Category Archives: Uncategorized

Four alternative debugging techniques

I’ve recently been working on a side project that uses WebGL and a physics engine that was transpiled from C++ into JavaScript so… printing variable to the console and using the debugger just weren’t cutting it. I started thinking about the other ways I debug things: Ship of Theseus debugging: the ship of Theseus isContinue reading “Four alternative debugging techniques”

Compilation à la mode

Bazel lets you set up various “modes” of compilation. There are several built-in (fast, optimized, debug) and you can define your own. The built in ones are: Fast: build your program as quickly as possible. This is generally best for development (when you want a tight compile/edit loop) and is the default, when you don’tContinue reading “Compilation à la mode”

Startup idea #6ec4e42a-28cc-4425-9ebc-61ac8e224580: Adventurer’s gear for geeky hikers

I’m going to start “calling” my startup ideas in the same way Andy Dwyer calls band names. So, first up: it’s like REI for D&D players. We’d sell a “basic adventurer’s kit” that came with iron rations, wineskin, torches, 50 feet of rope, etc. Then you could get “class specialization” kits, for example: Rogue: containsContinue reading “Startup idea #6ec4e42a-28cc-4425-9ebc-61ac8e224580: Adventurer’s gear for geeky hikers”

Star Trek invades our timeline

I was at Kennedy Space Center yesterday and they have an exhibit with all of the Apollo mission flags. Having mission flags is a great idea, more software launches should have flags, too. I noticed one in particular: (Please excuse the poor image quality, I have a technology-defying ability to take crappy photographs.) Those symbolsContinue reading “Star Trek invades our timeline”

Non-technical advice for startups and open source projects

A former coworker recently asked me about what had worked well (and not) at MongoDB. I realized that I actually know a bunch of things about running an open source project/startup, some of which may not be common knowledge, so I figured I’d share some here. Things changed dramatically as the company grew and theContinue reading “Non-technical advice for startups and open source projects”

Positive reinforcement learning through barbacoa

Yesterday I had some extra barbacoa that Domino was super excited about and Andrew suggested I use it to teach him (Domino, not Andrew) how to lie down on command. I waited until he lay down on his own, said “yes!” and gave him a piece of barbacoa. He leapt up and ate the barbacoaContinue reading “Positive reinforcement learning through barbacoa”

Have you ever looked at your build? I mean, really looked at your build?

Bazel has a feature that lets you see a graph of your build dependencies. It could help you debug things, but honestly it’s just really cool to see what your build is doing. To try it out, you’ll need a project that uses Bazel to build. If you don’t have one handy, here’s a tinyContinue reading “Have you ever looked at your build? I mean, really looked at your build?”