all works
← writing
01How to read a paper without drowningThree passes, in the order that actually works. Advice I keep having to give myself.
02A short defence of slow systemsOn why I distrust the word real-time, and what twenty milliseconds of patience can buy you.
03A proof, badly drawnWorking through Gauss–Bonnet on the back of an electricity bill. The mistakes are kept on purpose.
04On retry stormsThundering herds, jitter, and the small mercy of exponential backoff. Mostly an apology to a database.
05Setting up a new machine, againThe eleven things I reinstall every time and forget every time. Mostly dotfiles, and one keyboard setting.
06One thing I got wrong in 2025A short list, edited down for your sake and mine. Seven made it past the editor.
07The shape of a good TuesdayA compiler, a roll of film, and nowhere in particular to be. Not every entry needs a thesis.
08What I know about debugging at 3amThe order to check things in, written down while I was calm enough to mean it.
09Notes on naming thingsThe second hard problem, approached with rather more humility than the first.