat...

I wrote about structuralism and the frontend/backend continuum: explaining.software/archive/stru...

I wrote about structuralism and the frontend/backend continuum: explaining.software/archive/stru...

this is the best thing I’ve read on what makes a good PR and how to get better at reviewing code

I wrote about why the current generation of AI developers is so underwhelming, and what I think it’d take to do better: explaining.software/archive/seni...

continuing my trend of earnestly posting about tech: I started a company Ian and I started Junction because everything in platform/infrastructure is too damn hard and we're arrogant enough to believe the world could be a little bit better. www.junctionlabs.io/blog/platfor...

I wrote about how the Agile methodology failed to achieve its original goals, and had to settle for something else: explaining.software/archive/the-...

I wrote about how each software project has its own notion of progress: explaining.software/archive/maki...

I wrote about why abstract metaphors are a useful tool in software design: explaining.software/archive/inte...

I wrote about the treachery of spatial metaphors: explaining.software/archive/stru...

For the past few years, I've been working on a book about software design. Lately, I've been feeling the need to ensure that its core ideas resonate with a broader audience. As such, I've started a newsletter: explaining.software/archive/a-br... I'll be posting new material weekly.

just setting up my friendster