Dec 20, 2019What I read in 2019I finished 24 novels in 2019 (slow reader) and gave up on another two. Here they are in descending buckets of goodness. († = short story collection, ‡ = novella, + = re-read, * = didn’t finish) Unputdownable / Utterly Brilliant Anna Burns: Milkman (2018) Elif Batuman: The Idiot (2017) Mohsin Hamid: Exit West (2017) Amos Oz…Books1 min read
Dec 7, 2017Hallelujah—In Praise of Babelwith apologies to Leonard Cohen Update 1: Now available in audio courtesy of the brilliant Shawn Wang Update 2: This is now the official song of Babel.js! I heard there was a clever trick That rewrote all your JavaScript But you don’t really care for magic, do you Well it goes like…Java Script3 min read
Jun 30, 2017Code and Poetry, a ConversationIn which I explore their similarities (while you remain skeptical) — You: You’re writing about computer code and poetry? At the same time? Me: I want to explore their similarities. You: Seriously? Computer code has nothing in common with poetry. Poetry is grace, and code is function. Poetry connotes. Code commands. Me: But both try to represent complex ideas in concrete…Java Script6 min read
Jul 23, 2016Why I wrote Just.The Zen of Dependency-Free Modules. — See also: Just vs Lodash Tradeoffs Just is a library of zero dependency npm modules that do just one thing. What’s so special about zero dependencies? Well, package size for one thing of course. A tiny library footprint is essential when developing mobile web apps for poor network conditions, and…Java Script2 min read
Dec 3, 2015If Reindeer Wrote JavaScriptA Visit from St. Nicholas is a poem written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1823. You might know it from the opening line: “Twas the Night before Christmas”. Anyway, it’s pretty bad. The meter is awkward and the sentiment cheesy. As a service, here’s an all-new, saccharin-free version of the…Java Script2 min read
