Sometimes, simple shell scripts can save a lot of time. Recently, I noticed myself waiting for various unit tests to complete by surfing the web: a surefire way to be distracted for more than the time it takes for the tests to complete (or fail). Enter the following script, which I call notify:
#!/bin/sh “$@” status=$? xmessage [...]
Public wireless networks can be scary; you never know who might be sniffing your traffic, recording your GMail authentication cookies, or worse. Ideally, all of your net activity should be end-to-end authenticated and encrypted. Fortunately, since this is not always feasible, ssh makes it easy to use an untrusted network by routing your traffic through a trusted end-point. All you need is an ssh [...]
During the course of a given week, I answer a lot of technical questions. They range from the friend asking, “What laptop should I buy?” to strangers with very specific questions about the source code used in my research. I rather enjoy solving technical questions and taking a line from Jon Udell’s “Too busy to blog?” post, I’m [...]
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