Category Archives: Computers

Mastodon and ActivityPub

I’ve started using Mastodon. It’s an open alternative to Twitter. “Open” meaning there’s no central controlling entity. Tech-savvy people can run their own server and servers can talk to each other (referred to as federation). If you’re interested in joining … Continue reading

Posted in All, Computers | Leave a comment

Let’s Encrypt is Fantastic

Apparently I haven’t posted this anywhere so I just want to go on record: Let’s Encrypt is amazing and fantastic. In five years the percentage of web pages loaded by Firefox using HTTPS went from 30% to 80%. That’s huge! … Continue reading

Posted in All, Computers | Leave a comment

Using Salt to Manage Server Configuration

Background I’ve been using Salt (for clarity and searchability it’s also sometimes referred to as Salt Project or Salt Stack) to manage the configuration of my web server since 2014. It’s similar to Puppet, Chef (I guess they call it … Continue reading

Posted in Computers | Leave a comment

Firefox as a Snap package in Ubuntu 22.04

In Ubuntu 22.04 Firefox is installed from a Snap package and not a dpkg like most other things and the update experience is awful. I get this notification: However, closing Firefox and reopening it does not cause it to be … Continue reading

Posted in Computers | Leave a comment

SlowCOVIDNC app

Update 2022-08-13: A few months ago the app started crashing and kept crashing so I uninstalled it. Looking at the comments on Play Store, other people have had the same problem. That was on a three and a half year … Continue reading

Posted in Computers | Leave a comment

Laptop shopping

I bought a laptop four months ago. A 13″ MacBook Air with Retina display, 16 GB memory and 256 GB SSD. I was laptopless after leaving Honor. I have a great desktop but I knew a laptop would be useful … Continue reading

Posted in All, Computers | Leave a comment

Interesting ideas, technologies, and companies

I’m in the market for a job! I left my old job at Honor in San Francisco at the end of February. I love Honor, loved working there, I’m proud to have been a part of their growth over the … Continue reading

Posted in All, Computers | Leave a comment

Rounding numbers in Python 2 and Python 3

There are two changes to rounding between Python 2 and Python 3 that programmers should watch out for when migrating. I realize that Python 3 has been out for ten years, but I also know there are still people using … Continue reading

Posted in Computers | Leave a comment