Many software developers, while making a tool to solve a specific problem, heed the siren call of generality. By making a few specific changes, they can turn the tool into a general framework for solving a larger class of problems. And then, with a few more changes, an even larger class of problems, and so […]
I just got a new laptop, courtesy of the lab. Naturally, it’s of the fruity kind. One of the first steps: install essential software. I thought I’d make a list of software I consider absolutely essential on any new computer, and it became longer than I thought. General use: NetNewsWire for news reading DropBox for […]
The web browser, it is safe to say, has gone from humble origins to being the single most widely used piece of desktop software (based on my own usage, but I don’t think I’m untypical). This development continues today. The battles being fought and the tactical decisions being made here reach a very large audience […]
I have something of an engineering background, so I easily end up thinking of success in terms of quantity. Maximizing this variable or that. Ensuring the greatest possible reward, or the smallest possible cost. But sometimes this is fallacious thinking. As an academic, I would like to publish prestigious articles. It would be nice to […]
A question for readers who happen to manage bibliographies: what, if any, bibliography management systems do you use? I started using Aigaion for mine. Then I found out that there’s an open system called bibsonomy, which is potentially much better since it lets you tag and share bibliographies socially, and it seems to already know […]