Eloquent Ruby update: We are edging towards a beta release, probably early to mid Nov. One. Page. At. A. Time.

Somehow I've lived in this neighborhood for years without noticing just how cool the people down the street are...

@antiheroine.bsky.social Hey do you have any recommendations for a converter and ink for that LAMY pen you talked me into buying? I'm going thru 2-3 cartridges a week...

I've released the framework that I used to create the epub/kindle version of my recent novel, Overdrive, up on github. So if you have ever had the urge to write a novel in markdown, this is your lucky day. github.com/russolsen/bo...

How do you get people truly excited about functional programming? @russolsen.bsky.social & @boicy.bovon.org share fresh insights you won’t want to miss.

Between working on the Eloquent Ruby and the novel Overdrive, I've been struck by how much overlap there is between writing fiction and technical stuff. The one needs to be entertaining, flow from scene to scene and pop up with surprises every now and then. The other is a long made-up story.

Eloquent Ruby 2nd edition update: Just finished the first draft of the pattern matching chapter. It's a bit like squeezing out that last bit of toothpaste, from the point of view of the tube. But also fun

I came across an old shirt while cleaning out my closet, had a wave of nostalgia.

2/5. "Functional Programming in 40 Minutes • Russ Olsen • GOTO 2024" ⸱ +3k views ⸱ 09 Jul 2025 ⸱ https://youtube.com/watch?v=QujM1S3tP-I @gotocon.com @russolsen.bsky.social

I keep getting these "Unlock AI for just $10!!!!" type ads. I keep asking how much it would cost to throw away the key...

Here's another in my somewhat erratic updates on the second edition of Eloquent Ruby: We've passed the half way mark on the first draft. Sixteen out of thirty one chapters done. Getting there. One. Page. At. A. Time.

In other news, the kindle version of my novel Overdrive went on sale today. Make sure you order your copy before supplies run out! www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGY8ZPM...

I'm pretty much convinced that when the history of the 21st century is written, Amazon's main contribution will be recognized as supplying inexpensive cardboard for creative prototyping. Mockup of a frame for a raw lcd screen.

So my novel, Overdrive, is available for preorder on Amazon. It will be out next Monday, July 14. It will also be available on Kindle Unlimited for 90 days. www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGY8ZPM...

... and my "coming soon" novel, Overdrive, now has a cover!

In other news, I've finally managed to finish a novel. Writing, not reading. It's a lighthearted science fiction story set more or less in the present. So keep an eye out for Overdrive, coming to a ebook retailer near you, soon.

And here is the second of what I can absolutely guarantee will be an erratic series of updates on the progress of the 2nd edition of #EloquentRuby: Of the 32 chapters that we think are going to end up in the book, @baweaver.bsky.social and I have a 1st draft of 11. So 1/3rd ish of the way there.

Here's the first of what promises to be an erratic series of updates on the progress of the 2nd edition of #EloquentRuby: So far, @baweaver.bsky.social and I have gotten most of the infrastructure up and running and have been through roughly 10% of the book.

Anybody remember what it was like to use subversion? No? Well good for you!

I find that this is a somewhat unpopular opinion but I think that your testing frameworks should be the simplest bit of kit in your toolbox. We all want powerful testing tools. But there is nothing worse than discovering that the fault lies not in your code but in your testing tool.

I think every developer has experienced that moment when the answer to the question "What idiot wrote this?" is "Oh, me." It's different when you experience that with prose you wrote a decade ago. The difference is that there are many more bad words in both the question and the answer.

Eloquent Ruby 2nd Edition is on the way with Pragmatic Programmers! @russolsen.bsky.social and I have started work on modernizing this Ruby classic for the next generation of Rubyists to enjoy.

You know you are a developer when you look at your phone at exactly 4:04 PM and your immediate reaction is "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS THING??!!"

I'm thrilled to announce that @baweaver.bsky.social and I have just kicked off work on a second edition of Eloquent Ruby, to be published by our friends at @pragprog.com. The idea is to keep the basic structure of the book the same while updating it to Ruby as it is used today.

I'm convinced we would have interstellar travel, flying cars and the worldwide availability of decent soft pretzels if only we could decide on the exchange rate between tabs and spaces.

So as something of a technological save-dwelling vim/gdb based programmer I have always been averse to IDEs like Visual Studio Code. But I have to say, as a tool for writing prose (markdown, asciidoc, etc) VSC is brilliant.

That moment at the end of a long, productive day when you realize that you are so tired that the progress you are doing is being exactly canceled out by the damage you are inflicting. It is the point of zero entropy and it's all downhill from here. Solution: Post about it on bluesky.

