Rob Janssen

Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names

John Graham-Cumming wrote an article today complaining about how a computer system he was working with described his last name as having invalid characters.  It of course does not, because anything someone tells you is their name is — by definition — an appropriate identifier for them.

Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1

Before we launched Windows 7, we envisioned what the next version of Windows would need to deliver. We made a bet that the PC landscape and industry would undergo a significant transformation driven by an increase in mobility.

Windows NT BSOD Aclock Port

So a device driver version of Aclock was conceived. Err WHAT? Yes a Windows Kernel Mode Device Driver version of Aclock. It sounds like craziest idea and most ridiculous waste of time ever.

Paul Miller — Your pull request won’t be accepted

As a frequent contributor to open-source projects, I’m curious about probability of acceptance of my contribution. Of course, it largely depends on whether a patch fits the project or not, but still some projects are less likely to accept your pull.

Testing on the Toilet: Don’t Overuse Mocks

This article was adapted from a Google Testing on the Toilet (TotT) episode. You can download a printer-friendly version of this TotT episode and post it in your office. When writing tests for your code, it can seem easy to ignore your code's dependencies by mocking them out.

The Effects of Computer Programming on the Brain

No illegal drugs were consumed in the research of this article.

Technology fails in film are the new Wilhelm Scream

There's no other explanation. It must be a tradition like the Wilhelm scream. What, haven't heard of the Wilhelm scream? Well, once you do it's impossible to not hear it in every film. It's in freaking Lord of the Rings, and it grates.

You are dangerously bad at cryptography

We all start at stage one whether we like it or not. The key to progressing from stage one to stage two in any subject is to make lots of mistakes and get feedback.

Data URIs make CSS sprites obsolete

I was sitting in a talk given by Facebook’s Jason Sobel at Velocity this year, when I was a bit surprised by an impassioned plea that he made at the tail end of the talk.

Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

Since publishing ABC: Always Be Coding - How to Land an Engineering Job, many have asked how I got an engineering job at Google without a college degree. Here’s my story, your mileage may vary. I had every intention of going to college. My college of choice was UCLA.

This Read-It-Later-list is just that, bookmarks of stuff I intend to read or have read. I do not necessarily agree with opinions or statements in the bookmarked articles.

This list is compiled from my Pocket list.