Posts filed under the 'Blog' category


Case-sensitivity on AWS – redux

A couple of times now I’ve been “caught out” by the fact that I’m a Windows guy and AWS is Linux-based. Or, to put it another way, I’m used to case insensitivity with file names (so foobar.txt and FooBar.txt are the same file), whereas AWS is case-sensitive (those two names are for different files). […]

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Sinclair Cambridge Programmable

OK, the news that Sir Clive Sinclair died today (RIP, Sir Clive!) caused me to remember that I have another Sinclair calculator in my collection, apart from the two I’ve already talked about (the Sinclair Cambridge Scientific and the Sinclair Scientific). It’s the Sinclair Cambridge Programmable. Yes, it can be programmed! And, just like the Casio fx-98 I talked about last time, it was licensed in the US to produce the Radio Shack EC-4001 (more on that in a moment). […]

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Casio fx-98 calculator

OK, time for another quick delve into my calculator collection: it’s the Casio fx-98. This particular one is interesting for a few reasons: first is it’s a scientific calculator, albeit not RPN; second, it’s the size of a credit card, even though it’s thicker; third, it’s solar powered – no batteries to worry about; and finally, Casio licensed it out to Radio Shack who produced the equivalent under their own name. […]

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AWS Security Headers – done, right?

So a couple of days ago, I had a free half hour, so decided to check that the open source JavaScript libraries I use in my various websites were up to date. Rather than open up the base source files and check, I decided to be hip and use Firefox’s Developer Tools console window instead, when suddenly… […]

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You have a voicemail!

I’m sure that you are prevalent to getting scam emails just like I am. For me, there’s a class of them that I get one of per week, maybe two, that pretend to be a Voicemail. An urgent Voicemail. Possibly involving payments. Must be IMPORTANT! […]

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Bonkers Google lunch hour

Quick daft one: a couple of days ago I learned about the Marble Arch Mound for the first time, from this enlightening Twitter thread: […]

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Main SSD upgrade

Some two and a half years ago I bought my current Dell XPS 13. It came with a 512GB SSD, which I immediately replaced with a Samsung 960 EVO 1TB drive, reasoning that such an upgrade would last me a long time. […]

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The Tombs of Delphi?

So here we are: yesterday was the last day of June 2021 and I’ve suddenly remembered that my book The Tomes of Delphi: Algorithms and Data Structures came out in June 2001. Twenty years ago. […]

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St Julian to the rescue

During these pandemic times, I’ve been changing my cover photo on Facebook every weekend to show some photo of where we’ve been in the past. Once we get to travel again – we’re both fully vaccinated, so it’s only a matter of time! – I’ll revert to photos every fortnight that I’ve taken on our trips. But for now, I just post some older photos. […]

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Identity theft for unemployment insurance

Imagine my surprise a month ago when I got a letter in the mail from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. My initial reaction was that it was related to some tax thing, but when I opened it I read: […]

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