About the Author
I'm Stephan, a Linux user with a passion for open-source, UI/UX design, and exploring what makes fiction work.
In my spare time, I focus on (and write about):
- Programming (mainly in Python and Rust)
- Retrocomputing (mostly DOS but, as of January 2023, I also own a machine running Mac OS 9.2)
- Reading and Reviewing Fiction
- The odd bit of UI/UX design or literary theory
For notification of significant updates to existing posts, consider following me on Mastodon.
Popular Posts
- Resources for Reverse-Engineering 16-bit Applications
- Recommended Battlestar Galactica “Earth-contact” fics
- Home-made tamper-evident security seals for kids and adults alike
- Displaying An Image or Animated GIF in Qt With Aspect Ratio-Preserving Scaling
- Learning Materials for getting into C programming for MS-DOS/PC-DOS/DR-DOS/FreeDOS
- Learning Materials for getting into Windows 3.1 programming
- Embedding the DPMI Extender for your Open Watcom C/C++ EXE (And Related Knowledge)
- Getting your way with setxkbmap
- Stripping Emoji from File And Folder Names
- Fanfiction – A Quick Overview of The Whole Pureblood Pretense Series
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Monthly Archives: November 2011
Voting Systems: Why Civics Is Important
TL;DR: Here are some entertaining, easy-to-understand videos explaining the fundamental flaws and relative merits of different voting systems. Update: See also this video on the best voting system for simple things like “What restaurant should we go to?” Of all … Continue reading
Posted in Web Wandering & Opinion
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How And Why To Bring Back The Border On The Firefox 8 Reload Button
TL;DR: Install this userstyle. After about a week of delay (not bad), Gentoo Unstable finally offered up Firefox 8 and, much to my dismay, the removal of the border on the in-address bar reload button wasn’t just another graphical glitch … Continue reading
On Bureaucracy And Giant, Killer Rabbits
I know I’m rather late to the party, on this point, but it occurs to me that there’s one very under-explored way to look at the problems of bureaucratic structures: Night of the Lepus. Here’s a 1972 horror film… about … Continue reading
Posted in Web Wandering & Opinion
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My impressions of Fat-Free Framework for PHP
After wasting far too much time trying to rebase my Gender-Bending Fiction Index on top of CakePHP, I decided that I’d give it one more try before consigning it to the list of things indefinitely on hold… and I’m glad … Continue reading
Posted in Geek Stuff
18 Comments
Bypassing Google Tracking Redirects with HTTPS Everywhere
tl;dr Install this custom HTTPS Everywhere rule. If there’s one thing you can set your watch by these days, it seems to be Google’s dedication to making it as difficult as possible to get what you want out of their … Continue reading
Posted in Geek Stuff
2 Comments
Learning French: A Brief Comment on Noun Engenderment
I’ve always felt that engendering nouns in a language when they don’t inherently have gender is a mistake. Partly because I suspect it taints one’s perception of the world, given how a culture both shapes and is shaped by their … Continue reading
Posted in Geek Stuff
4 Comments
Killing Google Instant (November 3rd, 2011 edition)
This morning, I woke up to find that Google had made another change which broke my solution for disabling Google Instant badly enough for Firefox to give me a blank page. Since Google seems to delight in trying to force … Continue reading
Posted in Geek Stuff
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