BlogDB

Who is a terrorist?

Using Nix to Fuzz Test a PDF Parser (Part One)

Fuzz testing is a technique for automatically uncovering bugs in software. The problem is that it’s a pain to set up. Read any fuzz testing tutorial, and the first task is an hour of building tools...

Quantum Computing – An Update

In March 2022 I wrote a description of the Quantum Technology Ecosystem. I thought this would be a good time to check in on the progress of building a quantum computer and explain more of the basic...

An experiment in fighting spam on public forms using “proof of work”

Spam is everywhere. If you have an email account, a mailbox, a website with comments, a cellphone, a social media account, a public form, etc. We all know it, it is a plague. Over the years, there ...

Who Is Signal For?

The impossibility of migrating its message history raises one question.

Exposure to Art: a MTA Case Study

Many corporations and agencies allocate a certain amount of their budget towards the creation of public artwork. For instance, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has funded near...

The Worst Travelcard Of All Time

I wanted foreign currency at a reasonable exchange rate. Such a simple request was beyond the abilities of the Post Office.

Six Dumb Misconceptions About The Economy (that the Politicians Want You To Believe)

Well, it looks like we’re here in another US election year already.  As Advanced Mustachians, we already know that the ongoing battle of Harris vs. Trump should not be consuming much of our time.  ...

Gender Journey

In which a time of gender questioning is succinctly summarized.

Bye-Bye WordPress

No more Wordpress on this site!

How Saboteurs Threaten Innovation–and What to Do About It

This article first appeared in First Round Review. “Only the Paranoid Survive” Andy Grove – Intel CEO 1987-1998 I just had an urgent “can we meet today?” coffee with Rohan, an ex-student. His three...

Linkfest #25: The "Third Thumb", Prairie Strips, and Science Proves People Love Spoilers

Hello folks! It’s time for my latest “Linkfest” — i.e. "the opposite of doomscrolling”, in which I ceaselessly roam the Internet’s Plutonian shores to find the subtlest gems of science, culture and...

Some notes on upgrading Hugo

Warning: this is a post about very boring yakshaving, probably only of interest to people who are trying to upgrade Hugo from a very old version to a new version. But what are blogs for if not docu...

Chromium’s influence on Chromium alternatives

I don’t think most people realize how Firefox and Safari depend on Google for more than “just” revenue from default search engine deals and prototyping new web platform features.Off the top of my h...

I asked ChatGPT to psychoanalyse me

Update (July 2025): Important Context on AI, Mental Health, and Accessibility This post describes a personal experiment from 2024. I’ve noticed this post has been getting more traffic recently, and...

What Does Product Market Fit Sound Like? This.

I got a call from an ex-student asking me “how do you know when you found product market fit?” There’s been lots of words written about it, but no actual recordings of the moment. I remembered I ha...

👻 Sandboxels v1.10.1 - Creepy Crawlies - OUT NOW 🕸️

The scariest Sandboxels update of all time is here, including Spiders, Webs, Souls, Candy Corn, and more! This is just one of the many Halloween events happening around R74n this month.

Block abusive IPs based on 404 error rate using HAProxy

I’ve been using HAProxy for a very long time. In most cases, I work on stuff where HAProxy configuration fits into the fire-and-forget category, with occasional tweaks to ACLs, redirections, and th...

On surrendering and the fallacy of control

Yesterday, around 1:30 AM, I woke up with a feeling that I needed to vomit. I tried getting up, but I immediately felt faint and did indeed faint. I was a bit sick all over the place. Thankfully, i...

Watching colonialism in real-time