So I have to access an old system. I need a client for the system. Oh good, there it is all packaged up, ready to install. Current status: Package manager is downloading the Internet.

Just started using JellyFin for my media server. It is great. Aside from working well it reminded me of how much branding and promotional nonsense we have to put up with on most any commercial product. In contrast Jellyfin has a splash screen and then Just. Gets. On. With. It. jellyfin.org

I would like to say a few words about the management style of The Grinch. Yes he has gotten a lot of bad press. But consider: 1 He made a decision 2 Got right to implementing it 3 Wasn't afraid to admit he was wrong How many managers have you come across that are incapable of any of those?

So my lovely significant other took a bad spill while we were out walking in a park over the weekend. Fortunately one trip to the ER later she is OK. I only mention this here because while we were waiting for the ambulance, every single passer-by stopped and offered to help. Every one.

In my Un/Linux adventures I've gone thru about 1M "navigate around the filesystem" utils. What I've ended up with is a set of bash functions that lets me give a quick name to a dir and then get back to it: $ cd /some/place $ here project44 # save this dir $ . $ there project44 # get back there

I've been putting together a janky so-8-years-ago PC to play some old games. Parts from ebay jammed into a Dell business computer that has no business doing any of this. The hardest part by far? Creating a bootable Windows install USB drive. Ah software.

Here's a blast from the past: I'm kicking off a new project today and so I grabbed a notebook from my pile of new notebooks. Except that it was old, one I'd used in 2007. And stuck in it were some papers, stuff that I'd written for my Tech Writing class in 1981.

I am reminded again the huge value in just letting yourself be a beginner and make mistakes. I been doing something new (designing a PCB) and I realized that I've made not 1, not 2, but at least 3 rookie mistakes. Should I feel bad? Nope. I. Will. Never. Make. Those. Mistakes. Again. Probably.

The most important thing I've learned from being an author is the 10:1:1 ratio. For every ten thoughtless, personal, i-didn't-actually-read-it attacks you will get one bit of constructive criticism and one thanks-so-much. The trick is to focus on the last two and ignore the rest.

I spend a lot of my time thinking about explaining technical topics and one thing I'm sure of is that if you aren't learning then you can't explain. Learning something, anything, puts you in the learner's mindset, which is what you need to explain.

Rewatching the AMC show Halt and Catch Fire. Even better than I remember it. Especially the second season.

I spend a lot of my time thinking about explaining technical topics and a key thing is to start your explanation with a plan. If you don't have a plan you will likely end up spewing out a random assortment of facts rather than presenting a clear explanation.

I spend a lot of my time thinking about explaining technical topics & one thing I'm sure of is that explaining only happens with volunteers. If you are "explaining" something to someone who doesn't want to be there, you aren't actually explaining, you are being a jerk.

I spend a lot of my time thinking about explaining technical topics and a key thing is knowing who is responsible for the success of a explanation: The explainer. If your explanation is failing, it's on you.

I spend a lot of my time thinking about explaining technical topics & one thing to beware of is just what a barrier being an expert in something is to crafting a good explanation of that thing. Being expert means that you know it so well you forget there is anything to know.

I spend a lot of my time thinking about explaining technical topics & when you are explaining a complex topic, trying to explain everything at once is the same as explaining nothing, permanently. You have to take it one idea at a time or you are going to overload your audience.

Welcome to the public domain, THE SEVEN DIALS MYSTERY (1929) by Agatha Christie. 🕰️🔍📜 This novel features the return of Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent from THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS. Learn more. ➡️ https://blog.archive.org/2025/01/01/welcome-to-the-public-domain-in-2025

I spend a lot of my time thinking about explaining technical topics & one thing you have to keep firmly in mind is the mental weight of your examples. Good examples plug into something your audience already knows. Bad examples load them up with information, or worse, questions that aren't relevant.

I spend a lot of my time thinking about explaining technical topics and I have a love hate relationship with technical jargon. In the people need to understand the language that we all use. The key phrase is "in the end": When you are explaining something, you are at the beginning not the end.

Kiel's Law of Programming Language Design: First decide *how* you will screw up the date/time handling.

Just got a Pi pico talking VGA to a monitor. It's not pretty, it's not original and it sure isn't practical. But it is a whole bunch of fun.

Back in the day I used to have a box full of bespoke, incompatible power adapters of various sizes and colors. Now I have a box full of bespoke, incompatible power adapters of various sizes, but now they are all white and made by Apple. This is so much better.

Back in the day I used to have a box full of incompatible cables with names like parallel and serial and PS/2. Now I have a box full of incompatible cables, all of them labeled USB. This is so much better.