Narcissistic numbers
Here is a nice mathematical exercise from Programming Praxis. Is about finding the “narcissistic numbers”, n digit numbers numbers where the sum of all the nth power of their digits is equal to the number. To reduce the problem a little, I decided to start by limiting the number of digits. So, the first approach will be just calculate if a number is narcissistic of not. So, after checking it and making a couple of performance adjustments, the code is as follows…
Thoughts on Code of Conducts
I’ve just read this statement from the PSF about requiring a Code of Conduct, and I felt somehow a little down. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that a CoC is something bad, and everything it says (at least the referenced PyCon US one and the example in geekfeminism.com) makes sense. It’s just that needing a CoC feels a little … formal. I don’t like very much formality, as I like to think that PyCon conferences are more a bunch of somehow friends getting together and sharing knowledge. I’ve always felt… Read More
In defense of resting
I have been watching recently some documentaries about software development, including the classic Triumph of the nerds (available in YouTube in three episodes, 1, 2 and 3) and Indie Game: The Movie. They are both very good and I’d recommend them not only to developers, but to people interested in technology and/or entrepreneurship in general. But they are very good exponents into something very present on the software scene, which is presenting crunch mode, working insane hours, in some sort of glamourised way. It is part of the usual storytelling and, and probably,… Read More
Password Extravaganza: Open discussion about security
In recent times, I’ve been thinking quite a lot about security on Internet. And I mean my personal security on Internet. There has been some recent examples of leaked passwords on some common websites (LinkedIn, I am talking about you!), and I get the impression that the way I was handling passwords on the past was no longer good enough. Luckily, I never had problems, but I thought that I needed review my habits and to take it more seriously. As with everything that is new, when I open my first email… Read More
ffind
A sane replacement for command line file search I tend to use the UNIX command line A LOT. I find it very comfortable to work when I am developing and follow the “Unix as IDE” way. The command line is really rich, and you could probably learn a new different command or parameter each day and still be surprised every day for the rest of your life. But there are some things that sticks and gets done, probably not on the most efficient way. In my case, is using the command `find` to… Read More
Magical thinking in Software Development
I guess we all Python developers heard this kind of argument from time to time: Python is slower than C++/Java/C# because is not compiled. Other than the usual “blame the others” when working with other companies (usually big corporations than thinks than using anything except C# or Java is laughable), you can also see a lot of comments in technical blogs or places like Hacker News or Reddit with similar, simplistic arguments. You can recognise them on the usual rants about how technology X is The Worst Thing That Ever Happened™ and… Read More
Talks on PyCon Ireland 2012
Well, as usual, this year’s PyCon Ireland has been amazing. I always get impressed by the high quality of the talks and, in general, how much the attendants know. It is always a pleasure to share some thoughts about technology with incredibly talented people. Python Ireland is doing a great job. This year I didn’t give one talk, but TWO! It was very exhausting, but fun. I am posting the slides here, in case someone find them interesting… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbe4HoPsQ1c&feature=plcp You can also download the source Keynote file, which includes notes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdhspXax8Vk&feature=plcp EDIT: Videos… Read More
Respect your production data
I read yesterday this blog post: I Accidentally Deleted All Our Data by Taylor Fausak. Probably you’ll end with the same expression in your face that I did. An a palm covering it. Something in advance. It takes GREAT courage and openness to tell in your blog this story. I think is really a great attitude about it. Saying this, I must say that the whole story a recipe for disaster. Lots of steps make my spider-sense to tingle. Strongly. Doing a script on the python interactive shell to update your production data, while… Read More
Utopia Kingdoms scaling case. From 4 users to 90k+
I almost forget to put this presentation I gave in PyCon Ireland 2011 this month. It’s about some problems and solutions working on Utopia Kingdoms game regarding scalability. So, here are the slides UPDATE: In case anyone is interested, here is the talk, courtesy of PyCon Ireland 😉
Think a little about the readers of your web site
This is a translation of a post by Ricardo Galli about some of the lessons he has learned on Menéame, a social news website in Spanish similar to Digg. I wanted to share some of the concepts with my co-workers, but I thought that it could be interesting to translate the complete work and share it with the whole world 😉 Any English errors are my own. I will also like to thank David Brodigan for help me reviewing the English version. Bored of having to wait more than 5 seconds to display a blog’s page? Annoyed… Read More
Wrong Side of Memphis 