Category: Programming

Setting SmugMug Print Size Keywords with Jupyter and Python

For the last few weeks, my normal hobbies have been preempted by my obsessive refactoring of an old SmugMug keyword setting program. Many years ago I wrote a small application that helped me maintain meaningful SmugMug keywords. I used this application for years until inevitable software changes broke it. Replacing it with something better has … Continue reading Setting SmugMug Print Size Keywords with Jupyter and Python →

Downloading SmugMug Captions with Python and Jupyter

This blog post started out as an experimental rendering of a Jupyter notebook. I wanted to see how difficult it would be to convert a notebook to a WordPress.com blog post. Even though Jupyter exports notebooks in HTML and Markdown they do not display well "out of the box." No doubt one could craft CSS … Continue reading Downloading SmugMug Captions with Python and Jupyter →

SWAG a J/EXCEL/GIT Personal Cash Flow Forecasting Mob

While browsing in a favorite bookstore with my son, I spotted a display of horoscope themed Christmas tree ornaments. The ornaments were glass balls embossed with golden birth signs like Aquarius, Gemini, Cancer, et cetera, and a descriptive phrase that “summed up” the character of people born under a sign. Below my birth sign golden … Continue reading SWAG a J/EXCEL/GIT Personal Cash Flow Forecasting Mob →

Cutting the Stinking Tauntaun and other Adventures in Software Archeology

The other day a software project that I had spent a year on was “put on the shelf.”  A year of effort was unceremoniously flushed down the software sewer.  A number of colleagues asked me, “How do you feel about this?” Would you believe relieved? This is not false bravado or stupid sunny optimism. I … Continue reading Cutting the Stinking Tauntaun and other Adventures in Software Archeology →

Parsing the Bitcoin Genesis Block with J

The genesis block is the first block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious entity that created Bitcoin, mined the genesis block on January 3, 2009. It's been five years since the genesis block's birth and Satoshi is still unknown, Bitcoin is bigger than ever, and the blockchain is longer than 300,000 blocks and growing. One … Continue reading Parsing the Bitcoin Genesis Block with J →

APL Software Archaeology .dbi Edition

Have yourself a merry little APL Christmas. I joke that my job title should be software archaeologist because I often find myself resurrecting, not refactoring, code that dates to primitive and primeval eras. The language I’m typically hired to resurrect is APL. APL, the language with funny symbols, is a software vampire. People keep paying … Continue reading APL Software Archaeology .dbi Edition →