Insightful article about going beneath the surface layer to understand people. Google attracts enough talent that it can afford to look beyond the obvious factors in hiring. For example: "leadership — in particular emergent leadership as opposed to traditional leadership. Traditional leadership […]
Coding and Techy Stuff
This "Coding and Techy Stuff" category is here because peripatetically I make a living as a software engineer. This is where I put anything related to coding and technology, and sometimes just unrelated information such as you might find posted on ycombinator's always-intellectually-curious Hacker News.
Sony patent application talks about method for wirelessly juicing up devices via NFC
https://techxplore.com/news/2017-03-sony-patent-application-method-wirelessly.html Wirelessly charging your phone using your friend's phone? You have to hand it to Sony for bright ideas. James Milne, True Xiong and Charles McCoy are named as the inventors on a Sony patent application published […]
How to backup your iPhone if your screen is not working
Very cool that this worked, so I figured I'd share online in case it happens to you. The screen went bad on my iPhone 5, so I couldn't tell the iPhone to trust iTunes in order to make a backup. It kept prompting me to enter a passcode which I couldn't enter. Hold your power and home buttons down for […]
DMCA and the Internet of Things - Schneier on Security
"In theory, the Internet of Things promises to make your life easier and your work more efficient, ... saving you time, money, and energy... except when the companies that make these connected objects act in a way that runs counter to the consumer's best interests -- as the technology company […]
Visual Studio breakpoints break in the wrong place
This is obscure, so I'm posting it here to save someone the few hours I just spent. I recently clicked "Tools/Options/Debugging/Require source files to exactly match the original version." A little later, without realizing it was related to this config change, I discovered my debugging […]
NASA melds vacuum tube tech with silicon to fill the terahertz gap | Ars Technica
This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time. I think the moment of transformation from digital to analog, or vice versa, is a fascinating moment to understand philosophically and practically. Here is the invention of vacuum tube technology at the nano scale. Fun not only for the […]
Inception is no longer just a cool fictional idea -- it's now actually possible
Rarely does the mind get blown by something which is literally capable of blowing the mind. This qualifies: Researchers have been able to induce lucid dreaming at will with gamma waves. Even in this initial article, they're already talking about using this technique to hack the psyche. Check it out: […]
Neonicotinoid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mode of action: Neonicotinoids, like nicotine, bind to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of a cell and triggers a response by that cell. In mammals, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are located in cells of both the central and peripheral nervous systems. In insects these receptors are limited to […]
Hands on with the OnePlus One Cyanogenmod phone | Ars Technica
Finally. Here's the first phone I've ever wanted to buy. A nice review of it by Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/04/flying-the-custom-flag-hands-on-with-the-oneplus-one-cyanogenmod-phone/ Stereo recording and tri-microphone noise cancelling technology are incorporated directly into […]
You can't parse HTML with regex (funny)
Developer humor here: You can't parse [X]HTML with regex. Because HTML can't be parsed by regex. Regex is not a tool that can be used to correctly parse HTML. As I have answered in HTML-and-regex questions here so many times before, the use of regex will not allow you to consume HTML... via html - […]
Yes, Net Neutrality Is A Solution To An Existing Problem | Techdirt
There are many concrete examples of network neutrality violations around the world. These network neutrality violations include ISPs blocking websites and applications, ISPs discriminating in favor of some applications and against others, and ISPs charging arbitrary tolls on technology companies. […]
Goldman Sachs Steals Open Source, Jails Coder
The whole article is fascinating for any software engineer to read, as it is obvious to any developer familiar with how open source software operates that this man was entirely innocent. And yet... the only Goldman Sachs employee arrested by the FBI in the aftermath of a financial crisis Goldman had […]
ThinVNC - HTML5 Remote Desktop
This is one of the coolest applications I've met in a long time. It's a single executable. Download it, double-click it, assign yourself a username/password, click 'start server.' Then from any modern browser in the world, you can go to the correct IP address and view the desktop, mouse control […]
Bogon Routes Report - bgp.he.net
Apparently there is such a thing as a bogon and it is regularly reported upon. http://bgp.he.net/report/bogons
Genave - DTMF Explained
While the engineers were designing this protocol, they decided to throw in a few more “special purpose” tone groups. You don’t normally see these extra four buttons on telephones, but they are alive and being employed for communications signaling. For lack of imagination, the engineers called the […]
144 computers on a single chip
It's good to see Charles Moore is still going strong. He's a clever, clever, and only slightly odd man. Programming a 144-computer Chip to Minimize Power. […]
It's actually possible to acquire decryption keys by capturing computer sounds
Well this is just remarkably clever. http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/new-attack-steals-e-mail-decryption-keys-by-capturing-computer-sounds/
World's smallest FM radio transmitter
With a graphene amplifier and a graphene transmitter, wow, how small a walkie-talkie can you make? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131118091502.htm
Google wins book scanning landmark
Scanning the books is fair use. Hooray! Information wants to be free, and Google just helped it get more free. Google Gets Total Victory Over Authors Guild: Book Scanning Is Fair Use