A while ago I realized that whenever someone asks me if I know any javascript developers, I always come up empty. Shame on me! Using a technology heavily for many years and not really knowing anyone from the community. That’s why I decided to organise a meetup! The first purely Javascript event in Ljubljana. Sure… Read more »
Posts By: Swizec
How CamelCase ruined my day and my dev environment
Yesterday everything went so comically wrong I just have to share. This post might be more a confession than a tale of warning, you be the judge. My objective, convert prices in USD to prices in bitcoin. Simple. Especially after I discovered someone’s already made a gem that talks to the MtGox exchange and tells… Read more »
The most pleasant job interview I have ever had
I love job interviews. It’s a bit of a hobby really. You get this brief chance to dip your toes in a company’s culture, to see what they’re all about and how they work. If you’re lucky, you get to talk to some awesome engineers who are much better than you. If you’re really lucky,… Read more »
Canada, eh?
Job interviews are fast becoming a bit of a hobby for me. Usually just over Skype and for a shortish-term freelancing gig. Sometimes in person for a job job. Last week I went to Canada to interview with Shopify. This post is about the traveling bit, next post will be about the interview bit. Without… Read more »
Why you don’t have a flight transfer in North America
I met him at the Montreal airport bus stop. I never learned his name, but for the next five hours we were friends. “Oh you’re going to Ottawa too? Cool!” … “Yeah, looks like the bus is running a bit late. How come you’re taking a bus from the airport anyway?” He was from Poland, visiting… Read more »
A tale about always-on DRM and web security
Two days ago I was at a friend’s place and wanted to show her what Diablo 3 looks like. She shows me minecraft, I show her Diablo. Everyone’s happy. But nope. I run Diablo, I mash in my password because of course you have to log in to play a game with yourself. What could possibly… Read more »
It takes about two months to write a technical book
A lot of people will tell you writing a book is hard. I’m here to tell you it’s not. Solving the Hamiltonian path problem is hard, writing a book just takes some hard work and a bit of dedication. It’s not hard when all it takes is plomping your arse down and refusing to get… Read more »
Bring Ruby VCR to Javascript testing with Capybara and puffing-billy
Let’s say you are writing an application in Ruby. You are probably talking to every API under the sun and are happily writing tests to make sure your code isn’t failing. Because you don’t want to rely on 3rd parties or an internet connection to make your tests pass or fail you mock everything with… Read more »
Sexy animated spirographs in 35 sloc of d3.js
You probably remember spirographs as kid’s toys from your youth. I had a simple set that was just a collection of plastic sprockets with holes for pencils. Endless amounts of fun when I was two or three years old. I think … I don’t really remember much from that time, but I remember having those… Read more »
The true difference between self publishing and using publishers
Right now I’m writing two books at once and yes that was a terrible idea. Please avoid doing this if you at all can. One book I’m working on with a publisher, the other I’m self-publishing. Both are interesting processes, but I have noticed one colossal difference between the two: Self-publishing -> November 2012 to March… Read more »