Projects on New Schematic

Specialization is for insects

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 19:00:00 -0600

A guide

Introduction

In the oft-quoted punchline, “Specialization is for insects,” we nod our heads in agreement. Heinlein is right, of course, and so is his protagonist, Lazarus Long. But, how do we develop the necessary skills to prevent ourselves from falling into the trap of specialization?

We get out there, ask around, and try things, of course.

Change a diaper
Plan an invasion
Butcher a hog
Conn a ship
Design a building
Write a sonnet
Balance accounts
Build a wall
Set a bone
Comfort the dying
Take orders
Give orders
Cooperate
Act alone
Solve equations
Analyze a new problem
Pitch manure
Program a computer
Cook a tasty meal
Fight efficiently
Die gallantly

WasmVM.py

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 11:18:34 -0500

A stack-based virtual machine, written in Python, for WebAssembly

Purely a learning tool, as I’ve found the best way to learn something is to crack it open, look around inside, and then build a smaller version of the same thing, from its component pieces.

Download it from GitHub, here.

The Sunday Paper

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 10:52:50 -0500

Learning in public

A weekly-ish livestream session where I read a CS paper, annotate it, and take notes — join me on Twitch!

Completed sessions

Session 0b101, “Ironies of Automation” by Lisanne Bainbridge (part A) on 8 May ‘22
Session 0b100, “The Design and Implementation of a Log-Structured File System” (part B) on 24 Apr ‘22
Session 0b11 (part A), “The Design and Implementation of a Log-Structured File System” (part A) on 10 Apr ‘22

Bradfield Computer Science Intensive

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 09:09:09 -0600

Or, Everything That Had to Happen, Is Happening, and Will Happen When You Submit a Form

A year-long course from the fine folks who run https://teachyourselfcs.com, but more in-depth, more accountable, and more over Zoom. Eight modules leading up to a capstone project, where we are expected to build something we would not have been able to create previously, whether because of a series of missing pieces of knowledge or because our foundation knowledge was shaky due to leaky abstractions.

Teach Yourself CS

Mon, 03 Sep 2018 20:48:47 -0500

⚠️ This project has been superceded by my participation in the Bradfield Computer Science Intensive ⚠️

Following the curriculum suggested at Teach Yourself CS, I’ve started the necessary work of filling in the gaps of my knowledge. This project page serves as a table of contents and repository of my work completed and subjects studied.

Programming

Text: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
Lectures: Brian Harvey at UC Berkeley, course CS 61A
Resources:

Dada Photo Booth

Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:00:00 -0600

An Inscrutable Representation of Yourself

tumblr | source code, v1 | source code, Electron client and server

developer, artistic collaborator

Designed and developed as a final project for dadageek’s course on creating generative art using Processing. Presented at the Fall 2016 Dadageek Student Showcase, which was part of EAST.

Tech Stack

Go and Go OpenCV binding for image capture and cropping
Processing for image manipulation [i.e. making the art]
Gifsicle for generating and compressing gifs
Ruby for posting to Tumblr and local file cleanup

Reincarnated as an experience using p5.js for 2018 EAST. Read more about it on the blog.

SE Block

Wed, 04 Jun 2014 11:18:34 -0500

Hide the cruft on Stack Overflow

install it | source code

developer

Blocks the distracting cruft from the otherwise-excellent Stack Overflow and Stack Exchange network. The idea for the extension came about as I started my first job as a web developer and, subsequently, came to spend more and more of my day scanning Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Ask Ubuntu, and so on. I became increasingly distracted by the sidebar links, which may have had to do with all of the coffee I drink.

Markov Q. Aurelius

Sun, 20 Apr 2014 10:52:50 -0500

Philosopher for the 21st Century

on twitter | was once on heroku | source code

developer, designer

Uses Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations” and a Markov Chain to generate philosophical quotes that are posted to Twitter daily.

Tech Stack

Ruby on a GitHub Action
Twitter & marky_markov Ruby gems
Daily post through another GitHub Action

Mars Attracts!

Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:26:11 -0500

Book a Flight to Mars! (Not Really)

project | source code

developer, designer

A speculative fiction flight reservation app set in the near future, facilitating relocation to a newly colonized Mars. Built over 2+ weeks as part of a team of three.

Tech Stack

Angular.js frontend
Ruby on Rails backend
ForecastIO & MAAS Mars Weather APIs
Foundation & Simple_Form Ruby gems
Haml & Sass templating
PostgreSQL database
Deployed to Heroku

Projects on New Schematic

Specialization is for insects

A guide

Introduction

Table of contents

WasmVM.py

A stack-based virtual machine, written in Python, for WebAssembly

The Sunday Paper

Learning in public

Completed sessions

Bradfield Computer Science Intensive

Teach Yourself CS

Programming

Dada Photo Booth

An Inscrutable Representation of Yourself

SE Block

Hide the cruft on Stack Overflow

Markov Q. Aurelius

Philosopher for the 21st Century

Mars Attracts!

Book a Flight to Mars! (Not Really)