27 Sep 2021, 13:04 p.m.

Prep For Shortages And Delays -- Meds, ID Cards, Books, Etc.

The global supply chain is dealing with a lot of shortages and delays, and there's no sign it's going to get better anytime soon. (Some explanations: thread, thread, NYT piece.) People are figuring out how …

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27 Sep 2021, 11:17 a.m.

NYCH&H COVID testing -- great, so let's increase access

  [Below - slightly edited - is a letter I just wrote my city councilmember.] I'm a constituent in your district and I'm writing to thank the City for its free COVID-19 testing program, and …

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21 Sep 2021, 11:33 a.m.

Police, The Future, and Biometric Security

I have tremendous respect for Troy Hunt and have learned loads about cybersecurity from him. That's why it surprised me so much to read his recent piece on biometric credentials. I agree with much of …

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18 Sep 2021, 1:10 a.m.

It Can Be Hard To Talk About Learning And Teaching

Copied from a comment I made on MetaFilter in a somewhat contentious thread about explicitly learning and teaching tacit knowledge: Some fundamental assumptions I have about this topic, and about some opportunities and difficulties more …

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25 Aug 2021, 10:46 a.m.

COVID-19: The Delta Variant, Better Masks, and Free Testing

I am concerned about COVID-19 trends; particularly if you are in the United States, you should be aware and make/modify plans accordingly. Some of this post is New York City-specific. Background: The COVID case numbers …

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15 Jul 2021, 0:55 a.m.

Low Availability

FYI: I have some obligations, starting this week and going through mid-September, that will take me offline a lot and otherwise occupy me; I will have low and intermittent availability. Please email if you want …

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03 Jul 2021, 17:32 p.m.

Some Novel Python Packaging/Distribution/Inspection/Installation Projects

People who program in Python have an easier time hearing about package-related tools that have been around for a while and that are under the banner of the Python Packaging Authority, or that are commercially …

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03 Jul 2021, 16:45 p.m.

Researching The Leadership Gap for Legacy Projects

I've given a lot of conference talks recently. As part of the PyCon US Maintainers' Summit in May, I delivered an eight-minute talk, "Researching the leadership gap for legacy projects". The video is now available, …

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02 Jul 2021, 12:56 p.m.

A Comedy Memory

I'm having trouble getting started on things I ought to do today, so here's a story I think I've never told here before. In early 2011, I travelled to San Francisco for work, and one …

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01 Jul 2021, 12:58 p.m.

Software Bill of Materials & the US Federal Government

In February, the United States's President Biden signed an executive order on the US's supply chains; he followed this up with an EO in May specifically concentrating on improving cybersecurity. To quote Tidelift's summary, "in …

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