Author Archives: Karl

New Year, New Beginnings

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Karl

We’re almost at the start of a new year and saying it is a great time to reflect is such a cliche. But cliches have a great deal of truth to them, that’s why they persist. I wanted to post … Continue reading →

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Favorite Reads for 2012

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Karl

Following is a list of books, essays, and articles I read (or re-read) which feel worth sharing or re-sharing on on New Years Eve: Books “Thinking in Systems: A Primer”, by Donella H. Meadows “Release It!”, by Michael T. Nygard … Continue reading →

Posted in Coding, Software Engineering, Programming, Communications, Connection, the Internet, the Web, and Media, Education, Movies, TV, Radio, Comics, Books, Public Service, Civics, Government and Activism, Refactor, Reform, Kaizen and Systems | Comments Off

Recent Python packaging reads

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Karl

Python packaging options are so varied, so strongly disputed as to what is ‘best’ or ‘correct’ or ‘the past’ that they are as un-Pythonic as can be. I love Python, but when it comes to packaging, well lets say I … Continue reading →

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Philly is getting some good reviews

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Karl

Ryan Briggs in Next American City reports that families are staying put in Philly and Baltimore downtowns: While urban revitalization is often stereotyped as dominated by young professionals and retirees, Census data found that the Greater Center City area had … Continue reading →

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Greg Laden: “Is Python The New Basic?”

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Karl

Greg Laden recently posted some thoughts about “Python for Kids”, a book by Jason Briggs. Recently I discovered the turtle module, which is heavily used in the book, is included in the standard Python distribution when I tripped upon a … Continue reading →

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Ryan Henson Creighton & Cassandra Creighton Teaching Children to Code

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Karl

YouTube: TEDxToronto: Ryan Henson Creighton & Cassandra Creighton: Make sure to check out Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure and have some fun.

Posted in Coding, Software Engineering, Programming, Education, Public Service, Civics, Government and Activism | Tagged | 2 Comments

Some Software Engineering Humor and Wisdom

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Karl

A video and a post from some friends of mine: Jon Moore: Video: “Every discussion about REST Ever” Michael Bevilacqua-Linn: “Unicorns and Strong Typing”.

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Mozilla’s Save For Later

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Karl

The team at Mozilla posted a great piece documenting their idea and design process for what may be a new feature set in Firefox: “Save For Later”.

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John Allspaw: “On Being A Senior Engineer”

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Karl

Absolutely one of the best posts on what I consider to be the responsibilities of my work and what I aspire to practice, John Allspaw has written required reading for anyone looking to become a Senior Engineer or anyone who … Continue reading →

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Like thinking about Systems? Like Douglas Adams? Read Systemantics

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Karl

I’m reading “Systemantics” by John Gall and find myself at times laughing to myself and at times wretching in scenarios I recognize all too well in my work. His humor, which is straight out of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy”, … Continue reading →

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