Features

Review: Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System and Psycho-Pass 3: It’s no surprise to me / I am my own worst enemy…. 16 June 2021
So close, yet so far: Maybe game publishers should get out of user interface design: a Fitts’ law case study. 15 February 2021
A eulogy for the classic Hangouts neutral face emoji: You can’t overstate the significance of a ten-degree cant. 15 October 2016
A few notes on this iPhone court order: Why the FBI’s attempt to force decryption of the San Bernadino shooters’ iPhone won’t, and shouldn’t, get anywhere. 18 February 2016
Recipe: Red braised spareribs with potatoes and carrots: A page from alerante’s family cookbook. (Inasmuch as there’s actually a book. Really, it’s pretty much all in our heads.) 25 April 2014
Showing the current Vim file as a proxy icon in the Terminal.app title bar: A teeny-tiny tech tip. 19 April 2014
Entry number one: Ringo Sheena’s Kalk Samen Chestnut Flower ten years on: On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, I discuss Ringo Sheena’s awe-inspiring third album. 23 February 2013
The Singalog: Excerpts from a blog I kept during my semester as an exchange student at the National University of Singapore between July and December 2010. 23 March 2011
A turn goes by: A New Year’s reflection, partially distorted in a funhouse mirror for your convenience. 4 January 2011
Review: Odessa: After four months of a long, slow slide down to original content oblivion, I drive a stake into the ground by reviewing Caribou’s latest single and hold on for dear life. 20 March 2010
Seven years, seven wonders: A fond look back at the first eighty-four months of Flight 515 on the air. 1 February 2010
Review: Party Is Over, Pornostar: I help China in its plans to take over the world by writing about the debut album of Beijing-based group Snapline. 22 November 2009
An open letter: My response to Ebony S. Montgomery’s letter to the editor Negative stereotype of Asians in Daily Tar Heel, which was published in Thursday’s edition of The Daily Tar Heel. 13 November 2009
Review: Part the Second: I continue this summer’s theme of jumping in midway through things with a review of maudlin of the Well’s latest effort. 6 September 2009
Review: Minami-ke Okawari: Because, as everyone knows, the best way to explain a 2000s Japanese anime series is to compare it to a 1950s American B movie. 13 July 2009
Review: This Binary Universe: Yes, it’s review three, but it’s all about base two. Make sense? Hey, it’s not like there’s an album called This Ternary Universe. 20 May 2009
Failure to launch: Why redesigning for redesigning’s sake rarely goes well: a usability critique of the student-created NCSSM At a Glance replacement, NCSSM Connected. 4 May 2009
My apologies to 208.43.122.87: I hope that I can make up for some of the suffering, anguish, and 404 responses someday. 25 April 2009
Review: Falling Down: And so, by posting two posts on the same subject at around the same time of the month for two successive months, I thusly pretend to establish a monthly music review column. Then I overuse the word month, to the chagrin of all involved. 24 April 2009
Review: XTRMNTR: I take a break from trying to silence the ringing in my ears to review the album that caused it in the first place. 21 March 2009
The 2008 Vice-Presidential Debate, as per Emacs’ dissociated-press: It won’t be as drilled. In this planet. That don’t time for them to senator? 3 October 2008
A short breakdown of Chinese social gatherings that totally generalizes in some places, but that’s okay, right?: In which I describe what to expect if you invite a few Chinese families over for a potluck dinner at your place. 29 December 2006
On writer’s block: Nobody ever said being an author was easy, but that doesn’t mean we can’t complain about how hard it is on occasion. 11 May 2006
Cursory examination: Or, what you get when you put 200 high school students in the same room and ask them to explain stuff to you. 3 May 2006
The curse of the Web designer: Web design isn’t all peaches and cream. 1 April 2006
Rich Media Initiative: Yes, it’s as useless as the name makes it sound. 29 June 2005
SimCity soundtrack listing: A list of all the music tracks found in SimCity 3000, 3000 Unlimited, 4, and 4: Rush Hour, along with composer credits and trivia. 5 February 2005