Summary – Oh TL;DR

Cuba’s grid goes offline with blackout after a major power plant fails

Cuba experienced a major blackout due to a power plant failure, leaving millions without electricity. The government implemented emergency measures to manage demand, including suspending classes and shutting down non-essential services. The situation has been attributed to increased demand, lack of maintenance on old plants, and fuel shortages. Changes to electricity rates for small- and […]

New Mersenne Prime discovered (probably)

Since 1996, the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) has been dedicated to finding world record primes. With impressive statistics on daily accomplishments like GFLOP/s and CPU & GPU usage, GIMPS strives to discover new Mersenne primes. Recently, a new Mersenne prime was discovered, potentially the first in six years. Additionally, significant improvements in Prime95 […]

Using static websites for tiny archives

The author discusses their efforts to be intentional and organized with their digital data through the creation of static websites to browse their local archives. Each website is unique, tailored to specific file collections for efficient browsing without the need for a web server or complex technology. The author reflects on previous attempts at file […]

One of Florida’s most lethal python hunters

Donna Kalil is a sixty-two-year-old full-time python hunter in Florida, the first woman to hold this position. She has been bitten countless times by Burmese pythons, an invasive species that threatens Florida’s ecosystem. Kalil’s job involves capturing and euthanizing these snakes to protect native wildlife. Her team of hunters has removed almost nine thousand pythons […]

Where the Digital Sidewalk Ends

TL;DR: OpenStreetMap data used for bike, scooter, and wheelchair routing is subpar compared to car routing, leading to dangerous and inefficient directions. This web app visualizes the gaps in the data, particularly focusing on sidewalks, bike lanes, and pedestrian infrastructure. The goal is to improve mapping for non-car users by accurately mapping bike lanes, crosswalks, […]

setBigTimeout

JavaScript’s setTimeout function has a limitation of about 25 days due to a 32-bit signed integer representation of time. The author created setBigTimeout to overcome this issue, allowing for longer delays. The package can be found on npm, featuring the ability to chain shorter timeouts to create delays extending up to 84 years or even […]

Running an open source app: Usage, costs and community donations

Spliit was created a few years ago, but the current version is only one year old. With 152k visits in the last 12 months, Spliit’s bounce rate is 33%, meaning users actively engage by creating groups, adding expenses, or reading blog posts. The top countries for Spliit users are Germany, United States, and India. Spliit […]

What do you visualize while programming?

Programming involves a lot of thinking, yet we don’t talk about what actually goes on in our heads enough. The way we visualize things in our minds while coding can greatly impact our problem-solving ability. Some people may not visualize anything in their heads, a condition known as aphantasia. I can only visualize about 4Mb […]

Another Burnout Post

The author quit their contracting gig with debt and a failed business idea, but believes it was the right decision due to the soul-destroying nature of working for someone else as a programmer. They compare programming to psychotherapy, where the work is ultimately pointless and lacks impact. However, programming for personal projects brings satisfaction. The […]

JSON Patch

JSON Patch, standardized in RFC 6902, is a format for modifying JSON documents efficiently over HTTP. Unlike PUT and POST, JSON Patch minimizes data transmission by only sending necessary changes. Using atomic operations, it can add, remove, replace, copy, and move data in JSON. Despite strengths like precision, efficiency, and validation, complexity and maintenance costs […]