Author Archives: Stephan Sokolow

Ultra-lightweight Network File Moving for Linux/UNIX

Posted on 2011-12-05 by Stephan Sokolow

A few days ago, my main machine went kaput and I needed a fast way to copy several hundred gigs of data to a slow, old 2Ghz Celeron. Thus began my search for the lightest file-copying solution I could find. … Continue reading →

Posted in Geek Stuff | 1 Comment

Voting Systems: Why Civics Is Important

Posted on 2011-11-19 by Stephan Sokolow

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 →

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How And Why To Bring Back The Border On The Firefox 8 Reload Button

Posted on 2011-11-16 by Stephan Sokolow

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 →

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On Bureaucracy And Giant, Killer Rabbits

Posted on 2011-11-14 by Stephan Sokolow

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 →

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My impressions of Fat-Free Framework for PHP

Posted on 2011-11-13 by Stephan Sokolow

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

Posted on 2011-11-08 by Stephan Sokolow

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

Posted on 2011-11-04 by Stephan Sokolow

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